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1979 Australian Drivers' Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]

Schedule

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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

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Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each race.[1]

Results

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Johnnie Walker won the championship driving a Lola T332, similar to the example pictured above
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

Championship name

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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

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  1. ^ a b c CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1979, pages 94-96
  2. ^ a b Australian Drivers’ Championship – CAMS Gold Star, 2016 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, as archived at web.archive.org
  3. ^ Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1979/80, page 214
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1979/80, pages 88-97
  5. ^ Wolfgang Kopfler, 1979 Australian Drivers' Championship, Formula 5000 in New Zealand & Australia: Race by Race, page 214
  6. ^ a b c Souvenir Programme, Wanneroo Raceway, Australian Grand Prix, 11th March 1979
  7. ^ a b c d Official Program, Sandown, 9 September 1979
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 426-434
  9. ^ a b Ray Bell, Alfie storms back, Racing Car News, October 1979, pages 28-30
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