1961 Australian Drivers' Championship | |||
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The 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title [1] for drivers of Formula Libre cars. [2] The title was contested over a five race series [3] with the winner awarded the 1961 CAMS Gold Star. [4] It was the fifth Australian Drivers' Championship. [1]
The series was dominated by Victorian racer Bill Patterson driving a Cooper T51 Climax. [2] Patterson won three of the five races and was second and fourth in the other two. He finished the series 36 points ahead of Lex Davison (Aston Martin DBR4 & Cooper T51 Coventry Climax). Bib Stillwell (Cooper T51 Coventry Climax & Cooper T53 Coventry Climax) placed third in the points standings.
The two races not won by Patterson were Longford, won by British driver Roy Salvadori in a Cooper T51 Coventry Climax and Mallala, won by Davison, also driving a Cooper T51 Coventry Climax .
Race [3] | Circuit [3] | Date [3] | Winning driver [3] | Car [3] | Entrant [3] | Report |
Bakers Milk International | Longford | 6 March | Roy Salvadori | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Jack Brabham | |
Craven A Gold Star [5] | Mount Panorama, Bathurst | 3 April | Bill Patterson | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Bill Patterson Motors P/L | |
Queensland Road Racing Championship [6] | Lowood | 11 June | Bill Patterson | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Bill Patterson Motors P/L | |
Craven "A" Trophy | Caversham | 12 August | Bill Patterson | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Bill Patterson Motors P/L | |
Australian Grand Prix | Mallala | 9 October | Lex Davison | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | B.S. Stillwell | Report |
A sixth championship race was originally scheduled to be held Phillip Island on 10 December. [4] Although a "Racing Car Scratch Race" (The Isle of Wight Trophy) was held at the circuit on that date, a contemporary report in Australian Motor Sports magazine does not label this as a "Gold Star" race [7] and it is omitted from 1961 Gold Star championship summaries at "members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw" [3] and "www.oldracingcars.com" [8]
Championship points were awarded on a 12-7-5-3-2-1 basis for the first six places in each race. [4] Points were awarded only to drivers racing under an Australian licence. [9] Ties were determined by the relevant competitors' placings in the Australian Grand Prix. [4]
Pos. | Driver [3] | Car [3] | Entrant [3] | Lon. [3] | Bat. [3] | Low. [3] | Cav. [3] | Mal. [3] | Total [3] |
1 | Bill Patterson | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Bill Patterson Motors Pty. Ltd. | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 51 |
2 | Lex Davison | Aston Martin DBR4 & Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Ecurie Australie & B.S. Stillwell | 3 | - | - | - | 12 | 15 |
3 | Bib Stillwell | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax & T53 Coventry Climax | B.S. Stillwell | - | 5 | - | - | 7 | 12 |
4 | Stan Jones | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Stan Jones Motors Pty. Ltd. Moran Motors Pty. Ltd. [6] | - | 7 | 5 | - | - | 12 |
5 | Alec Mildren | Cooper T51 Maserati | A.G. Mildren Pty. Ltd. | 2 | 2 | 7 | - | - | 11 |
6 | John Youl | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | J. Youl | 7 | - | - | - | - | 7 |
= | Doug Green | Ferrari 500 | Reimann Motors | - | - | - | 7 | - | 7 |
8 | David McKay | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | Scuderia Veloce | - | 1 | - | - | 5 | 6 |
9 | Austin Miller | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax | A. Miller | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 |
= | Jack Ayres | Cooper Mk V Ford | J. Ayres | - | - | - | 5 | - | 5 |
11 | Arnold Glass | Cooper T45 Maserati | Capitol Motors Pty. Ltd. | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
12 | Bruce Coventry | Lotus 18 Ford | A.B. Coventry [6] | - | - | 3 | - | - | 3 |
= | Lionel Beattie | Repco Holden Sports | L. Beattie | - | - | - | 3 | - | 3 |
14 | Murray Trenberth | Alta F2 Holden | M. Trenberth | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 |
15 | Noel Barnes | MG TC Special | N.F. Barnes [6] | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 |
= | Bob Annear | Pegasus Holden | R. Annear | - | - | - | 2 | - | 2 |
17 | Eddie Clay | Cooper T23 Bristol | E. Clay | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
18 | John Roxburgh | Cooper T45 Coventry Climax | J.B. Roxburgh | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
= | Jim Ward | Alta GP-2 | J Ward | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
The opening race at Longford was won by Englishman Roy Salvadori who was not eligible for championship points. [9] First place points for that race were therefore awarded to the second placed driver, Bill Patterson. [9]
The championship was referred to by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in the 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport simply as "The CAMS Gold Star". [4] However historical records published by CAMS use the term "Australian Drivers’ Championship" [1] and that title has been used in this article.
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