The1984 Australian Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition forGroup C Touring Cars.[1] The Championship was authorised by theConfederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian National Title.[1] It was the 25thAustralian Touring Car Championship,[2] and the last to be contested byGroup C cars as new regulations,[2] based on internationalGroup A,[3] were introduced for 1985.[2]
The championship, which began on 18 February 1984 atSandown Raceway and ended on 1 July atAdelaide International Raceway after seven rounds, was won byDick Johnson driving aFord XE Falcon.
The 1984 ATCC saw theABC televise each round of the series live throughout Australia. It was the first time that one television station had covered the entire series, previously the ABC andChannel 7 had shared the broadcast rights. It would be the last time the ABC covered the ATCC as Seven took over from1985 when the locally developed Group C rules were replaced by theFIA's InternationalGroup A touring car regulations. The commentators for the ABC telecasts were Will Hagon and John Smailes withTim Lane,Neil Crompton, Bob Vincent, Bob Morris and Allan Grice joining them at selected rounds.
Johnson's win gaveFord and itsFalcon both the first and last ATCC wins under Group C regulations asAllan Moffat won the1973 ATCC in aFalcon XY GTHO Phase III.[4] The win was also Ford's 12th ATCC win since the championship began in1960 and the Falcon's 6th win overall after having previously won in 1973,1976,1977 (all Moffat),1981 and1982 (both Johnson). Given that a Falcon did not contest the championship from 1985 to 1992, it was also the last championship win for a Falcon driver until1993.
1984 saw the first ever ATCC race win by aturbocharged car whenGeorge Fury won the 6th round at a wetLakeside Raceway just north ofBrisbane driving aNissan Bluebird Turbo.
Peter Brock, driving aMarlboro Holden Dealer Team enteredHolden Commodore, was the only driver to win more than once, with victories in the opening rounds atSandown andSymmons Plains. Johnson's only win in the series was at the 4th round atSurfers Paradise, though he never finished lower than 3rd in any other round.Allan Grice won the last round atAdelaide (his last ever ATCC race win), and thus the distinction of winning the last ATCC race run under Group C rules. Defending championAllan Moffat only won one round of the series, atWanneroo Park (also his last ATCC race win), and suffered a crash at Surfers Paradise in which he not only wrote off hisMazda RX-7, but also broke bones in his right hand and suffered a fractured sternum, forcing him out of the series (in fact, Moffat would not appear in another ATCC race until round 4 of the1988 series at Wanneroo). The only other winner was former championBob Morris who introduced some flavour to the series when he made a comeback to the sport in 1984, winning Round 5 atOran Park in an RX-7 fitted with a standard gearbox after the team's only race unit was broken in practice. Holden Commodore driver Warren Cullen finished 4th in the championship and was the only driver other than Dick Johnson to finish every round of the series.
Unfortunately for the final ATCC run under the local Group C rules, with the exception of Dick Johnson,Jim Richards contesting his first ATCC in hisJPS TeamBMW 635 CSi, Warren Cullen's two car Commodore team backed byK-Mart with new teammate Andrew Harris in his1982 and 1983 Bathurst winning ex-HDT Commodore, and1983 Australian Endurance ChampionPeter McLeod in his Slick 50 Mazda RX-7, the series was devoid of many of its big name drivers from mid-season. Peter Brock missed bothQueensland rounds due to his commitment to race aPorsche 956 with hisBathurst winning co-driverLarry Perkins at the1000 km of Silverstone and24 Hours of Le Mans races and was substituted in both races by teammateJohn Harvey having his first ATCC drive since1979. After theRoadways Racing team lost their STP sponsorship (though still running a single car for Steve Harrington), Allan Grice struggled to find enough sponsorship other than SAAS Wheels to run his rented Roadways Commodore for the entire series and missed most of the mid-season rounds, during which time he drove the ex-Bob Jane DeKonChevrolet Monza (now owned by Re-Car's Allan Browne) on his way to winning theAustralian GT Championship, and he also drove at Le Mans in a Porsche 956 (he also joined the television commentary team for Surfers Paradise). George Fury was also missing mid-season whenNissan team boss Howard Marsden decided to concentrate on car development following a couple of non-finishes, while reigning champion Moffat missed the last three rounds of the series through injury.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1984Australian Touring Car Championship.
| Team | Car | No | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masterton Homes | Ford XE Falcon | 2 |  Steve Masterton |
| Cadbury-Schweppes Racing | Holden VH Commodore | 3 | David Parsons |
| Roadways Racing | Holden VH Commodore | 4 | Steve Harrington |
| 6 | Allan Grice | ||
| Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | Holden VH Commodore | 05 | Peter BrockJohn Harvey |
| K-Mart Auto Racing | Holden VH Commodore | 8 | Warren Cullen |
| 9 | Andrew Harris | ||
| John Sands Racing | Holden VH Commodore | 10 | Rusty French |
| State Building Society/Rolfen | Mazda RX-7 | 10 | Bob Morris |
| Garry Willmington Performance | Ford XD Falcon | 11 | Garry Willmington |
| Jim Keogh | Holden VH Commodore | 12 | Jim Keogh |
| Bob Holden Motors[5] | Ford Escort Mk.II | 14 | Lyndon Arnel |
| John English | Ford XD Falcon | 14 | John English |
| Repco Accessories | Holden VH Commodore | 14 | Terry Finnigan |
| Nissan Motor Company | Nissan Bluebird Turbo | 15 | George Fury |
| 16 | Gary Scott | ||
| Palmer Tube Mills | Ford XE Falcon | 17 | Dick Johnson |
| Valentine Greetings[5] | Mazda RX-7 | 18 | Murray Carter |
| Rob Collins | Mazda RX-7 | 19 | Rob Collins |
| David Cox | Mazda RX-7 | 19 | David Cox |
| Lusty Engineering | Holden VH Commodore | 21 | John Lusty |
| PF Motor Racing | Chevrolet Camaro Z28 | 22 | Bryan Thompson |
| Everlast Battery Service | Ford XD Falcon | 26 | Bill O'Brien |
| Alf Grant | Ford XD Falcon | 27 | Alf Grant |
| Brian Bolwell | Ford Escort Mk.II | 28 | Brian Bolwell |
| Bayside Spares | Holden VH Commodore | 28 | Barry Lawrence |
| Paul Jones | Ford XE Falcon | 29 | Paul Jones |
| JPS Team BMW | BMW 635CSi | 31 |  Jim Richards |
| Chris Clearihan | Mazda RX-7 | 32 | Chris Clearihan |
| Mike Burgmann | Mazda RX-7 | 33 | Mike Burgmann |
| Murray Coote | Mazda 323 | 37 | Murray Coote |
| Bernie Stack | Holden VH Commodore | 38 | Bernie Stack |
| John Bundy | Mazda RX-7 | 39 | John Bundy |
| King George Tavern | Ford XE Falcon | 40 | Joe Moore |
| Allan Moffat Racing[5] | Mazda RX-7 | 43 |  Allan Moffat |
| Bryan Byrt Ford | Ford Capri Mk.III | 44 | Craig Harris |
| Gary Hinton | Holden VH Commodore | 45 | Gary Hinton Lester Smerdon |
| Dean Lindstrom | Mazda RX-7 | 47 | Dean Lindstrom |
| John Donnelly | Ford XD Falcon | 49 | Simon Harrex |
| Martin Power | Triumph Dolomite Sprint | 49 | Martin Power |
| Petrolon Slick 50 Racing | Mazda RX-7 | 50 | Peter McLeod |
| David Grose | Mazda RX-7 | 52 | David Grose |
| Swiss Motors | Mazda RX-7 | 53 | Ernie Carniello |
| Barry Seton | Ford Capri Mk.III | 55 | Glenn Seton |
| Jim Myhill | Mazda RX-7 | 57 | Jim Myhill |
| Lawrie Nelson | Ford Capri Mk.III | 59 | Lawrie Nelson |
| Country Dealer Team[5] | Isuzu Gemini PF60[5] | 60[5] | Dennis Horley[5] |
| Les Ski Racing | Isuzu Gemini | 61 | Les Szreniawski |
| Peter Brierley | Holden VH Commodore SS | 62 | Peter Brierley |
| John White | Isuzu Gemini ZZ[5] | 65 | John White |
| Ian Burrell | Mitsubishi Colt | 66 | Ian Burrell |
| Fred Geissler | Holden VH Commodore | 66 | Fred Geissler |
| Alexandra Surplice | Toyota Corolla Levin | 67 | Alexandra Surplice |
| Lyndon Arnel | Ford Escort Mk.II | 68 | Lyndon Arnel |
| Don Smith | Ford Capri Mk.III | 69 | Don Smith |
| Bayswater Automotor Wreckers[5] | Holden VH Commodore | 70 | Colin Campbell |
| Bob Holden Motors | Toyota Celica | 73 | Bob Holden |
| Garry McGrath | Ford Escort Mk.II | 77 | Garry McGrath |
| Clynton Arentz | Ford Escort Mk.II | 79 | Clynton Arentz |
| Ken Harrison | Ford Escort Mk.II | 80 | Ken Harrison |
| Russell Worthington | Mazda 626 | 100 | Russell Worthington |
The 1984Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over a seven-round series with one race per round.
| Rd. | Race title | Circuit | City / state | Date | Winner | Team | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandown | Sandown International Raceway | Melbourne,Victoria | 18 February | Peter Brock | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | [6] |
| 2 | Symmons Plains | Symmons Plains Raceway | Launceston,Tasmania | 11 March | Peter Brock | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | |
| 3 | Wanneroo | Wanneroo Park Raceway[7] | Perth,Western Australia | 1 April | Allan Moffat | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | |
| 4 | Surfers Paradise | Surfers Paradise International Raceway | Surfers Paradise,Queensland | 13 May | Dick Johnson | Palmer Tube Mills | [8] |
| 5 | The Castrol Flying Fifty[9] | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney,New South Wales | 27 May | Bob Morris | Barry Jones | [10] |
| 6 | Lakeside | Lakeside International Raceway | Brisbane, Queensland | 17 June | George Fury | Nissan Motor Co | |
| 7 | Motorcraft 100[11] | Adelaide International Raceway | Adelaide,South Australia | 1 July | Allan Grice | Roadways Racing | [12] |
Cars competed in two engine displacement classes, "up to and including 3000cc" and "3001-6000cc".[1]
Points were awarded for the first twenty outright places in each round using a two tier system as shown in the following table.[1]
The 3001-6000cc class was made up ofBMW 635 CSi,Chevrolet Camaro Z28,Ford XD Falcon,Ford XE Falcon,Holden VH Commodore,Mazda RX-7 andNissan Bluebird Turbo.
Up to and including 3000cc consisted ofFord Capri Mk.III,Ford Escort Mk.II,Isuzu Gemini,Mazda 323,Mazda 626,Mitsubishi Colt,Toyota Celica andTriumph Dolomite Sprint
| Outright position[1] | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
| Points if up to 3000cc[1] | 30 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Points if 3001-6000cc[1] | 25 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Points from the best six round results only could be retained by each driver.[1]
|
|
