1985 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1985 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to racing cars complying with Formula Mondial.[1] It was the 29th Australian Drivers' Championship and the fourth to be contested by Formula Pacific-based Australian Formula 1 cars or by the similar Formula Mondial cars. The championship winner was awarded the 1985 CAMS Gold Star.[1]

Tasmanian driver John Bowe successfully defended his 1984 Australian Drivers' Championship crown in his Ralt RT4 Ford.[2] Bowe dominated, winning the first four rounds of the series to take a twelve-point victory over Peter Hopwood (Ralt RT4 Ford). Peter Macrow (Cheetah Mk.8 Ford) was a very distant third in the series, only moving into the position when he won the final round at Sandown Park.

Calendar
John Bowe won the championship driving a Ralt RT4, similar to the example pictured above

The championship was contested over a five-round series with one race per round.[3]

Round[3] Round name Circuit[4] Date[4] Winner[4] Car[4][5]
1   Wanneroo Park 31 March John Bowe Ralt RT4/85 Ford
2   Amaroo Park 26 May John Bowe Ralt RT4/85 Ford
3   Lakeside 21 July John Bowe Ralt RT4/85 Ford
4   Oran Park 18 August John Bowe Ralt RT4/85 Ford
5 Victoria Trophy[6] Sandown Park 15 September Peter Macrow Cheetah Mk8 Ford

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters at each round.[1]

Championship results
Position Driver[3] No.[3] Car[3][5] Entrant[6] Wan[3] Ama[3] Lak[3] Ora[3] San[3] Total[3]
1 John Bowe 1 Ralt RT4/85 Ford Chris Leach Enterprises 9 9 9 9 - 36
2 Peter Hopwood 22 Ralt RT4/85 Ford Manage Racing Team 6 6 6 6 - 24
3 Peter Macrow 25 Cheetah Mk8 Ford Peter Macrow - - - 2 9 11
4 Brian Sampson 78[6] Cheetah Mk8 Ford & Ralt RT4 Ford Brian Sampson - - - 3 6 9
5 Terry Ryan 36[6] Ralt RT4 Ford Terry Ryan Automotive - 3 - 4 - 7
= Bob Creasy 6 Ralt RT4/81 Ford   3 - - - 4 7
7 Keith McClelland 16 Ralt RT4 Ford Manage Racing Team - 2 4 - - 6
= Ross Zampatti 2 Ralt RT4/81 Ford Ross Zampatti 4 - 2 - - 6
9 Bruce Connolloy   Ralt RT4 Ford   - 4 - - - 4
10 Chris Hocking 74 Ralt RT4 Ford Chris Hocking - - 3 - - 3
= Peter Boylan 21 & 7 Ralt RT4/81 Ford Peter Boylan 1 - 1 - 1 3
= Geoff Nicol   Ralt RT4/81 Ford   - - - - 3 3
= Brett Fisher 13 Liston BF1 Ford   2 - - 1 - 3
14 Max Freeland 15[6] Ralt RT4 Ford Jeff Sherriff - - - - 2 2
15 Graham Watson 8 Ralt RT4 Ford Watson Motor Racing - 1 - - - 1

References
  1. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1985 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 86 to 88
  2. "Gold Star Winners - 1957 - 2009". formula3.com.au. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  3. Barry Catford, Australian Drivers Championship, Australian Motor Racing Year 1985/86, pages 208 to 219
  4. 1985 Championship Results, Australian Motor Racing Year 1985/86, pages 314 to 315
  5. Formula Mondial regulations as published in the 1985 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 259 to 268, state that only the "Ford BDA" engine was approved for the category
  6. Official Programme, Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit, 14 and 15 September 1985, page 33
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