1972 Australian Touring Car Championship

The 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title open to Improved Production Touring Cars and Group E Series Production Touring Cars.[1] The championship, which was the 13th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship, began at Symmons Plains and ended at Oran Park after eight rounds.[2]

1972 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous: 1971 Next: 1973

1972 would be the final time the Improved Production cars would contest the ATCC. From 1973, CAMS introduced a new production based Group C touring car formula. Outright cars like the Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, Norm Beechey's Holden Monaro and Ian Geoghegan's Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III would be replaced with production based Ford Falcons and Holden Toranas. Many Improved Production cars would end up racing as Sports Sedans in the following years.

Defending champion Bob Jane won his fourth and final Australian Touring Car Championship in his Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1. Unlike 1971 when Jane's Camaro used the 7.0 litre 427 V8 engine, CAMS rule changes reducing the engine capacity limit to 6000cc him forced to run the 5.7 litre 350 V8. Second in the championship was the Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.1 of Mike Stillwell whose consistent placings in the under 2.0 litre class saw him finish 11 points behind Jane. Third was Allan Moffat in his Ford Boss 302 Mustang.

Although he was not classified after not scoring a point, the 1972 championship saw Peter Brock make his ATCC debut driving a Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 for Harry Firth's Holden Dealer Team.

Teams and drivers

The following drivers competed in the 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship. Only drivers who scored championship points are listed.

Driver No [2][3][4][5] Car [2][3][4][5] Entrant [3][4][5]
Ian Geoghegan 1 & 10 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Geoghegan's Sporty Cars
Fred Gibson 1 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Road & Track Auto Services
Jim McKeown 2 & 3 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Shell Racing Team
Kingsley Hibbard 2 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Kingsley Hibbard
Clive Green 4 Ford Mustang Shell Racing
John French 4 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Bryan Byrt Ford
John Goss 5 Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III McLeod Ford
Graham Blanchard 5 Chevrolet Camaro Blanchard Motors
Mike Stillwell 5 & 6 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I BS Stillwell Ford
John Harvey 7 Holden HQ Monaro GTS350 Bob Jane Racing
Mel McEwin 8 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Mel McEwin
Allan Moffat 9 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Allan Moffat Racing
Dick Johnson 10 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Dick Johnson
Peter Brown 11 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Alfa Romeo Australia
Don Holland 13 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd
Bob Holden 13 & 113 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Dr. Allan Hogan
Malcolm Ramsay 14 Holden HQ Kingswood 5AD City State Racing Team
Clem Smith 15 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Clem Smith
Norm Watts 15 Ford Capri V6 Motor Improvements
Arnold Ahrenfield 16 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Arnold Ahrenfield
Graham Ryan 17 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Graham Ryan
Ted Brewster 19 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 BP Southmark
John Stoopman 19 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 John Stoopman
John Rushford 24 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Rushford Engineering Co
Doug Chivas 29 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Liverpool Chrysler
Phil Brock 32 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Eastside Chrysler
Tom Naughton 33 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Eastside Chrysler
Tim Smith 34 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 TS Smith
Colin Bond 34 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Holden Dealer Team
Tony Allen 35 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Tony Allen
Norm Beechey 40 Holden HT Monaro GTS350 Shell / Norm Beechey Racing
Lyndon Arnel 43 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Tony Motson's Performance Tuning
Mike Gore 45 Ford Mustang Mike Gore
Bob Connolly 59 Morris Cooper S RA Connolly
Frank Porter 59 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Frank Porter
Tony Watts 64 Morris Cooper S Richard Locke Motor Engineering
Henry Price 69 Morris Clubman GT Grand Prix Auto Service
Alan Braszell 71 Morris Cooper S Alray Motors
Keith Henry 71 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I Keith Henry
George Giesberts 72 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Leach Motors
Bob Jane 76 Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 Bob Jane Racing
Herb Taylor 77 Holden EH Herb Taylor
John Martin 85 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 John Martin
Lawrie Nelson 88 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Lawrie Nelson
Robin Bessant 90 Ford Mustang Shell Racing
Norm Gown 99 Holden EH Norm Gown
  Two litre class competitors

Calendar

The 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an eight-round series with one race per round.[5]

Rd. Race Title Circuit City / State Date [5] Winner Team Report
1 Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6 March Allan Moffat Allan Moffat Racing
2 Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 19 March Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
3 Better Brakes 100[6] Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 3 April Ian Geoghegan Geoghegan's Sporty Cars
4 Sandown Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 16 April Allan Moffat Allan Moffat Racing
5 Adelaide Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 11 June Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
6 Warwick Farm Warwick Farm Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 9 July Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
7 Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 22 July Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing
8 Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 6 August Allan Moffat Allan Moffat Racing

Classes

Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:[1]

  • Up to and including 2000cc [1]
  • Over 2000cc [1]

Points system

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] In addition, points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis for the first four outright placings, irrespective of class, at each round.[1] The title was awarded to the driver gaining the highest total of points in any seven of the eight rounds.[1]

Championship results
Pos Driver [2] Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts [2]
1 Bob Jane 2nd(9) 1st(13) Ret 2nd(9) 1st(13) 1st(13) 1st(13) 3rd(6) 76
2 Mike Stillwell 5th(9) 6th(9) 6th(9) 7th(9) 6th(9) 4th(10) 4th(10) 65
3 Allan Moffat 1st(13) Ret 2nd(9) 1st(13) 4th(4) DSQ 10th(1) 1st(13) 53
4 Ian Geoghegan Ret 3rd(6) 1st(13) Ret 2nd(9) DNS Ret 2nd(9) 37
Bob Holden Ret 7th(6) (4) 9th(6) 7th(6) 7th(6) Ret 9th(9) 37
6 Malcolm Ramsay 3rd(6) 2nd(9) Ret 3rd(6) 2nd(9) DNS Ret 30
7 Dick Johnson 3rd(6) 3rd(6) 4th(4) 16
8 Peter Brown (3) (4) 8th(4) 8th(4) 15
9 John Harvey 2nd(9) Ret 9
Alan Braszell 10th(4) (3) (2) 9
11 John Goss 3rd(6) 5th(2) 8
Robin Bessant 4th(4) 4th(4) 8
13 Norm Beechey Ret Ret Ret 3rd(6) DNS DNS 6
Bob Connolly 7th(6) 6
Jim McKeown DNS 7th(6) Ret 6
Henry Price 7th(6) 6
17 Fred Gibson 4th(4) 4
Kingsley Hibbard 4th(4) 4
Clive Green 5th(2) 5th(2) 4
Don Holland 5th(3) 6th(1) 4
Tony Watts 8th(4) 4
22 John French 5th(3) 3
John Rushford 9th(3) 3
Mel McEwin 10th(3) 3
Lyndon Arnel 9th(3) 3
26 Doug Chivas 5th(2) 2
Graham Blanchard 5th(2) 2
Tim Smith 6th(2) 2
Colin Bond 10th 6th(2) 2
George Giesberts 6th(2) 2
Keith Henry (2) 2
32 Ted Brewster 6th(1) 1
Tom Naughton 8th(1) 9th 1
Phil Brock 9th 8th(1) 1
Graham Ryan 8th(1) 1
Clem Smith 9th(1) 1
- Norm Watts 10th [7] (-) 0 [8] [9]
Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
  Two litre class competitors

Notes & references
  1. Australian Title Conditions, 1972 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 86-90
  2. Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1989
  3. John Medley, Bathurst : cradle of Australian motor racing, 1997
  4. Official programme, Adelaide International Raceway, 11 June 1972
  5. Max Stahl, Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No. 1, (1972)
  6. "1972 ATCC". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  7. Australian Motoring Yearbook (Incorporating Competition Yearbook) 1973 Edition
  8. "Final Poinstcore" published in Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No 1, page 71 does not show Norm Watts as a pointscorer.
  9. 30 Fabulous Years lists Norm Watts as scoring 4 points for the Warwick Farm round. The Official Programme for that round shows Watts entered in the Over 2000cc class in a 2998cc Ford Capri V6. Results for the round published in Australian Motoring Yearbook show Watts placed 11th outright in a Ford Capri V6 behind Moffat (Excluded) and seven other competitors in cars which are listed in the Official Programme as being in the Over 2000cc class and two which are listed as being in the Up to 2000cc class. 30 Fabulous Years would appear to be incorrect in giving Watts 4 points for this round.
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