1961 Australian Drivers' Championship

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 .

Calendar

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 Race Championship 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 BS 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 [6] and it is omitted from 1961 Gold Star championship summaries at "members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw" [3] and "www.oldracingcars.com" [7]

Points system

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 license.[8] Ties were determined by the relevant competitors' placings in the Australian Grand Prix.[4]

Championship results

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 P/L 12 12 12 12 3 51
2 Lex Davison Aston Martin DBR4 & Cooper T51 Coventry Climax Ecurie Australie & BS Stillwell 3 - - - 12 15
3 Bib Stillwell Cooper T51 Coventry Climax & T53 Coventry Climax BS Stillwell - 5 - - 7 12
4 Stan Jones Cooper T51 Coventry Climax Stan Jones Motors Pty Ltd - 7 5 - - 12
5 Alec Mildren Cooper T51 Maserati AG 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 B Coventry - - 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 Barnes - - 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 JB 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.[8] First place points for that race were therefore awarded to the second placed driver, Bill Patterson.[8]

Championship name

The championship was referred to by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in the 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport simply as "The CAMS Old Star".[4] However historical records published by CAMS use the term "Australian Drivers’ Championship" [1] and that title has been used in this article.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Records, Titles & Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
  2. 1 2 "Gold Star Winners - 1957 - 2009". formula3.com.au. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1961 Gold Star races at members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw via web.archive.org Retrieved on 3 June 2013
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 The CAMS Gold Star, 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 50
  5. Souvenir Programme, Bathurst Gold Star Meeting, Sun. 2nd, Mon. 3 April 1961, page 5
  6. A Happy Christmas at phillip Island, Australian Motor Sports, February 1961, pges 42 & 43
  7. Australian Gold Star 1961, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved on 4 June 2013
  8. 1 2 3 Patterson's victory gives him big lead for CAMS Gold Star, Sports Car World (magazine), circa May 1961

External links

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