1981 Australian Touring Car Championship

Classes

Cars competed in two engine displacement classes:

• Up to and including 3000cc
• 3001–6000cc

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each class at each round. Bonus points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis to the top four placegetters irrespective of class at each round. Only the best seven round results could be retained by each driver.

Round positions at rounds which were run in two parts were determined by allocating points on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first fourteen placegetters in each part. These points were then aggregated to determine the results for that round. However a different method of determining round positions was used for Round 6 at Adelaide International Raceway where points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first fourteen placegetters in each class in each part.

Entrants and drivers

The following entrants and drivers competed in the 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an eight-round series with Rounds 1, 3, 5, 7 & 8 being single race rounds and Rounds 2, 4 & 6 being two race rounds.

Championship standings

Colin Bond, driving an under 3 litre Ford Capri took seven class wins in the first seven rounds, but did not race at the final round as he was unlikely to improve his nett score. With Dick Johnson and Peter Brock only twice failing to take the top two positions (Johnson was third at Calder, and Brock did not finish at Sandown), they were classified ahead of Bond due to the bonus points they each received for their outright placings.

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Note: Points which could not be retained under the "best seven rounds" rule are shown in the above table within brackets.

References

References

1. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian Titles, page 94
2. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1982, page 53
3. Australian Motor Racing Year, 1981/82, Australian Touring Car Championship, pages 112-129
4. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian Titles, pages 92
5. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian titles, pages 91-92
6. Ford, the Australian racing history, page 353
7. 1981 Championship Review, Racing Car News, January 1982, pages 34 to 35
8. Des White, Falcon fires a record Surfers crowd, Racing Car News, June 1981, pages 6 & 7
9. 
   Belgrave Mazda Program, Adelaide International Raceway, May 3rd 1981
10. Program, Calder Raceway, March 18, 1981
11. Australian Touring Car Championship - Final Round, Racing Car News, July 1981, page 23
12. Robert Janney, Brock wins race, Carter - the crowd, Racing Car News, June 1981, pages 26 & 27
13. "1981 ATCC".
14. Official Programme, Sandown, 12 April 1981
15. Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, 1981 - Ford's new folk-hero, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1989, page 230