311:, a Ferrari-based team which at its peak was running By this point the Australian Super Touring Championship was in decline and the Procar family of categories were now all-but the lead act. With the big GT Sportscars separated into their own class the GT Production Car series continued with the Mitsubishi Lancers, Subaru Imprezas, Mazda RX-7s and
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dropped the Brutes moniker continued to develop its niche strongly and is now a mainstay of the V8 Supercar support program. Nations Cup all but collapsed. A new series was created for them, without the controversial Holden
Monaros, based on international GT3 regulations and reviving one of
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title and the series became much like its pre-Procar early 1990s roots with large sedans racing against smaller sports cars. With Procar now running its own meetings costs had jumped but interest had declined and Palmer folded the Procar operation in 2004.
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won a very hard-fought championship in the top class in his
Porsche against Richards and Peter Fitzgerald with the component classes being won by John Bourke (Subaru Impreza), Sexton (Ford Falcon), Chris Kousparis (Mazda 626) and Pavicevic (Suzuki Swift).
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support programs as Super
Touring continued to collapse. The Nations Cup series continued to grow to the point in 2002 where the defunct Bathurst 12 Hour was revived as a 24-hour race, evoking similar European events the
247:. The overlap of the bottom class of GT Production and the top class of Production cars were merged, although the Citroens and Peugeots of the old Class C did not return to race against the Pulsars and 626s.
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races were hugely expensive to run. While some
European and Asian teams travelled to the race, there was not enough interest to sustain the costs and just the two races were held, both dominated by
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race saw Wayne Park in a
Ferrari F355 clip a back-marking Ford Falcon and was destroyed in a heavy crash. This became the impetus to separate the top class into its own series, the
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387:. The Performance Car series suffered declining numbers and ran its last series in 2007. Their competitors merged in the Production Car Championship in 2008.
208:. This also saw the addition of sedan-based sub-classes to embrace the middle-specification Bathurst 12 Hour cars, resulting in a three class structure.
327:. The V8 BRute Utes were instantly popular and created a whole new genre of race fans, particularly with its aggressive panel-rubbing drivers.
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2003 saw the GT Production car championship split again as the higher performance muscle cars and
Japanese turbo cars split off forming the
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prior to Palmer's involvement and had steered the category from the escalating costs of a series concentrating on
Japanese sports cars like
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Procar
Australia ceased operations in 2004 with Palmer citing financial issues as the reason for the company's withdrawal from the sport.
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This class structure continued for four years. Over time there was an increasing emphasis on the top class as more exotic cars, like
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for the 2000 season. This would attract interest from supercar manufacturers and importers with a factory supported
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177:. Palmer was behind the new series and he took over the existing Procar organisation. With the creation of
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57:. It acted as the administrator for various championships and series for production based cars including:
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into running sedans in the early 1990s, until finally transitioning to just front-wheel drive sedans in
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379:. Production Cars, now run by the Production Car Association of Australia continues to this day as the
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239:. The top class was split with the European and Japanese sports car which now included exotica like
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The four categories each went their own way. GT Performance dropped the GT prefix becoming the
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which centred on cars built to the same rules, but much higher specification vehicles like the
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adapted with seven-litre
Chevrolet engines specifically for this race by V8 Supercar team
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based businessman and long time motor racing sponsor of childhood friend and multiple
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cars now the top class. Additionally 2000 saw the establishment of the
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joining the group of established
Porsche teams and the creation of
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cars in 1994, Procar, along with the Australian Porsche Cup and
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The company also organised several endurances races including:
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saw a wish to create a series for these cars which became the
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was able to provide an instant group of support categories.
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Procar was the name of the organisational body running the
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race in 2011, reviving memories of the Bathurst 24 Hour.
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for utility mini-trucks based on the V8 versions of the
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arrived along with professional drivers like Richards,
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Retrieved from www.motorsport.com on 14 December 2009
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By 2001 the Procar categories were now racing on the
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teams fought along with a factory supported team of
404:) the GT Championship is now growing. GT's (run to
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443:
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41:Procar was founded in 1994 by Ross Palmer, a
34:category management company which operated in
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385:Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships
383:and is one of the leading categories of the
293:1999 Poolrite GTP Bathurst Showroom Showdown
243:split from the rally style cars such as the
175:1994 Australian Super Production Car Series
360:Australian GT Performance Car Championship
86:Australian GT Performance Car Championship
431:Crunch time for the series that add spice
408:rules) took over the grid of the revived
237:Australian GT Production Car Championship
74:Australian GT Production Car Championship
224:driver Milton Leslight winning Class C.
220:driver Chris Sexton winning class B and
377:Australian Performance Car Championship
197:, won the Super Production Car Series.
14:
476:
381:Australian Production Car Championship
364:Australian Production Car Championship
229:Australian Production Car Championship
202:Australian Super Production Car Series
131:Australian Production Car Championship
92:Australian Production Car Championship
469:www.procar.com.au at web.archive.org
464:www.gtprod.com.au at web.archive.org
402:Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia
297:Australian Nations Cup Championship
233:Australian GT Production Car Series
206:Australian GT Production Car Series
80:Australian Nations Cup Championship
68:Australian GT Production Car Series
24:
448:PROCAR Australia ceases operations
362:. The remaining teams revived the
181:Australia to run a new series for
62:Australian Super Production Series
25:
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109:Bathurst 3 Hour Showroom Showdown
235:merged into a single five class
47:Australian Touring Car Champion
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145:after a very poorly supported
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1:
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7:
10:
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435:Retrieved on 15 April 2015
398:Australian GT Championship
124:
370:
343:races. While popular the
200:The 1995 season saw the
18:PROCAR Australia Pty Ltd
489:Motorsport in Australia
353:Garry Rogers Motorsport
153:and a large number of
309:Prancing Horse Racing
291:. An accident at the
161:. The success of the
341:Nurburgring 24 Hours
396:oldest titles, the
38:from 1994 to 2004.
269:Chevrolet Corvette
249:Cameron McConville
245:Subaru Impreza WRX
216:won Class A with
16:(Redirected from
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484:Procar Australia
451:
445:
436:
433:, www.smh.com.au
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410:Bathurst 12 Hour
345:Bathurst 24 Hour
317:V8 BRutes Series
303:team fronted by
163:Bathurst 12 Hour
115:Bathurst 24 Hour
98:V8 BRutes Series
28:Procar Australia
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187:Commodore Cup
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305:Paul Stokell
281:Paul Stokell
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241:Ferrari F355
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210:Jim Richards
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195:Lotus Esprit
193:, driving a
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117:2002 to 2003
111:1997 to 2001
103:
100:2001 to 2004
94:2003 to 2004
88:2003 to 2004
82:2000 to 2004
76:1996 to 2002
55:Dick Johnson
40:
27:
26:
332:V8 Supercar
301:Lamborghini
265:Lotus Elise
257:Dodge Viper
222:Peugeot 405
218:Ford Falcon
214:Porsche 993
204:renamed to
171:Porsche 968
147:1993 season
139:Mazda RX-7s
478:Categories
416:References
321:Holden Ute
289:Mazda MX-5
285:Toyota MR2
191:Brad Jones
167:Mazda RX-7
159:Volvo 850s
151:Mazda 626s
32:motorsport
273:John Bowe
36:Australia
231:and the
43:Brisbane
406:FIA GT3
389:V8 Utes
313:HSV GTS
125:History
53:winner
371:Legacy
30:was a
212:in a
394:CAMS
339:and
323:and
287:and
279:and
267:and
179:TOCA
169:and
143:1994
137:and
70:1995
64:1994
49:and
337:Spa
480::
440:^
355:.
275:,
263:,
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20:)
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