1963 Australian Touring Car Championship

The 1963 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Appendix J Touring Cars.^[1] It was contested over a single 25 lap, 50 mile (80 km) race at the Mallala Motor Sport Park in South Australia on 15 April 1963 and was the fourth running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The race was won by Bob Jane, driving a Jaguar Mark 2 4.1.^[2]

Race

Much of the interest in the 1963 title centred on an anticipated duel between Bob Jane's much developed Jaguar Mark 2 and Norm Beechey's new Chevrolet Impala. The confrontation failed to eventuate after the Impala blew its engine the previous weekend and was a non-starter. Beechey raced his backup car, a Holden 48-215. Jane took pole position by one tenth of a second over the Valiant of Ern Abbott, with Clem Smith's Valiant another second behind. The second row comprised the Holden of Clive Millis and the Fiat 1500 of Pat James.^[2]

Beechey retired on lap 1 after starting sixth, while Jane led from Abbott, Smith, Peter Manton, John Brindley, James, Harry Firth, George Reynolds and Richard Thurston. Jane set a new lap record of 1:57.2 on lap 2 as he extended his lead, while Firth passed James, Brindley and Manton to move into fourth place by lap 7. Abbott was able to stay with Jane as the two pulled away from Smith in third, who was ten seconds behind at half distance. Both Valiant drivers then encountered problems: Abbott's brakes began to fade and he fell back into the clutches of Smith, but Smith was low on fuel and had to conserve. Firth also had problems, with a bent throttle linkage putting him under pressure from Manton. Manton attempted to pass Firth at the last corner but was unable to take the place.^[2]

Jane went on to win Jaguar's fourth and final Australian Touring Car Championship, leading Abbott home by seven seconds, with Smith a further 22 seconds adrift. Firth finished one lap down in fourth ahead of Manton, Millis and Reynolds.^[2]

Results

Class winners are indicated by bold text.

Pos.	Class	No.	Driver	Entrant	Car	Laps	Time/Retired
1	Over 3500cc	71	Bob Jane	R. Jane	Jaguar Mark 2 4.1	25	50:03.2
2	Over 3500cc	99	Ern Abbott	E. Abbott Car Sales	Chrylser Valiant R Series	25	+7.0
3	Over 3500cc	46	Clem Smith	C. Smith Motors	Chrylser Valiant R Series	25	+28.7
4	1301–1600cc	111	Harry Firth	Ford Motor Co	Ford Consul Cortina Mark I	24	+1 lap
5	Up to 1000cc	59	Peter Manton	P. Manton Motors	Morris Cooper	24	+1 lap
6	2001–2600cc	87	Clive Millis	Merlyn Motors	Holden	24	+1 lap
7	1001–1300cc	49	George Reynolds	G. Reynolds	Volkswagen	24	+1 lap
8	Up to 1000cc	112	Gavin Baillieu	H. Firth	Morris Cooper	23	+2 laps
9	1301–1600cc	78	Pat James	Motor Improvements	Fiat 1500	23	+2 laps
10	2601–3500cc	30	Cyril Nancarrow	C.G. Nancarrow	Austin A90 Westminster	23	+2 laps
11	2001–2600cc	70	B. Murphy	B. Murphy	Holden	23	+2 laps
12	Up to 1000cc	56	L. Callaway	O'Callaghan Motors	Morris Cooper	23	+2 laps
13	Up to 1000cc	57	W. Wauchope	J.W. Taylors	Morris Cooper	23	+2 laps
14	1001–1300cc	50	Ken Virgin	K. Virgin	Volkswagen	23	+2 laps
15	2001–2600cc	36	Dave Sullivan	D. Sullivan Motors	Holden	23	+2 laps
16	1001–1300cc	35	R. Brown	B.J. Auto Service	Simca Aronde	23	+2 laps
17	2001–2600cc	60	D. Dix	D. Dix	Holden	23	+2 laps
18	1301–1600cc	92	W. Nalder	W. Nalder	Hillman	22	+3 laps
19	2001–2600cc	69	John Brindley	Car World	Holden	22	+3 laps
20	1601–2000cc	114	Wally Wilson	Team SAAS	Citroën ID19	22	+3 laps
Ret	Up to 1000cc	62	N. Webb	C&S Motors	Morris 850	17
Ret	1301–1600cc	73	Terry Sully	T. Sully	Hillman Minx	17
Ret	Up to 1000cc	58	Richard Thurston	R.K. Thurston	Morris 850	16
Ret	2001–2600cc	85	B. Forbes	Forcars Pty Ltd	Holden	11
Ret	2001–2600cc	82	V. Clancy	V. Clancy	Holden	7
Ret	1301–1600cc	79	Brian Sampson	Motor Improvements	Austin Lancer	4
Ret	2601–3500cc	64	C. Roskilly	C. Roskilly	Austin A90 Westminster	3
Ret	2001–2600cc	39	R. Loader	R. Loader	Holden	3
Ret	2001–2600cc	74	Norm Beechey		Holden 48-215	0
Sources:[2][3][4]

Statistics

• Pole position: Bob Jane, 1:57.9^[2]
• Fastest lap: Bob Jane, 1:57.2^[2]
• Race distance: 25 laps, 84.50 km^[2]
• Average speed: 101.27 km/h^[2]

References

Further reading

• Bob Jane Makes It a Double, Australian Motor Sport, June 1963, pages 63–65

External links

• 1963 Australian touring car racing images