1983 Australian Touring Car season

The 1983 Australian Touring Car season was the 24th season of touring car racing in Australia commencing from 1960 when the first Australian Touring Car Championship and the first Armstrong 500 (the forerunner of the present day Bathurst 1000) were contested.

The year was known for its political infighting over the homologation of parts by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS). The new homologation grants for 1 August were announced on 29 May during the running of Round 7 of the Touring Car Championship at Sydney's Oran Park by ABC television commentators Will Hagon and John Smailes. This drew public criticism from the drivers who were only told about the grants post race. As a result of the way CAMS announced the homologation grants, both the Roadways and Nissan teams boycotted of the final round at Lakeside, despite Nissan driver George Fury going into the round as the championship leader and needing only to finish 9th in the race to claim the title. The boycott ultimately cost Fury the championship as his only rival Allan Moffat finished a safe 3rd to claim his fourth and last ATCC series win.

During the year CAMS also announced that the 1984 season would be the last for the locally developed Group C category which had been in place since 1973, before the move to the FIA's international Group A rules from 1985. This in effect took the homologation issue out of CAMS hands, with the FIA having the final say on all homologated cars and parts.

Touring Cars competed at 19 race meetings in Australia during the 1983 season, contesting the following events:

Race calendar
Date Series Circuit City / state Winner Team Car Report
6 February ATCC Round 1 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Mazda RX-7
20 February ATCC Round 2 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Allan Grice STP Roadways Racing Holden VH Commodore SS
6 March AMSCAR Round 1 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Terry Shiel Terry Shiel Mazda RX-7
13 March ATCC Round 3 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania Allan Grice STP Roadways Racing Holden VH Commodore SS
10 April AMSCAR Round 2 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Terry Shiel Terry Shiel Mazda RX-7
24 April ATCC Round 4 Wanneroo Park Perth, Western Australia Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Mazda RX-7
1 May ATCC Round 5 Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore SS
15 May ATCC Round 6 Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Mazda RX-7
22 May AMSCAR Round 3 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Fred Gibson Nissan Motor Co Nissan Bluebird Turbo
29 May ATCC Round 7 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Mazda RX-7
19 June ATCC Round 8 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore SS
10 July AMSCAR Round 4 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Terry Shiel Terry Shiel Mazda RX-7
7 August Silastic 300
AEC Round 1
AECM Round 1		 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales George Fury Nissan Motor Co Nissan Bluebird Turbo
21 August Valvoline 250
AEC Round 2
AECM Round 2		 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales George Fury Nissan Motor Co Nissan Bluebird Turbo
11 September Castrol 400
AEC Round 3
AECM Round 3		 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Mazda RX-7 report
2 October James Hardie 1000
AEC Round 4
AECM Round 4		 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales John Harvey
Peter Brock
Larry Perkins		 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore SS report
27 October Gold Coast 300
AEC Round 5
AECM Round 5		 Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland Allan Grice STP Roadways Racing Holden VH Commodore SS
13 November Berri Fruit Juices Trophy
Australian Grand Prix support race		 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria George Fury Nissan Motor Co Nissan Bluebird Turbo
20 November Humes Guardrail 300
AEC Round 6
AECM Round 6		 Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore SS

Australian Touring Car Championship
Main article: 1983 Australian Touring Car Championship

Australian Endurance Championship
Main article: 1983 Australian Endurance Championship

Australian Endurance Championship of Makes
Main article: 1983 Australian Endurance Championship of Makes

Castrol 400
Main article: 1983 Castrol 400

James Hardie 1000
Main article: 1983 James Hardie 1000

Australian Grand Prix support race

A Group C race was a support event at the 1983 Australian Grand Prix meeting. Known as the "Berri Fruit Juices Trophy" race, George Fury won driving his Nissan Motor Co. Bluebird Turbo. Peter Brock finished second in his Holden Dealer Team Commodore, with team mate Larry Perkins driving the Bathurst winning #25 car to 3rd place.

Pos. Driver No. Team Car
1 Australia George Fury 15 Nissan Motor Co Nissan Bluebird Turbo
2 Australia Peter Brock 05 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore SS
3 Australia Larry Perkins 25 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore SS

References

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