1957 Australian Drivers' Championship
The 1957 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS-sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The championship was contested over a nine race series with the winner awarded the 1957 CAMS Gold Star.[1] It was the first Australian Drivers' Championship and the first motor racing title to be decided over a series of races at Australian circuits.
The series was won by Victorian racer Lex Davison[2] driving a Ferrari 500/625.[3] Davison dominated the championship, winning six of the nine races, including the series-opening 1957 Australian Grand Prix, to finish 19 points ahead of Tom Hawkes (Cooper T23 Bristol). The other drivers to win races were Murray Trenberth (Vincent 1000), Arnold Glass (HWM Jaguar) and Stan Jones (Maserati 250F).
Calendar
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Ferrari_500.jpeg/220px-Ferrari_500.jpeg)
The championship was contested over a nine race series.[1]
Race[1] | Circuit[1] | Date[4] | Winning drivers | Car[3] | Report |
Australian Grand Prix | Caversham | 4 March | Lex Davison & Bill Patterson[5] | Ferrari 500/625 | Report |
Victorian Trophy | Albert Park | 24 March | Lex Davison[6] | Ferrari 500/625 | |
South Australian Trophy | Port Wakefield | 22 April[7] | Murray Trenberth[7] | Vincent 1000[8] | |
Bathurst 100 | Mount Panorama | 22 April | Arnold Glass[3] | HWM Jaguar | |
Queensland Road Racing Championship | Lowood | 16 June | Lex Davison[9] | Ferrari 500/625 | |
Lowood Trophy | Lowood | 11 August | Stan Jones[10] | Maserati 250F | |
New South Wales Road Race Championship | Mount Panorama | 6 October | Lex Davison[11] | Ferrari 500/625 | |
Port Wakefield Trophy | Port Wakefield | 12 October | Lex Davison[12] | Ferrari 500/625 | |
Australian Motor Sports Magazine Trophy Race | Phillip Island | 27 October | Lex Davison[13] | Ferrari 500/625 |
Shortly after the running of the Victorian Trophy, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport announced that it had introduced an annual "Gold Star" award for the champion Australian racing driver, with the Australian Grand Prix and the Victorian Trophy being retrospectively included in the list of nominated races counting towards the inaugural championship.[14]
Points system
[edit]Championship points were awarded on an 8-5-3-2-1 basis for the first five places at each race.[1]
Points table
[edit]Position | Driver[3] | Car[3] | Entrant[3] | Cav | AP | PW[15] | MP | Low | Low | MP | PW | PI | Total[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lex Davison | Ferrari 500/625 | Ecurie Australie | 6 | 8 | - | - | 8 | - | 8 | 8 | 8 | 46 |
2 | Tom Hawkes | Cooper T23-Repco Holden | TV Hawkes | - | 2 | - | - | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 27 |
3 | Stan Jones | Maserati 250F | Stan Jones | 5 | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | 13 |
4 | Arnold Glass | HWM-Jaguar | Capitol Motor Cycles | - | - | - | 8 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 10 |
5 | Derek Jolly | Decca Special Mk 11-Climax | DE Jolly | - | - | 5 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 9 |
Len Lukey | Cooper T23-Bristol | Len Lukey | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | - | 9 | |
7 | Jack Brabham | Cooper T41-Climax | Jack Brabham | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
Murray Trenberth[7] | Vincent 1000-Vincent[8] | M Trenberth[8] | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | |
9 | Jack Robinson | JRS-Jaguar | J Robinson | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 |
10 | Bill Patterson | Ferrari 500/625 Cooper T39-Climax |
Ecurie Australie W Patterson |
2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | 4 |
Alec Mildren | Cooper T20-Bristol Cooper T41-Climax |
AG Mildren | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | 4 | |
12 | Bill Pitt | Jaguar D-Type | Mrs G Anderson | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
Eddie Perkins | Porsche Special | EB Perkins | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | |
Doug Whiteford | Maserati 300S | D Whiteford | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
Bill Pile | MG Special[8] | WM Pile[8] | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
Ralph Snodgrass | Talbot-Lago T26C | R Snodgrass | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
17 | Keith Rilstone | Zephyr Special-Ford | KW Rilstone | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 2 |
Ron Phillips | Austin-Healey 100S[8] | RK Phillips[8] | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
Ray Wamsley | Alfa Romeo Tipo B-GMC | R Wamsley | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | |
Frank Gardner | Jaguar C-Type | F Gardner | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | |
Jim Johnson | MG TC | J Johnson | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
22 | Jack French | Cooper Mk.IV-Norton | JW French | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Tom Stevens | MG Special[8] | TE Stevens[16] | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
Gordon Stewart | Stewart-MG | Ecurie Cinque | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
At the Australian Grand Prix race at Caversham Lex Davison shared the winning car with Bill Patterson and championship points were allotted in proportion to the laps driven by each.[1]
Championship name
[edit]The championship was referred to by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport at the time simply as "The CAMS Gold Star".[1] However the actual Gold Star medallion was inscribed with the words "Champion Australian Driver"[1] and historical records published by CAMS use the term "Australian Drivers' Championship".[17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h The CAMS Gold Star, 1958 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 48 & 50
- ^ "Gold Star Winners - 1957 - 2009". formula3.com.au. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g 1957 Gold Star, members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw/ Retrieved 22 June 2013
- ^ Racing Car News, August 1972 : Guide to the "Gold Star" Supplement, page ii
- ^ Australian Motor Sport, April 1957, pages 137 & 138
- ^ Victorian Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, May 1957, pages 174 to 176
- ^ a b c Trenberth romps to SA car trophy win, The Advertiser, Tuesday, 23 April 1957, page 11
- ^ a b c d e f g h SA Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, June 1957, page 226
- ^ Davison Queensland Champion, Sports Car World, September 1957, pages 26 to 29
- ^ Lowood Trophy Race Meeting, Australian Motor Sport, October 1957, pages 410 & 413
- ^ Australian Motor Sport, November 1957, pages 454 & 456
- ^ The Wakefield Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, December 1957, page 507
- ^ Formula Libre Race – Gold Star Race, Australian Motor Sport, December 1957
- ^ Graham Howard, Lex Davison - Larger than Life, page 117
- ^ Race results for the South Australian Trophy were omitted from the 1957 Gold Star page at "members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw" but points have been calculated from the published race results in "SA Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, June 1957, page 226"
- ^ Official Souvenir Programme, Port Wakefield, Monday, 22 April 1957
- ^ Records Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
Further reading
[edit]- CAMS Gold Star Award, Points score up to and including Wakefield Trophy, Australian Motor Sports, November 1957, page 445
- First Gold Star, Australian Motor Sports, January 1958, page 7