1982 Australian GT Championship

The 1982 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group D GT cars and Group B Sports Sedans. It was the fifth Australian GT Championship,[1] the first to be awarded since 1963[1] and the first to be contested over a series of races rather than a single race. The GT championship replaced the Australian Sports Sedan Championship which had been awarded annually from 1976 to 1981. The 1982 title, which was contested over a nine-round series from 16 May to 10 October, was won by Alan Jones driving a Porsche 935/80 entered by Porsche Cars Australia.

The championship was dominated by 1980 Formula One World Drivers' Champion Alan Jones who went through the season undefeated. His closest on-track rival was multiple Bathurst winner and former Australian Touring Car Champion Peter Brock, driving a Bob Jane owned 6.0L V8 Chevrolet Monza. Brock placed fifth in the championship, having contested four of the nine rounds.[2] Brock and the Monza were often faster in qualifying than the turbocharged Porsche. However, he was rarely able to maintain his tyres for the entire race duration and subsequently always finished second best. Although Alan Jones won every round, his battles with Peter Brock are regarded by those who witnessed it as some of the closest and best racing seen to that point in Australian motor racing history.

Rusty French placed second in the championship driving a Porsche 935/77A, 45 points behind Jones. Jones' Porsche Cars Australia teammate Colin Bond placed third driving a turbocharged Porsche 944 (the car Jones was to originally drive in the series before it was decided he would have a better chance in the 935), with the 1981 Australian Sports Sedan Champion Tony Edmondson placed fourth in the championship winning Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet (running a 5.0L Formula 5000 engine) owned by Don Elliot.

Schedule

The championship was contested over a nine-round series.

Round[2] Circuit[2] Date[2] Format[2] Round winner[2] Car[2]
1 Winton Motor Raceway 16 May Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
2 Oran Park Raceway 6 June One race Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
3 Lakeside International Raceway 20 June Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
4 Adelaide International Raceway 4 July One race Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
5 Wanneroo Park 11 July Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
6 Calder Park Raceway 1 August Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
7 Surfers Paradise International Raceway 29 August Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
8 Symmons Plains Raceway 19 September Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80
9 Baskerville Raceway 10 October Two races Alan Jones Porsche 935/80

Points system

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each round.[3] Where rounds were contested over two races, points were allocated on a 20–16–13–11–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis for the first 14 positions in each race.[3] These points were then aggregated to determine the first six-round positions for the purpose of championship points allocation.[3]

Results
Pos Driver[4] No. Car Entrant Win Ora Lak Ade Wan Cal Sur Sym Bas Total[4]
1 Alan Jones 27 Porsche 935 Porsche Cars Australia[5] 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 81[6]
2 Rusty French 10 Porsche 935 John Sands Racing[5] 2 6 6 2 3 6 6 3 2 36
3 Colin Bond 28 Porsche 944 Turbo Porsche Cars Australia[5] 4 4 2 3 6 4 4 – 4 31
4 Tony Edmondson 1 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV – Chevrolet Donald Elliot[5] 6 – – 4 4 3 1 4 3 25
5 Peter Brock 7 Chevrolet Monza Bob Jane Racing[7] – – – 6 – – – 6 6 18
6 Doug Clark 78 Toyota Celica Brian Hilton Toyota – 2 3 – – – 2 – – 7
7 Tony Hubbard 111 Holden LX Torana Tony Hubbard[5] 3 3 – – – – – – – 6
8 Bruce Lynton 18 BMW 318i Turbo Bruce Lynton BMW – – 4 – – – – – – 4
9 Kerry Baily 128 Holden LJ Torana Kerry Baily[7] – – – – – – – 2 1 3
9 Gregory Wright 52 Holden LX Torana – – – – – – 3 – – 3
11 Gordon Stephenson 75 Holden HQ Monaro – – – – 2 – – – – 2
11 Graham Lusty 44 Toyota Celica Lusty Engineering Pty. Ltd.[5] – – – – – 2 – – – 2
13 Peter Finch 16 Holden HQ Monaro 1 – – – – – – – – 1
13 Peter Dane 47 Ford Escort Thomson Ford[2] – 1 – – – – – – – 1
13 Steve Land 63 Holden Torana – – 1 – – – – – – 1
13 Clem Smith 26 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Clem Smith[5] – – – 1 – – – – – 1
13 Brian Rhodes 77 Holden LX Torana – – – – 1 – – – – 1
13 Jim Richards 31 BMW 318i Turbo JPS Team BMW[8] – – – – – 1 – – – 1
13 Ian Beechey 94 Fiat 124 Coupe[7] Ian Beechey[7] – – – – – – – 1 – 1

Championship name

Sources vary as to the actual name of the championship. The 1982 CAMS Manual uses "Australian Sports Sedan Championship" as does the Official Souvenir Programme for the 4th round of the championship at Adelaide International Raceway. Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1982/93 uses "Australian GT/Sports Sedan Championship, as does Racing Car News, November 1982. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport recognises Alan Jones as the winner of the "1982 Australian GT Championship" in its "Australian Titles" document.[1]

References
  1. Australian Titles, docs.cams.com.au, as archived at www.webcitation.org on 16 July 2014
  2. Barry Catford, Australian GT /Sports Sedan Championship, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1982/83, pages 168–187
  3. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1982 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 87–91
  4. Points for each driver have been calculated by applying the referenced points system to the top six drivers at each round, as recorded in Australian Motor Racing Year, 1982/83
  5. Official Souvenir Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, Sunday, 4th July 1982
  6. The 1982 CAMS Manual states that eight of nine rounds would count but final points listings in Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1982/83, page 168 and Racing Car News, November 1982, page 22 both show Jones with a season total of 81 points
  7. List of Entries, Symmons Plains, 18 September 1982, oldmotorsportphotos.com.au Retrieved 15 February 2020
  8. Official Programme, Calder, Sunday, 1st Aug. 1982
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