The 1996

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 motor racing competition open to drivers of racing cars complying with CAMS Formula Holden regulations.1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10 The championship winner was awarded the 1996 CAMS Gold Star as the Australian Drivers' Champion. It was the 40th running of the

and the eighth to feature the Formula Holden category. The championship began on 8 March 1996 at the Albert Park Street Circuit and ended on 2 June at

Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala Motor Sport Park is a bitumen motor racing circuit near the town of Mallala in South Australia, 55 km north of the state capital, Adelaide. Mallala Race Circuit (1961–1971) The Mallala Race Circuit, as it was originally know ...

after eight races held over four rounds.

Paul Stokell Paul Stokell (born 8 March 1968 in Tasmania) is an Australian racing driver. Highly decorated in every category he has competed, Stokell has been a race and multiple championship winning driver in open wheel, sportscar racing and tarmac rallyin ...

won his third Australian Drivers' Championship in a season dominated by him and his Birrana Racing teammate

Jason Bright Jason Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a satellite team of Prodrive Racing Australia, be ...

. The two dark blue Reynard 91Ds won every race of the season except one. Bright's early season unreliability became the difference between the two at season's end. The only race they did not claim was race two at the

1996 Australian Grand Prix The 1996 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Melbourne on 10 March 1996. It was the first race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship, and the first Australian Grand Prix to be held at Melbourne, taking over from Adelai ...

meeting which saw Europe-bound Mark Webber in a guest drive in the Graham Watson owned Reynard, take the win when both Stokell and Bright retired. Darren Edwards was consistently best of the rest of the field, claiming four top three finishes over the season. Stephen Cramp took three seconds at the start of the season but faded, dropping to fifth in the championship behind Adam Kaplan.

Teams and drivers

The following drivers competed in the 1996

Race calendar

The 1996

was contested over eight races at four rounds held in two states.Five Way Fight, Official Programme, Mallala, 2 June 1996

Results

Points were awarded 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 based on the top ten race positions in each race. Only half points were awarded for Race 1 of Round 2 at Phillip Island.

Notes and references

External links

CAMS Manual of Motor Sport > About CAMS > Titles CAMS Gold Star
{{Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship Drivers' Championship Formula Holden Australian Drivers