Audi A4 quattro Super Touring (ST04, 1996)

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MODEL DETAILS

What: Audi A4 quattro Super Touring
Model Family: A4
Model / Generation Code(s): type 8D, R7
Chassis / Matrix: B5
Chassis Number: ST04
Class: FIA Class 2 / Super Touring
Era: Audi Sport Competition Cars R Era
Built By: Audi Sport
Year Built: 1995
Competition History: Italian Superturismo, FIA Touring Car World Cup, Australian Super Touring Championship, Australian support races, Macau Guia Race, French Supertourisme
Championships: Contributed to Brad Jones’s 1996 Australian Super Touring title

OVERVIEW

Audi A4 quattro Super Touring chassis ST04 was Brad Jones’s primary car during his championship-winning 1996 Australian Super Touring campaign. Built by Audi Sport in 1995, it first raced with Rinaldo “Dindo” Capello in Italy before moving to Brad Jones Racing in Australia.

Its documented drivers include Capello, Greg Murphy, Jones and Patrick Herbert. The chassis subsequently appeared at Macau and returned to Europe, where it competed in French Supertourisme in 2001.

1995 ITALIAN SUPERTURISMO

Capello raced ST04 as number 2 for Audi Sport Italia during the A4’s first Italian Superturismo season. The register credits the chassis with three victories: the second race at Magione, the opening race at Varano and the second race at the Vallelunga finale.

Those wins formed part of a consistent campaign, with 15 podium finishes across the 20 documented races. Capello then drove ST04 as number 9 at the FIA Touring Car World Cup at Paul Ricard, recording a retirement in the first race and seventh in the second.

ITALIAN SUPERTURISMO RACE RESULTS

DateCircuitRace 1Race 2
April 23, 1995Misano3rd2nd
May 7, 1995Binetto2nd2nd
May 21, 1995Monza4th3rd
June 4, 1995Imola2nd2nd
June 18, 1995Magione2nd1st
July 9, 1995MugelloDNF6th
August 6, 1995Misano2nd3rd
September 3, 1995Pergusa3rd5th
September 17, 1995Varano1st3rd
October 8, 1995Vallelunga4th1st

Results: Rinaldo Capello, number 2 Audi Sport Italia Audi A4 quattro.

AUSTRALIAN DEBUT WITH GREG MURPHY

Brad Jones Racing acquired ST04 for 1996, initially assigning it to Greg Murphy for the preseason Australian Grand Prix and Gold Coast Indy support races. Murphy finished third and fifth at Albert Park, followed by second and first at Surfers Paradise.

Jones damaged his own chassis, ST03, at the Gold Coast meeting. The team subsequently exchanged cars for the championship, with Jones taking over ST04 and Murphy racing the repaired ST03.

1996 AUSTRALIAN SUPER TOURING CHAMPIONSHIP

Jones entered ST04 as number 3 under the Orix Audi Sport Australia banner. He won seven races in the chassis, including doubles at both Amaroo Park meetings and individual victories at Lakeside, Mallala and Phillip Island.

For the final meeting at Oran Park, Jones switched to the newer ST19 and won both races. His season total of nine victories and 181 points secured the drivers’ championship, while Audi and Brad Jones Racing won the manufacturers’ and teams’ titles. ST04 therefore supplied most of the victories in Jones’s title campaign, although it was not his finale chassis.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS

DateCircuitRace 1Race 2
May 19, 1996Amaroo Park1st1st
June 23, 1996LakesideRet1st
July 14, 1996Amaroo Park1st1st
August 11, 1996Mallala3rd1st
August 25, 1996Winton4th3rd
September 22, 1996Phillip Island1stDNF
October 27, 1996Lakeside3rd9th

Results: Brad Jones, number 3 Orix Audi Sport Australia Audi A4 quattro. Oran Park is excluded because Jones used ST19.

BATHURST AND MACAU

Jones also drove ST04 in the non-championship support races at the 1996 Bathurst 1000, finishing third, tenth and second. These were separate Super Touring races rather than an entry in the Bathurst 1000 itself.

At Macau on November 17, Jones raced ST04 as number 5, finishing fifth and third in the two Guia Race legs. These individual results should be distinguished from the event’s aggregate classification.

FRENCH COMPETITION

The register next documents ST04 with Patrick Herbert, entered as number 3 by Team Verbist in the 2001 French Supertourisme Championship. Its listed results include four third-place finishes: both Nogaro races, the opening Pau race and the second race at Spa-Francorchamps.

The record does not explain the chassis’s movements between its 1996 Macau appearance and its 2001 French campaign. Nor does it establish its subsequent ownership or present location.

DOCUMENTED ENTRIES

YearSeries / EventDriverNumber
1995Italian SuperturismoRinaldo Capello2
1995FIA Touring Car World CupRinaldo Capello9
1996Australian Grand Prix supportGreg Murphy4
1996Gold Coast Indy supportGreg Murphy4
1996Australian Super Touring ChampionshipBrad Jones3
1996Bathurst 1000 supportBrad Jones3
1996Macau Guia RaceBrad Jones5
2001French SupertourismePatrick Herbert3

Chassis assignments follow the Super Touring Register.

PHOTO GALLERY

SOURCES AND NOTES

  • Chassis history and results: Audi A4 ST04 — Super Touring Register.
  • Australian championship: 1996 Australian Super Touring Championship — Wikipedia.
  • Finale substitution: Audi A4 ST19 — Super Touring Register.
  • Lakeside result: The ST04 register displays “0” for Jones’s first June Lakeside race; the championship standings identify the result as a retirement.
  • Championship attribution: Jones won seven championship races in ST04 and two in ST19. The full nine-win season should not be assigned exclusively to ST04.
  • Support races: Australian Grand Prix, Gold Coast and Bathurst appearances were outside the Australian championship points calendar.
  • Macau: Fifth and third are the individual leg results; no overall placing is assigned here.
  • Coverage: The register’s current-status field is blank. Gaps in its chronology are not evidence that the car was inactive.