Australian Nations Cup Championship

Australian Nations Cup Championship

Paul Stokell won the 2003 and 2004 titles driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR
Category	Sports Car Racing Production Car Racing
Country	Australia
Inaugural season	2000
Folded	2004
Last Drivers' champion	Paul Stokell

The Australian Nations Cup Championship was a motor racing title sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) from 2000 to 2004.

History

In the absence of the Australian GT Championship (which had not been run since 1985), Nations Cup became the top CAMS sanctioned championship in Australia for GT style cars. It evolved from the GT Production category, which was created in 1995 by category managers PROCAR Australia. For 2000, PROCAR split the Australian GT Production Car Championship into two separate series so that the more exotic GT cars such as Porsche 911s, Ferrari 360s and Lamborghini Diablo's could compete in the new Australian Nations Cup Championship and the lesser vehicles such as the Mitsubishi Lancers, Subaru Imprezas and HSV's could now compete for outright wins in the revised Australian GT Production Car Championship.

Cars

The cars that regularly competed in the Nations Cup Championships included:

Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Notes
BMW	Z3 M Coupé GT	3.2 litre I6	Nations Cup Group 2 car
Chevrolet	Corvette C5	5.7 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 2 car
Chrysler	Viper ACR	8.0 litre V10	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Ferrari	360 Challenge	3.6 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 1 car 2000–2001, Group 2 car 2002–2004
Ferrari	360 N-GT	3.6 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Ferrari	550 Millennio	5.5 litre V12	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Ford	Mustang Cobra R	5.4 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 1 car 2001–2002. Group 2 car 2003–2004
Holden	Monaro 427C	7.0 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Honda	NSX Brabham	3.1 litre V6	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Jaguar	Jaguar XKR-T	4.0 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Lamborghini	Diablo SVR	5.7 litre V12	Nations Cup Group 1 car 2000–2001. Group 2 car 2002–2004
Lamborghini	Diablo GTR	6.0 litre V12	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Maserati	Trofeo	4.2 litre V8	Nations Cup Group 2 car
Porsche	911 GT3 R	3.6 litre H6	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Porsche	911 GT3 RS	3.6 litre H6	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Porsche	911 GT3 Cup	3.6 litre H6	Nations Cup Group 2 car
Porsche	911 GT3 Clubsport	3.6 litre H6	Nations Cup Group 2 car
Porsche	911 GT2	3.6 litre twin-turbo H6	Nations Cup Group 1 car
Porsche	996 GT3	3.6 litre H6	Nations Cup Group 1 car

All cars in the Nations Cup Championship were required to use the engines that came with the various road going models, with the exception of the Holden Monaro. In 2002 in an effort to have an Australian car manufacturer competing in the top category and to have them competitive rather than just making up the numbers, PROCAR allowed Holden to use the 7.0 litre, 427 cui GM LS6 V8 engine (as used successfully at Le Mans in the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R and C6-R's) instead of the 5.7 litre Gen III V8 as used in the Monaro CV8 road cars. This caused some controversy as it was felt that allowing Holden to use a larger engine than available in the road cars gave them an advantage over their rivals, with some fans feeling that this decision was a big factor in the eventual demise of the series. PROCAR's given reason was that it allowed the Monaro's to better compete with the V12 and V10 engine cars as well as the lighter V8 and H6 (flat-six) cars.

During practice for the PROCAR run 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour race, triple Nations Cup champion and seven time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards labelled the Monaro as a "Better V8 Supercar" (even though its fastest time around the Mount Panorama Circuit would be some 7 seconds slower than a V8 Supercar at the time), while NC regular and veteran driver John Bowe said that while he had no problems racing against the car, he believed the 7.0 L Monaro was against the spirit of the rules.

Other cars that were eligible to race in Nations Cup, but rarely (if ever) did included the Mosler MT900R, BMW M3 GTR, Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R and Lotus Esprit.

Demise

With the demise of PROCAR during 2004, CAMS revived the Australian GT Championship in 2005 (the first time the championship was run in 20 years) and the series was merged into the grids of the Australian Porsche Drivers Challenge, itself a class of refugees left over after the Australian Carrera Cup Championship replaced the former Porsche Cup. The regulations differed and not all Nations Cup cars were eligible to race in the GT series, the controversial Holden Monaro 427C the most notable such example.

Championship results

The top three placegetters in these five championships were:

Year	Champion	Car(s)	Runner Up	Car(s)	Third place	Car(s)
2000	Jim Richards	Porsche 996 GT3	Peter Fitzgerald	Porsche 996 GT3	Mark Noske	Ferrari 360 Challenge
2001	Jim Richards	Porsche 996 GT3	Paul Stokell	Lamborghini Diablo SVR	Peter Fitzgerald	Porsche 996 GT3
2002	Jim Richards	Porsche 996 GT3	Geoff Morgan	Chrysler Viper ACR	John Bowe	Ferrari 360 N-GT
2003	Paul Stokell	Lamborghini Diablo GTR	John Bowe	Ferrari 360 N-GT Chrysler Viper ACR Porsche 911 GT3 RS	Nathan Pretty	Holden Monaro 427C
2004	Paul Stokell	Lamborghini Diablo GTR	Nathan Pretty	Holden Monaro 427C	David Stevens	Porsche 911 GT2

References

• CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 2001 to 2006
• Official Program, Clipsal 500 Adelaide, 7–9 April 2000