1983 Australian Endurance Championship Explained

The 1983 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Touring Cars.^[1] The championship was contested over a six-round series with all rounds run concurrently with those of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship of Makes.^[2]

Wollongong based Peter McLeod's consistent run over the series which saw him score points in all but the Castrol 400 at Sandown, won his first (and only) touring car championship driving his Slick 50 sponsored Mazda RX-7. Second was the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of triple Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards, with Nissan Motorsport driver George Fury third in his Bluebird Turbo.

Fury, who won the opening two rounds of the series, and the Holden Dealer Team's star driver Peter Brock, who won the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst and the final round in Adelaide, were the only multiple winners in the 1983 AEC (though Brock received no points from his Bathurst win due to it being in the team's second car and not his nominated one; also surprisingly one of his co-drivers, Larry Perkins, did receive points for the win). The other winners were 1983 ATCC winner Allan Moffat who drove his Mazda RX-7 to victory in the Castrol 400, and Allan Grice who drove his Roadways Commodore to victory at Surfers Paradise.

Calendar

Rd.	Race title	Circuit	City/Town	Date	Winner/s	Car	Team	Number	Report
1	Silastic 300	Amaroo Park	Annangrove	7 August	George Fury	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	Nissan Motor Co.
2	Oran Park 250	Oran Park	Narellan	21 August	George Fury	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	Nissan Motor Co.
3	Castrol 400	Sandown	Melbourne	11 September	Allan Moffat	Mazda RX-7	Peter Stuyvesant International Racing	43	Report
4	James Hardie 1000	Mount Panorama	Bathurst	2 October	John Harvey Peter Brock Larry Perkins	Holden VH Commodore SS	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	25	Report
5	Motorcraft 300	Surfers Paradise	Gold Coast	30 October	Allan Grice	Holden VH Commodore SS	STP Roadways Racing	6
6	Humes Guardrail 300	Adelaide International Raceway	Adelaide	20 November	Peter Brock	Holden VH Commodore SS	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	05	Report

Class structure

Cars competed in two engine displacement classes:

Up to 3000cc
Over 3000cc

Points structure

Championship points were awarded to the top twenty finishers at each round according to the outright position attained. If two drivers shared a car the points were split between the two drivers, except at Round 4 where two driver combinations were mandated by regulations, removing the single driver option. Full points to both drivers were awarded. The exception appears to have been made for third drivers however as Peter Brock received no points for winning Round 4 alongside Larry Perkins and John Harvey.:

Outright Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Up to 3000cc	30	27	24	21	19	17	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
Over 3000cc	25	23	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	0	0

Results

Position	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Points
1	Peter McLeod	50	Mazda RX-7	Petrolon Slick 50	10	10	-	15	20	17	72
2	Jim Richards	31	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW	15	5	23	-	11	13	67
3	George Fury	55 & 15	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	Nissan Motor Co. Australia	25	25	-	-	-	-	50
4	Allan Moffat	43	Mazda RX-7	Peter Stuyversant International Racing	-	-	25	23	-	-	48
5	Allan Grice	6	Holden VH Commodore SS	STP Roadways Racing	-	-	-	20	25	-	45
6	Gregg Hansford	34	Mazda RX-7	Peter Stuyversant International Racing	-	15	6.5	-	23	-	44.5
7	Terry Finnigan	10	Holden VH Commodore SS	Terry Finnigan	8.5	13	-	-	17	-	38.5
=8	Larry Perkins	05 & 25	Holden VH Commodore SS	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	11.5	-	-	25	-	-	36.5
=8	Peter Brock	05	Holden VH Commodore SS	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	11.5	-	-	-	-	25	36.5

References

CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1983, page 95
Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1983/84, pages 288–311

External links

Images from the 1983 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, www.autopics.com.au