Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/australia

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

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, the first to be awarded since 1963 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 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. 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.

RoundCircuitDateFormatRound winnerCar123456789
Winton Motor Raceway16 MayTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Oran Park Raceway6 JuneOne raceAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Lakeside International Raceway20 JuneTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Adelaide International Raceway4 JulyOne raceAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Wanneroo Park11 JulyTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Calder Park Raceway1 AugustTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Surfers Paradise International Raceway29 AugustTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Symmons Plains Raceway19 SeptemberTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
Baskerville Raceway10 OctoberTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80

Points system

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each round. 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. These points were then aggregated to determine the first six-round positions for the purpose of championship points allocation.

Results

PosDriverNo.CarEntrantWinOraLakAdeWanCalSurSymBasTotal1234567899111113131313131313
Alan Jones27Porsche 935Porsche Cars Australia999999999**81**
Rusty French10Porsche 935John Sands Racing266236632**36**
Colin Bond28Porsche 944 TurboPorsche Cars Australia44236444**31**
Tony Edmondson1Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV – ChevroletDonald Elliot6443143**25**
Peter Brock7Chevrolet MonzaBob Jane Racing666**18**
Doug Clark78Toyota CelicaBrian Hilton Toyota232**7**
Tony Hubbard111Holden LX ToranaTony Hubbard33**6**
Bruce Lynton18BMW 318i TurboBruce Lynton BMW4**4**
Kerry Baily128Holden LJ ToranaKerry Baily21**3**
Gregory Wright52Holden LX Torana3**3**
Gordon Stephenson75Holden HQ Monaro2**2**
Graham Lusty44Toyota CelicaLusty Engineering Pty. Ltd.2**2**
Peter Finch16Holden HQ Monaro1**1**
Peter Dane47Ford EscortThomson Ford1**1**
Steve Land63Holden Torana1**1**
Clem Smith26Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerClem Smith1**1**
Brian Rhodes77Holden LX Torana1**1**
Jim Richards31BMW 318i TurboJPS Team BMW1**1**
Ian Beechey94Fiat 124 CoupeIan Beechey1**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.

References

References

  1. [https://www.webcitation.org/6R6iap8Hn?url=http://docs.cams.com.au/Manual/About/AC06-Titles-Australian-2014-1.pdf ''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. [http://oldmotorsportphotos.com.au/gallery_images/Motorsport_Photos/Symmons_Plains/SP_Race_Entry_Lists/1982_09_19_Symmons-Plains_Entry_List.pdf ''List of Entries, Symmons Plains, 18 September 1982'', oldmotorsportphotos.com.au] Retrieved 15 February 2020
  8. Official Programme, Calder, Sunday, 1st Aug. 1982
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1982 Australian GT Championship — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report