1972 Australian Touring Car Championship


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. 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.
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.
DriverNoCarEntrant
Ian Geoghegan1 & 10Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase IIIGeoghegan's Sporty Cars
Fred Gibson1Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase IIIRoad & Track Auto Services
Jim McKeown2 & 3Alfa Romeo 2000 GTVShell Racing Team
Kingsley Hibbard2Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase IIIKingsley Hibbard
Clive Green4Ford MustangShell Racing
John French4Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase IIIBryan Byrt Ford
John Goss5Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase IIIMcLeod Ford
Graham Blanchard5Chevrolet CamaroBlanchard Motors
Mike Stillwell5 & 6Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.IBS Stillwell Ford
John Harvey7Holden HQ Monaro GTS350Bob Jane Racing
Mel McEwin8Toyota Corolla SprinterMel McEwin
Allan Moffat9Ford Boss 302 MustangAllan Moffat Racing
Dick Johnson10Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1Dick Johnson
Peter Brown11Alfa Romeo 2000 GTVAlfa Romeo Australia
Don Holland13Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd
Bob Holden13 & 113Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.IDr. Allan Hogan
Malcolm Ramsay14Holden HQ Kingswood5AD City State Racing Team
Clem Smith15Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerClem Smith
Norm Watts15Ford Capri V6Motor Improvements
Arnold Ahrenfield16Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1Arnold Ahrenfield
Graham Ryan17Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerGraham Ryan
Ted Brewster19Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1BP Southmark
John Stoopman19Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1John Stoopman
John Rushford24Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.IRushford Engineering Co
Doug Chivas29Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerLiverpool Chrysler
Phil Brock32Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerEastside Chrysler
Tom Naughton33Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerEastside Chrysler
Tim Smith34Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1TS Smith
Colin Bond34Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1Holden Dealer Team
Tony Allen35Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerTony Allen
Norm Beechey40Holden HT Monaro GTS350Shell / Norm Beechey Racing
Lyndon Arnel43Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.ITony Motson's Performance Tuning
Mike Gore45Ford MustangMike Gore
Bob Connolly59Morris Cooper SRA Connolly
Frank Porter59Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1Frank Porter
Tony Watts64Morris Cooper SRichard Locke Motor Engineering
Henry Price69Morris Clubman GTGrand Prix Auto Service
Alan Braszell71Morris Cooper SAlray Motors
Keith Henry71Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.IKeith Henry
George Giesberts72Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1Leach Motors
Bob Jane76Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1Bob Jane Racing
Herb Taylor77Holden EHHerb Taylor
John Martin85Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1John Martin
Lawrie Nelson88Chrysler VH Valiant ChargerLawrie Nelson
Robin Bessant90Ford MustangShell Racing
Norm Gown99Holden EHNorm Gown

Calendar

The 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an eight-round series with one race per round.
Rd.Race TitleCircuitCity / StateDateWinnerTeamReport
1 Symmons PlainsSymmons Plains RacewayLaunceston, Tasmania6 MarchAllan MoffatAllan Moffat Racing
2 CalderCalder Park RacewayMelbourne, Victoria19 MarchBob JaneBob Jane Racing
3 Better Brakes 100Mount Panorama CircuitBathurst, New South Wales3 AprilIan GeogheganGeoghegan's Sporty Cars
4 SandownSandown International RacewayMelbourne, Victoria16 AprilAllan MoffatAllan Moffat Racing
5 AdelaideAdelaide International RacewayAdelaide, South Australia11 JuneBob JaneBob Jane Racing
6 Warwick FarmWarwick Farm RacewaySydney, New South Wales9 JulyBob JaneBob Jane Racing
7 Surfers ParadiseSurfers Paradise International RacewaySurfers Paradise, Queensland22 JulyBob JaneBob Jane Racing
8 Oran ParkOran Park RacewaySydney, New South Wales6 AugustAllan MoffatAllan Moffat Racing

Classes

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

Championship results