The 1963

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 ...

was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

cars with the championship winner awarded the 1963 CAMS Gold Star. The title was contested over a six-round series: * Round 1,

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...

Warwick Farm Warwick Farm is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warwick Farm is located 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool and is part of the South-we ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, 10 February * Round 2, Lakeside International,

Lakeside Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, 17 February * Round 3, South Pacific Gold Star Championship,

Longford, Tasmania Longford is a town in the northern midlands of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 145 m above sea level at the convergence of the Macquarie River and the South Esk River, 21 km south of Launceston and a 15-minute drive from the airport. It ...

, 4 March * Round 4, Victorian Road Racing Championship,

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, 15 September * Round 5, Gold Star Championship Race, Mallala,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, 14 October * Round 6, Horden Trophy, Warwick Farm, New South Wales, 1 December Championship points were awarded on a 12-7-5-3-2-1 basis at each round to the top six Australians licence holders. Race placings gained by drivers who were not Australian licence holders were disregarded by CAMS when determining placings for points allocation. Each driver could retain points only from the Australian Grand Prix plus his/her best four performances from the other five rounds.

Results

Note: * Round 1: Of the 11 finishers, 2nd placed

John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...

, 3rd placed

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

, 6th placed

Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...

& 7th placed Tony Shelley were not eligible to score points * Round 2: Of the 7 known finishers, 1st placed John Surtees, 2nd placed Graham Hill, 4th placed

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...

& 6th placed Jim Palmer were not eligible to score points. * Round 3: Of the 8 known finishers, 1st placed Bruce McLaren, 4th placed Jim Palmer, 6th placed

Tony Maggs Anthony Francis O'Connell Maggs (9 February 1937 in Pretoria, South Africa – 2 June 2009) was a racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 27 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 15 July 1961. He achieved three po ...

& 4th placed Chris Amon were not eligible to score points. * Round 4: The 5th placed driver is not known, hence the 2 points awarded for this placing are not shown in the above table.

References

* Australian Motor Manual, February 1964 * Australian Motor Sports, March 1963 * Modern Motor, December 1963 * Modern Motor, February 1964 * Modern Motor, November 1963 * Official Souvenir Programme, Mallala Motor Races, Monday, 14 October 1963 * Racing Car News, August 1972 (Gold Star Supplement) * Racing Car News, January 1964 * Sports Car World, April 1963 * The Age, Monday, 15 September 1963 * The Mercury, Tuesday, 5 March 1963 * The official 50 race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986 * www.camsmanual.com.au {{Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship Drivers' Championship