1991 Australian Touring Car season


The 1991 Australian Touring Car season was the 32nd 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 1991; a nine-round series, the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship ; a support programme event at the 1991 Australian Grand Prix and two long distance races, nicknamed 'enduros' which made up the 1991 Australian Endurance Championship.

Season review

1991 was the low point for Group A touring car racing in Australia as grid numbers plunged in a harsh economic climate. Just eleven cars entered the Wanneroo round of the ATCC and just fifteen started the once prestigious Sandown 500.
On track the Touring Car Championship was dominated by the Gibson Motorsport prepared Nissan Skyline GT-Rs of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife. Tony Longhursts new 2.5 litre evolution spec BMW M3 was the only car to interrupt the clean sweep. A final round DNF for Richards was not enough to take the title away, despite Skaife scoring more points over the course of the season. With only the best eight results counting Richards won the championship by five points. Gibson Motor Sport did not appear at the Sandown 500, but Nissan still won through the Bob Forbes Racing car driven by Mark Gibbs and Formula Holden ace Rohan Onslow. Richards and Skaife then swept all before them at the 1991 Tooheys 1000, establishing a race record that stood until 2010. Third placing at Bathurst gave the Australian Endurance Championship to Gibbs and Onslow.
1991 also saw Peter Brock return to driving a Holden VN Commodore after a single season driving a BMW M3 and a Ford Sierra RS500 in 1989 and 1990. Brock's Mobil 1 Racing joined forces with Perkins Engineering run by his former Bathurst 1000 co-winner Larry Perkins to run a pair of the new Group A VN Commodore's.

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 1991 Australian touring car season consisted of 12 events.
DateSeriesCircuitCity / StateWinnerTeamCarReport
24 FebATCC Round 1Sandown International RacewayMelbourne, VictoriaJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
10 MarATCC Round 2Symmons Plains RacewayLaunceston, TasmaniaJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
14 AprATCC Round 3Barbagallo RacewayPerth, Western AustraliaMark SkaifeNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
28 AprATCC Round 4Lakeside International RacewayBrisbane, QueenslandJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
5 MayATCC Round 5Winton Motor RacewayBenalla, VictoriaJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
2 JunATCC Round 6Amaroo ParkSydney, New South WalesTony LonghurstBenson & Hedges RacingBMW M3 Evolution
23 JunATCC Round 7Mallala Motor Sport ParkMallala, South AustraliaMark SkaifeNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
14 JulATCC Round 8Lakeside International RacewayBrisbane, QueenslandTony LonghurstBenson & Hedges RacingBMW M3 Evolution
11 AugATCC Round 9Oran Park RacewaySydney, New South WalesMark SkaifeNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
8 SepDon't Drink Drive Sandown 500Sandown International RacewayMelbourne], VictoriaMark Gibbs
Rohan Onslow
Bob Forbes RacingNissan Skyline R32 GT-Rreport
6 OctTooheys 1000Mount Panorama CircuitBathurst, New South WalesJim Richards
Mark Skaife
Nissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-Rreport
3 NovHush Puppies Olympic Group A ChallengeAdelaide Street CircuitAdelaide, South AustraliaJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R

Australian Touring Car Championship

Don't Drink Drive Sandown 500

Tooheys 1000

Hush Puppies Olympic Group A Challenge

This meeting was a support event of the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.
DriverNo.TeamCarRace 1Race 2
Jim Richards1Nissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R11
Glenn Seton30Peter Jackson RacingFord Sierra RS50032
Larry Perkins11Mobil 1 RacingHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SV63
John Bowe18Shell Ultra-Hi RacingFord Sierra RS50094
Peter Brock05Mobil 1 RacingHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SV75
Dick Johnson17Shell Ultra-Hi RacingFord Sierra RS50086
Colin Bond8Caltex CXT RacingFord Sierra RS500107
Alan Jones20Benson & Hedges RacingBMW M3 Evolution58
Graham Moore42Perkins EngineeringHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SV9
Peter Gazzard13Captain Peter JansonHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV10
Chandra AlimIndonesian Racing TeamHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV11
Bob Jones21Ampol Max 3 RacingHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV12
John Cotter52M3 MotorsportBMW M3DNF
Hutomo Mandala PutraIndonesian Racing TeamHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SVDNF
Win Percy16Holden Racing TeamHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SV2DNF
Tony Longhurst25Benson & Hedges RacingBMW M3 Evolution4DNF