1958 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1958 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing competition for drivers of Formula Libre cars. It was the second Australian Drivers' Championship. The title was contested over a nine race series with the winner awarded the 1958 CAMS Gold Star.

The championship was won by Stan Jones, driving a Maserati 250F.

Calendar

Rd. Date Race Circuit Location Winning driver[1] Winning car[1]
1 27 January South Pacific Championship for Racing Cars Gnoo Blas Motor Racing Circuit Orange, New South Wales Jack Brabham* Cooper T43 Coventry Climax
2 23 February Victorian Trophy Race Fisherman's Bend Melbourne, Victoria Stan Jones Maserati 250F
3 3 March Longford Trophy Longford Circuit Longford, Tasmania Ted Gray Tornado Mk.II Corvette
4 5 April South Australian Trophy Race Port Wakefield Circuit Port Wakefield, South Australia Len Lukey Cooper T23 MkII Bristol
5 15 June Queensland Road Racing Championship Lowood Airfield Circuit Lowood, Queensland Alec Mildren Cooper T43 Coventry Climax FPE
6 31 August Lowood Trophy Lowood Airfield Circuit Lowood, Queensland Alec Mildren Cooper T43 Coventry Climax FPE
7 23 October Australian Grand Prix Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales Lex Davison Ferrari 500/625/750
8 30 November Melbourne Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit Melbourne, Victoria Stirling Moss* Cooper T43 Coventry Climax FPF
9 26 December Phillip Island Trophy Race Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria Stan Jones Maserati 250F
  • Winning driver not awarded points for races 1 and 8

Points structure

Championship points were awarded on an 8-5-3-2-1 basis to the top five finishers in each race. However, as overseas drivers were ineligible to qualify for championship points, no points were awarded for placings scored by these drivers.[2] Similarly drivers of sports cars which on occasion raced amongst the Formula Libre cars, were not eligible for points, although Doug Whiteford's Maserati 300S appears to have been an exception.

Results

Position Driver[2] Car[1] Entrant[1] G.B. F.B. Lon. P.W. Low. Low. M.P. A.P. P.I. Total[2]
1 Stan Jones Maserati 250F S. F. Jones
Stan Jones Motors Pty. Ltd. 		5 8 5 - - 5 - - 8 31
2 Alec Mildren Cooper T43 Coventry Climax FPE A. Mildren Motors
A. G. Mildren Pty Ltd 		1 1 - - 8 8 - - 5 23
3 Len Lukey Cooper T23 MkII Bristol
Lukey Bristol
Vauxhall Special 		Lukey Mufflers Pty Ltd
W. F. Coad 		3 2 1 8 3 3 - 1 - 21
4 Ted Gray Tornado Mk.II Corvette[3] E. Gray - - 8 - 5 - - - - 13
5 Arnold Glass Ferrari 555 Super Squalo A. J. Glass - 5 3 - - - - - - 8
Doug Whiteford Maserati 300S D. Whiteford - 3 2 - - - - 3 - 8
Lex Davison Ferrari 500/625/750 Ecurie Australie - - - - - - 8 - - 8
8 Austin Miller Cooper T41 Coventry Climax FWB A. Miller - - - 5 - - - - 2 7
9 Ern Seeliger Maybach Mk. IV Corvette Stan Jones Motors Pty. Ltd. - - - - - - 5 - - 5
10 Tom Hawkes Cooper T23 MkII Repco Holden Ecurie Corio - - - 1 - - 3 - - 4
11 Keith Rilstone Zephyr Special Ford K. Rilstone - - - 3 - - - - - 3
John Roxburgh Cooper T41 Coventry Climax J. B. Roxburgh - - - - - - - - 3 3
13 Greg McEwin MacHealey Austin-Healey G. McEwin - - - 2 - - - - - 2
Bib Stillwell Maserati 250F B.S. Stillwell - - - - - - - 2 - 2
15 Glyn Scott Repco Holden Special Glyn Scott Motors - - - - 1 - - - - 1
Arthur Griffiths Cooper T41 Coventry Climax FWB A. Griffith - - - - - 1 - - - 1
Curly Brydon Ferrari 125 Corvette A.H. Brydon - - - - - - 1 - - 1
Ray Gibbs Cooper T23 Holden Sabina Motors[4] - - - - - - - - 1 1

Championship points were not awarded for the following:[2]

  • Jack Brabham (Cooper T43 Climax) : First place in Race 1
  • Bill Pitt (Jaguar D-Type) : Fourth place in Race 1
  • Bill Pitt (Jaguar D-Type) : Fourth place in Race 5
  • Bill Pitt (Jaguar D-Type) : Fourth place in Race 6
  • Merv Neil (Cooper T45 Climax) : Fourth place in Race 7
  • Stirling Moss (Cooper T45 Climax) : First place in Race 8
  • Jack Brabham (Cooper T45 Climax) : Second place in Race 8

References

  1. ^ a b c d 1958 Gold Star races, members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw, as archived at web.archive.org
  2. ^ a b c d Australian Motor Sports Review 1958-59, pages 35-51
  3. ^ The "dandsshaw" reference shows the Tornado as being Ford powered at Gnoo Blas however the Gnoo Blas race report in Australian Motor Sports Review 1958-59, page 36 describes the car as the "Corvette-engined Tornado".
  4. ^ Official Programme, P.I.A.R.C. Boxing Day Meeting, Friday, 26th December 1958

Further reading

  • Australian Grand Prix - The 50-race history, 1986, pages 236 to 246
  • The Advertiser, Monday 7 April 1958, Page 19