1986 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1986 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for Formula Mondial racing cars.[1] It was the 30th Australian Drivers' Championship.[2] The championship winner was awarded the 1986 CAMS Gold Star.[1]

Australian Ralt importer Graham Watson won the title, his only Australian Drivers' Championship, with former Australian Sports Car Champions Peter Hopwood (1983) and Bap Romano (1984) placing second and third respectively, each driving Ralt RT4s. The only driver to score championship points in any car other than a Ralt RT4 was Peter Macrow, who drove a Cheetah Mk8 to equal thirteenth place in the championship.

Defending and two-time champion John Bowe did not contest the 1986 championship. Instead he drove a Volvo 240T in the Australian Touring Car Championship and also drove the Veskanda-Chevrolet to win the Australian Sports Car Championship. He did however have one last race in the Chris Leach Racing Ralt RT4-Ford when he won the Formula Mondial support race at the Australian Grand Prix meeting in Adelaide in October.

Calendar
Graham Watson won the championship driving a Ralt RT4, similar to the example pictured above

The championship was contested over a seven-round series.[3]

Round[3] Race Circuit[3] City / state Date[3] Format[3] Winner[3] Car[3] Team
1 Victoria Trophy[4] Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit[4] Melbourne, Victoria 13 April One race Graham Watson Ralt RT4 Ford Ralt Australia[4]
2 CSA Alloy Wheels Cup[5] Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 27 April One race Peter Hopwood Ralt RT4 Ford Menage Racing Team[5]
3 Wanneroo Park Raceway Perth, Western Australia 4 May Two races Bap Romano Ralt RT4 Ford Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd
4 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 1 June One race Ken Smith Ralt RT4 Ford Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd
5 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 29 June Two races Ken Smith Ralt RT4 Ford Ralt Australia[6]
6 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 13 July Two races Peter Hopwood Ralt RT4 Ford Menage Racing Team[7]
7 Altos Computers Trophy[8] Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales 3 August One race Terry Ryan Ralt RT4 Ford Terry Ryan Automotive[8]

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six placegetters in each round.[1] Each driver could count points only from his or her six best round performances.[1]

Results
Position[9][10] Driver[9] No.[5] Car[9][11] Entrant[5] San[9] Ade[9] Wan[9] Cal[9] Win[9] Ora[9] Ama[9] Total[9]
1 Graham Watson 9 Ralt RT4 Ford Ralt Australia[4][6]
Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd		 9 4 4 6 6 4 – 33
2 Peter Hopwood 22 Ralt RT4 Ford Menage Racing Team – 9 1 4 4 9 – 27
3 Bap Romano 8 Ralt RT4 Ford Ralt Australia[4]
Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd		 6 6 9 – – – – 21
4 Ken Smith 8[3] Ralt RT4 Ford Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd[3]
Ralt Australia[6]		 – – – 9 9 – – 18
5 Terry Ryan 36 Ralt RT4 Ford Terry Ryan Automotive – – – – – 6 9 15
6 Peter Larner 83 Ralt RT4 Ford Peter Larner 2 3 – – – – 4 9
Chris Hocking 74 Ralt RT4 Ford Chris Hocking 3 – – – – – 6 9
Peter Boylan 7 Ralt RT4 Ford Peter Michael Boylan 4 – – – 2 – 3 9
9 Brian Sampson 78 Ralt RT4 Ford Brian Sampson – 2 – 3 3 – – 8
10 Bob Creasy 16[12] Ralt RT4 Ford – – 6 – – – – 6
11 Gordon Dobie 54 Ralt RT4 Ford Gordon Dobie – – 2 2 – – – 4
George Parkinson 17 Ralt RT4 Ford George Parkinson – – – 1 – 1 2 4
13 Keith McClelland Ralt RT4 Ford Watson Motor Racing[7] – – – – – 3 – 3
Geoff Nichol 40[3] Ralt RT4 Ford – – 3 – – – – 3
Peter Macrow Cheetah Mk8 Ford Peter Macrow[6] – – – – 1 2 – 3
16 John Beasley 2 Ralt RT4 Ford John Beasley – 1 – – – – – 1
Richard Davison 6[3] Ralt RT4 Ford Richard Davison Racing[4] 1 – – – – – – 1

Note: There were only five finishers in Round 7 at Amaroo Park.[8]

References
  1. Australian Title Conditions, 1986 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 88 to 91
  2. Records, Titles & Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
  3. Barry Catford, Australian Drivers' Championship, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1986/87, pages 188 to 203
  4. Official Programme, Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit, Sunday, 13 April 1986
  5. CSA Alloy Wheels Cup, Australian Drivers' Championship, Round 2, Official Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, Sunday, 27 April 1986, page 18
  6. Rent-A-Win to Kiwi Ken, Racing Car News, July / August 1986, pages 56 & 57
  7. Hopwood closes Gold Star gap, Racing Car News, July / August 1986, pages 10 & 11
  8. Accident mars Gold Star, Racing Car News, September 1986, page 39
  9. 1986 Australian Drivers' Championship (points table for top ten positions), Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1986/87, page 189
  10. Points for positions 11th through 16th have been determined from the points listing published in Racing Car News, September 1986, page 39 and race results published in Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1986/87, pages 314 to 315
  11. Catford, Australian Motor Racing Year, page 188, states that all engines were 1600cc Ford BDAs
  12. Western Australian Motor Race Results 1986, www.terrywalkersplace.com Archived 3 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 September 2018
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