1976 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1976 Australian Drivers' Championship was an Australian motor racing competition open to Australian Formula 1 cars and Australian Formula 2 cars.[1] It was authorised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian National Title with the winner awarded the CAMS Gold Star.[1] The title was the 20th Australian Drivers' Championship.[2]

The championship was won by John Leffler driving a Lola T400.[3]

Calendar

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1976 Australian Drivers' Championship winner John Leffler (pictured on the right), in 1978

The championship was contested over a four-round series.[4]

Round[4] Round/race name Circuit[4] State Date[4] Round format[4] Winner[4] Car[4] Report
1 Australian Grand Prix[4] Sandown Park Victoria 12 September One race John Goss Matich A51/53[5] Repco Holden Report
2   Oran Park New South Wales 19 September One race Max Stewart Lola T400 Chevrolet
3   Calder Raceway Victoria 17 October Two Heats John McCormack McLaren M23 Leyland
4 Mirafiori 5000[6] Phillip Island Victoria 28 November One race Alf Costanzo Lola T332 Chevrolet

Points system

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Championship points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six place-getters at each round.[1] For Round 3 only, round placings were determined by allocating points to the first fourteen place-getters in each heat on a 20–16–13–11–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis.[1] Championship points were then awarded on the standard 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six drivers for that round.[1] Only holders of current and valid full General Competition Licenses issued by CAMS were eligible for the championship.[1]

Results

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Position Driver[4] Car[4] Entrant[7] San.[4] Ora.[4] Cal.[4] Phi.[4] Total[4]
1 John Leffler Lola T400 Chevrolet Grace Bros Racing 6 4 6 6 22
2 Max Stewart Lola T400 Chevrolet M Stewart 9 3 12
3 John McCormack McLaren M23 Leyland J McCormack
Budget Rent-a-Car[8]
9 2 11
4 Bruce Allison Lola T332 Chevrolet B Allison
Hobby & Toyland[9]
3 4 3 10
5 John Goss Matich A51/53[5] Repco Holden John Goss Racing Pty Ltd 9 9
Alf Costanzo Lola T332 Chevrolet Stock 84 Brandy
A. Costanzo [10]
9 9
7 Garrie Cooper Elfin MR8 Chevrolet Ansett Team Elfin[9] 2 2 4 8
8 Kevin Bartlett Lola T400 Chevrolet Shellsport[9] 6 6
9 Chris Milton McLaren M22 Chevrolet John Martin's / Shellsport 4 4
10 Andrew Miedecke Brabham BT36 Ford Grace Bros Racing 3 3
11 Chris Farrell Elfin 622 Ford[9] C. Farrell [11] 1 1
Gil Cameron McLaren M10B Chevrolet VYI's Fashion Sunglasses 1 1
John Edmonds Elfin MR5B Repco Holden Hi-Way Denims[8]
J. Edmonds [10]
1 1

Note:

Championship name

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The championship has been referred to by various names including the 1976 Australian Formula 1 Championship,[1] the 1976 Gold Star Championship,[6] the 20th Australian Formula 1 Drivers Championship for the 1976 C.A.M.S. Gold Star Award[11] and the 1976 Australian Drivers' Championship.[4] The latter term is used by CAMS in historical records[2][12] and has been used in this article.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Conditions for Australian Titles, The Australian Formula 1 Championship, 1976 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 80–81
  2. ^ a b Australian Drivers' Championship – CAMS Gold Star, 2002 CAMS Manual of Australian Motor Sport, page 14-4
  3. ^ Evan Green, Evan Green's World of Motor Sport, page 15
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Australian National Formula One Review, Australian Competition Yearbook, 1977 Edition, pages 84 to 93
  5. ^ a b Matich A51/53, The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 402 to 404
  6. ^ a b Paul Harrington, Alf's second in a row – Leffler's crown at last, Australian Auto Action, 9 December 1976, page 11
  7. ^ Event 4, Marlboro presents the Australian Grand Prix, Official Programme, Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit, 12 September 1976
  8. ^ a b Mirafiori 5000, Phillip Island, 28 Nov 1976, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved on 14 April 2014
  9. ^ a b c d Australian Gold Star Race, Oran Park, 19 Sep 1976, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved on 14 April 2014
  10. ^ a b Official Souvenir Programme, Phillip Island, Sunday, November 21, 1976 and Sunday, November 28, 1976
  11. ^ a b Official Programme, Oran Park, 19th September 1976
  12. ^ Australian Drivers’ Championship – CAMS Gold Star, docs.cams.com.au As archived at www.webcitation.org on 14 April 2014