1982 Australian GT Championship


The 1982 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group D GT cars and Group B Sports Sedans. It was the fifth Australian GT Championship, the first to be awarded since 1963 and the first to be contested over a series of races rather than a single race. The GT championship replaced the Australian Sports Sedan Championship which had been awarded annually from 1976 to 1981. The 1982 title, which was contested over a nine-round series from 16 May to 10 October, was won by Alan Jones driving a Porsche 935/80 entered by Porsche Cars Australia.
The championship was dominated by Formula One World Drivers' Champion Alan Jones who went through the season undefeated. His closest on-track rival was multiple Bathurst winner and former Australian Touring Car Champion Peter Brock, driving a Bob Jane owned 6.0L V8 Chevrolet Monza. Brock placed fifth in the championship, having contested four of the nine rounds. Brock and the Monza were often faster in qualifying than the turbocharged Porsche. However, he was rarely able to maintain his tyres for the entire race duration and subsequently always finished second best. Although Alan Jones won every round, his battles with Peter Brock are regarded by those who witnessed it as some of the closest and best racing seen to that point in Australian motor racing history.
Rusty French placed second in the championship driving a Porsche 935/77A, 45 points behind Jones. Jones' Porsche Cars Australia teammate Colin Bond placed third driving a turbocharged Porsche 944, with the 1981 Australian Sports Sedan Champion Tony Edmondson placed fourth in the championship winning Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet owned by Don Elliot.

Schedule

The championship was contested over a nine-round series.
RoundCircuitDateFormatRound winnerCar
1Winton Motor Raceway16 MayTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
2Oran Park Raceway6 JuneOne raceAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
3Lakeside International Raceway20 JuneTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
4Adelaide International Raceway4 JulyOne raceAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
5Wanneroo Park11 JulyTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
6Calder Park Raceway1 AugustTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
7Surfers Paradise International Raceway29 AugustTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
8Symmons Plains Raceway19 SeptemberTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80
9Baskerville Raceway10 OctoberTwo racesAlan JonesPorsche 935/80

Points system

Points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the top six finishers in each round. Where rounds were contested over two races, points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first 14 positions in each race. These points were then aggregated to determine the first six-round positions for the purpose of championship points allocation.

Results

Championship name

Sources vary as to the actual name of the championship. The 1982 CAMS Manual uses "Australian Sports Sedan Championship" as does the Official Souvenir Programme for the 4th round of the championship at Adelaide International Raceway. Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1982/93 uses "Australian GT/Sports Sedan Championship, as does Racing Car News, November 1982. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport recognises Alan Jones as the winner of the "1982 Australian GT Championship" in its "Australian Titles" document.