1971 Australian Drivers' Championship
The 1971 Australian Drivers’ Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Australian Formula 1 and Australian Formula 2 racing cars.[1] It was the fifteenth Australian Drivers' Championship [2] and the first to feature cars complying with a new for 1971 Australian Formula 1 [3] which permitted cars with production based V8 engines of up to 5 litre capacity (commonly known as Formula 5000 cars) or racing engines of up to eight cylinders and up to 2 litre capacity.[4] The championship winner was awarded the 1971 CAMS Gold Star.[1]
The championship was won by Max Stewart from Kevin Bartlett, Alan Hamilton and John McCormack, with only two points separating first from fourth after the final race.[5]
Calendar
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Max_Stewart_Waggott_TC4V_4_Graham_Ruckert.jpg/220px-Max_Stewart_Waggott_TC4V_4_Graham_Ruckert.jpg)
The championship was contested over a six race series.[6] Races were staged concurrently with those of the 1971 Australian Formula 2 Championship [1]
- Race 1, Governor's Trophy, Lakeside, Queensland, 6 June [7]
- Race 2, Angus & Coote Diamond Trophy, Oran Park, New South Wales, 27 June [8]
- Race 3, Glynn Scott Memorial Trophy, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, 29 August [9]
- Race 4, Victoria Trophy, Sandown Park, Victoria, 12 September [10]
- Race 5, Symmons Plains, Tasmania, 25 September [11]
- Race 6, Rothmans Trophy, Mallala, South Australia, 11 October [5]
Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each race.[1] Each driver could retain points only from his/her best five race results.[1] Only holders of a General Competition License issued by CAMS were eligible to compete for the title.[1]
Championship results
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Elfin_600E_Graham_Ruckert.jpg/220px-Elfin_600E_Graham_Ruckert.jpg)
Position | Driver [5] | Car [5][7][8][9][10][11][12] | Entrant [5][7][8][9][10][11][12] | Lak | Ora | Sur | San | Sym | Mal | Total [5] |
1 | Max Stewart | Mildren Waggott | Alec Mildren Racing Max Stewart Motors |
6 | 9 | 3 | - | 1 | 4 | 23 |
2 | Kevin Bartlett | McLaren M10B Chevrolet | Kevin Bartlett Shell Racing | 9 | - | 4 | 9 | - | - | 22 |
Alan Hamilton | McLaren M10B Chevrolet | Porsche Distributors Racing | 4 | 6 | 6 | - | - | 6 | 22 | |
4 | John McCormack | Elfin MR5 Repco Holden | Elfin Sports Cars | - | - | - | 6 | 6 | 9 | 21 |
5 | Tony Stewart | Elfin 600B England Ford | Paul England Pty Ltd | 3 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 1 | 16 |
6 | Henk Woelders | Elfin 600C Waggott | Bill Patterson Racing | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | - | 2 | 11 |
7 | Warwick Brown | McLaren M4A Cosworth | Pat Burke Racing | - | - | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | 10 |
8 | Frank Matich | McLaren M10B Repco Holden | Rothmans Team Matich | - | - | 9 | - | - | - | 9 |
9 | Jack Bono | Elfin 600B Ford | Graham Collier | - | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | - | 6 |
10 | Colin Hyams | Lola T192 Chevrolet | Colin Hyams | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 |
Garrie Cooper | Elfin 600B Lotus | Elfin Sports Cars | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 3 | |
12 | Ivan Tighe | Elfin 600B | Ivan Tighe | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
13 | John Walker [13] | Elfin 600C Ford | City State Racing Team | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 [13] |
John Ampt [14] | Elfin Mono IIB Ford | John Ampt | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 [14] |
New Zealander Graeme Lawrence (Brabham BT30 Ford) placed second at Oran Park, but not being an Australian resident he did not qualify for championship points.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Conditions for Australian Titles, 1971 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 79-83
- ^ Records, Titles and Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
- ^ The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 348&354
- ^ Pedr David, The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 171
- ^ a b c d e f John Brownsea, Stewart is Gold Star Champ, Racing Car News, November 1971, pages 58-59
- ^ Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, pages 66-67
- ^ a b c Des White, F5000 on the way, Racing Car News, June 1971, pages 26-28
- ^ a b c d Max Stahl, Stewart Leads Gold Star, Racing Car News, August 1971, pages 34-35
- ^ a b c Des White, Matich Win Opens Score, Racing Car News, October 1971, pages 56-57
- ^ a b c Tom Naughton, Bartlett’s Game Comeback, Racing Car News, October 1971, pages 68-69
- ^ a b c Steven Chopping, Stewart Strikes Gold, Racing Car News, November 1971, pages 44-45
- ^ a b Official Programme, Mallala Race Circuit, 11 October 1971, page 24
- ^ a b Walker is credited with 1 point for his Oran Park placing (in the relevant Racing Car News race report) but is not included in the list of pointscorers in Racing Car News, November 1971, page 59
- ^ a b Ampt would logically have been awarded 1 point for his 6th place at Sandown but is not included in the list of pointscorers in Racing Car News, November 1971, page 59
External links