2004 Australian Nations Cup Championship
The 2004 Australian Nations Cup Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for modified production-based coupesOfficial Program, PROCAR Champ Series, Mallala Motor Sport Park, 17, 18 & 19 September 2004, page 4 complying with "Nations Cup" regulations.[https://web.archive.org/web/20041224165635/http://www.cams.com.au/bulletins/B04-030%202004%20PROCAR%20Championship%20Series%20Regulations.pdf 2004 Procar Championship Series regulations, www.cams.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org] Contested as part of the 2004 Procar Championship Series, it was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as a National Championship with PROCAR Australia Pty Ltd appointed as the Category Manager.
The championship, which was the fifth Australian Nations Cup Championship, was won by defending champion Paul Stokell driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR. Finishing second was Nathan Pretty driving a Holden Monaro 427C with David Stevens third in his turbocharged Porsche 911 GT2.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160123221648/http://docs.cams.com.au/Manual/About/AC06-Titles-Australian-2016-1.pdf 2016 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport – Australian Titles, docs.cams.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org]
The 2004 championship was eagerly awaited by fans of the category. Although it had lost John Bowe and his Ferrari 360 N-GT, popular young Danish driver Allan Simonsen would drive an ex-ALMS Ferrari 550 GT2 in selected rounds (as well as racing a Ferrari 360 Challenge in the Trophy Class) for Mark Coffey Racing while David Stevens introduced the 911 GT2. 59 year old Australian racing legend Peter Brock, after racing a Monaro for Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2003, left to form his own team (with Monaro's supplied by GRM) with himself and oldest son James Brock doing the driving. GRM themselves would continue with Pretty driving the #427 Monaro as well as servicing the Team Brock cars between rounds. Ian Palmer, the brother of series founder Ross Palmer, raced a Honda NSX Brabham and also Peter Brock's Monaro for a number of races. Team Lamborghini Australia returned to defend their crown with Stokell driving the V12 Lamborghini Diablo and he was joined by Formula 3 driver Peter Hackett in a second Diablo GTR.
Following the 2004 championship, PROCAR shut down the Nations Cup championship citing financial difficulties (this also saw the cancellation of the 2004 Bathurst 24 Hour). From 2005 CAMS would revive the Australian GT Championship with the Nations Cup cars (with the exception of the Monaros) eligible to race in that series.{{Cite web |url=http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=151077&FS=AUS-PROCAR |title=PROCAR Australia ceases operations |access-date=2016-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608000630/http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=151077&FS=AUS-PROCAR |archive-date=2011-06-08 |url-status=dead }}
Schedule
The championship was contested over a seven round series with three races per round.[https://web.archive.org/web/20041030220334/http://www.procar.com.au/calendar.asp?viewyear=2004 Season 2004 Events, www.procar.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org]
class="wikitable" |
style="font-weight:bold"
| height="14" align="center" | Round | Circuit[http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/ Natsoft Race Results, racing.natsoft.com.au] | State | Report |
height="14" align="center" | 1
| 20–21 March | R1 - Paul Stokell | |
height="14" align="center" | 2
| 17–18 April | R1 - Paul Stokell | |
height="14" align="center" | 3
| Victoria | 15–16 May | R1 - Paul Stokell | |
height="14" align="center" | 4
| Victoria | 20 June | R1 - Paul Stokell | |
height="14" align="center" | 5
| 18 July | R1 - Paul Stokell | |
height="14" align="center" | 6
| 8 August | R1 - Paul Stokell | |
height="14" align="center" | 7
| 19 September | R1 - Paul Stokell | James Brock | |
Classes
Cars competing in two classes, GT Class and Trophy Class, classified according to potential vehicle performance.
Points system
Championship points were awarded in each class on a 30-24-20-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the top twenty one class placegetters in each race. 3 bonus points were awarded to the driver achieving pole position in each class during qualifying at each round.
Cars from a separate series, the Porsche Drivers Challenge, were invited to compete with the Nations Cup cars at selected rounds however the drivers were not eligible for championship points.
Championship results
File:Stokell-lambo.jpg. He is pictured above driving a Lamborghini Diablo SVR in the 2001 Australian Nations Cup Championship]]
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style="font-weight:bold" |
colspan=6 | GT Class |
---|
1
| align="center" | 1 | Team Lamborghini Australia | align="center" | 572 |
2
| align="center" | 427 | align="center" | 415 |
3
| David Stevens | align="center" | 9 | Brennan IT / Securetel | align="center" | 309 |
4
| James Brock | align="center" | 22 | Poolrite | align="center" | 238 |
5
| Ian Palmer | align="center" | 50 | Holden Monaro 427C / | Ian Palmer | align="center" | 178.5 |
6
| align="center" | 05 | Poolrite | align="center" | 156 |
7
| align="center" | 888 | Coopers | align="center" | 119 |
8
| D'arcy Russell | align="center" | 7 | DRR | align="center" | 79.5 |
9
| Mark Eddy | align="center" | 30 | Mark Eddy | align="center" | 66 |
10
| Peter Hackett | align="center" | 2 | Clarion / Penrite | align="center" | 38 |
colspan=6 | Trophy Class |
1
| John Teulan | align="center" | 54 | Industry Central | align="center" | 312 |
2
| Theo Koundouris | align="center" | 33 | Porsche 911 GT3 Clubsport | align="center" | 291 |
3
| align="center" | 888 | Consolidated Chemical Co | align="center" | 279 |
4
| James Koundouris | align="center" | 88 | Ferrari 360 Challenge | Mark Coffey Racing | align="center" | 266 |
5
| Marc Cini | align="center" | 12 | Marc Cini | align="center" | 106 |
6
| Paul Blackie | align="center" | 24 | Pro-Floor | align="center" | 97 |
7
| Stephen Borness | align="center" | 24 | Ross Palmer Motorsport | align="center" | 93 |
rowspan=2 | 8
| Rod Wilson | align="center" | 11 | Pirelli | align="center" | 81 |
Matthew Turnbull
| align="center" | 13 | Fire Rating Solution / Promat | align="center" | 81 |
10
| Anthony Skinner | align="center" | 126 | Team Mongrel | align="center" | 64 |
rowspan=2 | 11
| Ted Huglin | align="center" | 110 | Consolidated Chemical Co | align="center" | 60 |
Perry Spiridis
| align="center" | 28 | ADAMCO | align="center" | 60 |
13
| Dean Koutsoumidis | align="center" | 71 | Equity-One Finance | align="center" | 48 |
14
| Geoff Munday | align="center" | 10 | NMR Motorsport | align="center" | 46 |
15
| align="center" | 18 | Murray Carter | align="center" | 36 |
16
| Carol Jackson | align="center" | 28 | Team Mongrel | align="center" | 30 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20041030200641/http://procar.com.au/newsitem.asp?news_id=1566 Stokell, Hemmes, Alajajian & White Crowned Procar Champions At Mallala, www.procar.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050228231923/http://www.procar.com.au/eventdetails.asp?event_id=44&round_id=149 Wakefield Park Race Results - 8 August 2004] Retrieved from web.archive.org on 7 May 2009
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040604040304/http://www.procar.com.au/gallerylist.asp Images from the early rounds of the 2004 ANCC] Retrieved from web.archive.org on 7 May 2009