1972 Australian Touring Car Championship

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The 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title open to Improved Production Touring Cars and Group E Series Production Touring Cars.[1] The championship, which was the 13th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship, began at Symmons Plains and ended at Oran Park after eight rounds.[2]

1972 would be the final time the Improved Production cars would contest the ATCC. From 1973, CAMS introduced a new production based Group C touring car formula. Outright cars like the Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, Norm Beechey's Holden Monaro and Ian Geoghegan's Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III would be replaced with production based Ford Falcons and Holden Toranas. Many Improved Production cars would end up racing as Sports Sedans in the following years.

Defending champion Bob Jane won his fourth and final Australian Touring Car Championship in his Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1. Unlike 1971 when Jane's Camaro used the 7.0 litre 427 V8 engine, CAMS rule changes reducing the engine capacity limit to 6000cc him forced to run the 5.7 litre 350 V8. Second in the championship was the Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.1 of Mike Stillwell whose consistent placings in the under 2.0 litre class saw him finish 11 points behind Jane. Third was Allan Moffat in his Ford Boss 302 Mustang.

Although he was not classified after not scoring a point, the 1972 championship saw Peter Brock make his ATCC debut driving a Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 for Harry Firth's Holden Dealer Team.

Teams and drivers[]

The following drivers competed in the 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship. Only drivers who scored championship points are listed.

Driver No[2][3][4][5] Car[2][3][4][5] Entrant[3][4][5]
Australia Ian Geoghegan 1 & 10 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Geoghegan's Sporty Cars
Australia Fred Gibson 1 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Road & Track Auto Services
Australia Jim McKeown 2 & 3 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Shell Racing Team
Australia 2 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Kingsley Hibbard
Australia 4 Ford Mustang Shell Racing
Australia John French 4 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Bryan Byrt Ford
Australia John Goss 5 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III McLeod Ford
Australia 5 Chevrolet Camaro Blanchard Motors
Australia 5 & 6 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I BS Stillwell Ford
Australia John Harvey 7 Holden HQ Monaro GTS350 Bob Jane Racing
Australia 8 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Mel McEwin
Canada Allan Moffat 9 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Allan Moffat Racing
Australia Dick Johnson 10 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Dick Johnson
Australia 11 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Alfa Romeo Australia
Australia 13 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd
Australia Bob Holden 13 & 113 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Dr. Allan Hogan
14 Holden HQ Kingswood 5AD City State Racing Team
Australia 15 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Clem Smith
Australia 15 Ford Capri V6 Motor Improvements
16 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Arnold Ahrenfield
Australia 17 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Graham Ryan
Australia 19 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 BP Southmark
19 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 John Stoopman
Australia 24 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Rushford Engineering Co
Australia Doug Chivas 29 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Liverpool Chrysler
Australia 32 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Eastside Chrysler
Australia 33 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Eastside Chrysler
Australia 34 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 TS Smith
Australia Colin Bond 34 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Holden Dealer Team
35 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Tony Allen
Australia Norm Beechey 40 Holden HT Monaro GTS350 Shell / Norm Beechey Racing
Australia 43 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Tony Motson's Performance Tuning
45 Ford Mustang Mike Gore
Australia 59 Morris Cooper S RA Connolly
59 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Frank Porter
Australia 64 Morris Cooper S Richard Locke Motor Engineering
Australia 69 Morris Clubman GT Grand Prix Auto Service
Australia 71 Morris Cooper S Alray Motors
Australia 71 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Keith Henry
Australia 72 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Leach Motors
Australia Bob Jane 76 Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 Bob Jane Racing
77 Holden EH Herb Taylor
John Martin 85 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 John Martin
Lawrie Nelson 88 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Lawrie Nelson
Australia 90 Ford Mustang Shell Racing
99 Holden EH Norm Gown
  Two litre class competitors

Calendar[]

The 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an eight-round series with one race per round.[5]

Rd. Race title Circuit City / state Date[5] Winner Team Report
1 Australia Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6 March Allan Moffat Allan Moffat Racing
2 Australia Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 19 March Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
3 Australia Better Brakes 100[6] Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 3 April Ian Geoghegan Geoghegan's Sporty Cars
4 Australia Sandown Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 16 April Allan Moffat Allan Moffat Racing
5 Australia Adelaide Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 11 June Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
6 Australia Warwick Farm Warwick Farm Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 9 July Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
7 Australia Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 22 July Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
8 Australia Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 6 August Allan Moffat Allan Moffat Racing

Classes[]

Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:[1]

  • Up to and including 2000cc[1]
  • Over 2000cc[1]

Points system[]

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the first six placings in each class at each round.[1] In addition, points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis for the first four outright placings, irrespective of class, at each round.[1] The title was awarded to the driver gaining the highest total of points in any seven of the eight rounds.[1]

Championship results[]

Pos Driver[2] Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts[2]
1 Bob Jane 2nd(9) 1st(13) Ret 2nd(9) 1st(13) 1st(13) 1st(13) 3rd(6) 76
2 5th(9) 6th(9) 6th(9) 7th(9) 6th(9) 4th(10) 4th(10) 65
3 Allan Moffat 1st(13) Ret 2nd(9) 1st(13) 4th(4) DSQ 10th(1) 1st(13) 53
4 Ian Geoghegan Ret 3rd(6) 1st(13) Ret 2nd(9) DNS Ret 2nd(9) 37
Bob Holden Ret 7th(6) (4) 9th(6) 7th(6) 7th(6) Ret 9th(9) 37
6 3rd(6) 2nd(9) Ret 3rd(6) 2nd(9) DNS Ret 30
7 Dick Johnson 3rd(6) 3rd(6) 4th(4) 16
8 Peter Brown (3) (4) 8th(4) 8th(4) 15
9 John Harvey 2nd(9) Ret 9
10th(4) (3) (2) 9
11 John Goss 3rd(6) 5th(2) 8
4th(4) 4th(4) 8
13 Norm Beechey Ret Ret Ret 3rd(6) DNS DNS 6
7th(6) 6
Jim McKeown DNS 7th(6) Ret 6
7th(6) 6
17 Fred Gibson 4th(4) 4
4th(4) 4
5th(2) 5th(2) 4
5th(3) 6th(1) 4
8th(4) 4
22 John French 5th(3) 3
9th(3) 3
10th(3) 3
9th(3) 3
26 Doug Chivas 5th(2) 2
5th(2) 2
6th(2) 2
Colin Bond 10th 6th(2) 2
6th(2) 2
(2) 2
32 6th(1) 1
8th(1) 9th 1
9th 8th(1) 1
8th(1) 1
9th(1) 1
- 10th[7] (-) 0[8][9]
Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd 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)
  Two litre class competitors

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Australian Title Conditions, 1972 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 86-90
  2. ^ a b c d e Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1989
  3. ^ a b c John Medley, Bathurst : cradle of Australian motor racing, 1997
  4. ^ a b c Official programme, Adelaide International Raceway, 11 June 1972
  5. ^ a b c d e Max Stahl, Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No. 1, (1972)
  6. ^ "1972 ATCC". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  7. ^ Australian Motoring Yearbook (Incorporating Competition Yearbook) 1973 Edition
  8. ^ "Final Poinstcore" published in Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No 1, page 71 does not show Norm Watts as a pointscorer.
  9. ^ 30 Fabulous Years lists Norm Watts as scoring 4 points for the Warwick Farm round. The Official Programme for that round shows Watts entered in the Over 2000cc class in a 2998cc Ford Capri V6. Results for the round published in Australian Motoring Yearbook show Watts placed 11th outright in a Ford Capri V6 behind Moffat (Excluded) and seven other competitors in cars which are listed in the Official Programme as being in the Over 2000cc class and two which are listed as being in the Up to 2000cc class. 30 Fabulous Years would appear to be incorrect in giving Watts 4 points for this round.

External links[]

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