Australian Drivers' Championship

Last updated

Australian Drivers' Championship
Category Open wheel racing
Country Australia
Inaugural season1957

The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category. This category was determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport until 2023. From 2024 the championship is contested by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Australian Auto Sport Alliance. Each year, the winner is awarded a Gold Star - from 1957 - 2023 the CAMS Gold Star [1] and from 2024 the AASA Gold Star.

Contents

The Australian Drivers' Championship is the third oldest continuously awarded title in Australian motorsport, with only the Australian Grand Prix (since 1928) and the Australian Hillclimb Championship having a longer uninterrupted history. While originally intended to be the premier prize for domestic motor racing it had faded in importance over time and from the 1980s had been effectively a feeder series for the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercars Championship, or a launch pad for drivers to start international careers.

2024, under the new stewardship of the AASA, saw an historic change of direction. With the objective of finding the most talented drivers in Australia, the premier open-wheel racing category was re-imagined and now serves as a showcase for drivers whose driving talent is a valued asset. This new focus aims at making the championship more accessible and competitive by substantially reducing costs thereby allowing financially challenged drivers the opportunity to demonstrate their driving skills. The car chosen to enable this change is the Hyper Racer X1, designed and manufactured in Australia.

History

The first title in 1957 was open in regulation, effectively Formula Libre. While the age of the 'Australian special', handbuilt racecars developed by local mechanic/engineers away from the European/American manufacturers that had dominated pre-World War II racing, was not yet dead, most notably the series of Maybach specials were still competitive as second-hand Formula 1 and Formula 2 cars from Europe became increasingly popular with competitors, with the Maserati 250F finding a few homes in the top echelon of drivers.

The rise of Cooper in Europe, led by Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and the rest of the Australian/New Zealand invasion that flooded into Formula 1 in the 1960s, saw a trickle down effect increase as the smaller cheaper rear-engined packages proved quickly popular amongst competitors. The competitive nature of the racing as well as the reputation of antipodean personnel in Europe saw the factory teams look towards racing in Australia/New Zealand during the European winter. This led to the development of the Tasman Series regulations and a flood of Coopers and Brabhams into Australian racing, as well as encouraging the rise of domestic manufacturers like Elfin Sports Cars.

As the Tasman series faded there was a considerable push for a two-litre open formula to replace the Tasman regulations, however with Formula 5000 already having a strong foothold with competitors two-litre fell by the wayside. While F5000 was popular by this stage the Australian Touring Car Championship had surpassed it for popularity, a situation that would continue until today where the Australian Drivers' Championship is now seen as a young driver development category.

Formula 5000 continued until 1981, with fields shrunk to less than ten cars at some venues, a local variant of Formula Atlantic already in use since the late 70s, was adopted and proved immediately successful with large numbers of Ralt RT4s imported. But Pacific, or Formula Mondial as it was later re-badged, faded by 1987 and the local Australian Formula 2 category was adopted for a single race in 1987 and for the 1988 season, while a Formula 3000 based formula, later titled Formula Holden was developed. Formula Holden ran from 1989 to 2003 by which stage this formulae had become unviable, the international death of Formula 3000 causing a supply of chassis to dry up. In 2005 international Formula 3 regulations were adopted.

Dwindling grid numbers in Australian Formula 3 saw CAMS elect not to award the Gold Star in 2015 for the first time in its history. [2] This decision was made after the season had begun.

In 2020 it was decided to revive the Gold Star for the S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship series of V8 open wheelers. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented a championship from being contested in 2020 delaying the title being awarded until May 2021. S5000 racing was placed on indefinite hiatus starting in 2024. [3]

In 2024, the Australian Drivers' Championship will be sanctioned by the Australian Auto Sport Alliance, with drivers using the Hyper Racer X1. [4]

Champions

Max Stewart (Mildren Waggott), winner of the 1971 championship Max Stewart Waggott TC4V 4 Graham Ruckert.jpg
Max Stewart (Mildren Waggott), winner of the 1971 championship
Frank Matich (Matich A50 Repco Holden), winner of the 1972 championship. Matich-A50-Graham-Ruckert.jpg
Frank Matich (Matich A50 Repco Holden), winner of the 1972 championship.
Ben Clucas (Dallara F304), winner of the 2006 championship 84 2006 Aust F3 C'Ship, Ben Clucas (UK), Dallara F304.JPG
Ben Clucas (Dallara F304), winner of the 2006 championship
Englishman Ben Barker (Dallara F307), winner of the 2010 Australian Drivers' Championship. Dallara F307 of Ben Barker.jpg
Englishman Ben Barker (Dallara F307), winner of the 2010 Australian Drivers' Championship.
SeasonChampionCarFormula
1957
–
2023		CAMS Sanctioned
1957 Lex Davison Ferrari 500 Formula Libre
1958 Stan Jones Maserati 250F Formula Libre
1959 Len Lukey Cooper T45 Climax FPF Formula Libre
1960 Alec Mildren Cooper T51 Maserati Formula Libre
1961 Bill Patterson Cooper T51 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1962 Bib Stillwell Cooper T55 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1963 Bib Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1964 Bib StillwellBrabham BT4 Climax FPF Australian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1965 Bib Stillwell Brabham BT11a Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1966 Spencer Martin Brabham BT11a Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1967 Spencer MartinBrabham BT11a Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1968 Kevin Bartlett Brabham BT23D Alfa RomeoAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1969 Kevin Bartlett Mildren Alfa Romeo
Mildren Waggott 		Australian National Formula & Australian Formula 2
1970 Leo Geoghegan Lotus 59B Waggott Australian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1971 Max Stewart Mildren WaggottAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1972 Frank Matich Matich A50 Repco-Holden Australian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1973 John McCormack Elfin MR5 Repco-HoldenAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1974 Max Stewart Lola T330 Chevrolet Australian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1975 John McCormack Elfin MR6 Repco-HoldenAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1976 John Leffler Lola T400 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1977 John McCormack McLaren M23 Leyland Australian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1978 Graham McRae McRae GM3 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1979 Johnnie Walker Lola T332 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1980 Alfredo Costanzo Lola T430 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1981 Alfredo Costanzo McLaren M26 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1982 Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford Australian Formula 1
1983 Alfredo CostanzoTiga FA81 FordAustralian Formula 1
1984 John Bowe Ralt RT4 Ford Formula Mondial
1985 John BoweRalt RT4 FordFormula Mondial
1986 Graham Watson Ralt RT4 FordFormula Mondial
1987 David Brabham Ralt RT30 Volkswagen Australian Formula 2
1988 Rohan Onslow Cheetah Mk8 Volkswagen
Ralt RT30/85 Volkswagen		Australian Formula 2
1989 Rohan Onslow Ralt RT20 Holden Formula Holden
1990 Simon Kane Ralt RT21 HoldenFormula Holden
1991 Mark Skaife SPA 003 Holden Formula Brabham
1992 Mark SkaifeSPA 003 HoldenFormula Brabham
1993 Mark Skaife Lola T91/50 HoldenFormula Brabham
1994 Paul Stokell Reynard 91D HoldenFormula Brabham
1995 Paul StokellReynard 91D HoldenFormula Brabham
1996 Paul StokellReynard 91D HoldenFormula Holden
1997 Jason Bright Reynard 91D HoldenFormula Holden
1998 Scott Dixon Reynard 92D HoldenFormula Holden
1999 Simon Wills Reynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2000 Simon WillsReynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2001 Rick Kelly Reynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2002 Will Power Reynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2003 Daniel Gaunt Reynard 96D Holden Formula 4000
2004 Neil McFayden Reynard 96D HoldenFormula 4000
2005 Aaron Caratti Dallara F304 Sodemo-Renault Formula 3
2006 Ben Clucas Dallara F304 Spiess Opel Formula 3
2007 Tim Macrow Dallara F304 Spiess OpelFormula 3
2008 James Winslow Dallara F307 HWA Mercedes-Benz Formula 3
2009 Joey Foster Dallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2010 Ben Barker Dallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2011 Chris Gilmour Dallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2012 James WinslowDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2013 Tim MacrowDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2014 Simon Hodge Mygale M11 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2015
–
2020		Not held
2021 Joey Mawson Rogers AF01/V8 Ford S5000
2022 Joey MawsonRogers AF01/V8 FordS5000
2023 Aaron Cameron Rogers AF01/V8 FordS5000
2024
–
AASA Sanctioned
2024 Damon Sterling Hyper Racer X1 Formula Hyper Racer

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References

  1. ↑ Australian Drivers' Championship – CAMS Gold Star, docs.cams.com.au As archived at www.webcitation.org on 14 April 2014
  2. ↑ "No Gold Star in 2015". Velocity Magazine.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ O'Brien, Connor (11 February 2024). "The roadmap to an S5000 comeback". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  4. ↑ Williams, Bruce (2 March 2024). "Motorsport Australia sanctioning rival claims prestigious Australian Drivers Championship title". Auto Action. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
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