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Toyota Camry has won class C of the 1998 Australian GT-P Championship, beating its locally-manufactured large car competitors in the process.
The Camry V6, driven by Sydneysider David Ratcliff, captured class C of the eight- round championship after emerging victorious at the finale at Oran Park.
Ratcliff posted a victory and a second place at Oran Park to finish on 195 points, 35 points ahead of main rival and Commodore driver Mark Cohen.
Ratcliff's 3.0-litre VO Quad Cam Camry won the class for production touring cars over 2500cc, comprising Falcon and Commodore V8s and V6 Magnas.
The championship win was achieved through consistency and the Camry's all-round package, according to Ratcliff.
"The Camry's is a good overall package - brakes, handling and engine," he said.
"Our Camry certainly didn't give anything away to the V8 Falcons and Commodores in terms of power.
"At the beginning of the year I didn't expect that we would beat the V8s and the Magnas, particularly as our competitors had a season's development on us."
The results of the class C battle mirror Toyota's current "drag strip" television advertising campaign.
Ratcliff posted class victories at Phillip Island, Winton, Mallala and at both Oran Park rounds of the GT-P series.
The GT-P category is contested by "showroom" production cars with limited modifications for safety purposes.
David Ratcliff has had a long association with Toyota, having won his class in the 1990 Bathurst 1000 in a Corolla Sprinter.
Toyota MR2 driver Ric Shaw also captured class D of the GT-P series in his Osborne Motorsports MR2.
Toyota MR2 competed against BMW 3 Series, Honda Civic, Mazda 626, and Peugeot 405 in GT-P Lights for cars with an engine capacity between 1851 and 2500cc.
The GT-P cars will race in a variety of touring car endurance events over the next few months.
A one hour race at Sandown on September 13 will be followed by the famous AMP Bathurst 1000 on October 4 and the three-hour Showroom Showdown, also at Bathurst on November 14.
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