1987 Australian Sports Car Championship
The 1987 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian national motor racing title open to Group A Sports Cars, Group D GT cars, FISA Group C1 cars and FISA Group C2 cars.[1]
The title, which was the 19th Australian Sports Car Championship,[2] was won by Andy Roberts driving his self-designed Robert SR3 powered by a 1.6 litre Ford BDA Formula Mondial engine. While not winning a round, Roberts was assisted by the point system which awarded more points for outright positions achieved by Up to 1.6 litres class cars than for the same positions achieved by larger engined cars. Roberts was also the only driver in the top 5 championship placings to finish all 3 rounds.[3] Defending champion John Bowe was expected to dominate the series in Bernie van Elsen's Veskanda C1 Chevrolet, and did easily win Rounds 2 and 3 (including setting the outright lap record in Round 2 at Amaroo Park), but a failure to start in the opening round at Calder Park Raceway saw him only finish second in the championship. Finishing third was Terry Hook in his Chevrolet powered ex-Rupert Keegan Lola T610 with two second-place finishes at Calder and Sandown.
Calendar
[edit]The championship was contested over a three-round series with one race per round.[3]
| Round[3] | Circuit[3] | State | Date[4] | Winner[3] | Car[3] |
| 1 | Calder Park Raceway | Victoria | 1 March | Rusty French | Porsche 935 |
| 2 | Amaroo Park | New South Wales | 17 May | John Bowe | Veskanda C1 Chevrolet |
| 3 | Sandown Park | Victoria | 13-Sep | John Bowe | Veskanda C1 Chevrolet |
Additional rounds scheduled at Lakeside (April 5), Adelaide International Raceway (3 May) and Winton (30 August ) were cancelled.[3]
Classes
[edit]Cars competed in three engine capacity classes.[1]
- Up to 1.6 litres
- 1.6 to 3 litres
- Over 3 litres
Points system
[edit]Championship points were awarded to the top twenty outright placegetters in each round based on the following three tier structure.[1]
| Outright Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
| Up to 1.6 litres | 30 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 1.6 to 3 litres | 28 | 26 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Over 3 litres | 25 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - |
Results
[edit]| Position[3] | Driver[3] | No.[3] | Car[3] | Calder[3] | Amaroo[3] | Sandown[3] | Total[3] |
| 1 | Andy Roberts | 42 | Roberts SR3 Ford BDA | 21 | 27 | 21 | 69 |
| 2 | John Bowe | 1 | Veskanda C1 Chevrolet | - | 25 | 25 | 50 |
| 3 | Terry Hook | 15 | Lola T610 Chevrolet | 23 | - | 23 | 46 |
| 4 | Ray Hanger | Rennmax Ford BDG | 15 | - | 19 | 34 | |
| 5 | Rusty French | 7 | Porsche 935/80 | 25 | - | - | 25 |
Note: The above table lists only the first five positions in the championship.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Conditions for Australian Titles, 1987 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 78-81
- ^ Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-6
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barry Catford, Australian Sports Car Championship, Australian Motor Racing Year 1987/88, pages 216-223
- ^ 1987 Championship Results, Australian Motor Racing Year 1987/88, page 317