1979 Australian Sports Car Championship

The 1979 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group D Production Sports Cars.[1] It was the eleventh Australian Sports Car Championship[2] and the fourth to be restricted to cars complying with Group D regulations.

The championship was won by Ross Mathieson driving a Porsche Carrera.

Schedule

The championship was contested over four rounds.[3]

Round[3] Circuit[3] State Date[3] Format[3] Round winner[3] Car[3]
1 Baskerville Tasmania 22 April Two Heats Peter Fitzgerald Porsche Carrera[4]
2 Calder Victoria 27 May One race Ross Mathieson Porsche Carrera[5]
3 Winton Victoria 19 August[6] One race Ross Mathieson Porsche Carrera[6]
4 Calder Victoria 25 November One race John Gourlay Bolwell Nagari[7]

Class structure

Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:

  • Up to and including 2000cc
  • Over 2000cc[1]

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the first six places in each class at each round and on a 4-3-2-1 basis for the first four outright places at each round.[1]

For Round 1, the round results, on which championship points were awarded, were determined by allocating race points on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the first 14 outright places in each race and aggregating the points for each driver. Where more than one driver attained the same total, the superior round position was awarded to the higher placed driver in the second race.[8]

Results
Position Driver Car[3][9] Bas.[10] Cal.[10] Win.[10] Cal.[10] Total[11]
1 Ross Mathieson Porsche Carrera 6 13 13 6 38
2 Peter Fitzgerald Porsche Carrera 13 6 9 9 37
3 Bernie Bisseling Lotus 47 9 9 1 6 25
4 John Gourlay Bolwell Nagari 9 - - 13 22
5 Rex Colliver Lotus 47 4 - 4 9 17
Tim Briglia Lotus Elan - 4 9 4 17
7 Murray Bryden Lotus Elan 6 6 - - 12
8 Chris Swingler Triumph TR7 3 3 2 3 11
9 John Latham Bolwell Nagari - - 6 4 10
10 Warwick Henderson Chevrolet Corvette C3 - 9 - - 9
11 Neal Swingler Triumph GT6 2 4 - - 6
12 Paul Trevathan MGB GT V8 - 4 - - 4
Barry Main Bolwell Nagari[4] 1 3 - - 4
Alan Edwards Bolwell Nagari - - 4 - 4
15 Dick Smith Lotus Super Seven - 3 - - 3
16 Ross Bond Bolwell Nagari 2 - - - 2
Gordon Dobie Datsun 2000[5] - 2 - - 2
Steve Wherrett Chevrolet Corvette[6] - - 2 - 2
Allan Hanns Bolwell Nagari[12] - - - 2 2
20 Tim Edmonds MGB[4] 1 - - - 1
Peter Boston Austin-Healey 100[12] - 1 - - 1
Geoff Dennis Triumph GT6[6] - 1 - - 1
Ranald MacLurkin TVR Griffith[6] - - 1 - 1

References
  1. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport 1979, page 96
  2. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport 2002, page 14-6
  3. Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1979/80, pages 190-193
  4. Steve Chopping, Fitzgerald opens twice, Racing Car News, June 1979, pages 38 & 39
  5. Greg Stanfield, Sports spectacular at Calder, Racing Car News, July 1979, pages 58 & 59
  6. Greg Stanfield, Engel, Mathieson weather the storms, Racing Car News, September 1979, pages 60 & 61
  7. Program, Calder Raceway, November 25th (1979)
  8. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport 1979, pages 94-95
  9. Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, pages 179-180
  10. Points per round for the top nine drivers are based the points table published in Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1979/80, page 193. Points per round for the other drivers are derived from pointscore listings published with respective reports for each round in Racing Car News magazines.
  11. Totals from points table for top 9 drivers in Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1979/80, page 193, plus points listing in Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, page 180
  12. Greg Stanfield, Mathieson's title by a point!, Racing Car News, January 1980, pages 26 & 27
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