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 Group C 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[edit]
The following drivers competed in the 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship.
| Driver | No[2][3][4][5] | Car[2][3][4][5] | Entrant[3][4][5] |
|---|---|---|---|
 Ian Geoghegan | 1 & 10 | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | Geoghegan's Sporty Cars |
| Fred Gibson | 1 | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | Road & Track Auto Services |
| Jim McKeown | 2 & 3 | Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV | Shell Racing Team |
| Kingsley Hibbard | 2 | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | Kingsley Hibbard |
| Clive Green | 4 | Ford Mustang | Shell Racing |
| John French | 4 | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | Bryan Byrt Ford |
| John Goss | 5 | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | McLeod Ford |
| Graham Blanchard | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro | Blanchard Motors |
| Mike Stillwell | 5 & 6 | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | BS Stillwell Ford |
| John Harvey | 7 | Holden HQ Monaro GTS350 | Bob Jane Racing |
| Mel McEwin | 8 | Toyota Corolla Sprinter | Mel McEwin |
 Allan Moffat | 9 | Ford Boss 302 Mustang | Allan Moffat Racing |
| Dick Johnson | 10 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Dick Johnson |
| Peter Brown | 11 | Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV | Alfa Romeo Australia |
| Don Holland | 13 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd |
| Bob Holden | 13 & 113 | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | Dr. Allan Hogan |
| Malcolm Ramsay | 14 | Holden HQ Kingswood | 5AD City State Racing Team |
| Clem Smith | 15 | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger | Clem Smith |
| Norm Watts | 15 | Ford Capri V6 | Motor Improvements |
| Arnold Ahrenfield | 16 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Arnold Ahrenfield |
| Graham Ryan | 17 | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger | Graham Ryan |
| Ted Brewster | 19 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | BP Southmark |
| John Stoopman | 19 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | John Stoopman |
| John Rushford | 24 | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | Rushford Engineering Co |
| Doug Chivas | 29 | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger | Liverpool Chrysler |
| Phil Brock | 32 | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger | Eastside Chrysler |
| Tom Naughton | 33 | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger | Eastside Chrysler |
| Tim Smith | 34 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | TS Smith |
| Colin Bond | 34 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team |
| Tony Allen | 35 | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger | Tony Allen |
| Norm Beechey | 40 | Holden HT Monaro GTS350 | Shell / Norm Beechey Racing |
| Lyndon Arnel | 43 | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | Tony Motson's Performance Tuning |
| Mike Gore | 45 | Ford Mustang | Mike Gore |
| Bob Connolly | 59 | Morris Cooper S | RA Connolly |
| Frank Porter | 59 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Frank Porter |
| Tony Watts | 64 | Morris Cooper S | Richard Locke Motor Engineering |
| Henry Price | 69 | Morris Clubman GT | Grand Prix Auto Service |
| Alan Braszell | 71 | Morris Cooper S | Alray Motors |
| Keith Henry | 71 | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | Keith Henry |
| George Giesberts | 72 | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Leach Motors |
| Bob Jane | 76 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 | Bob Jane Racing |
| Herb Taylor | 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 |
| Robin Bessant | 90 | Ford Mustang | Shell Racing |
| Norm Gown | 99 | Holden EH | Norm Gown |
Calendar[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Symmons Plains | Symmons Plains Raceway | Launceston, Tasmania | 6 March | Allan Moffat | Allan Moffat Racing |
| 2 | Calder | Calder Park Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 19 March | Bob Jane | Bob Jane Racing |
| 3 | Better Brakes 100[6] | Mount Panorama Circuit | Bathurst, New South Wales | 3 April | Ian Geoghegan | Geoghegan's Sporty Cars |
| 4 | Sandown | Sandown International Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 16 April | Allan Moffat | Allan Moffat Racing |
| 5 | Adelaide | Adelaide International Raceway | Adelaide, South Australia | 11 June | Bob Jane | Bob Jane Racing |
| 6 | Warwick Farm | Warwick Farm Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 9 July | Bob Jane | Bob Jane Racing |
| 7 | Surfers Paradise | Surfers Paradise International Raceway | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | 22 July | Bob Jane | Bob Jane Racing |
| 8 | Oran Park | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 6 August | Allan Moffat | Allan Moffat Racing |
Classes[edit]
Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:[1]
Points system[edit]
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 standings[edit]
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Notes and references[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Australian Title Conditions, 1972 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 86-90
- ^ a b c d e Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1989
- ^ a b c John Medley, Bathurst : cradle of Australian motor racing, 1997
- ^ a b c Official programme, Adelaide International Raceway, 11 June 1972
- ^ a b c d e Max Stahl, Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No. 1, (1972)
- ^ "1972 ATCC". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ Australian Motoring Yearbook (Incorporating Competition Yearbook) 1973 Edition
- ^ "Final Poinstcore" published in Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No 1, page 71 does not show Norm Watts as a pointscorer.
- ^ 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.