Australian Drivers' Championship


The Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing championship contested annually from 1957 to 2014 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. From 2005 to 2014 this category was Formula 3 and the championship was promoted as the Formula 3 Australian Drivers' Championship. Each year, the winner was awarded the CAMS Gold Star.
It was the third oldest continuously awarded title in Australian motorsport, with only the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Hillclimb Championship having a longer uninterrupted history. While originally intended to be the premier prize for domestic motor racing it had faded in importance over time and from the 1980s had been effectively a feeder series for the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercars Championship, or a launch pad for drivers to start international careers.

History

The first title in 1957 was open in regulation, effectively Formula Libre. While the age of the 'Australian special', handbuilt racecars developed by local mechanic/engineers away from the European/American manufacturers that had dominated pre-World War II racing, was not yet dead, most notably the series of Maybach specials were still competitive as second-hand Formula 1 and Formula 2 cars from Europe became increasingly popular with competitors, with the Maserati 250F finding a few homes in the top echelon of drivers.
The rise of Cooper in Europe, led by Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and the rest of the Australian/New Zealand invasion that flooded into Formula 1 in the 1960s, saw a trickle down effect increase as the smaller cheaper rear-engined packages proved quickly popular amongst competitors. The competitive nature of the racing as well as the reputation of antipodean personnel in Europe saw the factory teams look towards racing in Australia/New Zealand during the European winter. This led to the development of the Tasman Series regulations and a flood of Coopers and Brabhams into Australian racing, as well as encouraging the rise of domestic manufacturers like Elfin Sports Cars.
As the Tasman series faded there was a considerable push for a two-litre open formula to replace the Tasman regulations, however with Formula 5000 already having a strong foothold with competitors two-litre fell by the wayside. While F5000 was popular by this stage the Australian Touring Car Championship had surpassed it for popularity, a situation that would continue until today where the Australian Drivers' Championship is now seen as a young driver development category.
Formula 5000 continued until 1981, with fields shrunk to less than ten cars at some venues, a local variant of Formula Atlantic already in use since the late 70s, was adopted and proved immediately successful with large numbers of Ralt RT4s imported. But Pacific, or Formula Mondial as it was later re-badged, faded by 1987 and the local Australian Formula 2 category was adopted for a single race format while a Formula 3000 based formula, later titled Formula Holden was developed. Formula Holden ran from 1989 to 2003 by which stage this formulae had become unviable, the international death of Formula 3000 causing a supply of chassis to dry up. In 2005 the present international Formula 3 regulations was adopted.
Dwindling grid numbers in Australian Formula 3 saw CAMS elect not to award the Gold Star in 2015 for the first time in its history. This decision was made after the season had begun.

Champions

Sourced in part from:
SeasonChampionCarFormula
1957Lex DavisonFerrari 500Formula Libre
1958Stan JonesMaserati 250FFormula Libre
1959Len LukeyCooper T45 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1960Alec MildrenCooper T51 MaseratiFormula Libre
1961Bill PattersonCooper T51 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1962Bib StillwellCooper T55 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1963Bib StillwellBrabham BT4 Climax FPFFormula Libre
1964Bib StillwellBrabham BT4 Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1965Bib StillwellBrabham BT11a Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1966Spencer MartinBrabham BT11a Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1967Spencer MartinBrabham BT11a Climax FPFAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1968Kevin BartlettBrabham BT23D Alfa RomeoAustralian National Formula & Australian 1½ Litre Formula
1969Kevin BartlettMildren Alfa Romeo
Mildren Waggott		Australian National Formula & Australian Formula 2
1970Leo GeogheganLotus 59B WaggottAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1971Max StewartMildren WaggottAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1972Frank MatichMatich A50 Repco-HoldenAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1973John McCormackElfin MR5 Repco-HoldenAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1974Max StewartLola T330 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1975John McCormackElfin MR6 Repco-HoldenAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1976John LefflerLola T400 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1977John McCormackMcLaren M23 LeylandAustralian Formula 1 & Australian Formula 2
1978Graham McRaeMcRae GM3 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1979Johnnie WalkerLola T332 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1980Alfredo CostanzoLola T430 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1981Alfredo CostanzoMcLaren M26 ChevroletAustralian Formula 1
1982Alfredo CostanzoTiga FA81 FordAustralian Formula 1
1983Alfredo CostanzoTiga FA81 FordAustralian Formula 1
1984John BoweRalt RT4 FordFormula Mondial
1985John BoweRalt RT4 FordFormula Mondial
1986Graham WatsonRalt RT4 FordFormula Mondial
1987David BrabhamRalt RT30 VolkswagenAustralian Formula 2
1988Rohan OnslowCheetah Mk8 Volkswagen
Ralt RT30/85 Volkswagen		Australian Formula 2
1989Rohan OnslowRalt RT20 HoldenFormula Holden
1990Simon KaneRalt RT21 HoldenFormula Holden
1991Mark SkaifeSPA 003 HoldenFormula Brabham
1992Mark SkaifeSPA 003 HoldenFormula Brabham
1993Mark SkaifeLola T91/50 HoldenFormula Brabham
1994Paul StokellReynard 91D HoldenFormula Brabham
1995Paul StokellReynard 91D HoldenFormula Brabham
1996Paul StokellReynard 91D HoldenFormula Holden
1997Jason BrightReynard 91D HoldenFormula Holden
1998Scott DixonReynard 92D HoldenFormula Holden
1999Simon WillsReynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2000Simon WillsReynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2001Rick KellyReynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2002Will PowerReynard 94D HoldenFormula Holden
2003Daniel GauntReynard 96D HoldenFormula 4000
2004Neil McFaydenReynard 96D HoldenFormula 4000
2005Aaron CarattiDallara F304 Sodemo-RenaultFormula 3
2006Ben ClucasDallara F304 Spiess OpelFormula 3
2007Tim MacrowDallara F304 Spiess OpelFormula 3
2008James WinslowDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2009Joey FosterDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2010Ben BarkerDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2011Chris GilmourDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2012James WinslowDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2013Tim MacrowDallara F307 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3
2014Simon HodgeMygale M11 HWA Mercedes-BenzFormula 3