1981 Australian Sports Sedan Championship

The 1981 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group B Sports Sedans.^[1] It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport^[1] and was the sixth Australian Sports Sedan Championship.

Reigning champion Tony Edmonson, won his second consequtive title in the Don Elliot-owned Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV, this time fitted with an ex-Formula 5000 5.0 L Chevrolet V8 engine instead of the Repco Holden V8 used in 1980. His closest competition came from the 6.0 litre Chevrolet Monza of Adelaide's John Briggs, who finished second, with Sydney's Phil Ward third in his Penthouse sponsored Holden Monaro HQ. Both the Alfa Romeo and the Chevrolet were built by Adelaide-based K&A Engineering.

The championship was the last for Australian driver / businessman Bob Jane, who drove his Pat Purcell-built Chevrolet Monza to equal ninth in the series. Jane, who had won the Bathurst 500 on four occasions in the 1960s and had also won four Australian Touring Car Championships, retired from driving at the end of 1981 due to an ongoing back injury.

The Sports Sedan Championship was discontinued with the introduction of the Australian GT Championship in 1982. Some Sports Sedans were converted to GT specifications and others competed in the new championship with the GT cars. The GT Championship itself lasted only until 1985 before also being disbanded. Although there would be minor Sports Sedan series contested in various Australian states, the Australian Sports Sedan Championship itself would not return to the Australian calendar until 1991.

Calendar

Dick Ward placed 14th in the championship driving a Fiat Abarth. Car and driver are depicted in 2013

The championship was contested over eleven rounds.

Round	Name	Circuit	State	Date	Format[2]	Winning driver	Car
1		Lakeside	Queensland	29 March	Two heats	John Briggs	Chevrolet Monza
2		Winton	Victoria	3 May	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered
3		Amaroo Park	New South Wales	24 May	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered
4		Oran Park	New South Wales	21 June	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered
5		Sandown	Victoria	5 July	One race	Garry Rogers	Holden Torana LX
6	Patra Challenge	Calder	Victoria	2 August	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered
7		Wanneroo Park	Western Australia	16 August	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered
8		Surfers Paradise	Queensland	30-Aug	Two heats	Allan Grice	BMW 320i
9		Symmons Plains	Tasmania	20-Sep	One race	John Briggs	Chevrolet Monza
10		Baskerville	Tasmania	11 October	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered
11	The Advertiser Sports Sedan Challenge	Adelaide International Raceway	South Australia	25 October	Two heats	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered

Points

Championship points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six placegetters in each round. Only the best nine round performances were counted towards each driver's championship total. For rounds run over two heats, round points were awarded on a 20–16–13–11–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis to the top 14 placegetters in each heat. The six drivers attaining the highest aggregate from the two heats were then awarded the championship points for that round. If more than one driver attained the same total, the relevant round placing was awarded to the driver who achieved the higher placing in the second heat.^[3]

Results

Position[2]	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Rd 11	Total
1	Tony Edmondson	1	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet-powered	Donald Elliott	4	9	9	9	–	9	9	–	–	9	9	67
2	John Briggs	9	Chevrolet Monza	John Roberts	9	–	1	–	–	6	–	6	9	6	6	43
3	Phil Ward	2	Holden Monaro HQ	Australian Penthouse Racing	6	6	6	4	–	4	–	1	4	4	–	35
4	Garry Rogers	34	Holden Torana LX	Garry Rogers	–	–	–	6	9	2	–	–	6	3	–	26
5	Allan Grice	11	BMW 318i	JPS Team BMW	–	–	4	–	3	–	6	9	–	–	–	22
6	Tony Parkinson	28 & 12	Holden Commodore VB	QH – Adelaide Brake Service	3	–	–	3	4	–	–	–	3	2	3	18
7	Clem Smith	16	Chrysler Valiant Charger VH	Clem Smith	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	–	4	8
8	Peter Finch	16	Holden Monaro HQ	Peter Finch	–	–	–	–	6	1	–	–	–	–	–	7
9	Bob Jane	10 & 7	Chevrolet Monza	Bob Jane T-Marts	–	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	–	–	2	5
	John English	14	Ford Escort Mk 1	Bryan Byrt Ford	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	–	5
	John Tesoriero	32	Volvo 242	John Tesoriero	–	–	3	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	–	5
12	Geoff Boyd	29	Holden Torana	Carling Constructions	–	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4
	Gordon Mitchell	57	Alfa Romeo GTV	Cechelle Motors	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	–	–	–	4
14	Ken James	49	Mazda RX-3		–	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3
	Dick Ward	27	Fiat Abarth	Go Gear-rotomotion	–	–	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	–	–	3
16	Jeff Groves	97	Ford Escort	Jeff Groves	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
	Bob Stevens	17	Holden Monaro HQ	Bob Stevens	–	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
	Paul Jones	64	Chevrolet Monza	Paul Jones	–	–	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
	Rusty French	23	Ford Falcon XD	Rusty French Racing	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
	Craig Marsland	56	Chrysler Valiant Charger	Pizza Hut	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	–	–	2
	Rob Davies	44	Ford Escort Mk 1		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2
22	Kent Youlden	55	Ford Cortina TE	Dowsett Engineering	–	1	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
23	John White	65	Chevrolet Monza	John White	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
	Larry Perkins	69	Holden Commodore VC	Launceston Hotel	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
	Gordon Stephenson	75	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT	Gordon Stephenson	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	1
	Kerry Baily	58	Holden Torana GTR XU-1		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1
	Richard Purtell	62	Holden Torana GTR XU-1		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	1
	Luigi DeLuca	22	Ford Anglia	DWU Australia Pty Ltd	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	1

• Note: The top six results in the above table are based on those published in Australian Motor Racing Year, 1981, Page 164 however additional positions below the top six have been calculated from results for Rounds 1 through 10 in the same publication and results for the final round in Racing Car News, November 1981, page 35.