1979 Australian Drivers' Championship
A 1979 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Australian Formula 1 racing cars.[1] The championship winner was awarded the 1979 CAMS Gold Star.[2] The title, which was the 23rd Australian Drivers' Championship,[3] was won by Johnnie Walker, driving a Lola T332.[4]
1979 Australian Drivers' Championship | |||
Previous: | 1978 | Next: | 1980 |
Schedule
The championship was contested over a three round series with one race per round.[4]
Round [4] | Name [4] | Circuit [4] | State | Date [4] | Round winner [4] | Car [5] | Report |
1 | Australian Grand Prix | Wanneroo Raceway [6] | Western Australia | 11 March | Johnnie Walker | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Report |
2 | Oran Park | New South Wales | 29 July | John Bowe | Elfin MR8 Chevrolet | ||
3 | Rothmans 10,000 [7] | Sandown | Victoria | 9 September | Alfredo Costanzo | Lola T430 Chevrolet |
Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each race.[1]
Results
Position | Driver [4] | No. [8][6] [7] | Car | Entrant [6] [7] | Wan [4] | Ora [4] | San [4] | Points [4] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Johnnie Walker | 25 | Lola T332 Chevrolet [8] | Magnum Wheels | 9 | 4 | 6 | 19 |
2 | John Bowe | 11 | Elfin MR8 Chevrolet [8] | Ansett Team Elfin | 6 | 9 | - | 15 |
3 | Alfredo Costanzo | 84 | Lola T430 Chevrolet [8] | Porsche Cars Australia | - | - | 9 | 9 |
4 | Rob Butcher | 10 | Lola T332 Chevrolet [8] | Rob Butcher | 4 | - | 4 | 8 |
John Smith | 71 | Ralt RT1 Ford [8] | John Smith | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | |
6 | John Wright | 76 | Lola T400 Chevrolet [8] | John Wright | - | 6 | - | 6 |
7 | Graham McRae | 2 | McRae GM3 [4] | Settlement Road Wreckers [9] | - | - | 3 | 3 |
8 | Chas Talbot | 3 | Lola T332C [4] | Chas Talbot | - | 2 | - | 2 |
Terry Hook | 15 | Lola T332 Chevrolet [8] | Terry Hook | 2 | - | - | 2 | |
10 | Peter Edwards | 21 | Lola T332 [4] | PJ Edwards | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Paul Hamilton | 88 | Elfin 600 [4] | - | 1 | - | 1 | ||
Barry Singleton | 19 | Gardos GL1 Chevrolet [8] | Barry Singleton | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Champiomship name
Sources of the time differ as to the actual name of the championship with both Australian Drivers' Championship [4] [9] and Australian Formula 1 Championship [1] [7] being used. "Australian Drivers' Championship" is used by Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in its historic documentation [2] and that term has been used here.
References
- CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1979, pages 94-96
- Australian Drivers’ Championship – CAMS Gold Star, 2016 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, as archived at web.archive.org
- Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1979/80, page 214
- Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1979/80, pages 88-97
- Wolfgang Kopfler, 1979 Australian Drivers' Championship, Formula 5000 in New Zealand & Australia: Race by Race, page 214
- Souvenir Programme, Wanneroo Raceway, Australian Grand Prix, 11th March 1979
- Official Program, Sandown, 9 September 1979
- The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 426-434
- Ray Bell, Alfie storms back, Racing Car News, October 1979, pages 28-30