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The 1961 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Appendix J Touring Cars.^[1] The championship, which was contested over a single, 50 mile (82 km) race at the Lowood Airfield Circuit in Queensland on 3 September 1961, was the second Australian Touring Car Championship. The race, which was promoted by the Queensland Racing Drivers' Club,^[2] was won by Bill Pitt, driving a Jaguar Mark 1 3.4.^[2]

Race overview

As in 1960, the event was dominated by Jaguar drivers. Ian Geoghegan took pole position ahead of Bill Pitt and Ron Hodgson, while Bob Jane and Bill Burns completed a top five lockout for Jaguar. Bob Holden was fastest of the non-Jaguar drivers in practice, more than eleven seconds slower than Burns.^[2]

Jane made a good start and was alongside Geoghegan heading into the first corner, but Geoghegan held on and led Hodgson, Pitt and Jane around for the first lap. Pitt attempted to pass Hodgson in the back section of the circuit but was unable to complete the move. Geoghegan led by 2.5 seconds at the end of the first lap, with Hodgson holding a similar margin back to Pitt in third. Jane and Burns were further back, while Holden and Cecil Keid led the battle for sixth ahead of Barry Gibson, Muir Daniel, Ken Brigden, Noel Trees, Des West, Roy Sawyer and Viv Eddy. Jane retired on lap 2 after a rear spring mount broke.^[2]

Geoghegan continued to build his lead over Hodgson, extending it to around six seconds by the end of lap 3 and setting a new lap record of 2:04.7 on lap 2, before Hodgson went off at the first corner, allowing Pitt into second place. Pitt quickly closed in on Geoghegan, setting another lap record of 2:03.7, before passing him for the lead on lap 5. Geoghegan began suffering from clutch slip and dropped back, as did Hodgson who had both overdrive and brake problems.^[2]

Sawyer retired on lap 7^[3] with brake dramas and Gibson went out of the race as well on the following lap. West and Trees then went out on consecutive laps. By this stage, Pitt had a lead of more than 40 seconds and went on to an easy victory over Geoghegan and Hodgson. Burns completed a Jaguar top four while Holden was the first non-Jaguar in fifth. Keid had been running sixth until dropping back on the second last lap to seventh, allowing Daniel into sixth place. The top ten was rounded out by Brigden, Eddy and J.D. Sherman.^[2]

Geoghegan would go on to win five Australian Touring Car Championships during the 1960s, while Hodgson would achieve success as a team owner when Bob Morris won the 1979 title.^[2]

Race results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Entrant	Car	Class ^[4]	Class Pos.^[4]	Laps	Time/Retired
1	34	Bill Pitt	Mrs DI Anderson	Jaguar Mark 1 3.4	2601-3500cc	1	18	38:20.7^[2]
2	5	Ian Geoghegan	Geoghegan Motors Liverpool	Jaguar Mark 1 3.4			18
3	69	Ron Hodgson	Strathfield Motors Pty Ltd	Jaguar Mark 2 3.8	Over 3500cc	1	18
4		Bill Burns	W Burns	Jaguar Mark 1 3.4
5	113	Bob Holden		Holden FJ	2001-2600cc	1
6		Muir Daniel		Austin A105
7	32	Cecil Keid		Holden FJ
8	63	Ken Brigden		Peugeot 403	1301-1600cc	1
9	12	Viv Eddy		Morris 850	Up to 1000cc	1
10	77	J. D. Sherman		Ford XK Falcon
11		J. Whalen		Morris Minor 1000
12		T. Uren		Peugeot 203
Ret	8	Noel Trees		Morris 850			13
Ret	1	Des West	Geoghegan Motors ^[5]	Morris 850			12
Ret		Barry Gibson		Ford Zephyr			7
Ret	26	Roy Sawyer		Ford Anglia 105E			6	Brakes
Ret	7	Bob Jane		Jaguar Mark 2 3.8			1	Suspension
Sources:^[2]^[3]^[6]^[7]

Statistics

Pole position: Ian Geoghegan, 2:03.1^[8]
Fastest lap: Bill Pitt, 2:03.7 (new lap record)^[6]
Race distance: 18 laps, 81.72 km^[2]
Average speed: 127.87 km/h^[2]

References

^ National Titles, 1961 CAMS Manual Of Motor Sport, page 53
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 22–30. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
^ ^a ^b "Pitt Wins Touring Championship". Australian Motor Sport. November 1961. pp. 486–487.
^ ^a ^b Keith Thallon, Home Ground Win For Bill Pitt in Touring Championship, Sports Car World, November 1961, pages 51 & 52
^ Des White, Australian Touring Car Championship, Racing Car News, October 1961, page 5
^ ^a ^b "Lap record by Pitt". The Courier Mail. 4 September 1961. p. 14.
^ "61014 - #113 Bob Holden, #32 Cecil Keid, Holden FJ - ATCC Lowood 1961". Autopics.
^ "Touring Title to Pitt". Modern Motor. Sydney, New South Wales: Modern Magazines Pty Ltd. November 1961. p. 91.