Australian F5000

[Marco di Napoli]

From 61 till 80, a "big engine" single seater championship was held in Australia.
From 61 to 69, it was for ex F1 2500 cc cars. Afterwards it was mainly for F5000 cars, F1 being admitted between 77 and 80 if I am not mistaken.

My questions :
- is my information wright
- who were the champions in 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 80.

[Speed Demon]

Sort of, Marco, sort of!

I think there is some confusion, given the dates and formulae you mention, between the Tasman Cup and the Australian Gold Star Championship.

The former ran the 2.5 litre Formula 1 rules from 1964 to-69 and F5000 from 1970-1975. The latter ran Formula Libre 1957 to '63, Tasman 1964-69, F5000 1970-81, Formula Pacific 1982-88 and Formula Holden (aka Formula Brabham 1989-present).

Gold Star champions

1961: Bill Patterson - Cooper T51-Climax;
1962: Bob Stillwell - Cooper T55-Climax;
1963-65: Bob Stillwell - Brabham-Climax
1980: Alfredo Costanzo - Lola T430-Chevrolet

The Australian GP, however, was run by Bob Jane at Calder Park in 1980 for F1 cars - only two arrived, a Williams FW07 for Alan Jones and an out-of-date Alfa Romeo for Bruno Giacomelli. The field was bolstered by local F2 cars. In 1981 it was run to Formula Pacific rules, but GP stars Nelson Piquet, Alan Jones, Jacques Laffitte, Alain Prost, Keke Rosberg, Andrea de Cesaris and Francois Hesnault all took part. They were all, however, beaten by F2 driver Roberto Moreno.

[marcus]

Ive only ever seen photos of those days ..and especially the tasman series in the early 80's..would have been awesome to see these guys race and to see Roberto Moreno at his best

one thing though you have refered to Stillwell as Bob..I am under the impression that his name was actually Bib Stillwell..either way great days of Aussie motorsport

[Speed Demon]

Yes it was a typo exacerbated by cut and paste! Yes, you're quite right, it is Bib Stillwell.

[Ray Bell]

Pedantic, I know, but it was Bermar Sellers Stillwell, known as 'Bib' for short...

Though you might say the 2.5 cars were ex-F1, it wasn't really the case. They were more inclined to be ex-1.5 F1 cars, much smaller, with the 2.5 engines of the 1960 title year... very much faster than the F1 cars of the day.

The other thing I'd like to correct is that the AGP of 1980 was bolstered more by F5000 cars, with F1, F5000 and FAtlantic cars allowed. No F2, local (1600 single cam) or Euro (2000cc) F2, none of them.

marcus, you are on the wrong track... the era to have seen was the 65-69 Tasman... or if you missed that, the F5000 era was great...

Not much to add except:

[marcus]

well before my time Ray

but thanks for the info and the pics ..im guessing this one is maybe from Longford in Tasmania ?

[Ray Bell]

Longford, 1966... yes, the descent to the Viaduct from the start/finish straight, just after the start of the Saturday heat.

Stewart leads Clark, Hill, Brabham and Palmer, with Spencer Martin a little way behind. The BRMs were about 2060cc, the Lotus V8 about 2-litres.

Brabham, of course, had 2.5 litres in his Repco... here coming off the Long Bridge on the Monday:

[marcus]

wow..that last pic is sensational..did you take them yourself or are they on a website somewhere ?

brilliant..wish i was around to see these great drivers in action...i have met Sir jack brabham at Winton a few years back and he was charming to speak to and of course I was just inawe of being in his presence and bumbled my way through a quick conversation which i remember nothing of ...in fact all I remember is that i got to shake Sir Jacks hand..if nothing else that is a great memory to keep forever.

[Ray Bell]

All my own work, I'm afraid... I was a bit of a Have Camera, Will Travel type those days... meeting them then was the nicest bit.

Longford 1965 and Lakeside 1966 I was fortunate enough to find myself (and I don't to this day know how!) at the victory celebrations for the winners, McLaren and Graham Hill at the respective Travelodge Motels...

Yes, I have some memories...