1998 Australian Super Touring Championship

The 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship was the sixth running of a CAMS sanctioned motor racing series in Australia under the Super Touring Car regulations and the fourth to carry the Australian Super Touring Championship name. It began on 5 April 1998 at Calder Park Raceway and ended on 30 August at Oran Park Raceway after eight rounds. The series was promoted by TOCA Australia as the 1998 BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship. As in the British Touring Car Championship the race format changed with each meeting now consisting a shorter "sprint" race and a "feature" race, 25% longer than previous races featuring a mandatory two-tyre stop to be taken between 15 and 75% distance. The one exception was the round at Lakeside Raceway where the pit lane was deemed unsuitable.

Team and Driver changes[]

• 1997 championship winners Paul Morris and BMW left the series as BMW scaled back its touring car operation.
• Volvo switched from the 850 to the new S40^[1] for Jim Richards.
• Cameron McLean drove the 1997 championship winning BMW^[2] switching from the Opel/Holden Vectra he raced in 1997.
• Tony Newman upgraded to an ex BTCC Peugeot 406^[3]
• Mark Adderton switched from the Phoenix Motorsport Toyota Camry to a Honda Accord.^[4]

Entry List[]

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship.

Team	Manufacturer	Car model	No	Driver
Audi Sport Australia	Audi	A4 Quattro	3	Cameron McConville
			4	Brad Jones
			14
TC Motorsport	Peugeot	406	10
		405 Mi16	38
AAP Racing	Toyota	Carina	11
Greenfield Mowers Racing	BMW	320i	12	Cameron McLean
Grid Motorsport	BMW	318i	13
Racing Projects	Honda	Accord	15
	Nissan	Primera	22
Bob Holden Motors	BMW	318i	16	Bob Holden
Carlos Rolfo	BMW	318i	20
M-F Racing	Peugeot	405 Mi16	21
Novacastrian Motorsport	BMW	320i	30
Volvo Dealer Racing	Volvo	S40	40	Jim Richards
Gun Racing	Alfa Romeo	155 TS	45
John Henderson Racing	Opel	Vectra	56
Triple P Racing	Hyundai	Lantra	58
Knight Racing	Ford	Mondeo	60	Warren Luff
			88
			89
Graham Dodd	Honda	Accord	69
Motorsport Developments	Toyota	Carina	77
Robert Tweedie	Vauxhall	Cavalier	79
Phoenix Motorsport	Toyota	Camry	95

Results and standings[]

Race calendar[]

The 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship was contested over eight rounds with two races per round.

Rd.	Race	Race title	Circuit	City / state	Date	Winner	Team
NC	1	Australian Grand Prix support	Albert Park Circuit	Melbourne, Victoria	6–7 Mar	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Australian Grand Prix support	Albert Park Circuit	Melbourne, Victoria	6–7 Mar	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
1	1	Calder	Calder Park Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	4–5 Apr	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Calder	Calder Park Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	4–5 Apr	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
2	1	Oran Park	Oran Park Raceway South Circuit	Sydney, New South Wales	26–27 Apr	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Oran Park	Oran Park Raceway South Circuit	Sydney, New South Wales	26–27 Apr	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
3	1	Phillip Island	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	16–17 May	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Phillip Island	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	16–17 May	Jim Richards	Volvo Dealer Racing
4	1	Eastern Creek	Eastern Creek Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	6–7 Jun	Jim Richards	Volvo Dealer Racing
	2	Eastern Creek	Eastern Creek Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	6–7 Jun	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
5	1	Lakeside	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	27–28 Jun	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Lakeside	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	27–28 Jun	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
6	1	Mallala	Mallala Motorsport Park	Adelaide, South Australia	18–19 Jul	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Mallala	Mallala Motorsport Park	Adelaide, South Australia	18–19 Jul	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
7	1	Winton	Winton Motor Raceway	Benalla, Victoria	8–9 Aug	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Winton	Winton Motor Raceway	Benalla, Victoria	8–9 Aug	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
8	1	Oran Park	Oran Park Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	29–30 Aug	Cameron McConville	Audi Sport Australia
	2	Oran Park	Oran Park Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	29–30 Aug	Brad Jones	Audi Sport Australia
NC	1	AMP Bathurst 1000	Mount Panorama Circuit	Bathurst, New South Wales	4 Oct	Rickard Rydell & Jim Richards	Volvo S40 Racing

Drivers Championship[]

Points were awarded 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 based on the top ten race positions in each race. There was a bonus point allocated for pole position.

Manufacturers Championship[]

Teams Championship[]

TOCA Challenge - Independents Cup[]

Independents Cup points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for relative positions achieved by drivers in entries nominated as Independents at each race.

The TOCA Challenge - Independents Cup was won by Cameron McLean in his Greenfield Mowers Racing-entered BMW 320i, scoring 205 points. Second was Mark Adderton on 151 points, and third was Peter Hills on 136 points.^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• 1998 Racing Results Archive at www.natsoft.com.au
• 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship at www.teamdan.com
• 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship entry list at www.supertouringregister.com