1987 Australian Group A Touring Car Races - Discussion & Results

[Amaroo Park]

If Gardner had run the car with previous model stuff it would have been against the rules and don't forget at the time all the teams were working themselves into a frenzy making sure every thing was 100% legal for the WTCC at Bathurst that October.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by Holden308

IIRC, neither Jum or Tony had a full blown M3 until the Surfers round, and even then it was only the #3 car. This was because the JPS cars were pretty much last cab off the rank when it came to parts supply from BMW, the WTCC teams being first in line, then the M3's running in the UK and Europe, then Franks little team in Sydney.

From what I know (and I may be wrong), the JPS M3's pretty much ran with 325i running gear and suspension for the first half of the ATCC, although Richards finished second at Symmons and won at Lakeside (and had pole at Calder and Adelaide). Its no coincidence that once the team got their hands on a full M3 that Jim Richards started to show how good the little car was and won 3 of the last 4 rounds to take the title from under Glenn Seton's nose.

325i was a six cylinder, the M3 was a four banger, I reckon the scrutes would notice that!

[Amaroo Park]

Originally Posted by DAVID PATERSON

325i was a six cylinder, the M3 was a four banger, I reckon the scrutes would notice that!

Exactly.

[Holden308]

I should clarify my statement about the JPS M3's.

It was the 325i suspension they were running before Jim got a full blown M3 for the Surfers round of the ATCC. Obviously they were running the 2.3L 4cyl engine and not the 6 from the 325i.

[back_86]

here the video I have find on that race on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9-QbvLayXQ

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

Castrol Clash
Oran Park South Circuit, NSW (15/2/1987)

Circuit Length: 1.96 km
Race Distance: 25 laps
Weather: Rain clearing

Oran Park was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and on the programme was the first Group A race for 1987 in Australia. A 25-lapper on the original short-circuit drew a solid local entry, with the bigger names mostly still on their way home from New Zealand's Nissan-Mobil Series. Larry Perkins entered, but didn't quite make it back in time.

Cars making their debut were Colin Bond's long-awaited Alfa Romeo 75, and two Ford Sierra RS Cosworths from the OXO team. Tony Noske planned to have his first run in his ex-Perkins VK but put it into the wall during practice, while Phil Ward had the first of many drives in his ex-AMG Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Reed mastered the greasy early conditions to run out a comfortable winner from Bond. Laurie Hazelton backed his Volvo into the pit wall late in the race, injuring a TV cameraman. Magazine sources disagree over whether the crash caused the race to be stopped, something I suspect the TV coverage would solve.

[racer69]

Originally Posted by racer69

Was a final pointscore for the 1987 AMSCAR Series ever printed? I don't have any of the relevant RCN's or AA's from that year to check, and AMRY ignores the '87 AMSCAR Series (and the non-WTCC enduro's too...). Jim Richards won it of course, but beyond him?

One assumes the AMSCAR points awarded for the round that doubled as the ATCC round, and the Hardie Irrigation 100, were awarded on the same format as the above?

Interestingly, the latest edition of "Australian Muscle Car Magazine" claims that Tony Longhurst won the 1987 AMSCAR Series..... I cannot work out how though given that he missed a complete round

[E.B]

Originally Posted by racer69

Interestingly, the latest edition of "Australian Muscle Car Magazine" claims that Tony Longhurst won the 1987 AMSCAR Series..... I cannot work out how though given that he missed a complete round

TouringCarRacing,net reckons Richards was the winner.....
Race results for all 4 rounds along with short race reviews here:
http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1987%20AMSCAR.html

[JesperOH]

Recently I've been delving back into the Aussie Group A era and wondered how the AMSCAR title was decided. During the aftermath of the 1988 Toohey's 1000, winner Tony Longhurst mentions that he won the '87 AMSCAR title, so!?

As I understand it AMSCAR started at Amaroo Park as class for the under 3 litre cars during the CAMS Group C era, so favoring small cars would not be a surprise during the group A period - also given the nature of the track.

Also reviseted the Castrol Dash, where it is mentioned that Colin Bond had received the car from Italy (Luigi in Belgium?) earlier in the week and has changed the car to suit a warmer Australian climate rather than a colder European one. Car weighen in at 1010 kgs opposed to a minimum of 960. Running in black and silver colours and with Ignis fridges logos. Given that Luigi ran black 75s during 1986, that's no surprice, but where went the Ignis sponsorship for the rest of 1987? Bond had had Ignis on his GTV6s during the two previous seasons of group A?
The evo 75 kit was homologated from 1st of March 1987, the same day that the basic BMW M3 was homologated, so the fact that Bond raced with an Evo-spec. 75, he must have been granted an approval to do so by other competitors, just like the JPS Team BMW team did.

Jesper

[darren2012]

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

Castrol Clash
Oran Park South Circuit, NSW (15/2/1987)

Circuit Length: 1.96 km
Race Distance: 25 laps
Weather: Rain clearing

Oran Park was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and on the programme was the first Group A race for 1987 in Australia. A 25-lapper on the original short-circuit drew a solid local entry, with the bigger names mostly still on their way home from New Zealand's Nissan-Mobil Series. Larry Perkins entered, but didn't quite make it back in time.

Cars making their debut were Colin Bond's long-awaited Alfa Romeo 75, and two Ford Sierra RS Cosworths from the OXO team. Tony Noske planned to have his first run in his ex-Perkins VK but put it into the wall during practice, while Phil Ward had the first of many drives in his ex-AMG Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Reed mastered the greasy early conditions to run out a comfortable winner from Bond. Laurie Hazelton backed his Volvo into the pit wall late in the race, injuring a TV cameraman. Magazine sources disagree over whether the crash caused the race to be stopped, something I suspect the TV coverage would solve.

This race was the world racing debut of the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth