Australian Formula 1 | |
---|---|
Motor racing formula | |
Category | Open wheel car |
Country or region | Australia |
Championships | Australian Drivers' Championship |
Inaugural season | 1970 |
Status | Defunct |
Folded | 1983 |
Australian Formula 1 (AF1) was a motor sport category for open-wheeler racing cars which was current in Australia from 1970 to 1983.
AF1 was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1970, initially restricting cars to unsupercharged engines of no greater than 2.5-litre capacity, running on commercial fuel. [1] AF1 was essentially a new name for the Australian National Formula which had been Australia’s premier racing category from 1964 [2] to 1969. [3]
Effective 23 February 1971, AF1 was changed to a two-part formula catering for racing cars fitted with 5.0-litre production based pushrod V8 engines (internationally known as Formula 5000 cars) and those fitted with less restricted unsupercharged engines of eight cylinders or less and up to 2000 cc in capacity. [4] The smaller engine option was discontinued after 1976. [5] [6] The main engines used were Chevrolet and Repco-Holden V8's, though occasionally a Ford V8 was seen in action without success.
In March 1979, Formula Pacific cars (using 1.6-litre production-based four-cylinder engines) became eligible for Australian Formula 1 alongside the existing 5.0-litre cars [7] and 1980 saw the addition of 3.0-litre FIA Formula One cars to the mix. [8] For 1982, Australian Formula 1 was restricted to Formula Pacific cars only. [9] In 1983 CAMS adopted Formula Mondial as the new Australian Formula 1 but allowed cars complying with Formula Pacific to compete alongside the new cars for that year. [10] (Formula Mondial was an FIA approved international formula very similar to Formula Pacific but with cars restricted to using the 1.6-litre Ford Cosworth BDA four-cylinder engine. [11] ) For 1984 CAMS changed the category name from “Australian Formula 1” to “Formula Mondial”. [12]
The Australian Drivers' Championship (for the CAMS Gold Star award) was open to drivers of AF1 cars throughout the life of the formula, i.e. from 1970 to 1983. During those years the term Australian Formula 1 Championship was often used in lieu of Australian Drivers Championship [13] however the latter is used by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in its official records of the championship. [14]
The Australian Grand Prix was contested by AF1 cars during the years 1970 to 1983 inclusive, although the 1970 event also permitted Formula 5000 cars and the 1981 race was restricted to cars complying with the Formula Pacific section of AF1. [15]
Formula Two is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned again in 2017 when the former GP2 Series became known as the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers.
Repco is an Australian automotive engineering/retailer company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and was for many years known for reconditioning engines and for specialised manufacturing, for which it gained a high reputation. It is now best known as a retailer of spare parts and motor accessories.
Formula Holden was an Australian open wheel racing category introduced in 1989.
Australian Formula 2, sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2, is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia. The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2 was introduced in 1978. Brian Shead of Cheetah Racing Cars and Garrie Cooper of Elfin Sports Cars were largely responsible for the development of the format, which was devised to suit the needs of Australian drivers, most of whom had little or no sponsorship and had to bear the costs of racing out of their own pockets.
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 and from 2024 the AASA Gold Star.
Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was used in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was based on Formula Atlantic, with provision made for the use of Japanese engines. The category was superseded in 1983 by Formula Mondial, which was devised by the FIA to replace both Formula Atlantic and Formula Pacific.
The BRM P261, also known as the BRM P61 Mark II, is a Formula One motor racing car, designed and built by the British Racing Motors team in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. The BRM P261 was introduced for the 1964 Formula One season, and its design was an evolution of Tony Rudd's one-off BRM P61 car of 1963. The P261 had a relatively long racing career; variants of the car were still being entered for Formula One World Championship Grands Prix as late as 1968. During the course of their front-line career, BRM P261s won six World Championship races, in the hands of works drivers Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, and finished second in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship standings in 1964 and 1965. Stewart, Hill and Richard Attwood also used works P261s to compete in the Tasman Series in 1966. The BRMs dominated, with Stewart winning four, Hill two, and Attwood one of the 1966 Tasman Series' eight races. Stewart also won the title. The works-backed Reg Parnell Racing team returned in 1967 with Stewart and Attwood, where Stewart added another two wins to his tally. In terms of races won and total championship points scored, the P261 was the most successful car in BRM's history.
The Australian One and a Half Litre Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title contested annually from 1964 to 1968. It was open to drivers of cars complying with the Australian 1½ Litre Formula which specified open wheel racing cars fitted with unsupercharged engines using commercially available fuel and limited to 1500cc capacity. The title was staged over a single race in the first two years and over a series of races in the last three.
The 1986 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for Formula Mondial racing cars. It was the 30th Australian Drivers' Championship. The championship winner was awarded the 1986 CAMS Gold Star.
The Australian GT Championship is a CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 title was contested over a single race and those after that year over a series of races. The categories which have contested the championship have not always been well defined and often have become a home for cars orphaned by category collapse or a sudden change in regulation.
The Australian National Formula was an Australian motor racing category which was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1964 and remained current until the end of 1969. It had replaced Formula Libre as the Australian premier racing formula.
The 1974 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Oran Park Raceway in New South Wales, Australia on 17 November 1974. It was open to Racing Cars complying with Australian Formula 1 or Australian Formula 2. The race, which was the thirty-ninth Australian Grand Prix, was Round Five of the 1974 Australian Drivers' Championship.
The Australian 1½ Litre Formula was a motor racing category which was current in Australia from 1964 to 1968. The formula specified racing cars with four-cylinder unsupercharged engines using commercially available fuel and limited to 1500cc capacity. It occupied the second tier in Australian formula car racing, below the Australian National Formula and above Australian Formula 2 (1100cc) and Australian Formula 3 (1000cc).
The 1970 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Warwick Farm Raceway in New South Wales, Australia on 22 November 1970. The race, which was the thirty fifth Australian Grand Prix, was open to Formula 5000 cars, 2.5-litre Australian Formula 1 cars and Australian Formula 2 cars. For the first time since 1956, the race was not a round of either the Australian Drivers' Championship or the Tasman Series.
Formula Mondial was an international motor racing category which was introduced to replace both Formula Atlantic and the similar Formula Pacific in 1983.
The Matich name was applied to a series of sports racing cars and open wheel racing cars produced in Australia between 1967 and 1974 under the direction of Sydney-based racing driver and engineer Frank Matich.
The 1971 Australian Drivers’ Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Australian Formula 1 and Australian Formula 2 racing cars. It was the fifteenth Australian Drivers' Championship and the first to feature cars complying with a new for 1971 Australian Formula 1 which permitted cars with production based V8 engines of up to 5 litre capacity or racing engines of up to eight cylinders and up to 2 litre capacity. The championship winner was awarded the 1971 CAMS Gold Star and the title of Australian Champion Driver.
The 1985 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group A Sports Cars. It was the 17th Australian Sports Car Championship and the first to be run concurrently with the Australian GT Championship.
Formula 4 Australian Championship Certified by FIA is an upcoming Australian motor racing series for open-wheel cars complying with FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural championship, known as the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship, was organised from 2015 to 2019.