1998 Australian Touring Car Championship

The 1998 Australian Touring Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition open to 5.0 Litre Touring Cars,[1] (also known as V8 Supercars).[2] The championship, which was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian title,[3] was contested over a ten-round series which began on 1 February 1998 at Sandown International Motor Raceway and ended on 2 August at Oran Park International Raceway. The series was promoted as the "Shell Australian Touring Car Championship".[4] The title, which was the 39th Australian Touring Car Championship, was won by Craig Lowndes.[5]

1998 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous: 1997 Next: 1999

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the championship. Entries listed as "L1" competed for the overall championship, whereas those denoted "L2" also competed for the Privateers' Teams Cup.

Team[6] Car Class No Drivers Events
Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon EL L1 1 Glenn Seton All
L1 28 Rodney Forbes 3
111 Neil Crompton 6, 8, 10
Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore VS L1 2 Steve Ellery All
Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore VS L1 7 Darren Hossack 1–7
32 Tomas Mezera 8–10
L1 31 Darren Pate All
Lansvale Smash Repairs Holden Commodore VS L2 3 Trevor Ashby 1, 3, 7–8, 10
6 Steve Reed 2, 4–6, 9
Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon EL L1 4 Jason Bright All
Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VS
Holden Commodore VT		 L1 8 Russell Ingall All
L1 11 Larry Perkins All
Holden Commodore VS L2 16 Melinda Price 1, 4–5
19 Kerryn Brewer 2–3
Longhurst Racing Ford Falcon EL L1 9 Alan Jones 3–10
L1 25 Tony Longhurst All
Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon EL L1 10 Mark Larkham All
Cadillac Productions Ford Falcon EL L2 13 Ryan McLeod 2–4, 6
79 Mike Conway 1, 5, 10
Imrie Motor Sport Holden Commodore VS L2 14 Mike Imrie 4–5, 8–10
Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VS
Holden Commodore VT		 L1 15 Craig Lowndes All
Holden Commodore VS L1 50 Mark Skaife All
Holden Commodore VT L1 98 Greg Murphy 8
Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon EL L1 17 Dick Johnson All
L1 18 John Bowe All
L1 95 Steven Johnson 4–8, 10
Colourscan Motorsport Ford Falcon EL L2 22 Danny Osborne 1, 3–7, 9–10
47 Brett Peters 9
Ray Hislop Ford Falcon EF L2 23 Ray Hislop 1–2, 8
Romano Racing Holden Commodore VS L1 24 Paul Romano All
Doulman Automotive Holden Commodore VS L2 26 John Cotter 10
29 Peter Doulman 2, 5
Terry Finnigan Holden Commodore VS L1 27 Terry Finnigan 1–3, 5–7, 9–10
Challenge Motorsport Holden Commodore VS L2 32 Tomas Mezera 3–4
39 Chris Smerdon 1, 5–6, 8–10
Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VS L1 34 Steven Richards 1–3
134 Garth Tander 4–10
L1 35 Jason Bargwanna All
Schembri Motorsport Holden Commodore VS L2 36 Neil Schembri 10
71 Gary Quartly 5, 8
James Rosenberg Racing Holden Commodore VS L1 38 Mark Poole 1, 4, 6, 8–10
Simon Emerzidis Holden Commodore VR L2 41 Garry Willmington 1
Holden Commodore VS 54 Simon Emerzidis 4–5, 8, 10
Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon EL L2 43 Paul Weel 1–6, 9–10
Mal Rose Racing Holden Commodore VS L2 44 Mal Rose 1–2, 4–9
Novocastrian Motorsport Holden Commodore VS L2 45 Wayne Russell 4, 6
John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore VS L1 46 John Faulkner All
Rod Smith Racing Holden Commodore VS L2 48 D'Arcy Russell 2, 4–9
Greg Crick Motorsport Holden Commodore VS L2 49 Greg Crick 1–3, 5, 7, 9–10
149 Dean Crosswell 6, 8
Charles Ryman Ford Falcon EL L2 51 Charles Ryman 3, 5–6, 9
Barry Morcom Holden Commodore VP L2 52 Barry Morcom 5–6
Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore VS L2 55 Rod Nash 3–10
Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon EL L2 70 John Briggs 1, 3, 6–7, 9–10
Robert Smith Racing Holden Commodore VS L2 72 Robert Smith 8–10
PACE Racing Holden Commodore VS L2 74 Kevin Heffernan 3–5, 9
Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon EL L2 75 Anthony Tratt 4–6, 8, 10
V8 Racing Holden Commodore VP L2 77 Richard Mork 1, 3, 5, 10
Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore VS L2 80 Mick Donaher 1, 3, 5, 8, 10
Don Pulver Holden Commodore VP L2 88 Don Pulver 1
Geoff Kendrick Holden Commodore VS L2 92 Geoff Kendrick 7, 9

Race calendar

The championship was contested over a ten-round series with three races per round.[4]

Rd. Race Title Circuit Location / State Date Winner Car Team Report
1 Sandown Sandown International Motor Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 30 Jan – 1 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
2 Launceston Symmons Plains International Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6–8 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
3 Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 27–29 Mar Russell Ingall Holden VS Commodore Perkins Engineering
4 Phillip Island Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 17–19 Apr Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
5 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 1–3 May John Bowe Ford EL Falcon Dick Johnson Racing
6 Mallala Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia 22–24 May Russell Ingall Holden VS Commodore Perkins Engineering
7 Barbagallo Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 29–31 May Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
8 Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 19–21 Jun Craig Lowndes Holden VS Commodore Holden Racing Team
9 Hidden Valley Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 17–19 Jul Russell Ingall Holden VT Commodore Perkins Engineering
10 Oran Park Oran Park International Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 31 Jul – 2 Aug Craig Lowndes Holden VT Commodore Holden Racing Team

Points system

Points were awarded to the first twenty classified finishers in each race as follows:

Race Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th   16th   17th   18th   19th   20th 
Points 40 36 34 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Championship standings
Pos. Driver SAN SYM LAK PHI WIN MAL WAN CAL DAR OPK Points
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 Craig Lowndes 2 1 1 3 1 1 6 4 4 2 1 2 4 3 Ret 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 C 1 DNS 6 1 1 1 992
2 Russell Ingall 14 4 2 4 3 7 3 1 1 3 3 1 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 3 2 11 4 C 12 1 1 6 9 7 942
3 Mark Skaife 7 6 8 2 2 2 19 9 7 1 2 21 6 5 2 EXC EXC 8 2 2 3 2 5 C 2 DNS 9 2 2 2 768
4 Larry Perkins 5 5 5 8 6 6 4 3 3 7 9 4 3 4 17 4 14 11 5 4 4 10 11 C 16 6 4 Ret 13 8 722
5 John Bowe 1 2 4 Ret 7 11 1 Ret 8 6 5 3 2 1 1 1 11 9 16 Ret 12 7 7 C 7 DSQ 7 16 10 9 684
6 Glenn Seton 3 3 3 1 Ret 5 16 Ret 18 4 4 8 11 14 9 7 4 3 6 7 19 5 6 C 9 5 3 5 5 Ret 676
7 Jason Bargwanna 6 Ret DNS 5 4 3 10 23 13 8 8 11 7 Ret 11 20 9 6 27 Ret 6 4 1 C 8 2 2 10 3 3 603
8 Tony Longhurst 8 Ret 10 11 22 15 5 5 5 9 7 5 5 6 4 11 8 14 Ret DNS 10 15 26 C 4 3 14 4 4 5 586
9 Jason Bright 10 Ret Ret 7 5 4 7 6 12 5 6 7 8 9 7 9 5 5 8 6 Ret 3 3 C DSQ Ret Ret 3 Ret 13 584
10 Dick Johnson 15 9 6 6 10 9 2 2 2 Ret 14 13 10 7 5 5 2 Ret 4 5 13 17 Ret C 15 7 12 24 18 17 550
11 Mark Larkham 16 7 7 Ret 11 13 Ret 14 11 12 11 16 15 15 Ret 15 10 13 12 11 8 12 8 C 3 12 5 9 7 10 474
12 Paul Romano 9 Ret DNS 9 8 Ret 18 12 9 14 12 15 18 8 6 12 Ret 16 7 15 EXC 21 10 C 5 4 Ret 12 8 4 418
13 John Faulkner 11 Ret DNS 22 Ret 10 8 Ret Ret 10 10 10 12 10 Ret 8 6 7 11 10 5 Ret Ret C 6 Ret DNS 11 15 12 376
14 Garth Tander 20 15 12 19 13 16 14 22 12 9 8 9 6 9 C 21 DSQ 8 8 6 6 301
15 Steve Ellery 12 Ret 11 18 Ret 17 12 10 Ret 29 16 30 14 12 8 13 18 24 14 14 14 14 Ret C 11 Ret DNS 14 11 14 266
16 Alan Jones 9 7 20 13 13 6 13 Ret 13 10 15 Ret 13 12 24 16 16 C 10 Ret 10 23 14 Ret 261
17 Steven Johnson 11 28 9 9 Ret 10 6 7 4 10 9 7 Ret DNS C 13 Ret 15 260
18 Steven Richards 4 11 9 17 9 8 14 8 6 188
19 Terry Finnigan 23 14 12 Ret 13 20 11 11 10 16 Ret Ret Ret 19 17 15 13 15 DNS DNS DNS Ret 16 19 159
20 Darren Hossack Ret 12 Ret 14 15 16 13 16 Ret 19 19 14 21 11 12 17 29 19 18 16 11 156
21 Tomas Mezera 15 13 Ret 16 17 17 Ret 15 C 14 9 11 15 12 16 140
22 Darren Pate 18 Ret DNS 19 19 19 22 18 14 17 29 Ret 17 Ret 14 16 16 18 17 20 16 18 13 C 17 10 Ret Ret 17 18 139
23 Mark Poole 13 8 Ret 15 Ret 25 Ret 13 15 13 Ret C 13 8 Ret DNQ DNQ DNQ 124
24 Neil Crompton Ret 12 10 8 14 C 7 Ret 11 116
25 Greg Crick 17 Ret DNS 10 12 12 Ret DNS DNS 26 19 21 23 17 21 19 11 13 Ret DNS DNS 100
26 Trevor Ashby 19 10 15 17 15 15 19 18 18 20 21 C 17 19 20 78
27 Steve Reed 12 20 14 23 18 26 25 18 18 Ret Ret DNS 18 15 16 63
= Chris Smerdon 22 13 13 24 16 22 18 23 Ret 19 18 C 22 16 18 18 20 21 63
29 John Briggs 25 15 14 Ret 19 Ret 19 21 25 25 19 17 28 13 15 DNS DNS DNS 58
30 Greg Murphy 9 12 C 38
31 Paul Weel 20 Ret Ret 20 Ret 22 23 20 16 28 20 18 27 Ret 15 24 28 Ret Ret DNS 17 Ret 22 26 32
32 Peter Doulman 15 14 18 28 23 23 26
= Mal Rose 24 16 16 23 18 21 22 21 23 23 20 19 21 24 DNS 20 21 23 22 19 C Ret DNS DNS 26
34 Anthony Tratt 18 Ret Ret 20 17 Ret 22 17 Ret 26 17 C 25 27 Ret 23
35 Ray Hislop 21 Ret 17 13 Ret Ret 24 23 C 20
36 Kerryn Brewer 16 17 24 Ret 22 21 14
37 Danny Osborne 26 17 Ret Ret 25 17 30 Ret DNS 30 Ret Ret 26 26 22 24 25 20 DNS DNS DNS Ret 28 Ret 13
= Brett Peters 20 14 Ret 13
39 Rod Nash 21 24 22 24 Ret 19 22 21 20 Ret 25 21 21 24 Ret Ret 20 C 23 17 Ret 19 21 22 12
40 Ryan McLeod Ret 16 Ret 20 21 Ret 21 Ret 20 DNQ DNQ DNQ 10
41 Kevin Heffernan Ret 17 19 Ret 23 22 29 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8
= Melinda Price 27 18 18 26 22 24 Ret 22 26 8
43 Geoff Kendrick 22 22 Ret 24 18 20 5
44 Richard Mork Ret 19 19 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 24 4
45 D'Arcy Russell 21 21 23 25 25 27 DNS DNS DNS 25 27 23 26 23 22 23 22 C 25 20 19 3
46 Robert Smith DNQ 25 C 26 19 21 DNQ DNQ DNQ 2
= Dean Crosswell 23 20 20 Ret DNS C 2
48 Neil Schembri 20 DNS DNS 1
NC John Cotter 21 23 27 0
= Mike Imrie 27 26 31 DNS DNS DNS DNQ 27 C 27 DNS 22 DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
= Mike Conway DNQ DNQ DNQ DNS DNS DNS 22 26 25 0
= Mick Donaher DNQ DNQ DNQ WD WD WD 31 26 24 DNQ DNQ C Ret 24 23 0
= Simon Emerzidis Ret 24 28 32 25 Ret Ret DNS C DNQ 25 Ret 0
= Gary Quartly 33 24 25 25 24 C 0
= Wayne Russell Ret 27 29 28 30 Ret 0
= Charles Ryman DNQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 27 31 WD DNS DNS Ret 0
= Garry Willmington 28 Ret DNS 0
= Don Pulver DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
= Barry Morcom DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
= Rodney Forbes WD WD WD 0
Source:[7]

Race three at the Calder round was abandoned before the start due to water lying on the track after a late afternoon storm.[8]

Privateers' Team Cup

The Privateers' Team Cup was open top Level 2 teams competing with control tyres.[9] Points were awarded on the same basis as for the actual Championship however competitors were required to nominate eight rounds at which they would compete and only their best six results from those rounds would be retained towards the Cup award.[9] Two-driver teams were permitted to pool their points into a combined score.[9]

The Cup was won by Lansvale Smash Repairs with the team's Holden VS Commodore driven by Trevor Ashby and Steve Reed.[10]

References
  1. Specific Conditions, 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10
  2. Racing - Table of Contents, 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-1
  3. 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 7-9 & 7-10
  4. The Rounds, V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, pages 18 to 79
  5. Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
  6. Official Programme, Mallala, 24th May 1998
  7. "Australian Touring Car Championship standings for 1998". Racing-Reference.info. 16 January 2020.
  8. V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, page 65
  9. The cup runneth over, Official Programme, Mallala, 24 May 1998, page 98
  10. Jason Parker, Lansvale take control, V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, pages 80–84
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