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
Lex Davison won the championship driving a Ferrari similar to the Tipo 500 shown above

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

Championship points were awarded on an 8-5-3-2-1 basis for the first five places at each race.[1]

Points table
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

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
  1. The CAMS Gold Star, 1958 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 48 & 50
  2. "Gold Star Winners - 1957 - 2009". formula3.com.au. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  3. 1957 Gold Star, members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw/ Retrieved 22 June 2013
  4. Racing Car News, August 1972 : Guide to the "Gold Star" Supplement, page ii
  5. Australian Motor Sport, April 1957, pages 137 & 138
  6. Victorian Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, May 1957, pages 174 to 176
  7. Trenberth romps to SA car trophy win, The Advertiser, Tuesday, 23 April 1957, page 11
  8. SA Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, June 1957, page 226
  9. Davison Queensland Champion, Sports Car World, September 1957, pages 26 to 29
  10. Lowood Trophy Race Meeting, Australian Motor Sport, October 1957, pages 410 & 413
  11. Australian Motor Sport, November 1957, pages 454 & 456
  12. The Wakefield Trophy, Australian Motor Sport, December 1957, page 507
  13. Formula Libre Race – Gold Star Race, Australian Motor Sport, December 1957
  14. Graham Howard, Lex Davison - Larger than Life, page 117
  15. 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"
  16. Official Souvenir Programme, Port Wakefield, Monday, 22 April 1957
  17. Records Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4

Further reading
  • 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
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