The 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for 5.0 Litre Touring Cars[1] complying with Group 3A regulations.[2] The championship, which was the 36th Australian Touring Car Championship,[3] was contested over a ten rounds between February and August 1995.[4] The series was won by John Bowe driving a Dick Johnson Racing Ford EF Falcon.
Television coverage
Channel 7's 1995 coverage was led by Mike Raymond for the final time before his retirement from full-time broadcasting and he was once again joined by Allan Moffat and Mark Oastler in the broadcast booth with Andy Raymond in pit-lane.
The broadcast was again on same-day delay due to the network's coverage of the AFL across the nation.
Pre-season
The Ford EF Falcon and Holden VR Commodore were both homologated for competition. The changes were largely cosmetic, allowing teams to reskin their existing EB Falcons and VP Commodores. With no material gain in performance expected, many of the privateer teams elected to retain their cars in EB and VP trim.
In January 1995 Dunlop, who supplied tyres to Dick Johnson Racing, Perkins Engineering and Wayne Gardner Racing as well as all of the privateer teams, had their factory in Kobe destroyed in the Great Hanshin earthquake. While production was shifted to England, teams had to ration their tyre stocks. To help the situation, Bridgestone later relaxed its policy of only supplying contracted teams, providing tyres to James Rosenberg Racing and Romano Racing at the final round.
Defending champion Mark Skaife missed the opening round of the championship after sustaining injuries in a testing accident ahead of the Winfield Triple Challenge at Eastern Creek that destroyed a Gibson Motorsport VR Commodore.
Teams and drivers
- Movements
- Arrivals / returnees
- Departures
The following drivers and teams competed in the 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship:
Race calendar
The championship was contested over a ten-round series. Each round featured a "Peter Jackson Dash", a short sprint race which was restricted to the top ten cars from qualifying, and two main races which were open to all competitors. Unlike previous seasons, the dash did not set the grid order for the main races. The Amaroo Park round was replaced by a round at Mount Panorama which held an ATCC round for the first time since 1972.
Rd.
|
Circuit
|
Location / state
|
Date
|
Round winner
|
Car
|
Team
|
Report
|
1
|
Sandown International Raceway
|
Melbourne, Victoria
|
3 - 5 Feb
|
Larry Perkins
|
Holden VR Commodore
|
Perkins Engineering
|
Report
|
2
|
Symmons Plains Raceway
|
Launceston, Tasmania
|
24 - 26 Feb
|
John Bowe
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Dick Johnson Racing
|
Report
|
3
|
Mount Panorama Circuit
|
Bathurst, New South Wales
|
10 - 12 Mar
|
John Bowe
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Dick Johnson Racing
|
Report
|
4
|
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
|
Phillip Island, Victoria
|
7 - 9 Apr
|
Glenn Seton
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Glenn Seton Racing
|
|
5
|
Lakeside International Raceway
|
Brisbane, Queensland
|
21 - 23 Apr
|
Glenn Seton
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Glenn Seton Racing
|
|
6
|
Winton Motor Raceway
|
Benalla, Victoria
|
19โ21 May
|
John Bowe
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Dick Johnson Racing
|
|
7
|
Eastern Creek Raceway
|
Sydney, New South Wales
|
26โ28 May
|
Mark Skaife
|
Holden VR Commodore
|
Gibson Motorsport
|
|
8
|
Mallala Motor Sport Park
|
Mallala, South Australia
|
7 - 9 Jul
|
Glenn Seton
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Glenn Seton Racing
|
|
9
|
Barbagallo Raceway
|
Perth, Western Australia
|
14 - 16 Jul
|
Glenn Seton
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Glenn Seton Racing
|
|
10
|
Oran Park Raceway
|
Sydney, New South Wales
|
4 - 6 Aug
|
John Bowe
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Dick Johnson Racing
|
|
Points system
- Championship points were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis for the first three places in the Peter Jackson Dash at each round.[5]
- One bonus championship point was awarded for each position gained & held by a driver during the Peter Jackson Dash at each round.[5]
- Championship points were awarded on a 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis for the first ten places in each of the two main races at each round.[5]
Results
Rounds were won by John Bowe (4), Glenn Seton (4), Larry Perkins (1) and Mark Skaife (1). Going into the final round Bowe, Seton and Peter Brock were in contention with Bowe prevailing.
Championship standings
|
Colour |
Result
|
Gold |
Winner
|
Silver |
Second place
|
Bronze |
Third place
|
Green |
Points finish
|
Blue |
Non-points finish
|
Non-classified finish (NC)
|
Purple |
Retired (Ret)
|
Red |
Did not qualify (DNQ)
|
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
|
Black |
Disqualified (DSQ)
|
White |
Did not start (DNS)
|
Withdrew (WD)
|
Race cancelled (C)
|
Blank
|
Did not practice (DNP)
|
Did not arrive (DNA)
|
Excluded (EX)
|
|
Note: Race 1 at the Phillip Island round was stopped before full race distance due to multiple accidents brought about by heavy rain, and only half points were awarded.[7]
Privateers Cup
The Motorsport News / Dunlop Privateers Cup was won by David Attard.[8]
See also
1995 Australian Touring Car season
References
- ^ Conditions for Australian Racing Titles, 1995 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 7-9 to 7-11
- ^ Specifications of Cars, Group 3A โ 5.0 Litre Touring Cars, 1995 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 7-76 to 7-83
- ^ Records, Titles and Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
- ^ a b 1995 Championship Results, Australian Motor Racing Year 1995, pages 278 to 281
- ^ a b c What's the point, Official Programme, Mallala, 9 July 1995, page 73
- ^ a b c Graham Howard, Stewart Wilson, David Greenhaigh, Thanks Dick, The official history - Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years, pages 342 to 350
- ^ Chasing the Tasmanian tiger, Official Programme, Tooheys 1000, Mount Panorama, Bathurst, 1 October 1995, pages 26 to 32
- ^ Champion effort, Australian Motor Racing Year 1995, pages 146 to 149
External links