The 1961 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 titleRecords, Titles & Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4 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 oppo ...

cars. The title was contested over a five race series1961 Gold Star races at members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw via web.archive.org
Retrieved on 3 June 2013 with the winner awarded the 1961 CAMS Gold Star.The CAMS Gold Star, 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 50 It was the fifth

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 ...

. The series was dominated by Victorian racer Bill Patterson driving a

Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed by Owen Maddock and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car ...

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

. Patterson won three of the five races and was second and fourth in the other two. He finished the series 36 points ahead of Lex Davison ( Aston Martin DBR4 &

Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British manufacturer of forklift trucks, fire pumps, racing engines, and other speciality engines. History Pre WWI The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, a joint venture by Jens Stroyer and Pelham Lee. In 1 ...

). Bib Stillwell (

& Cooper T53

) placed third in the points standings. The two races not won by Patterson were

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

, won by British driver

Roy Salvadori Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Salvadori won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in wit ...

in a

and Mallala, won by Davison, also driving a

Calendar

A sixth championship race was originally scheduled to be held

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The island is named after Arthur Phillip, Governor Arthur P ...

on 10 December. Although a "Racing Car Scratch Race" (The Isle of Wight Trophy) was held at the circuit on that date, a contemporary report in Australian Motor Sports magazine does not label this as a "Gold Star" race and it is omitted from 1961 Gold Star championship summaries at "members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw" and "www.oldracingcars.com"Australian Gold Star 1961, www.oldracingcars.com
Retrieved on 4 June 2013

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 12-7-5-3-2-1 basis for the first six places in each race. Points were awarded only to drivers racing under an Australian licence.Patterson's victory gives him big lead for CAMS Gold Star, Sports Car World (magazine), circa May 1961 Ties were determined by the relevant competitors' placings in the Australian Grand Prix.

Championship results

The opening race at Longford was won by Englishman

who was not eligible for championship points. First place points for that race were therefore awarded to the second placed driver, Bill Patterson.

Championship name

The championship was referred to by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in the 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport simply as "The CAMS Gold Star". However historical records published by CAMS use the term "Australian Drivers’ Championship" and that title has been used in this article.

References

External links

Bill Patterson at the Gold Star, www.terrywalkersplace.com
{{Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship Drivers' Championship