Our Heritage and History
The Queensland Touring Car Championship (QTCC) had its official first round (which was originally an annual event) on the actual opening day of the newly built Lakeside Raceway - Sunday 19 March 1961 - a first for both. The first event was a fairly modest affair, played out in front of a crowd of around 2,000 spectators. The Governor of Queensland Sir Henry Abel Smith declared the new Lakeside facility officially open before a Queensland Touring Car Championship race headed the bill with a 15 car entry. Among those taking part were Bill Pitt in a 3.4 Jaguar, Sid Sakzewksi in a Plymouth Belvedere and Barry Tapsall in a Holden. This first QTCC race was brought together by the Queensland Motor Sporting Club (QMSC) headed by President Sid Sakzewski and had major sponsorship from BP.
Not much is currently recorded of the general history since then, however the most notable QTCC competitor was Dick Johnson who actually won 5 titles during the from 1971 to 1976. This prominence gained him entry into the national Australian Touring Car Championship, where Dick eventually also took 5 titles.
It is also not recorded when the QTCC stopped operating, however the "second coming” commenced when regular meetings where held in 2010 between the newly formed clubs' founding members of Jim Spence, Chris Brown, Garry Hawgood and Dan Cuda. What followed was an email on 25 January 2011, inviting over 20 competitors to join forces at Queensland Raceway to discuss how a championship could be created from likeminded drivers, with their cars reflecting Touring Cars of their era. The national ATCC series was now a V8 formula, so what was formed was a "not for profit" club called the Queensland V8 Series which also coincidentally had 15 competitors. Glen Seton also provided support in the foundation of the club and its racing rules, giving valuable knowledge of the ATCC historical rules and its relationship to QTCC, specifically relating to equity and parity.
The first round was held on 19 February 2012, running a 6 round championship for that year. In early 2013, for sustained growth, it was recognised that other makes. models, powerplants and body styles where required, with the club changing its name to the Queensland Touring Car Championship. This immediately paid dividends with entries regularly over 20 cars and now features more than 40 cars at most race weekends.
Chris Brown - 2012 Championship Winner
Scott Smith - 2012 Runner Up
Tony Grant - 2012 Third Place
Chris Brown - 2013 Championship Winner
Jim Spence - 2013 Runner Up
Karl Begg - 2013 Third Place
Karl Begg - 2014 Overall Champion
Richard Gresham - 2014 Overall Runner Up
Steve Hay - 2014 Overall Third Place
Mick Apps - 2014 Group B Champion
Chris Begg - 2014 Group B Runner Up
Warwick Douglas - 2014 Group B Third Place
Brett Kennedy - 2015 Overall Champion
Karl Begg - 2015 Overall Runner Up
Murray Kent - 2015 Overall Third Place
Garry Hawgood - 2015 Group B Champion
Gary Anger - 2015 Group B Runner Up
Warwick Douglas - 2015 Group B Third Place
Steve Hay - 2016 Overall Champion
Justin Anthony - 2016 Overall Runner Up
Murray Kent - 2016 Overall Third Place
Stuart Walker - 2016 Group B Champion
Dean Rice - 2016 Group B Runner Up
Gary Anger - 2016 Group B Third Place
Brett Kennedy - 2017 Overall Champion
Murray Kent - 2017 Overall Runner Up
Chris Sharples - 2017 Overall Third Place
Chris Begg - 2017 Group B Champion
Gary Anger - 2017 Group B Runner Up
Adam Pye - 2017 Group B Third Place
Murray Kent -2018 Group A1 Champion
Steve Hay - 2018 Group A1 Runner Up
Ashley Hooper - 2018 Group A1 Third Place
Stuart Walker - 2018 Group A2 Champion
Gary Anger -2018 Group A2 Runner Up
Lance Jurgeleit - 2018 Group A2 Third Place
Mark Hyde - 2018 Group B Champion
Leo Graae -2018 Group B Runner Up
John Phoenix - 2018 Group B Third Place
Chris Scharples - 2019 Overall Winner
Pierz Harrex - 2019 Group A1 Runner Up
Steve Hay - 2019 Group A1 Third Place
Stuart Walker - 2019 Group A2 Champion
Matthew Haak - 2019 Group A2 Runner Up
Lance Jurgeliet - 2019 Group A2 Third Place
Steve Harper - 2019 Group B Champion
Mark Giorgio - 2019 Group B Runner Up
Scott Kelly - 2019 Group B Third Place
Matthew Haak - 2020 Overall Champion
John Swarbrooke - 2020 Overall Runner Up
Dean McMahon - 2020 Overall Third Place
Cameron Haak - 2020 A2 Winner
Peter Bray - 2020 A2 Runner Up
John Phoenix - 2020 A2 Third Place
Andrew Knight - 2020 Group B Winner
Paul Bonaccorso - 2020 Group B Runner Up
Gary Jones - 2020 Group B Third Place
Matthew Haak - 2021 Overall Winner
Chris Brown - 2021 Overall Runner Up
Cameron Haak - 2021 Overall Third Place
Gary Anger - 2021 Group A2 Winner
Rob Droder - 2021 Group A2 Runner Up
Simon Winters - 2021Group A2 Third Place
Andrew Knight - 2021 Group B Winner
Matt Devitt - 2021 Group B Runner Up
Paul Bonaccorso - 2021 Group B Third Place
Chris Brown - 2022 Overall Winner
Gary Lange - 2022 Overall Runner Up
Chris Sharples - 2022 Overall Third Place
Nathan Marks - 2022 Group B Winner
Ben Malpass - 2022 Group B Runner Up
Nick Linton - 2022 Group B Third Place
Hudson James - 2022 Group C Winner
Ettorie Vosolo - 2022 Group C Runner Up
Dean Wort - 2022 GroupC Third Place
