1998 Australian Super Touring Championship

The 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship was the sixth running of a CAMS sanctioned motor racing series in Australia under the Super Touring Car regulations and the fourth to carry the Australian Super Touring Championship name. It began on 5 April 1998 at Calder Park Raceway and ended on 30 August at Oran Park Raceway after eight rounds. The series was promoted by TOCA Australia as the 1998 BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship. As in the British Touring Car Championship the race format changed with each meeting now consisting a shorter "sprint" race and a "feature" race, 25% longer than previous races featuring a mandatory two-tyre stop to be taken between 15 and 75% distance. The one exception was the round at Lakeside Raceway where the pit lane was deemed unsuitable.

1998 ASTC season
Previous: 1997 Next: 1999

Team and Driver changes
  • 1997 championship winners Paul Morris and BMW left the series as BMW scaled back its touring car operation.
  • Volvo switched from the 850 to the new S40[1] for Jim Richards.
  • Cameron McLean drove the 1997 championship winning BMW[2] switching from the Opel/Holden Vectra he raced in 1997.
  • Tony Newman upgraded to an ex BTCC Peugeot 406[3]
  • Mark Adderton switched from the Phoenix Motorsport Toyota Camry to a Honda Accord.[4]

Entry List

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship.

Team Manufacturer Car model No Driver
Audi Sport Australia Audi A4 Quattro 3 Cameron McConville
4 Brad Jones
14 Trevor Sheumack
TC Motorsport Peugeot 406 10 Tony Newman
405 Mi16 38 Dwayne Bewley
AAP Racing Toyota Carina 11 Milton Leslight
Greenfield Mowers Racing BMW 320i 12 Cameron McLean
Anthony Robson BMW 318i 13 Anthony Robson
Craig Bradshaw
Project Racing Honda Accord 15 Mark Adderton
Bob Holden Motors BMW 318i 16 Bob Holden
Trevor Sheumack
Justin Mathews
Paul Nelson
Carlos Rolfo BMW 318i 20 Carlos Rolfo
Rod Wilson
M-F Racing Peugeot 405 Mi16 21 Mike Fitzgerald
Nigel Barclay Nissan Primera 22 Adam Kaplan
Novacastrian Motorsport BMW 320i 30 Troy Searle
Volvo Dealer Racing Volvo S40 40 Jim Richards
Gun Racing Alfa Romeo 155 TS 45 David Auger
John Henderson Racing Opel Vectra 56 John Henderson
Triple P Racing Hyundai Lantra 58 Claude Elias
Knight Racing Ford Mondeo 60 Warren Luff
88 Peter Hills
89 Paul Pickett
Ric Shaw
Aaron McGill
Kurt Kratzmann
Dwayne Bewley
Mark Zonneveld
Graham Dodd Honda Accord 69 Graham Dodd
Motorsport Developments Toyota Carina 77 Malcolm Rea
Robert Tweedie Vauxhall Cavalier 79 Bob Tweedie
Phoenix Motorsport Toyota Camry 95 Ron Searle

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 1998 Australian Super Touring Championship was contested over eight rounds with two races per round.

Rd. Race Race Title Circuit City / State Date Winner Team
1 1 Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 4–5 Apr Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
2 Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 4–5 Apr Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
2 1 Oran Park Oran Park Raceway South Circuit Sydney, New South Wales 26–27 Apr Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
2 Oran Park Oran Park Raceway South Circuit Sydney, New South Wales 26–27 Apr Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
3 1 Phillip Island Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 16–17 May Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
2 Phillip Island Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 16–17 May Jim Richards Volvo Dealer Racing
4 1 Eastern Creek Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 6–7 Jun Jim Richards Volvo Dealer Racing
2 Eastern Creek Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 6–7 Jun Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
5 1 Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 27–28 Jun Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
2 Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 27–28 Jun Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
6 1 Mallala Mallala Motorsport Park Adelaide, South Australia 18–19 Jul Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
2 Mallala Mallala Motorsport Park Adelaide, South Australia 18–19 Jul Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
7 1 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 8–9 Aug Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
2 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 8–9 Aug Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
8 1 Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 29–30 Aug Cameron McConville Brad Jones Racing
2 Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 29–30 Aug Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing
NC 1 AMP Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 4 Oct Rickard Rydell & Jim Richards Volvo S40 Racing

Drivers Championship

Points were awarded 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 based on the top ten race positions in each race. There was a bonus point allocated for pole position.

Pos Driver CAL 1 CAL 2 ORA 1 ORA 2 PHI 1 PHI 2 EAS 1 EAS 2 LAK 1 LAK 2 MAL 1 MAL 2 WIN 1 WIN 2 ORA 1 ORA 2 Pts
1 Brad Jones 3rd 2nd 1st 1st 10th 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd Ret 4th 2nd 1st 191
2 Cameron McConville 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 4th 3rd Ret 2nd DSQ 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 184
3 Jim Richards 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 2nd 3rd 4th Ret 161
4 Cameron McLean 2nd 3rd Ret 6th 3rd 3rd 4th Ret 4th 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 139
5 Mark Adderton 5th 5th 7th 4th 4th 5th 5th Ret 5th 4th 7th Ret 4th 5th 6th Ret 81
6 Peter Hills 6th 7th 10th 8th 6th 7th 7th 7th Ret 5th 5th 5th 5th 6th 5th 6th 70
7 Bob Tweedie 7th 6th 9th 9th 7th 9th 10th 9th 10th 8th 6th 8th 7th 9th 8th 11th 43
8 Ron Searle DNS DNS 6th 5th DNS DNS 6th 5th 8th DSQ Ret DNS Ret DNS 7th 8th 32
9 Troy Searle 18th 11th 5th 6th Ret 3rd Ret 6th Ret DNS 10th Ret 27
10 David Auger 8th 8th 13th 13th 8th 10th Ret 10th 6th 9th 13th 9th 8th Ret 11th 9th 25
11 Justin Mathews 9th 8th 8th 4th 7th 10th 11th 12th 21
12 Adam Kaplan 12th 7th 9th 6th 8th 6th Ret 11th Ret 13th 19
13 Trevor Sheumack 5th Ret Ret 4th 14
14 Anthony Robson 9th 11th Ret DNS 11th Ret 10th 10th 6th 7th Ret 12th 13
15 Mark Zonneveld 10th 8th Ret 5th 10
16 John Henderson 4th DNS DNS DNS 8
17 Kurt Kratzmann 9th 7th 6
17 Paul Pickett 10th 9th 8th 12th 6
19 Dwayne Bewley Ret 10th Ret DNS 12th 7th 5
20 Rod Wilson 12th 7th 4
20 Tony Newman Ret DNS 11th Ret DNS DNS 9th 11th Ret Ret 9th Ret 4
20 Bob Holden 11th 10th 9th 10th 4
23 Aaron McGill 12th 8th 3
24 Graham Dodd Ret Ret 14th 10th 1
Carlos Rolfo 15th 17th 11th Ret Ret DNS
Ric Shaw 11th Ret
Paul Nelson 13th 14th
Craig Bradshaw 14th 14th
Claude Elias 17th 15th
Milton Leslight Ret DNS 16th 16th Ret DNS DNS DNS
Malcolm Rea Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret DNS
Mike Fitzgerald Ret DNS
Warren Luff DNS DNS
Pos Driver CAL 1 CAL 2 ORA 1 ORA 2 PHI 1 PHI 2 EAS 1 EAS 2 LAK 1 LAK 2 MAL 1 MAL 2 WIN 1 WIN 2 ORA 1 ORA 2 Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Manufacturers Championship
Position[5] Manufacturer[5] Points[5]
1 Audi 234
2 Volvo 186

Teams Championship
Position[5] Team[5] Points[5]
1 Audi Sport Australia 204
2 Knight Racing 136

TOCA Challenge - Independents Cup

Independents Cup points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for relative positions achieved by drivers in entries nominated as Independents at each race.

The TOCA Challenge - Independents Cup was won by Cameron McLean in his Greenfield Mowers Racing-entered BMW 320i, scoring 205 points. Second was Mark Adderton on 151 points, and third was Peter Hills on 136 points.[5]

References
  1. "Volvo S40 (R7-004)". Super Touring Register. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. "BMW 3 Series (E36) (E36 STC 96/006)". Super Touring Register. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  3. "Peugeot 406". Super Touring Register. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  4. "Honda Accord (HR003)". Super Touring Register. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  5. TOCA Australia, 1998 Results, as at Round 8 Oran Park, 09/08 '98
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