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 Motorsport Australia, formerly the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), is the nationally recognised governing and sanctioning body for four-wheeled motorsport in Australia. It is affiliated with the Federation Internationale de l'A ...

. 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.Australian Drivers' Championship – CAMS Gold Star, docs.cams.com.au
As archived at www.webcitation.org on 14 April 2014 The title was revived in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

for the new S5000 category. It was the third oldest continuously awarded title in Australian motorsport, with only the Australian Grand Prix (since 1928) and the

Australian Hillclimb Championship The Australian Hillclimb Championship is a CAMS sanctioned motor sport competition which determines Australia's annual hillclimbing champion. The championship has traditionally been awarded to the driver setting fastest time at a single meetingPe ...

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 The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...

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 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 ...

. 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 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

cars from Europe became increasingly popular with competitors, with the

Maserati 250F The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati of Italy used in '2.5 litre' Formula One racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made. Mechanical details The 250F principally used the SSG 220 bhp (@ 7400 rpm) ...

finding a few homes in the top echelon of drivers. The rise of Cooper in Europe, led by

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

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, ...

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 The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

regulations and a flood of Coopers and Brabhams into Australian racing, as well as encouraging the rise of domestic manufacturers like

Elfin Sports Cars Elfin Sports Cars Pty Ltd (formerly known as Elfin Sports Cars) is an Australian car manufacturer company that was founded by Garrie Cooper. It has been an Australian manufacturer of sports cars and motor racing cars since 1959. Elfin Sports C ...

. 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 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an 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 racing cars tha ...

already having a strong foothold with competitors two-litre fell by the wayside. While F5000 was popular by this stage the

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 Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

already in use since the late 70s, was adopted and proved immediately successful with large numbers of

Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s und ...

RT4s imported. But Pacific, or

Formula Mondial Formula Mondial was an international motor racing category which was introduced to replace both Formula Atlantic and the similar Formula Pacific''The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring'', 1986, page 171 in 1983.''Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1982 ...

as it was later re-badged, faded by 1987 and the local

Australian Formula 2 Australian Formula 2, sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2, is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia. The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2 was introduced in 1978. Brian Shea ...

category was adopted for a single race format while a

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

based formula, later titled

Formula Holden Formula Holden was an Australian open wheel racing category introduced in 1989. History Known during its development as Formula Australia, it was initially for chassis constructed from aluminium only, running a 3.8-litre Buick V6 engine a ...

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. In 2020 it was decided to revive the Gold Star for the new S5000 series of V8 open wheelers. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented a championship from being contested in 2020 delaying the titled being awarded until May 2021 when the 2021 season concluded.

Champions

Max Stewart Waggott TC4V 4 Graham Ruckert

84 2006 Aust F3 C'Ship, Ben Clucas (UK), Dallara F304

Sourced in part from:

References

External links

Formula 3 Australia website
{{Australian Drivers' Championship Recurring events established in 1957 Drivers' Australian Formula 3 1957 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1957