The 1962 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n motor racing title for

Appendix J Touring Cars Appendix J Touring Cars was an Australian motor racing category for modified, production based sedans. It was the premier form of Touring car racing in Australia from 1960 to 1964. The category was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Mot ...

.Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7Major Australian Touring Car Racing Categories, Commodore 25th Anniversary, Australian Muscle Car Magazine, Special Edition, page 13 It was contested as a single race, staged at the

Longford Circuit The Longford Circuit was a temporary motor racing course laid out on public roads at Longford, south-west of Launceston in Tasmania, Australia. It was located on the northern edges of the town and its lap passed under a railway line viaduct ...

, in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, on 3 March 1962. The title, which was the third

Australian Touring Car Championship 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 Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...

, was won by

Bob Jane Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018) was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a ...

, driving a Jaguar Mark 2 3.8.

Classes

Cars competed in six engine capacity classes: * Under 1000cc * 1000–1600cc * 1600–2000cc * 2000–2600cc * 2600–3500cc * Over 3500cc There were no entries in the 1600–2000cc class.

Race

Jaguars continued their domination of the championship in 1962. Four were entered for the event, though Ian Geoghegan was forced to withdraw his after breaking a rear axle during practice. This left the Jaguars of Bob Jane, defending champion Bill Pitt and Bill Burns to take the front row of the grid. Norm Beechey had entered a Chevrolet Impala but was unable to attend Longford. Jane led away from the start with Pitt in pursuit. However, Pitt suffered an overdrive problem during the race which allowed Jane to take an easy win, while Burns completed the podium. West was running in fourth during the final lap, but a burned piston meant he had to limp to the finish. He was passed by Brigden, who then went straight ahead at the final corner with fading brakes. West retook fourth heading onto pit straight but Brigden was able to turn around and repass West in the final 400 metres. Ross Farmer finished sixth ahead of Bob Holden, Peter Manton, who had made contact with a lapped car and pitted to check for damage, and George Maguire, the last finisher. The domination of the Jaguars was proven in the speeds taken from the flying-eighth: Jane was recorded at 134 mph while West and Brigden only managed 117 and 106 mph respectively.

Results

Class winners are indicated by bold text.

Statistics

* Pole position: Bob Jane * Fastest lap: Bob Jane, 3:07.1 * Race distance: 15 laps, 108.60 km * Average speed: 136.31 km/h

References

External links

Image of the start of the 1962 Australian Touring Car Championship at jagqld.org.au via web.archive.org. Left to right on the front row are the Jaguars of Bob Jane, Bill Pitt and Bill Burns.
{{Australian Touring Car Racing Australian Touring Car Championship seasons Touring Car Championship Motorsport in Tasmania