Australian Nations Cup Championship


The Australian Nations Cup Championship was a motor racing title sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport from 2000 to 2004.

History

In the absence of the Australian GT Championship, Nations Cup became the top CAMS sanctioned championship in Australia for GT style cars. It evolved from the GT Production category, which was created in 1995 by category managers PROCAR Australia. For 2000, PROCAR split the Australian GT Production Car Championship into two separate series so that the more exotic GT cars such as Porsche 911s, Ferrari 360s and Lamborghini Diablo's could compete in the new Australian Nations Cup Championship and the lesser vehicles such as the Mitsubishi Lancers, Subaru Imprezas and HSV's could now compete for outright wins in the revised Australian GT Production Car Championship.

Cars

The cars that regularly competed in the Nations Cup Championships included:
ManufacturerModelEngine
ChevroletCorvette C55.7 litre V8
ChryslerViper ACR8.0 litre V10
Ferrari360 Challenge3.6 litre V8
Ferrari360 N-GT3.6 litre V8
Ferrari550 Millenio5.5 litre V12
FordMustang Cobra R5.4 litre V8
HoldenMonaro 427C7.0 litre V8
HondaNSX Brabham3.1 litre V6
JaguarJaguar XKR-T4.0 litre V8
LamborghiniDiablo SVR5.7 litre V12
LamborghiniDiablo GTR6.0 litre V12
MaseratiTrofeo4.2 litre V8
Porsche911 GT3 R3.6 litre H6
Porsche911 GT3 RS3.6 litre H6
Porsche911 GT3 Cup3.6 litre H6
Porsche911 GT3 Clubsport3.6 litre H6
Porsche911 GT23.6 litre twin-turbo H6
Porsche996 GT33.6 litre H6

All cars in the Nations Cup Championship were required to use the engines that came with the various road going models, with the exception of the Holden Monaro. In 2002 in an effort to have an Australian car manufacturer competing in the top category and to have them competitive rather than just making up the numbers, PROCAR allowed Holden to use the 7.0 litre, 427 cui GM LS6 V8 engine instead of the 5.7 litre Gen III V8 as used in the Monaro CV8 road cars. This caused some controversy as it was felt that allowing Holden to use a larger engine than available in the road cars gave them an advantage over their rivals, with some fans feeling that this decision was a big factor in the eventual demise of the series. PROCAR's given reason was that it allowed the Monaro's to better compete with the V12 and V10 engine cars as well as the lighter V8 and H6 cars.
During practice for the PROCAR run 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour race, triple Nations Cup champion and seven time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards labelled the Monaro as a "Better V8 Supercar", while NC regular and veteran driver John Bowe said that while he had no problems racing against the car, he believed the 7.0 L Monaro was against the spirit of the rules.
Other cars that were eligible to race in Nations Cup, but rarely did included the Mosler MT900R, BMW M3 GTR, Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R and Lotus Esprit.

Demise

With the demise of PROCAR during 2004, CAMS revived the Australian GT Championship in 2005 and the series was merged into the grids of the Australian Porsche Drivers Challenge, itself a class of refugees left over after the Australian Carrera Cup Championship replaced the former Porsche Cup. The regulations differed and not all Nations Cup cars were eligible to race in the GT series, the controversial Holden Monaro 427C the most notable such example.

Championship results

The top three placegetters in these five championships were:
won the 2003 and 2004 titles driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR
YearChampionCarRunner UpCarThird PlaceCar
2000Jim RichardsPorsche 996 GT3Peter FitzgeraldPorsche 996 GT3Mark NoskeFerrari 360 Challenge
2001Jim RichardsPorsche 996 GT3Paul StokellLamborghini Diablo SVRPeter FitzgeraldPorsche 996 GT3
2002Jim RichardsPorsche 996 GT3Geoff MorganChrysler Viper ACRJohn BoweFerrari 360 N-GT
2003Paul StokellLamborghini Diablo GTRJohn BoweFerrari 360 N-GT
Chrysler Viper ACR
Porsche 911 GT3 RS		Nathan PrettyHolden Monaro 427C
2004Paul StokellLamborghini Diablo GTRNathan PrettyHolden Monaro 427CDavid StevensPorsche 911 GT2