1971 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1971 Australian Drivers’ Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Australian Formula 1 and Australian Formula 2 racing cars.[1] It was the fifteenth Australian Drivers' Championship [2] and the first to feature cars complying with a new for 1971 Australian Formula 1 [3] which permitted cars with production based V8 engines of up to 5 litre capacity (commonly known as Formula 5000 cars) or racing engines of up to eight cylinders and up to 2 litre capacity.[4] The championship winner was awarded the 1971 CAMS Gold Star and the title of Australian Champion Driver.[1]

1971 Australian Drivers' Championship
Previous: 1970 Next: 1972

The championship was won by Max Stewart from Kevin Bartlett, Alan Hamilton and John McCormack, with only two points separating first from fourth after the final race.[5]

Calendar
Max Stewart won the 1971 championship driving a Mildren Waggott

The championship was contested over a six race series.[6] Races were staged concurrently with those of the 1971 Australian Formula 2 Championship [1]

Race Race name Circuit Date Winning driver Car
1 [7] Governor's Trophy [7] Lakeside [7] 6 June [7] Kevin Bartlett [7] McLaren M10B Chevrolet
2 Angus & Coote Diamond Trophy [8] Oran Park Raceway [9] 27 June [8] Max Stewart Mildren Waggott
3 Glynn Scott Memorial Trophy [10] Surfers Paradise International Raceway [10] 29 August [11] Frank Matich McLaren M10B Repco Holden
4 Victoria Trophy [12] Sandown [13] 12 September [14] Kevin Bartlett McLaren M10B Chevrolet
5 Examiner 1000 [15] Symmons Plains [16] 25 September [16] Tony Stewart Elfin 600B England
6 Rothmans Trophy [17] Mallala Race Circuit [17] 11 October [5] John McCormack Elfin MR5 Repco Holden

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each race.[1] Each driver could retain points only from his/her best five race results.[1] Only holders of a General Competition License issued by CAMS were eligible to compete for the title.[1]

Championship standings
Henk Woelders (Elfin 600C) contesting the opening race of the 1971 Australian Drivers' Championship
Position Driver [12] Car [5] [7] [8] [11] [14] [16] [17] Entrant [5] [7] [8] [11] [14] [16] [17] Lak [12] Ora [12] Sur [12] San [12] Sym [12] Mal [12] Total [12]
1 Max Stewart Mildren Waggott Alec Mildren Racing
Max Stewart Motors		 6 9 3 - 1 4 23
2 Kevin Bartlett McLaren M10B Chevrolet Kevin Bartlett Shell Racing 9 - 4 9 - - 22
= Alan Hamilton McLaren M10B Chevrolet Porsche Distributors Racing 4 6 6 - - 6 22
4 John McCormack Elfin MR5 Repco Holden Elfin Sports Cars - - - 6 6 9 21
5 Tony Stewart Elfin 600B England Ford Paul England Pty Ltd 3 3 - - 9 1 16
6 Henk Woelders Elfin 600C Waggott Bill Patterson Racing 1 4 1 3 - 2 11
7 Warwick Brown McLaren M4A Cosworth Pat Burke Racing - - 2 4 4 - 10
8 Frank Matich McLaren M10B Repco Holden Rothmans Team Matich - - 9 - - - 9
9 Jack Bono Elfin 600B Ford Graham Collier - 2 - 2 2 - 6
10 Garrie Cooper Elfin 600B Lotus Elfin Sports Cars - - - - 3 - 3
= Colin Hyams Lola T192 Chevrolet Colin Hyams - - - - - 3 3
12 Ivan Tighe Elfin 600B Ford [18] Ivan Tighe 2 - - - - - 2
13 John Walker Elfin 600C Ford City State Racing Team - 1 - - - - 1
= John Ampt Elfin Mono IIB Ford John Ampt - - - 1 - - 1

New Zealander Graeme Lawrence (Brabham BT30 Ford) placed second at Oran Park, but not being an Australian resident he did not qualify for championship points.[8]

References
  1. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1971 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 79-83
  2. Records, Titles and Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
  3. The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 348&354
  4. Pedr Davis, The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 171
  5. John Brownsea, Stewart is Gold Star Champ, Racing Car News, November 1971, pages 58-59
  6. Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, pages 66-67
  7. Des White, F5000 on the way, Racing Car News, June 1971, pages 26-28
  8. Max Stahl, Stewart Leads Gold Star, Racing Car News, August 1971, pages 34-35
  9. Program, Oran Park Raceway, Sunday, June 27, 1971
  10. Official Programme, Surfers Paradise International Raceway, Sunday, August 29, 1971
  11. Des White, Matich Win Opens Score, Racing Car News, October 1971, pages 56-57
  12. John Wallis, Topsy Turvy Thriller, Australian Motor Racing Annual 1972, pages 38 to 43 & page 80
  13. Official Programme, Sandown, September 11 & 12 1971
  14. Tom Naughton, Bartlett’s Game Comeback, Racing Car News, October 1971, pages 68-69
  15. Examiner "1000", Symmons Plains, 26 Sep 1971, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 4 May 2020
  16. Steven Chopping, Stewart Strikes Gold, Racing Car News, November 1971, pages 44-45
  17. Official Programme, Mallala Race Circuit, 11 October 1971
  18. Governors Trophy, Lakeside, 6 June 1971, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 4 May 2020

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