1990 Australian Touring Car season

The 1990 Australian Touring Car season was the 31st 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 1990; an eight-round series, the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC); a support programme event at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix and a three-round series of long-distance races, nicknamed 'enduros', which counted towards both the 1990 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1990 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.

Season review

After two years domination by Dick Johnson Racings Ford Sierras, 1990 was to prove much of an upset year with race victories spread across seven teams with Nissan and Holden teams taking wins off the massed privateer Ford teams. The arrival of the 4WD, twin turbo Nissan Skyline GT-R towards the end of the Australian Touring Car Championship was enough for Jim Richards to take Nissan's first title in a four driver showdown again Ford Sierra threesome, Dick Johnson, Peter Brock and the surprising Colin Bond who had won the Lakeside and Mallala rounds of the ATCC. Glenn Seton took his first race wins as a team owner beginning with the Sandown 500, while the Holden Racing Team took a memorable Bathurst win for Win Percy and Allan Grice outlasting the GT-R and the pack of tyre frying Sierras on a day of attrition. Larry Perkins underlined Holden's return to form by winning Eastern Creek Raceways first major touring car race at the end of the season.

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 1990 Australian touring car season consisted of 12 events.

Date Series Circuit City / state Winner Team Car Report
25 Feb ATCC Round 1 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R
11 Mar ATCC Round 2 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania Dick Johnson Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500
25 Mar ATCC Round 3 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria Dick Johnson Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500
8 Apr ATCC Round 4 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R
6 May ATCC Round 5 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland Colin Bond Caltex CXT Racing Ford Sierra RS500
10 Jun ATCC Round 6 Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia Colin Bond Caltex CXT Racing Ford Sierra RS500
24 Jun ATCC Round 7 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia Peter Brock Mobil 1 Racing Ford Sierra RS500
15 Jul ATCC Round 8 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
9 Sep Sandown 500 AEC Round 1 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Glenn Seton
George Fury 		Peter Jackson Racing Ford Sierra RS500 report
30 Sep Tooheys 1000 AEC Round 2 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales Win Percy
Allan Grice 		Holden Racing Team Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV report
3-4 Nov Ansett Air Freight Challenge Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia Glenn Seton Peter Jackson Racing Ford Sierra RS500
10 Nov Nissan Sydney 500 AEC Round 3 Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales Larry Perkins
Tomas Mezera 		Perkins Engineering Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV report

Australian Touring Car Championship

Main article: 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship

Australian Endurance Championship

Main article: 1990 Australian Endurance Championship

Sandown 500

Main article: 1990 Sandown 500

Tooheys 1000

Main article: 1990 Tooheys 1000

Nissan Sydney 500

Main article: 1990 Nissan Sydney 500

Australian Manufacturers' Championship

Main article: 1990 Australian Manufacturers' Championship

Ansett Air Freight Challenge

The Ansett Air Freight Challenge was a support event at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix meeting. Nissan Motorsport Australia had intended to run two of the new 4WD, twin-turbo Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R's at the meeting, but were reduced to just one car after Mark Skaife rolled his GT-R at Brewery Bend (turn 10) during practice.[1][2][3]

Driver No. Team Car Race 1 Race 2
Australia Glenn Seton 30 Peter Jackson Racing Ford Sierra RS500 3 1
Australia Dick Johnson 17 Shell Ultra Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500 6 2
United Kingdom Win Percy 16 Holden Racing Team Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV DNF 3
Australia Alan Jones 20 Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500 4 4
United Kingdom Chris Lambden 23 Beaurepaires Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 8 5
Australia Wayne Park 29 Wayne Park Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 7 6
Australia Ray Lintott 12 Ray Lintott Ford Sierra RS500 10 7
Australia Joe Sommariva 28 Joe Sommariva Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 11 8
New Zealand John Faulkner 71 Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla FX-GT 14 9
Australia Murray Carter 14 Netcomm Ford Sierra RS500 17 10
Australia Peter Brock 05 Mobil 1 Racing Ford Sierra RS500 DNF DNF
Australia Colin Bond 8 Caltex CXT Racing Ford Sierra RS500 5 DNF
Australia Tony Longhurst 25 Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500 DNF DNF
Australia John Bowe 18 Shell Ultra Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500 2 DNF
New Zealand Jim Richards 2 Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 1 DNF
Australia Phil Ward 51 Phil Ward Racing Mercedes-Benz 190E 9
Australia Mark Skaife 3 Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R DNS DNS

References

  1. ^ 1990 Australian Grand Prix Mark Skaife Crash
  2. ^ 1990 Ansett Air Freight Group A Challenge R1 Adelaide
  3. ^ 1990 Ansett Air Freight Group A Challenge R2 Adelaide

Linked articles contain additional references.