[William Dale Jr]

1988 Shell Ultra Australian Touring Car Championship
Round 1 - Calder Park, VIC (6/3/1988)

Circuit Length: 2.40 km
Race Distance: 60 laps
Weather: Sunny

A new-look to the ATCC, as Sierras flood the outright class. No factory Nissans - still building their new R31s - nor was the new TWR-developed Commodore ready. Also gone are the factory JPS BMWs, now painted white and run by Peter Brock. Frank Gardner and Tony Longhurst put together a Sierra team with the tobacco money, now displaying Amatil's Freeport brand; the car was only just finished in time for the race weekend. Bond had ditched the Alfa Romeo 75, and was now leasing the former #34 OXO car while his own was built. Miedecke was joined by Andrew Bagnall in a new car, while Gregg Hansford finds out John Bowe has replaced him at Dick Johnson Racing from a newspaper.

The Shell Sierra steamroller begins! The two red cars lock-out the front row, with Miedecke a distant third. The Commodores and BMWs are nowhere near the pace. Tony Mulvihill's time is disallowed after the car weighs in under the legal limit.

Johnson leads flag to flag to take a comfortable win, leaving the field in his wake. Bowe makes a bad start from the front row, charging back into the top five before low oil pressure forces his retirement. Biggest controversy is over the Mobil BMWs of Brock and Richards, the dispute focussed on homologation changes to the inlet manifold. The cars run under appeal - with the agreement of all entrants - in 1987-spec. They finish inside the top 6 on the road, but are later excluded.

Position	Number	Entrant	Driver	Car	Class	Race Time/Laps	Retirement Cause	Fastest Time	Qualifying Time	Grid Position
1	17	Dick Johnson Racing	Dick Johnson	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h01m22.75s		1m00.32s	0m58.86s	1
2	3	Freeport Motorsport	Tony Longhurst	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h02m05.05s		1m00.98s	1m00.52s	5
3	4	Caltex CXT	Colin Bond	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h02m08.92s		1m01.15s	1m01.30s	6
4	11	Holden Special Vehicles	Larry Perkins	Holden Commodore VL (HDT)	A	59 laps		1m01.53s	1m00.31s	4
5	6	Miedecke Motorsport	Andrew Miedecke	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	59 laps		1m01.03s	0m59.46s	3
6	8	Miedecke Motorsport	Andrew Bagnall	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	58 laps		1m02.89s	1m02.49s	9
7	14	Netcomm Australia	Murray Carter	Nissan Skyline DR-30	A	58 laps		1m03.17s	1m03.05s	11
8	26	Kalari Transport Services	Tony Noske	Holden Commodore VK	A	58 laps		1m03.03s	1m02.05s	7
9	12	Peter G McLeod	Peter McLeod	Holden Commodore VL (HDT)	A	57 laps		1m03.46s	1m03.05s	12
10	44	Mulvihill Motorsport	Tony Mulvihill	Holden Commodore VK	A	57 laps		1m03.63s	time disallowed	27
11	36	Everlast Automotive	Bill O'Brien	Holden Commodore VL (HDT)	A	57 laps		1m03.69s	1m03.69s	13
12	27	Ray Gulson	Ray Gulson	BMW 635CSi	A	56 laps		1m04.81s	1m05.12s	18
13	22	Lusty Engineering	Graham Lusty	Holden Commodore VL (HDT)	A	56 laps		1m03.80s	1m03.93s	14
14	46	Sun Liner	Tony Hunter	Holden Commodore VK	A	55 laps		1m05.31s	1m04.90s	16
15	24	Jagparts Racing	Gerald Kay	Holden Commodore VK	A	55 laps		1m04.48s	1m03.98s	15
16	32	Toyota Team Australia	John Smith	Toyota Corolla AE82 Hatch	C	53 laps		1m07.99s	1m07.82s	19
17	33	Colin Fulton	Colin Fulton	Nissan Gazelle	C	52 laps		1m09.79s	1m08.90s	22
18	86	Gemspares	Daryl Hendrick	Isuzu Gemini ZZ	C	52 laps		1m10.31s	1m09.97s	23
19	88	David Sala	David Sala	Holden Gemini PF60	C	52 laps		1m10.18s	1m10.17s	24
20	31	Toyota Team Australia	Drew Price	Toyota Corolla AE82 Hatch	C	47 laps		1m08.47s	1m07.91s	20
DNF	87	Joe Sommariva	Darrell Belskyj	BMW 635CSi	A	49 laps		1m07.49s	NTR	26
DNF	28	Lawrie Nelson	Lawrie Nelson	Ford Mustang	A	22 laps		1m05.55s	1m05.01s	17
DNF	13	Bob Holden	Bob Holden	Toyota Corolla AE86 Liftback	A	15 laps		1m11.48s	1m10.59s	25
DNF	75	Murphy Johnson Imported Cars	Gerard Murphy	Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo	A	9 laps		1m08.42s	1m08.87s	21
DNF	18	Dick Johnson Racing	John Bowe	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	5 laps	oil pressure	1m00.41s	0m59.09s	2
DQ	05	Mobil 1 Racing Team	Peter Brock	BMW M3	B	59 laps	illegal inlet manifold	1m02.54s	1m02.10s	8
DQ	1	Mobil 1 Racing Team	Jim Richards	BMW M3	B	58 laps	illegal inlet manifold	1m02.70s	1m02.75s	10
ENT	23	R. G. Lanyon	Peter Fitzgerald	Holden Commodore VK	A
ENT	34	Reithmuller Ward Int'l Motorsport	Phil Ward	Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16	B
ENT	35	Reithmuller Ward Int'l Motorsport	Llynden Reithmuller	Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16	B
ENT	78	Brian Bolwell	Brian Bolwell	BMW 323i	B