Australian GT Production Car Championship explained

Category:Production car racing
Inaugural:1994
Country/Region:Australia
Folded:2002
Champion Driver:Brett Peters

The Australian GT Production Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title, organised by Procar Australia Pty Ltd, for drivers of Group 3E Series Production Cars.

PROCAR had first promoted a national series for production based cars in 1994. This “Australian Super Production Car Series” accommodated numerous models (including high performance GT type cars) which were not eligible for the official Australian Production Car Championship, which at the time had tightened regulations in the interests of cost-control and was limited to vehicles with an engine capacity of less than 2.5 litres. The PROCAR series was renamed the “Australian GT Production Car Series” for 1995. For 1996 the series was given full CAMS national title status to become the Australian GT Production Car Championship while the Australian Production Car Championship itself was discontinued after the 1995 title.

In 2000 the “GT “cars were moved to a new Australian Nations Cup Championship with the remaining vehicles left to contest the Australian GT Production Car Championship. 2001 saw the Australian GT Production Car Championship contested in two parts with the higher performance “GT Performance” cars and the lesser “GT Production” cars running in separate races but still competing for an overall Australian GT Production Car Championship as well as separate class awards. In 2003 the “GT Performance” class cars competed for the first time for an official Australian GT Performance Car Championship whilst the former “GT Production” class cars would contest the newly re-instituted Australian Production Car Championship.

Since then the term GT Production was revived in 2008 as a sub-class of the Australian GT Championship, where it is broadly used to describe GT cars with origins closer to production cars than Grand Tourers.

Champions

Australian GT Production Car Series

YearWinnerCarClassWinnerCar
1995Jim RichardsPorsche 968CS & Porsche 911 RSCSBChris SextonFord Falcon XR6
CMilton LeslightPeugeot 405

Australian GT Production Car Championship

YearChampionCarClassChampionCar
1996Cameron McConvillePorsche 911 RSCSACameron McConvillePorsche 911 RSCS
BJohn BourkeSubaru Impreza WRX
CChris SextonFord EL Falcon XR6
DChris KousparisMazda 626
EAndrej PavicevicSuzuki Swift GTi
1997Peter FitzgeraldPorsche 911 RSCSAPeter FitzgeraldPorsche 911 RSCS
BAndrej PavicevicSubaru Impreza WRX
CChris SextonFord EL Falcon XR6
DBeric LyntonBMW 323i
ETrevor HainesFord Laser TX3
1998Domenic BenincaPorsche 911 RSCSADomenic BenincaPorsche 911 RSCS
BChris KousparisSubaru Impreza WRX
CDavid RatcliffeToyota Camry
DRic ShawToyota MR2
ENigel StonesSuzuki Swift GTi
1999Jim RichardsPorsche 911 RSCSAJim RichardsPorsche 911 RSCS
BGeoff FullSubaru Impreza WRX
CPeter PhelanHolden VT Commodore SS
DPhil KirkhamMazda 626
EKosi KalaitzidisProton M21
SRic ShawToyota MR2
2000Mark KingMitsubishi Lancer Evo VAMark KingMitsubishi Lancer Evo V
BDavid WoodHonda Integra Type R
CJames PhilipFord AU Falcon XR8
DDaryl CoonFord AU Falcon XR6
EKosi KalaitzidisProton M21
Proton Satria GTi
2001Brett PetersSubaru Impreza WRX STiABrett PetersSubaru Impreza WRX STi
BNathan PilkingtonMitsubishi FTO
CScott LoadsmanHolden VT Commodore SS
DDaryl CoonFord AU Falcon XR6
ELuke YouldenHolden Astra SRi
2002Brett PetersSubaru Impreza WRX STiABrett PetersSubaru Impreza WRX STi
BColin OsborneToyota Celica VVTL-i
CScott LoadsmanHolden VX Commodore SS
DDaryl CoonFord AU Falcon XR6
EMartin DoxeyHolden Astra SRi

References