Amazing piece of
Group C Touring Car History from
Symmons Plains Tasmania, the commentary from
ABC's Will Hagon &
John Smailes. This video dedicated to the late
Terry Marney (
SAAS) who funded
Allan Grice to compete in this event. All credit to
ABC Sport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Australian_Touring_Car_Championship
1984 saw the first ever
ATCC race win by a turbocharged car when
George Fury won the 6th round at a wet
Lakeside Raceway just north of
Brisbane driving a
Nissan Bluebird Turbo.
Peter Brock, driving a
Marlboro Holden Dealer Team entered
Holden Commodore, was the only driver to win more than once, with victories in the opening rounds at
Sandown and Symmons Plains.
Johnson's only win in the series was at the 4th round at
Surfers Paradise, though he never finished lower than 3rd in any other round. Allan Grice won the last round at
Adelaide, and thus the distinction of winning the last ATCC race run under
Group C rules. Defending champion
Allan Moffat only won one round of the series, at
Wanneroo Park, and suffered a crash at Surfers Paradise in which he not only wrote off his
Mazda RX-7, but also broke bones in his right hand and suffered a fractured sternum, forcing him out of the series. The only other winner was former champion
Bob Morris who introduced some flavour to the series when he made a comeback to the sport in 1984, winning Round 5 at
Oran Park in an
RX-7 fitted with a standard gearbox after the race unit was broken in practice. Holden Commodore driver
Warren Cullen was the only driver other than
Dick Johnson to finish every round of the series.
Unfortunately for the final ATCC run under the local Group C rules, with the exception of Dick Johnson,
Jim Richards contesting his first ATCC in his
JPS Team BMW 635 CSi, Warren Cullen's two car
Commodore team backed by
K-Mart (with new team mate
Andrew Harris in his
1982 and
1983 Bathurst winning ex-HDT Commodore), and 1983
Australian Endurance Champion Peter McLeod in his
Slick 50 Mazda RX-7, the series was devoid of many of its big name drivers from mid-season. Peter Brock missed both
Queensland rounds due to his commitment to race a
Porsche 956 with his Bathurst winning co-driver
Larry Perkins at the
1000 km of Silverstone and
24 Hours of Le Mans races and was substituted in both races by team mate
John Harvey having his first ATCC drive since
1979. After the
Roadways Racing team lost their
STP sponsorship (though still running a single car for
Steve Harrington), Allan Grice struggled to find enough sponsorship to run his rented Roadways Commodore for the entire series and missed most of the mid-season rounds, during which time he drove the ex-Bob
Jane DeKon
Chevrolet Monza on his way to winning the
Australian GT Championship, and he also drove at
Le Mans in a Porsche 956. George Fury was also missing mid-season when Nissan team boss
Howard Marsden decided to concentrate on car development, while reigning champion
Moffat missed the last three rounds of the series through injury.
The 1984 ATCC saw the ABC televise each round of the series live throughout
Australia. It was the first time that one television station had covered the entire series, previously the ABC and
Channel 7 had shared the broadcast rights. It would be the last time the ABC covered the ATCC as Seven took over from
1985 when the locally developed Group C rules were replaced by the
FIA's
Group A touring car regulations
- published: 27 Mar 2016
- views: 20