The 1981 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group D Production Sports Cars.[1] It was the thirteenth Australian Sports Car Championship[2] and the last to be restricted to cars complying with Group D regulations. The championship was won by John Latham, driving a Porsche Turbo.[3]
The championship was contested over a four-round series with Rounds 1, 2 and 3 each staged over two heats and Round 4 run as a single race.
| Round | Circuit | Location / state | Date | Heat 1 winner | Heat 2 winner | Round winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandown Park | Melbourne, Vic. | 22 February | John Latham | John Walker | John Latham | |
| 2 | Baskerville Raceway | Hobart, Tas. | 5 April | John Walker | John Latham | John Latham | |
| 3 | Winton Motor Raceway | Winton, Vic. | 23 August | Murray Bryden | John Latham | John Latham | |
| 4 | Calder Park Raceway | Melbourne, Vic. | 8 October | John Latham | N/A | John Latham |
Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:[1]
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the first six placings in each class at each round.[1] Bonus points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis for the top four placings irrespective of class at each round.[1]
Where rounds were run in multiple parts, drivers were allocated points on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first fourteen positions in each part.[1] These points were then aggregated to determine the placings for that round.[1]
| Position | Driver | Car | Entrant[4] | Class | San | Bas | Win | Cal | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Latham | Porsche Turbo | John Latham | A | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 52 | |
| 2 | Murray Bryden | Lotus Super 7 | Murray Bryden | B | 9 | 10 | 4 | - | 23 | |
| 3 | Peter Fitzgerald | Porsche Carrera | Lindsay Quinn Real Estate | A | 1 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 20 | |
| 4 | John Walker | Porsche Turbo | Magnum Wheels | A | 9 | 9 | DNS | DNS | 18 | |
| 5 | Lex Lasry | Triumph GT6 | Lex Lasry | B | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 16 | |
| 6 | Norman Carr | Austin-Healey Sprite Lotus Elan | Norman Carr | B | 2 | - | 2 | 11 | 15 | |
| 7 | Gordon Dobie | Datsun 260Z | Gordon Dobie | A | DNS | DNS | 8 | 5 | 13 | |
| 8 | Bernie Bisseling | Lotus Elan | Norman Carr | B | DNS | DNS | 12 | DNS | 12 | |
| 9 | Don Hume | Lotus 47 | Don Hume | B | 6 | 4 | 1 | DNS | 11 | |
| 10 | Dick Smith | Lotus Super 7 | Dick Smith | B | 4 | 6 | - | - | 10 | |
| 11 [5] | Rusty French [6] | De Tomaso Pantera | Rusty French | A | 4 [7] | 5 [8] | - | - | 9 | |
| 12 | Chris Swingler | Triumph TR7 | Chris Swingler | B | ? | ? | ? | ? | 8 | |
| 13 | Rex Colliver | Lotus Elan | R. Colliver [9] | B | ? | ? | ? | ? | 6 | |
| 14 | Ross Mathieson | Porsche Carrera | Ross Mathieson [10] | A | ? | ? | ? | ? | 4 | |
| 15 | Alan Edwards | Bolwell Nagari | Alan Edwards | A | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | |
| = | Geoff Munyard | Triumph TR4 | G. Westwell [11] | A | ? | ? | ? | ? | 2 |