1998 Australian Touring Car Championship

1998 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1998 Australian Touring Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition open to 5.0 Litre Touring Cars,[1] (also known as V8 Supercars).[2] The championship, which was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian title,[3] was contested over a ten-round series which began on 1 February 1998 at Sandown International Motor Raceway and ended on 2 August at Oran Park International Raceway. The series was promoted as the "Shell Australian Touring Car Championship".[4] The title, which was the 39th Australian Touring Car Championship, was won by Craig Lowndes.[5]

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the championship.

Team
(Entrant)[6]		 Car No Drivers
Glenn Seton Racing
(Ford Credit Racing)		 Ford EL Falcon 1 Australia Glenn Seton
111 Australia Neil Crompton
Glenn Seton Racing 28 Australia Rodney Forbes
Gibson Motorsport
(Wynn's Australia)		 Holden VS Commodore 7 Australia Darren Hossack
31 Australia Darren Pate
Gibson Motorsport 2 Australia Steven Ellery
32 Australia Tomas Mezera
Lansvale Racing Team Holden VS Commodore 3 Australia Trevor Ashby
6 Australia Steve Reed
Stone Brothers Racing
(Pirtek Racing)		 Ford EL Falcon 4 Australia Jason Bright
Larkham Motor Sport (SBR)
(Mitre 10 Racing)		 10 Australia Mark Larkham
Perkins Engineering
(Castrol Perkins Racing)		 Holden VS Commodore
Holden VT Commodore		 8 Australia Russell Ingall
11 Australia Larry Perkins
Perkins Engineering
(Castrol Cougars)[7]		 Holden VS Commodore 16 Australia Melinda Price
Holden VS Commodore 19 Australia Kerryn Brewer
Longhurst Racing Ford EL Falcon 9 Australia Alan Jones
Longhurst Racing
(Castrol Longhurst Ford)		 25 Australia Tony Longhurst
Cadillac Productions Ford EL Falcon 13 Australia Ryan McLeod
79 Australia Mike Conway
Imrie Motor Sport Holden VS Commodore 14 Australia Mike Imrie
Holden Racing Team Holden VS Commodore
Holden VT Commodore		 15 Australia Craig Lowndes
Holden VS Commodore 50 Australia Mark Skaife
Holden VT Commodore 98 New Zealand Greg Murphy
DJR Team Penske
(Shell Helix Racing)		 Ford EL Falcon 17 Australia Dick Johnson
18 Australia John Bowe
Racing For Life (DJR) 95 Australia Steven Johnson
Colourscan Motorsport Ford EL Falcon 22 Australia Danny Osborne
47 Australia Brett Peters
Ray Hislop Ford EF Falcon 23 Australia Ray Hislop
Romano Racing Holden VS Commodore 24 Australia Paul Romano
M3 Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 26 Australia John Cotter
29 Australia Peter Doulman
Terry Finnigan Holden VS Commodore 27 Australia Terry Finnigan
Challenge Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 32 Australia Tomas Mezera
39 Australia Chris Smerdon
Pro-Duct Racing Holden VS Commodore 33 Australia Bob Pearson
Garry Rogers Motorsport
(Garry Rogers Valvoline/Cummins Team)		 Holden VS Commodore 34 New Zealand Steven Richards
35 Australia Jason Bargwanna
134 Australia Garth Tander
Schembri Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 36 Australia Neil Schembri
71 Australia Gary Quartly
James Rosenberg Racing Holden VS Commodore 38 Australia Mark Poole
Simon Emerzidis Holden VR Commodore 41 Australia Garry Willmington
Holden VS Commodore 54 Australia Simon Emerzidis
Paul Weel Racing Ford EL Falcon 43 Australia Paul Weel
Mal Rose Racing Holden VS Commodore 44 Australia Mal Rose
Novocastrian Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 45 Australia Wayne Russell
John Faulkner Racing Holden VS Commodore 46 New Zealand John Faulkner
Rod Smith Racing Holden VS Commodore 48 Australia D'arcy Russell
Greg Crick Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 49 Australia Greg Crick
149 Australia Dean Crosswell
Charles Ryman Ford EL Falcon 51 Australia Charles Ryman
Barry Morcom Holden VP Commodore 52 Australia Barry Morcom
Rod Nash Racing Holden VS Commodore 55 Australia Rod Nash
Briggs Motor Sport Ford EL Falcon 70 Australia John Briggs
PACE Racing Holden VS Commodore 74 Australia Kevin Heffernan
Paul Little Racing Ford EL Falcon 75 Australia Anthony Tratt
V8Racing Holden VP Commodore 77 Australia Richard Mork
Clive Wiseman Racing Holden VS Commodore 80 Australia Mick Donaher
Don Pulver Holden VP Commodore 88 Australia Don Pulver
Geoff Kendrick Holden VS Commodore 92 Australia Geoff Kendrick

Race calendar

The championship was contested over a ten-round series with three races per round.[4]

Rd. Race Title Circuit Location / State Date Winner Car Team Report
1 Australia Sandown Sandown International Motor Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 30 Jan–1 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
2 Australia Launceston Symmons Plains International Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6–8 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
3 Australia Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 27–29 Mar Russell Ingall Holden VS Commodore Perkins Engineering
4 Australia Phillip Island Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 17–19 Apr Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
5 Australia Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 1–3 May John Bowe Ford EL Falcon Dick Johnson Racing
6 Australia Mallala Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia 22–24 May Russell Ingall Holden VS Commodore Perkins Engineering
7 Australia Barbagallo Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 29–31 May Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
8 Australia Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 19–21 Jun Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
9 Australia Hidden Valley Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 17–19 Jul Russell Ingall Holden VT Commodore Perkins Engineering
10 Australia Oran Park Oran Park International Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 31 Jul–2 Aug Craig Lowndes Holden VT Commodore Holden Racing Team

Points system

Championship points were awarded in each race as follows:[8]

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th
40 36 34 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Championship standings

Pos Driver Car Penalty San Sym Lak Phi Win Mal Bar Cal Hid Ora Pts
1 Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore
Holden VT Commodore		 0 116 114 92 112 66 108 120 76 68 120 992
2 Russell Ingall Holden VS Commodore
Holden VT Commodore		 0 80 92 114 108 110 112 104 50 96 76 942
3 Mark Skaife Holden VS Commodore 0 78 108 50 76 94 24 106 66 58 108 768
4 Larry Perkins Holden VS Commodore
Holden VT Commodore		 0 90 80 100 80 72 62 94 38 68 38 722
5 John Bowe Ford EL Falcon 0 108 44 64 92 116 80 24 52 52 50 682
6 Glenn Seton Ford EL Falcon 0 102 70 12 88 52 92 56 58 86 60 676
7 Jason Bargwanna Holden VS Commodore 0 28 96 34 66 44 51 28 72 96 88 603
8 Tony Longhurst Ford EL Falcon 0 44 28 90 78 90 54 20 10 78 94 586
9 Jason Bright Ford EL Falcon 0 20 88 70 84 72 82 52 68 Ret 48 584
10 Dick Johnson Ford EL Falcon 0 60 70 108 26 76 66 76 6 52 10 550
11 Mark Larkham Ford EL Falcon 0 60 32 30 42 20 44 58 40 80 68 474
12 Paul Romano Holden VS Commodore 0 22 46 42 38 56 24 36 20 62 72 418
13 John Faulkner Holden VS Commodore 0 18 20 24 60 36 78 68 Ret 28 44 376
14 Garth Tander Holden VS Commodore 0 27 24 28 68 50 24 80 301
15 Steve Ellery Holden VS Commodore 0 34 10 36 8 52 18 36 12 18 42 266
16 Alan Jones Ford EL Falcon 0 49 56 28 30 30 16 40 12 261
17 Steven Johnson Ford EL Falcon 0 40 42 86 68 24 260
18 Steven Richards Holden VS Commodore 0 72 52 64 188
19 Terry Finnigan Holden VS Commodore 0 28 15 58 8 8 34 DNS 10 159
20 Darren Hossack Holden VS Commodore 0 16 30 22 16 34 8 30 156
21 Tomas Mezera Holden VS Commodore 0 24 20 10 52 34 140
22 Darren Pate Holden VS Commodore 0 4 6 16 6 18 20 15 18 26 10 139
23 Mark Poole Holden VS Commodore 0 38 10 24 14 38 DNS 124
24 Neil Crompton Ford EL Falcon 0 36 36 44 116
25 Greg Crick Holden VS Commodore 0 6 52 Ret 2 6 34 Ret 100
26 Trevor Ashby Holden VS Commodore 0 32 26 10 1 9 78
27 Chris Smerdon Holden VS Commodore 0 28 8 4 6 12 5 63
Steve Reed Holden VS Commodore 0 29 4 8 Ret 22
29 John Briggs Ford EL Falcon 0 22 2 2 8 24 DNS 58
30 Greg Murphy Holden VT Commodore 0 38 38
31 Paul Weel Ford EL Falcon 0 1 1 9 5 10 Ret 6 0 32
32 Mal Rose Holden VS Commodore 0 16 4 0 3 Ret 1 2 Ret 26
Peter Doulman Holden VS Commodore 0 26 0
34 Anthony Tratt Ford EL Falcon 0 4 7 6 6 Ret 23
35 Ray Hislop Ford EL Falcon 0 6 14 0 20
36 Kerryn Brewer Holden VS Commodore 0 14 0 14
37 Danny Osborne Ford EL Falcon 0 6 6 Ret Ret 0 1 DNS Ret 13
Brett Peters Ford EL Falcon 0 13
39 Rod Nash Holden VS Commodore 0 0 2 1 0 Ret 1 6 2 12
40 Ryan McLeod Ford EL Falcon 0 8 1 1 10
41 Melinda Price Holden VS Commodore 0 8 0 0 8
Kevin Heffernan Holden VS Commodore 0 8 0 Ret Ret
43 Geoff Kendrick Holden VS Commodore 0 Ret 5 5
44 Richard Mork Holden VS Commodore 0 4 DNS DNS 0 4
45 D'arcy Russell Holden VS Commodore 0 0 0 DNS 0 0 0 3 3
46 Dean Crosswell Holden VS Commodore 0 2 Ret 2
Robert Smith Holden VS Commodore 0 0 2 DNS
48 Neil Schembri Holden VS Commodore 0 1 1
Pos Driver Car Penalty San Sym Lak Phi Win Mal Bar Cal Hid Ora Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Excluded (EX)

Race three at the Calder round was abandoned before the start due to water lying on the track after a late afternoon storm.[9]

Privateers' Team Cup

The Privateers' Team Cup was open top Level 2 teams competing with control tyres.[10] Points were awarded on the same basis as for the actual Championship however competitors were required to nominate eight rounds at which they would compete and only their best six results from those rounds would be retained towards the Cup award.[10] Two-driver teams were permitted to pool their points into a combined score.[10]

The Cup was won by Lansvale Smash Repairs with the team's Holden VS Commodore driven by Trevor Ashby and Steve Reed.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Specific Conditions, 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10
  2. ↑ Racing - Table of Contents, 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-1
  3. ↑ 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 7-9 & 7-10
  4. 1 2 The Rounds, V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, pages 18 to 79
  5. ↑ Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
  6. ↑ Official Programme, Mallala, 24th May 1998
  7. 1 2 Jason Parker, Lansvale take control, V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, pages 80-84
  8. ↑ ATCC Points System, Official Programme, Mallala, 24 May 1998, page 98
  9. ↑ V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, page 65
  10. 1 2 3 The cup runneth over, Official Programme, Mallala, 24 May 1998, page 98
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