The 1961 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor raceThe Australian Grand Prix, 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 52 held at the newly completed Mallala Race Circuit in South Australia on 9 October 1961. The race, which was Round 5 of the 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship, had 17 starters.1961 Gold Star Races, members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw Retrieved on 14 March 2013
The race was the twenty sixth Australian Grand Prix and would be the last to be held in South Australia until the first Formula One World Championship Australian Grand Prix was staged at the new Adelaide Parklands Circuit in 1985. Lex Davison won his fourth and final AGP setting a record for wins that still stands today, having only been equalled by Michael Schumacher. David McKay actually crossed the finish line first but had been assigned a one-minute penalty, for a jumped start, which relegated him to third position behind Davison and Bib Stillwell.
Davison's Australian Grand Prix victory would be the last for a domestically based Australian until Frank Matich won the 1970 AGP at Warwick Farm in Sydney driving a McLaren M10B Formula 5000 car, although British-based Australian Jack Brabham had won the AGP in both 1963 and 1964.
Classification
Results as follows.
Pos No. Driver Entrant Car / Engine Laps Time 1 4 Lex Davison B.S. Stillwell Cooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.2L 50 1h 29m 01s 2 6 Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Cooper T55 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L 50 1h 29m 42s 3 14 David McKay Scuderia Veloce Cooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L 50 1h 30m 05s 4 9 Bill Patterson Bill Patterson Motors P/L Cooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L 48 5 15 Murray Trenberth M Trenberth Alta / Holden 2.5L 46 6 20 Eddie Clay E Clay Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.2L 45 7 26 Alan Jack Briefield Motors Cooper T39 / Coventry Climax FWB 1.5L1961 Australian Grand Prix, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved on 14 March 2013 48 8 45 Trevor Ellis T Ellis Austin 8 Special / Austin Supercharged 0.9L 38 9 16 Mel McEwin M McEwin Tornado Mk II / Chevrolet 4.6L 35 10 60 Peter Wilkinson P Wilkinson Elfin Steamliner / Ford 1.2L 35 Ret 5 John Youl Scuderia Veloce Cooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L 46 Exhaustion Ret 8 Keith Rilstone K Rilstone Zephyr Special / Ford 2.3L 33 Ret 19 Doug Whiteford Bill Patterson Motors P/L Cooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L 30 Engine Ret 11 John Ampt J Ampt Cooper T38 / Jaguar 3.8L 25 Ret 30 John Newmarch J Bruggeman Ricardian / Holden 2.4L 14 Ret 56 Helene Bittner H Bittner Vitesse / Ford 100E 1.2L 1 Gearbox Ret 3 Laurie Whitehead L Whitehead Ausper T2 / Ford 1.0L 0 DNS 2 Stan Jones Stan Jones Motors Pty Ltd Cooper T51 / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L Engine DNS 29 Garrie Cooper Elfin Sports Cars Elfin Formula Junior / Ford 1.1L Gearbox DNS 44 Dud Dansie Bakewell Bridge Motors BBM rotary valve special / Holden - Dunstan Rotary ValveDNS18 Steve TillettS. D. Tillett MG TC
Notes Pole Position: Bill Patterson - 1:42.0 Fastest Lap: Bill Patterson / Lex Davison - 1:44.0
References
External links XXVI Australian Grand Prix 1961, www.the-fastlane.co.uk