The 1983 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of

Group C Touring Cars In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for use in Australian Touring Car Racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with t ...

.CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1983, page 95 The championship was contested over a six round series with all rounds run concurrently with those of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship of Makes.Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1983/84, pages 288 - 311

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

based

Peter McLeod Peter Gerard McLeod (born 6 May 1948 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is a retired Australian racing driver, best known as co-winner of the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, and for driving the distinctive yellow and black Slick 50 Mazda RX-7 ...

's consistent run over the series which saw him score points in all but the Castrol 400 at

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

, won his first (and only)

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

championship driving his Slick 50 sponsored

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...

. Second was the

JPS Team BMW JPS Team BMW is a former Australian motor racing team that ran from 1981–1987. The team's main focus was touring car racing but also ran in sports sedans and GT cars as well. The team, under the management of former British Touring Car Cham ...

635 CSi of triple

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...

winner Jim Richards, with

Nissan Motorsport , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departme ...

driver

George Fury George Fury (born 31 January 1945, in Hungary) is a retired Australian rally and racing car driver. For the majority of his career Fury was associated with Nissan, twice winning the Australian Rally Championship, and twice runner up in the Austr ...

third in his Bluebird Turbo. Fury, who won the opening two rounds of the series, and the

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer ...

's star driver

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, a ...

, who won the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst and the final round in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, were the only multiple winners in the 1983 AEC (though Brock received no points from his Bathurst win due to it being in the team's second car and not his nominated one; also surprisingly one of his co-drivers,

Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia. Biography Early years Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Eddi ...

, did receive points for the win). The other winners were 1983 ATCC winner

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four ...

who drove his

to victory in the Castrol 400, and

Allan Grice Allan Maxwell Grice (born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 (1986 and 1990), and as a privateer driver o ...

who drove his Roadways

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

to victory at Surfers Paradise.

Calendar

Class structure

Cars competed in two engine displacement classes: * Up to 3000cc * Over 3000cc

Points structure

Championship points were awarded to the top twenty finishers at each round according to the outright position attained. If two drivers shared a car the points were split between the two drivers, except at Round 4 where two driver combinations were mandated by regulations, removing the single driver option. Full points to both drivers were awarded. The exception appears to have been made for third drivers however as Peter Brock received no points for winning Round 4 alongside Larry Perkins and John Harvey.:

Results

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, align="center" , 50 ,

, Petrolon Slick 50 , align="center" , 10 , align="center" , 10 , align="center" , - , align="center" , 15 , align="center" , 20 , align="center" , 17 , align="center" , 72 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , 2 , Jim Richards , align="center" , 31 , BMW 635 CSi ,

, align="center" , 15 , align="center" , 5 , align="center" , 23 , align="center" , - , align="center" , 11 , align="center" , 13 , align="center" , 67 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , 3 ,

, align="center" , 55 & 15 ,

Nissan Bluebird Turbo The is a compact car with a model name introduced in 1957. It has been Nissan's most internationally recognized sedan, in multiple body styles, and is known for its dependability and durability. The Bluebird originated from Nissan's first vehic ...

, Nissan Motor Co. Australia , align="center" , 25 , align="center" , 25 , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 50 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , 4 ,

, align="center" , 43 , Mazda RX-7 , Peter Stuyversant International Racing , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 25 , align="center" , 23 , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 48 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , 5 ,

, align="center" , 6 ,

Holden VH Commodore SS The Holden Commodore (VH) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1981 to 1984. It was the third iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore. This new Commodore was an evolution of the previous Holden VC series model ...

, STP Roadways Racing , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 20 , align="center" , 25 , align="center" , - , align="center" , 45 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , 6 ,

Gregg Hansford Gregory John "Gregg" Hansford (8 April 1952 – 5 March 1995) was an Australian professional motorcycle and touring car racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1978 to 1981 and in Australian to ...

, align="center" , 34 , Mazda RX-7 , Peter Stuyversant International Racing , align="center" , - , align="center" , 15 , align="center" , 6.5 , align="center" , - , align="center" , 23 , align="center" , - , align="center" , 44.5 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , 7 , Terry Finnigan , align="center" , 10 , Holden VH Commodore SS , Terry Finnigan , align="center" , 8.5 , align="center" , 13 , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 17 , align="center" , - , align="center" , 38.5 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , =8 ,

, align="center" , 05 & 25 , Holden VH Commodore SS , Marlboro Holden Dealer Team , align="center" , 11.5 , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 25 , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 36.5 , - , Height="12.75" align="center" , =8 , {{flagicon, AUS

, align="center" , 05 , Holden VH Commodore SS , Marlboro Holden Dealer Team , align="center" , 11.5 , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , - , align="center" , 25 , align="center" , 36.5

References

External links

Images from the 1983 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, www.autopics.com.au
Australian Endurance Championship Endurance Championship