1991 Australian Touring Car season

The 1991 Australian Touring Car season was the 32nd year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500.

There were 12 touring car race meetings held during 1991; a nine-round series, the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC); a support programme event at the 1991 Australian Grand Prix and two long distance races, nicknamed 'enduros' which made up the 1991 Australian Endurance Championship.

Season review

1991 was the low point for Group A touring car racing in Australia as grid numbers plunged in a harsh economic climate. Just eleven cars entered the Wanneroo round of the ATCC and just fifteen started the once prestigious Sandown 500.

On track the Touring Car Championship was dominated by the Gibson Motorsport prepared Nissan Skyline GT-Rs of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife. Tony Longhursts new 2.5 litre evolution spec BMW M3 was the only car to interrupt the clean sweep. A final round DNF for Richards was not enough to take the title away, despite Skaife scoring more points over the course of the season. With only the best eight results counting Richards won the championship by five points. Gibson Motor Sport did not appear at the Sandown 500, but Nissan still won through the Bob Forbes Racing car (built by Gibson) driven by Mark Gibbs and Formula Holden ace Rohan Onslow. Richards and Skaife then swept all before them at the 1991 Tooheys 1000, establishing a race record that stood until 2010. Third placing at Bathurst gave the Australian Endurance Championship to Gibbs and Onslow.

1991 also saw Peter Brock return to driving a Holden VN Commodore after a single season driving a BMW M3 (1988) and a Ford Sierra RS500 in 1989 and 1990. Brock's Mobil 1 Racing joined forces with Perkins Engineering run by his former Bathurst 1000 co-winner Larry Perkins to run a pair of the new Group A VN Commodore's.

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 1991 Australian touring car season consisted of 12 events.

Date Series Circuit City / state Winner Team Car Report
24 Feb ATCC Round 1 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
10 Mar ATCC Round 2 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
14 Apr ATCC Round 3 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia Mark Skaife Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
28 Apr ATCC Round 4 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
5 May ATCC Round 5 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
2 Jun ATCC Round 6 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Tony Longhurst Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution
23 Jun ATCC Round 7 Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia Mark Skaife Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
14 Jul ATCC Round 8 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland Tony Longhurst Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution
11 Aug ATCC Round 9 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Mark Skaife Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
8 Sep Don't Drink Drive Sandown 500 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Mark Gibbs
Rohan Onslow		 Bob Forbes Racing Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R report
6 Oct Tooheys 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales Jim Richards
Mark Skaife		 Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R report
3 Nov Hush Puppies Olympic Group A Challenge Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R

Australian Touring Car Championship
Main article: 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship

Don't Drink Drive Sandown 500
Main article: 1991 Don't Drink Drive Sandown 500

Tooheys 1000
Main article: 1991 Tooheys 1000

Hush Puppies Olympic Group A Challenge

This meeting was a support event of the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

Driver No. Team Car Race 1 Race 2
New Zealand Jim Richards 1 Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 1 1
Australia Glenn Seton 30 Peter Jackson Racing Ford Sierra RS500 3 2
Australia Larry Perkins 11 Mobil 1 Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 6 3
Australia John Bowe 18 Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500 9 4
Australia Peter Brock 05 Mobil 1 Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 7 5
Australia Dick Johnson 17 Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500 8 6
Australia Colin Bond 8 Caltex CXT Racing Ford Sierra RS500 10 7
Australia Alan Jones 20 Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution 5 8
Australia Graham Moore 42 Perkins Engineering Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 9
Australia Peter Gazzard 13 Captain Peter Janson Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 10
Indonesia Chandra Alim Indonesian Racing Team Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 11
Australia Bob Jones 21 Ampol Max 3 Racing Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 12
Australia John Cotter 52 M3 Motorsport BMW M3 DNF
Indonesia Hutomo Mandala Putra Indonesian Racing Team Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV DNF
United Kingdom Win Percy 16 Holden Racing Team Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 2 DNF
Australia Tony Longhurst 25 Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution 4 DNF

References

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