Australian Touring Car Championship
| Category | Touring car racing |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Inaugural season | 1960 |
| Drivers | 17 |
| Teams | 29 |
| Tyre suppliers | Dunlop |
| Drivers' champion |  Jamie Whincup |
| Official website | V8Supercars.com.au |
 Current season | |
The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the V8 Supercar Championship Series awarded the trophy and title of Australian Touring Car Champion.
History
The first Australian Touring Car Championship was held in 1960 as a single race for Appendix J Touring Cars. This was an acknowledgement of the rising popularity of races held for passenger sedans as opposed to the more purpose built open wheel racing cars, or sports cars. The original race was held at the Gnoo Blas circuit in Orange in rural New South Wales, west of Sydney. The original race was won by journalist racer, David McKay racing a Jaguar saloon prepared by his own racing team, which to this point had been better known for its preparation of open wheel and sports racing cars.
The early years of the ATCC saw the once a year event visit mostly rural circuits, before finally visiting a major city circuit, Lakeside Raceway on the outskirts of Brisbane in 1964. This race was also the first not won by a Jaguar saloon with Ian Geoghegan winning the first of his five titles in a Ford Cortina. From 1965 the title would largely be won by American V8 powered muscle cars, most notably the Ford Mustang which would win five consecutive titles. The first victory by an Australian car was the Holden Monaro driven by Norm Beechey.
A major shift occurred in 1973. The championship had blossomed from a single race into a multi-event series in 1969, but the competition had not changed markedly. The 'Supercar scare' that had rocked the build up to 1972 Bathurst 500 forced sweeping changes through touring car regulations. The Improved Touring Car regulations which governed the ATCC, known at the time as Group C were amalgamated with the more basic Group E Series Production Touring Cars regulations which governed the Bathurst touring car endurance race in a compromise between the two, creating a single class for touring car racing that would hold sway of Australian Touring Car racing until the introduction of Group A in 1985.
This period saw a rise in the tribal style conflicts between Holden and Ford and in particular the two marques leading drivers, respectively Peter Brock and Allan Moffat who between them would claim seven of the eras 12 championships (and nine of the associated Bathurst victories). By the mid 1980s Group C had become wracked with infighting and almost random parity adjustments between competing marques.
Attention focussed purely on Holden and Ford had blurred as European and Japanese manufacturers joined the Australian agents of the two big American companies, the trend starting in 1981 with BMW, Mazda and Nissan. The international Group A regulations, already utilised by European and Japanese touring car series, allowed them to compete on equal terms. Holden was forced briefly into catchup phase, all but backing out of the sport in 1992 as they were no match for the 32 gtr skylines which would dominate the series for the remainder of group-A even with heavy ristrictions includeing limited boost, thiner tires and increased wieght.
1992 saw the unhappy demise of Group A, the Nissan 32 gtr domination of group a in Australia led to increased pressure to ban four wheel drive and turbochargers to help even up the field and create a more exciting race, holdens mentality was if we cant beat the Nissan gtr then well just ban it. Only holden and ford would be eligible to compete using large capacity rwd v8 sedans also for the first time extensive aero aids such as frontal and rear spoilers were now legal.
The ATCC continued to be used until the end of the 1998 season, after which V8 Supercar organisers altered the name of the series, eventually adopting its present identity, the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
ATCC Champions
Race Wins by Driver
Accurate to 2010 Philip island 500
Most starts
Current drivers indicated in bold.
| Starts | Driver | Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|
| 225 | John Bowe | Volvo, Nissan, Ford |
| 216 | Mark Skaife | Nissan, Holden |
| 212 | Peter Brock | Holden, BMW, Ford |
| 207 | Glenn Seton | Nissan, Ford, Holden |
| 202 | Dick Johnson | Holden, Ford, Mazda |
| 191 | Tony Longhurst | BMW, Ford, Holden |
| 184 | Russell Ingall | Holden, Ford |
| 176 | Steven Richards | Holden, Ford |
| 173 | Craig Lowndes | Holden, Ford |
| 164 | Greg Murphy | Holden |
| 161 | Garth Tander | Holden |
| 160 | Larry Perkins | Holden |
| 154 | Steven Johnson | Ford, Holden |
| 153 | Jason Bright | Ford, Holden |
| 152 | Jason Bargwanna | Holden, Ford |
| 147 | Paul Morris | BMW, Holden |
| 142 | Todd Kelly | Holden |
| 140 | Cameron McConville | Holden |
| 131 | Jim Richards | Ford, BMW, Nissan, Holden |
| 127 | Jason Richards | Holden |
| 126 | Colin Bond | Holden, Ford, Alfa Romeo, Toyota |
| 120 | Steven Ellery | Ford, Holden |
| 118 | Rick Kelly | Holden |
| 112 | John Faulkner | Ford, Toyota, Holden |
| 109 | Brad Jones | Mitsubishi, Ford, Holden |
| Paul Dumbrell | Holden, Ford | |
| 107 | Murray Carter | Ford, Mazda, Nissan |
| 106 | Paul Radisich | Ford, Holden |
| 104 | Mark Larkham | Ford |
| 102 | Paul Weel | Ford, Holden |
| 100 | Allan Moffat | Ford, Mazda |
Accurate to 2010 Townsville 400
Australian Touring Car Championship Wins by Marque
- 22 - Ford - 1964-1969, 1973, 1976-1977, 1981-1982, 1984, 1988-1989, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2003-2005, 2008-2009
- 15 - Holden - 1970, 1974-1975, 1978-1980, 1994, 1996, 1998-2002, 2006-2007
- 4 - Jaguar - 1960-1963
- 3 - Nissan - 1990-1992
- 2 - Chevrolet - 1971-1972
- 2 - BMW - 1985, 1987
- 1 - Mazda - 1983
- 1 - Volvo - 1986
See also
- V8 Supercars
- List of Australian Touring Car and V8 Supercar champions
- List of Australian Touring Car Championship races
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