1988 Australian Touring Car Championship


The 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group 3A Touring Cars. It was the 29th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The championship began on 6 March at Calder Park Raceway and ended on 17 July at Oran Park Raceway after nine rounds.
The championship was won by Dick Johnson driving a Ford Sierra RS500.
The 1988 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was contested over the same nine round series. Points were awarded only for class placings and each manufacturer could count only its best eight round results. The title was shared by Ford, which won the 3001 to 6000cc class in all nine rounds, BMW, which won the 2001 to 3000cc class in eight rounds, and Toyota, which won the Up to 2000cc class in every round.

Season summary

The championship was dominated by those driving the Ford Sierra RS500, specifically the Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Sierras of Dick Johnson and John Bowe. Between them the pair won eight of the nine rounds with team owner Johnson winning his 4th touring car championship. Tony Longhurst was the only other driver to win a round in his Freeport Racing Sierra. Longhurst won Round 6 at Lakeside from Johnson after Dick was penalised 1 minute for jumping the start.
With Sierras winning each round of the championship, 1988 was the first time since the Holden Torana A9Xs of 1979 that a single model car had won each round of the championship. Up to and including the 2016 V8 Supercar Championship Series, such single model domination has not been seen since in Australian touring car racing.
Due to the speed and increased reliability of the near turbocharged Sierras, the, 2.3 L, Naturally aspirated BMW M3, now being run by Peter Brock's Mobil 1 Racing was reduced to a class car rather than the outright winner it was in 1987. Defending champion Jim Richards, new to the Mobil team in 1988, had a best finish of 3rd at Winton, while Brock could finish no higher than 4th in the dry-wet-dry round at Wanneroo Park despite being one of the few drivers to remain on slicks after the rain caused mayhem and mid-race restart. Unfortunately for the Mobil team, the advantage the M3s had in both handling and brakes was not enough to combat the outright power of the Sierras.
After two seasons with the old Skyline DR30 RS, Nissan debuted their new turbocharged, Straight-6, Skyline HR31 GTS-R for 1987 drivers Glenn Seton and George Fury and were expected to challenge the Sierras. However, the team's testing and development of the GTS-R was in the races due to the late arrival of parts from Japan and the cars did not have the speed or reliability of the Fords with a best finish of 3rd for Fury at Amaroo Park. Unfortunately for Fred Gibson's team, the Australian racing program had fallen behind both the Japanese domestic scene as well as the European Touring Car Championship campaign run by Howard Marsden in importance to Nismo in 1988 and as such the Gibson Team had a late arrival for their cars and did not appear until Round 5 in Adelaide with a single car for Fury. Other problems for the new Skyline turbos included the cars being approximately over their homologated weight, a production rather than racing gear box which developed a bad habit of locking in gear under the greater stress of racing, as well as the straight rather than V6 engine which, with two of the six cylinders being over the front axle caused understeer which the team took some time to overcome. After Adelaide, Fury and Seton then alternated drives in the team's car until a second Skyline appeared at the penultimate round at Amaroo. Fury then stepped aside at the final round at Oran Park to allow 1987 Australian 2.0 Litre Champion Mark Skaife to drive in his ATCC debut. Seton, who had finished second in the 1987 ATCC, would finish the series in 15th place while Fury fared marginally better finishing 13th.
Delays in the building of the new fuel injected Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV also saw to it that the factory Holden challenge, headed by Larry Perkins and his team in the 1987 model 'HDT' VL with backing from Holden Special Vehicles, was almost non-existent. Perkins best finish was 3rd at Sandown in Round 7, greatly helped by the number of retirements from the front running Sierras and the still bug riddled Nissan driven that weekend by Fury. Although supported by numerous privateer Commodores, Perkins played virtually a lone hand for Holden as regular Commodore racer Allan Grice was racing a GTS-R for Nissan in the ETCC and Brock was now racing for BMW. Although the Commodore was producing approximately from its V8 engine, as usual its weight saw the big car unable to live with the lighter turbocharged Sierra's, the short of development Skylines and the nimble M3's in the shorter races on the tighter tracks used in the championship with tyres and brakes being the usual issues. Perkins' own retirement in 3 of the 8 rounds also killed any chance of a Holden driver taking the series from the all-conquering Fords.
1988 saw the last ever ATCC race held at the 2.41 km Adelaide International Raceway, which had held at least one round of the series every year since the circuit opened in 1972, with victory predictably going to the Ford Sierra RS500 of Dick Johnson. From 1989, the South Australian round of the series would be held at the track AIR replaced on the ATCC calendar in 1972, Mallala Motor Sport Park.
The year also saw four-time champion Allan Moffat return to the series for the first time since 1984. Moffat had managed to convince Reudi Eggenberger to build him a customer Sierra RS500 to run in Australia. With sponsorship from ANZ Bank, Allan Moffat Racing joined the series from Round 4 at Wanneroo Park. Running a conservative program while his team learned about the Sierra, Moffat did not have the pace of the Johnson cars, or the Sierras of Tony Longhurst, Andrew Miedecke and Colin Bond. Moffat's best finish was third in Round 6 at Lakeside. Despite the disqualification of the Eggenberger Sierras at the 1987 James Hardie 1000, Moffat had no problems with scrutineering, unlike 1986 ATCC champion Robbie Francevic whose Sierra, built in West Germany by Walter Wolf Racing, raced under protest in Round 3 at Winton before the car was ruled illegal before the start of practice for Round 5 at Adelaide. Although Francevic contended his car was legal, they were his only appearances in the championship.

Teams and drivers

The following drivers and teams competed in the 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship.
TeamCarNoDriverRounds
Mobil 1 Racing
BMW M31 Jim Richards1, 3–9
Mobil 1 Racing
BMW M31 David Parsons2
Mobil 1 Racing
BMW M305 Peter BrockAll
Mobil 1 Racing
BMW M37 Neil Crompton8–9
Freeport MotorsportFord Sierra RS5003 Tony LonghurstAll
Caltex CXT Racing TeamFord Sierra RS5004 Colin BondAll
Miedecke MotorsportFord Sierra RS5006 Andrew MiedeckeAll
Miedecke MotorsportFord Sierra RS5008 Andrew BagnallAll
Allan Moffat RacingFord Sierra RS5009 Allan Moffat4–8
Allan Moffat RacingFord Sierra RS5009 Gregg Hansford9
Holden Special VehiclesHolden VL Commodore SS Group A11 Larry PerkinsAll
Peter McLeodHolden VL Commodore SS Group A12 Peter McLeod1–5
Bob Holden MotorsToyota Sprinter AE8613 Bob Holden1–3, 5
Bob Holden MotorsToyota Sprinter AE8651 Dennis Rogers8–9
Netcomm AustraliaFord Sierra RS50014 Murray Carter1, 9
Netcomm AustraliaNissan Skyline DR30 RS14 Murray Carter2–5, 7–8
Peter Jackson Nissan RacingNissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R15 Glenn Seton8–9
Peter Jackson Nissan RacingNissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R30 George Fury5–9
Peter Jackson Nissan RacingNissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R30 Mark Skaife-
Ralliart AustraliaMitsubishi Starion turbo16 Gary Scott5–6, 8–9
Shell Ultra-Hi RacingFord Sierra RS50017 Dick JohnsonAll
Shell Ultra-Hi RacingFord Sierra RS50018 John BoweAll
Terry FinniganHolden VL Commodore SS Group A20 Terry Finnigan8
Craig KinmothHolden VK Commodore SS Group A21 Craig Kinmoth6
Lusty EngineeringHolden VL Commodore SS Group A22 Graham Lusty1, 3, 5, 7, 9
Peter FitzgeraldHolden VK Commodore SS Group A23 Peter Fitzgerald2
JagpartsHolden VK Commodore SS Group A24 Gerald KayAll
Robbie FrancevicFord Sierra RS50025 Robbie Francevic3, 5
Kalari Transport ServicesHolden VK Commodore SS Group A26 Tony Noske1–7
Ray GulsonBMW 635 CSi27 Ray Gulson1–5
Ray GulsonBMW 635 CSi27 Graham Gulson-
Capri ComponentsFord Mustang GT28 Lawrie Nelson1, 3, 5, 7
Toyota Team AustraliaToyota Corolla29 John Faulkner3, 5–9
Toyota Team AustraliaToyota Corolla31 John Smith5–8
Toyota Team AustraliaToyota Corolla32 Drew Price1–7
Ian LoveFord Mustang GT31 Ian Love1, 3–4
Colin FultonNissan Gazelle33 Colin Fulton1–3, 5
Phil Ward RacingMercedes-Benz 190E34 Phil Ward3, 6, 9
Phil Ward RacingMercedes-Benz 190E35Llynden Reithmuller6
Everlast Battery ServiceHolden VL Commodore SS Group A36 Bill O'Brien1–2, 6–7, 9
Wayne CliftHolden VK Commodore SS Group A38 Wayne Clift6
Lansvale Racing TeamHolden VL Commodore SS Group A39 Steve Reed5–6, 9
Lansvale Racing TeamHolden VL Commodore SS Group A39 Trevor Ashby8
John LeesonHolden VL Commodore SS Group A40 John Leeson5
Steve WilliamsHolden VK Commodore SS Group A42 Steve Williams6–9
Tony MulvihillHolden VK Commodore SS Group A44 Tony Mulvihill1, 5, 7
Lester SmerdonHolden VK Commodore SS Group A45 Lester Smerdon6
Sunline CaravansHolden VK Commodore SS Group A46 Tony Hunter1–3, 7
Brian CallaghanHolden VK Commodore SS Group A47 Brian Callaghan8–9
Brian CallaghanHolden VK Commodore SS Group A47 Barry Graham-
Wayne ParkHolden VL Commodore SS Group A48 Wayne Park6, 8
John FarrellHolden VK Commodore SS Group A52 John Farrell4
Paul TrevathanMitsubishi Starion69 Paul Trevathan3, 8
Graeme HooleyHolden VK Commodore SS Group A71 Graeme Hooley4
Murphy Johnson Imported CarsAlfa Romeo 75 Turbo75 Gerard Murphy1, 8
Brian BolwellBMW 323i78 Brian Bolwell3, 7
Marc DucquetToyota Sprinter AE8679 Marc Ducquet8–9
Ian MayberryBMW 323i80 Ian Mayberry-
GemsparesIsuzu Gemini ZZ86 Daryl Hendrick1–5, 7, 9
Joe SommarivaBMW 635 CSi87 Joe Sommariva1–2, 5, 7–8
David SalaIsuzu Gemini PF6088 David Sala1
David SalaIsuzu Gemini PF6088 David Smart7
Ray LintottToyota Corolla89 Ray Lintott9

Race calendar

The 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over a nine-round series with each round being a single race of just under one hour in duration. This would be the 15th and last time the Adelaide International Raceway hosted an ATCC race having first hosted a round in 1972.
Rd.Race TitleCircuitCity / StateDateWinnerCarTeamReport
1Calder ParkCalder Park RacewayMelbourne, Victoria6 March Dick JohnsonFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
2LauncestonSymmons Plains RacewayLaunceston, Tasmania13 March Dick JohnsonFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
3WintonWinton Motor RacewayBenalla, Victoria10 April John BoweFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
4PerthWanneroo ParkPerth, Western Australia24 April Dick JohnsonFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
5AdelaideAdelaide International RacewayVirginia, South Australia1 May Dick JohnsonFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
6LakesideLakeside International RacewayBrisbane, Queensland22 May Tony LonghurstFord Sierra RS500Freeport Motorsport
7SandownSandown RacewayMelbourne, Victoria29 May Dick JohnsonFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
8Amaroo ParkAmaroo ParkSydney, New South Wales19 June John BoweFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
9Oran ParkOran Park RacewaySydney, New South Wales17 July Dick JohnsonFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing

Points system

Points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the top ten race positions at each round. Only the best eight results could be retained by each driver.

Championship standings