Australian Super Touring Championship
| Category | Super Touring |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Inaugural season | 1993 |
| Folded | 2002 |
| Last Drivers' champion | Alan Gurr |
| Last Teams' champion | Knight Racing |
The Australian Super Touring Championship (formerly known as the Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship) was a CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for Super Touring Cars.
Super Touring was introduced into Australia in 1993 when CAMS replaced the existing Group 3A Touring Car category (which had been based on FIA Group A rules) with a new two class Group 3A. This encompassed both 2.0 Litre FIA Class II Touring Cars and 5.0 Litre Touring Cars, which would later become known as Super Touring Cars and V8 Supercars respectively.
In their first year the Class II cars were eligible to compete in both the Australian Touring Car Championship and in their own Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship which was run with the main series. This revived a name which had been used in 1986 & 1987 for a national title series for 2.0 Litre “Group A” Touring Cars. For 1994 the Class II cars contested their own separate series, the 1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, with both Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles awarded. 1995 saw the Super Touring name adopted for the category, the Australian Super Touring Championship name applied to the series and a Teams’ title added to the existing Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ awards.
The series was seen as an opportunity for manufacturer involvement in Australian racing since the 5.0-litre category was the exclusive domain of Ford and Holden under the regulations, in the hope that manufacturers like BMW, Nissan and Toyota who had been involved in recent years of the preceding category, Group A might continue to race in Australia. Nissan showed no interest and wouldn't race full-time again in Australia until entering V8 Supercars in 2013. On the other hand, Toyota jumped immediately into the 1993 series with a two car factory team run by Colin Bond, however after losing the title to a privateer BMW team, Toyota pulled out. BMW stepped into the series in 1994, with Audi, Hyundai and Volvo following in 1995 with both Ford and Holden giving back door support to privately operated teams on and off for the next three seasons. Hyundai did not stay beyond its first season. BMW and Audi alternated championship success from 1995 to 1998. BMW pulled out after the 1997 series. Both Audi and Volvo ended their involvement after the 1999 season, leaving the category as a privateer series which then rapidly dwindled.
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