The 1981 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Pacific motor race held at Calder Park Raceway in Victoria, Australia on 8 November 1981.
It was the forty sixth Australian Grand Prix and the first to be restricted to Formula Pacific racing cars. It was the first AGP since 1968 to feature two or more current or past World Drivers' Champions with reigning 1981 World Champion Nelson Piquet of Brazil and Australia's 1980 World Champion Alan Jones both in the field.
The race was won by 22-year-old Roberto Moreno by over a lap from Nelson Piquet with Australian Geoff Brabham finishing third. The top three drivers all drove Ralt RT4's (13 of the 20 starters were in fact driving the 1.6L Ford powered RT4's). To actually be able to compete in the Grand Prix Moreno needed five endorsements before the race to be able to obtain his FIA Super Licence, the first endorsement coming from Calder Park Clerk of Course Ken Smith.
Defending race winner Alan Jones failed to finish after transmission failure in his RT4 six laps from the finish while in second place. The first resident Australian driver home was another ex-Formula One driver and future touring car star Larry Perkins who finished fourth, one lap behind Moreno.
Classification
Results as follows:
Qualifying Pos No Driver Car Qual Gap 1 19 Roberto Moreno Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.2 — 2 27 Alan Jones Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.2 +0.0 3 9 Nelson Piquet Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.3 +0.1 4 4 John Bowe Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.6 +0.4 5 62 Bruce Allison Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.8 +0.6 6 26 Jacques Laffite Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.8 +0.6 7 12 Geoff Brabham Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.9 +0.7 8 71 John Smith Ralt RT4 Ford 0:39.9 +0.7 9 3 Larry Perkins Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.0 +0.8 10 6 Ray Mallock Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.2 +1.0 11 5 Andrew Miedecke Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.2 +1.0 12 84 Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford 0:40.3 +1.1 13 2 Charlie O'Brien Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.4 +1.2 14 18 David Oxton Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.6 +1.4 15 16 Lucio Cesario Ralt RT3 Volkswagen Golf 0:40.7 +1.5 16 83 Peter Larner Kaditcha Ford 0:40.7 +1.5 17 7 Peter Williamson Toleman TA860 Toyota 0:40.9 +1.7 18 77 Mike Quinn Galloway HG1 Ford 0:41.4 +2.2 19 11 Ron Barnacle Ralt RT1 Ford 0:41.8 +2.6 20 48 Ray Hangar March 77B Ford 0:42.5 +3.3 21 36 Bob Creasy Birrana 273 Ford 0:43.1 +3.9
Race
Pos No. Driver Car EntrantProgram, National Panasonic Australian Grand Prix, Calder Raceway, 7–8th November 1981 Laps Time 1 19 Roberto Moreno Ralt RT4 Ford Graham Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd 100 1h 07m 39.2s 2 9 Nelson Piquet Ralt RT4 Ford Graham Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd 99 3 12 Geoff Brabham Ralt RT4 Ford G Brabham 99 4 3 Larry Perkins Ralt RT4 Ford L Perkins 99 5 5 Andrew Miedecke Ralt RT4 Ford AW Miedecke 99 6 18 David Oxton Ralt RT4 Ford Oxton Motors 98 7 6 Ray Mallock Ralt RT4 Ford Cliff Smith Racing 98 8 62 Bruce Allison Ralt RT4 Ford B Allison 98 9 2 Charlie O'Brien Ralt RT4 Ford Citizen Watches Australia 98 10 84 Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81 Ford Porsche Cars Australia 97 11 83 Peter Larner Kaditcha Ford Paul England 97 12 71 John Smith Ralt RT4 Ford OSCL 96 13 11 Ron Barnacle Ralt RT1 Ford Nissalco Garage Equipment 90 14 48 Ray Hangar March 77B Ford R Hanger 87 Ret 27 Alan Jones Ralt RT4 Ford Theodore Racing 93 transmission Ret 26 Jacques Laffite Ralt RT4 Ford J Laffite 43 oil line Ret 7 Peter Williamson Toleman TA860 Toyota Toyota Dealer Team 40 accident Ret 4 John Bowe Ralt RT4 Ford Chris Leach Racing 15 water pump belt Ret 16 Lucio Cesario Ralt RT3 Volkswagen Golf Formula One Automotive 10 broken valve spring Ret 36 Bob Creasy Birrana 273 Ford R Creasy 6 spin DNS 77 Mike Quinn Galloway HG1 Ford Peter Williamson Pty Ltd gearbox input shaft
Notes Pole position: Roberto Moreno – 0'39.2 Fastest lap: Roberto Moreno – 0'39.8 (145.6 km/h, 90.5 mph) Winner's average speed: 142.8 km/h, 88.7 mph
References
External links autopics.com.au