1983 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1983 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to drivers of Australian Formula 1 racing cars.[1] The winner of the title, which was the 27th Australian Drivers' Championship,[2] was awarded the 1983 CAMS Gold Star.[1]

1983 Australian Drivers' Championship
Previous: 1982 Next: 1984

Italian born, Melbourne based driver Alfredo Costanzo won his fourth straight CAMS Gold Star driving his Tiga FA81 Ford. John Smith finished second in his Ralt RT4, including being the first Australian driver home in the final round of the championship, the Australian Grand Prix held at Melbourne's Calder Park. Port Macquarie privateer Andrew Miedecke drove his RT4 to 3rd in the championship despite only deciding to race after watching Costanzo win the first round of the series in Adelaide on television.

Calendar

The championship was contested over a six-round series with each round held as a single race.[3]

Round [3] Event Circuit [3] Location / State Date [3] Winner [3] Car Team
Rd 1 Cheviot Challenge [4] Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 10 July Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford Porsche Cars Australia
Rd 2 Lakeside Brisbane, Queensland 23 July Andrew Miedecke Ralt RT4 Ford Andrew Miedecke
Rd 3 Oran Park Sydney, New South Wales 21 August Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford Porsche Cars Australia
Rd 4 Sandown Park Melbourne, Victoria 11 September Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford Porsche Cars Australia
Rd 5 Winton Benalla, Victoria 16 October Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford Porsche Cars Australia
Rd 6 Australian Grand Prix [3] Calder Park Melbourne, Victoria 13 November John Smith* Ralt RT4 Ford John Smith
  • Brazilian Roberto Moreno (Ralt RT4 Ford) won the Australian Grand Prix though he was ineligible for championship points. John Smith was the highest place domestic competitor (2nd) thus earning the maximum championship points for the round.[3]

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the top six eligible finishers at each round.[1] Non-resident drivers and drivers of Australian Formula 2 cars (who competed in some rounds by invitation) were not eligible to score points.

Results
Position Driver No.[4][5] Car [4][5] Entrant [4][5] Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Total [3][6]
1 Alfredo Costanzo 1 Tiga FA81 Ford Porsche Cars Australia 9 6 9 9 9 - 42
2 John Smith 71 Ralt RT4 Ford John Smith 6 - 4 - 6 9 25
3 Andrew Miedecke 2 Ralt RT4 Ford - 9 6 4 3 - 22
4 Paul Radisich 9 Ralt RT4 Ford Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd 4 - 3 3 4 3 17
5 Peter Macrow 25 Cheetah Mk 8 Ford Peter Macrow 1 4 - 2 2 2 11
6 John Bowe 4 Ralt RT4 Ford Chris Leach Racing - - - 6 - - 6
Alan Jones 27 Ralt RT4 Ford - - - - - 6 6
8 Peter Williamson 7 Toleman TG860 Toyota Peter Williamson 2 3 - - - - 5
9 Charlie O'Brien 3 Ralt RT4 Ford - - - - - 4 4
10 Lucio Cesario 17 & 16 Ralt RT4 Ford Lucio Cesario 3 - - - - - 3
Doug MacArthur 12 Ralt RT4 Ford - - 2 1 - - 3
12 Terry Hook 15 Kaditcha AF1 Ford - 2 - - - - 2
Brian Sampson 78 Cheetah Mk 8 Ford Speco Motor Improvements - - 1 - 1 - 2
14 David Oxton 14 Ralt RT4 Ford - - - - - 1 1

References
  1. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1983 CAMS Manual of Australian Motor Sport, pages 91-93
  2. 1985 CAMS manual of Motor Sport, page 50
  3. Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1983/84, page 202-217
  4. Official Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, Sunday, 10 July 1983 page 31
  5. Round results for the 1983 Australian Drivers’ Championship Retrieved from www.oldracingcars.com on 4 May 2010
  6. Championship points for positions 1 through 10 are from Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1983/84, page 202 and remaining points have been calculated from round results published on pages 204-217

Further reading
  • The Official 50 - Race History of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986
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