The 1980 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n motor racing title for drivers of

Australian Formula 1 Australian Formula 1 (AF1) was a motor sport category for open-wheeler racing cars which was current in Australia from 1970 to 1983. AF1 was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1970, initially restricting cars to non-supe ...

racing cars. The winner of the championship, which was the 24th

Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category. This category was determined by the Confederation of Australia ...

, was awarded the 1980 CAMS Gold Star. The championship was won by

Alfredo Costanzo Alfredo Costanzo (born 3 January 1943, in Soveria Mannelli, Calabria, Italy) is a retired Italian born Australian racing driver. From 1980 to 1983 Costanzo won four Australian Drivers' Championships in a row, equalling the record set by Bib S ...

driving a

Lola T430 The Lola T430 is an open-wheel formula race car, designed, developed and built by British manufacturer and constructor Lola Cars, for Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula tha ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Calendar

The title was contested over an eight-round series with one race per round.Australian Motor Racing Year, 1980/81, pages 108-127

Class Structure

Australian Formula 1, in its 1980 incarnation, catered for cars complying with any one of the following three Formulae: *

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...

* International Formula One *

Formula Pacific Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was used in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was bas ...

For championship points allocation purposes, cars competed in two classes: * Over 1600cc: Open to "Formula 5000" cars and "International Formula One" cars * Under 1600cc: Open to "Formula Pacific" carsAustralian Motor Racing Year, 1980/81, page 108

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the top six Australian license holders in each class at each round. Bonus points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis to the top four Australian license holders at each round, regardless of class.

Results

The following drivers were not eligible for championship points as they were not Australian license holders. *

Guy Edwards Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards, QGM (born 30 December 1942) is a British former racing driver. Best known for his sportscar and British Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Championship ...

( Fittipaldi F5A), who finished second at Round 1 * Alan Jones ( Williams FW07B

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

), who won the Australian Grand Prix *

Bruno Giacomelli Bruno Giacomelli (; born 10 September 1952) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Giacomelli won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the Formula Two championship. From to , Giacome ...

(

Alfa Romeo 179 The Alfa Romeo 179 is a Formula One car which was used (in different variants) by the Alfa Romeo (Formula One), Alfa Romeo team from to . The 179 made its debut at the 1979 Italian Grand Prix, replacing the flat-12 engined Alfa Romeo 177. During i ...

), who finished second in the Australian Grand Prix *

Didier Pironi Didier Joseph Louis Pironi (26 March 1952 – 23 August 1987) was a French racing driver and offshore powerboat racing, offshore powerboat racer, who competed in Formula One from to . Pironi was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Cham ...

(

Elfin Elfin may refer to: *ELFIN, a CubeSat developed by University of California, Los Angeles *Elfin (steamboat), a steamboat that ran on Lake Washington from 1891 to 1900 *Elfin of Alt Clut, ruler of Alt Clut, seventh century Scotland *Elfin, a charac ...

MR8

), who finished third in the Australian Grand Prix

References

External links