1998 Australian GT Production Car Championship
Introduction The '''1998 Australian GT Production Car Championship''' was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group 3E Series Production Cars. The championship, which was promoted by Procar Australia, was the third Australian GT Production Car Championship.
Calendar The title was contested over an eight round series with two races per round. Round Circuit State Date 1 Calder Park Victoria 5 April 2 Oran Park New South Wales 26 April 3 Phillip Island Victoria 17 May 4 Eastern Creek New South Wales 7 June 5 Lakeside Queensland 28 June 6 Mallala South Australia 19 July 7 Winton Victoria 9 August 8 Oran Park New South Wales 30 AugustThe final round had been scheduled to be run at Amaroo Park on 30 August but was moved to Oran Park on the same date.
Points system Championship points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first ten classified finishers in each race. A bonus point was awarded to the driver setting pole position at each round.Points for the five class titles were awarded on a similar basis but with no bonus point for pole position.
Results  Position Driver No. Car Entrant R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Total 1 Domenic Beninca 52 Porsche 911 RSCS Beninca Motors 31 20 20 24 18 26 18 29 '''186''' 2 Peter Fitzgerald 1 Porsche 911 RSCS Falken Tyres 20 23 25 20 18 24 24 18 '''172''' 3 Gary Waldon 5 Dodge Viper GTS Gary Waldon Racing 13 25 31 27 27 - - - '''123''' 4 Rodney Forbes 85 Porsche 911 RSCS Bob Forbes Corporation Pty Ltd - 16 6 10 10 26 25 22 '''115''' 5 John Bowe 27 Ferrari F355 Challenge Ross Palmer Motorsport 24 20 - - 29 - 25 15 '''113''' 6 Paul Stokell 50 Lotus Elise Sport Monarch Motor Imports Pty Ltd 8 4 10 - - 12 12 14 '''60''' 7 Ross Almond 26 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo V Ross Almond 8 7 8 10 - - 3 3 '''39''' 8 Alfredo Costanzo 3 Maserati Ghibli Cup House of Maserati 16 - 6 6 - - 9 - '''37''' 9 Neil Crompton 27 Ferrari F355 Challenge Ross Palmer Motorsport - - 16 13 - - - - '''29''' 10 Terry Bosnjak 12 Mazda RX-7 SP Terry Bosnjak - - - - 12 16 - - '''28''' 11 Dean Canto 44 Subaru Impreza WRX Edge Motor Sport - - 5 4 3 5 2 7 '''26''' 12 Chris Kousparis 6 Subaru Impreza WRX Nepean EFI 1 1 - 2 6 8 3 4 '''25''' 13 Murray Carter 18 Nissan 200SX Turbo Murray Carter 2 3 - 7 - 5 3 4 '''24''' 14 Ross Halliday 17 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo V Ross Almond - - - - - 10 - 11 '''21''' 15 Peter McKay 3 Maserati Ghibli Cup House of Maserati - 10 - - - - - 4 '''14''' 16 Chris Smith 30 Ferrari F355 Challenge C Smith - - - 6 4 - - - '''10''' 17 Ed Aitken 8 Porsche 911 RSCS   - - - - - - 9 - '''9''' 18 John Bourke 9 Toyota Supra RZ   8 - - - - - - - '''8''' Peter Boylan 7 Subaru Impreza WRX Peter Boylan - - - 4 2 2 - - '''8''' 20 John Trimbole 47 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo III Daily Planet - 2 3 - 1 - - - '''6''' 21 Bob Thorn 64 Toyota Supra RZ Supercheap Auto Racing 2 3 - - - - - - '''5''' Michael Simpson 32 BMW 323i Bruce Lynton - - - - 3 - - 2 '''5''' 23 Craig Dean 41 Toyota Soarer Turbo Crossover Car Conversions - - 3 1 - - - - '''4''' 24 John Cowley 2 HSV VS GTS-R John Cowley - - - 1 - 1 - - '''2''' 25 Marcus Marshall 24 Nissan 300ZX   1 - - - - - - - '''1''' Mark King 34 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo III   - - - - - - 1 - '''1''' Luke Searle 15 BMW 323i Roadchill Express - - - - - - - 1 '''1'''===Classes=== Position Driver No. Car Entrant Total Class A : Super Cars 1 Domenic Beninca 52 Porsche 911 RSCS Beninca Motors '''181''' 2 Peter Fitzgerald 1 Porsche 911 RSCS Falken Tyres '''171''' 3 Gary Waldon 5 Dodge Viper GTS Gary Waldon Racing '''121''' 4 Rodney Forbes 85 Porsche 911 RSCS Bob Forbes Corporation Pty Ltd '''114''' 5 John Bowe 27 Ferrari F355 Challenge Ross Palmer Motorsport '''107''' 6 Paul Stokell 50 Lotus Elise Sport Monarch Motor Imports Pty Ltd '''60''' 7 Ross Almond 26 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo V Ross Almond '''42''' 8 Alfredo Costanzo 3 Maserati Ghibli Cup House of Maserati '''40''' 9 Neil Crompton 27 Ferrari F355 Challenge Ross Palmer Motorsport '''30''' 10 Terry Bosnjak 12 Mazda RX-7 SP Terry Bosnjak '''28''' 11 Craig Dean 41 Toyota Soarer Turbo Crossover Car Conversions '''25''' 12 Ross Halliday 17 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo V Ross Almond '''21''' 13 Peter McKay 3 Maserati Ghibli Cup House of Maserati '''14''' 14 Bob Thorn 64 Toyota Supra RZ Supercheap Auto Racing '''12''' 15 Chris Smith 30 Ferrari F355 Challenge C Smith '''10''' 16 Ed Aitken 8 Porsche 911 RSCS   '''9''' 17 John Bourke 9 Toyota Supra RZ   '''8''' 18 Marcus Marshall 24 Nissan 300ZX   '''1''' Class B : High Performance Cars 1 Chris Kousparis 6 Subaru Impreza WRX Nepean EFI '''169''' 2 Murray Carter 18 Nissan 200SX Turbo Murray Carter '''165''' 3 Dean Canto 44 Subaru Impreza WRX Edge Motor Sport '''161''' 4 Peter Boylan 7 Subaru Impreza WRX Peter Boylan '''109''' 5 John Trimbole 47 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo III Daily Planet '''54''' 6 John Cowley 2 HSV VS GTS-R John Cowley '''50''' 7 Richard Davis 25 HSV VS GTS-R Jayco Caravans '''47''' 8 Mark King 34 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo III   '''18''' 9 Trevor Haines 61 Subaru Impreza WRX   '''8''' Class C : Production Cars (Over 2500cc) 1 David Ratcliff 88 Toyota Camry CSi Phoenix Motorsport '''195''' 2 Mark Cohen 55 Holden VS Commodore SS Mark Cohen '''162''' 3 Robert Chadwick 20 Mitsubishi TE Magna Robert Chadwick '''146''' 4 Jim Myhill 21 Mitsubishi TE Magna Robert Chadwick '''82''' 5 Steve Knight 21 Mitsubishi TE Magna Robert Chadwick '''40''' 6 John Wright 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''22''' 7 Wayne Webster 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''22''' 8 Guy Andrews 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''18''' 9 Peter McKay 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''18''' 10 Paula Elstrek 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''16''' 11 Paul Gover 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''15''' 12 Joshua Dowling 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''12''' 13 Sam Newman 28 Ford EL Falcon XR8 Ross Palmer Motorsport '''12''' Class D : Production Cars (1851 - 2500cc) 1 Ric Shaw 35 Toyota MR2 Bathurst Osborne Motorsport '''175''' 2 Michael Simpson 32 BMW 323i Bruce Lynton '''145''' 3 Phil Kirkham 71 Mazda 626 Rebound Clothing Company '''140''' 4 Colin Osborne 13 Toyota MR2 Bathurst Osborne Motorsport '''134''' 5 Luke Searle 15 BMW 323i Roadchill Express '''117''' 6 Clayton Haynes 4 Toyota MR2 GT Hard Toys Racing '''52''' 7 Carol Jackson 10 Honda Civic VTi-R Pace Racing Pty Ltd '''37''' 8 Allan Letcher 33 Honda Civic VTi-R Burswood Motorsport '''23''' 9 Peter Phelan 16 Peugeot 405 Mi16   '''12''' Class E : Production Cars (0 - 1850cc) 1 Nigel Stones 42 Suzuki Swift GTi Nigel Stones '''229''' 2 Aaron McGill 75 Suzuki Swift GTi Aaron McGill '''163''' 3 Kosi Kalaitzidis 22 Proton M21 Coupe K Kalaitzidis '''92''' 4 Danny Brian 98 Suzuki Swift GTi P Steer '''68''' 5 Darren Best 78 Hyundai Excel Sprint D Best '''48''' 6 Nigel Williams 98 Suzuki Swift GTi   '''28''' 7 Jim Myhill 97 Ford Laser TX3   '''22''' 8 Clayton Haynes 4 Suzuki Swift GTi   '''18''' 9 Don Pulver 76 Suzuki Swift GTi   '''10'''
References
External links *  PROCAR Site as archived at web.archive.org on 15 April 1998*  NATSOFT Race Result Archive 1998