1961 Australian Grand Prix


The 1961 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at the newly completed Mallala Race Circuit in South Australia on 9 October 1961. The race, which was Round 5 of the 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship, had 17 starters.
The race was the twenty sixth Australian Grand Prix and would be the last to be held in South Australia until the first Formula One World Championship Australian Grand Prix was staged at the new Adelaide Parklands Circuit in 1985. Lex Davison won his fourth and final AGP setting a record for wins that still stands today, having only been equalled by Michael Schumacher. David McKay actually crossed the finish line first but had been assigned a one-minute penalty, for a jumped start, which relegated him to third position behind Davison and Bib Stillwell.
Davison's Australian Grand Prix victory would be the last for a domestically-based Australian until Frank Matich won the 1970 AGP at Warwick Farm in Sydney driving a McLaren M10B Formula 5000 car, although British-based Australian Jack Brabham had won the AGP in both 1963 and 1964.

Classification

Results as follows.
PosNo.DriverEntrantCar / EngineLapsTime
14 Lex DavisonB.S. StillwellCooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.2L501h 29m 01s
26 Bib StillwellB.S. StillwellCooper T55 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L501h 29m 42s
314 David McKayScuderia VeloceCooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L501h 30m 05s
49 Bill PattersonBill Patterson Motors P/LCooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L48
515 Murray TrenberthM TrenberthAlta / Holden 2.5L46
620 Eddie ClayE ClayCooper T23 / Bristol 2.2L45
726 Alan JackBriefield MotorsCooper T39 / Coventry Climax FWB 1.5L48
845 Trevor EllisT EllisAustin 8 Special / Austin Supercharged 0.9L38
916 Mel McEwinM McEwinTornado Mk II / Chevrolet 4.6L35
1060 Peter WilkinsonP WilkinsonElfin Steamliner / Ford 1.2L35
Ret5 John YoulScuderia VeloceCooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L46Exhaustion
Ret8 Keith RilstoneK RilstoneZephyr Special / Ford 2.3L33
Ret19 Doug WhitefordBill Patterson Motors P/LCooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L30Engine
Ret11 John AmptJ AmptCooper T38 / Jaguar 3.8L25
Ret30 John NewmarchJ BruggemanRicardian / Holden 2.4L14
Ret56 Helene BittnerH BittnerVitesse / Ford 100E 1.2L1Gearbox
Ret3 Laurie WhiteheadL WhiteheadAusper T2 / Ford 1.0L0
DNS2 Stan JonesStan Jones Motors Pty LtdCooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5LEngine
DNS29 Garrie CooperElfin Sports CarsElfin Formula Junior / Ford 1.1LGearbox
DNS44 Dud DansieBakewell Bridge MotorsBBM rotary valve special / Holden - Dunstan Rotary Valve