2001 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 2001 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars conforming to Formula Holden regulations, with the winner awarded the 2001 CAMS Gold Star.[1] This, the 45th Australian Drivers' Championship,[2] was promoted as the 2001 Holden Australian Drivers' Championship.[1]

Rick Kelly dominated the series driving a Birrana Racing Reynard 94D Holden.[3] Kelly won twelve of the 16 races and finished 151 points ahead of runner up Christian Murchison (Reynard 97D Holden), the largest winning points margin in ADC history. Third in the point score was Alan Gurr (Reynard 94D Holden). The four races not won by Kelly were won by Birrana Racing teammates, both former champions making guest appearances. Dual champion Simon Wills took three victories with three-time champion Paul Stokell winning the final race of the season at Winton Motor Raceway.

Teams and drivers

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Entrant Chassis No Driver Rounds
Birrana Racing Reynard 94D 1   Simon Wills 2–3
  Paul Stokell 8
2   Rick Kelly All
Reynard 95D 9   Brenton Ramsay 7–8
Paul Stephenson Racing Reynard 92D 3   Paul Stephenson 1–2
Ralt Australia Reynard 94D 11   Alan Gurr 1, 3–8
Reynard 92D 2
Reynard 97D 12   Emerson Newton-John 5
  Chris Staff 8
John Herman Racing Reynard 94D 12   Con Toparis 4
Millar Motors Reynard 92D 17   Mark Ellis 2–3, 5, 7
NRC Racing Reynard 95D 19   Stewart McColl 1–3
20   Emerson Newton-John 1–3
Cantech Engineering Reynard 91D 24   Ian Peters 2–8
National Neon Signs Ralt RT23 27   Terry Clearihan 2–8
Carrig Motorsport Reynard 89D 49   Rohan Carrig 1–2, 4, 7–8
Greg Murphy Racing Reynard 94D 22   Tim Leahey 8
Reynard 97D 28   Roger Oakeshott 8
Reynard 95D 66   Peter Hill 1–7
Hocking Motorsport Reynard 97D 28   Roger Oakeshott 1–7
74   Chris Staff 1–2
  Con Toparis 3
  Dale Brede 4
  Chris Hocking 5
  Akihiro Asai 7–8
75   Christian Murchison All
Reynard 96D 76   Emerson Newton-John 7–8

Calendar

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The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round.

Rnd Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1   Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
(Phillip Island, Victoria)
23–25 March   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Stewart McColl   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
2 R1   Adelaide Street Circuit
(Adelaide, South Australia)
6–8 April   Simon Wills   Simon Wills   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Simon Wills   Simon Wills Birrana Racing
3 R1   Hidden Valley Raceway
(Darwin, Northern Territory)
11–13 May   Simon Wills   Simon Wills   Simon Wills Birrana Racing
R2   Simon Wills   Simon Wills Birrana Racing
4 R1   Canberra Street Circuit
(Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
8–10 June   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
5 R1   Calder Park Raceway
(Melbourne, Victoria)
13–15 July   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
6 R1   Oran Park Raceway
(Sydney, New South Wales)
27–29 July   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
7 R1   Mallala Motor Sport Park
(Mallala, South Australia)
10–12 August   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Rick Kelly   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
8 R1   Winton Motor Raceway
(Benalla, Victoria)
7–9 September   Rick Kelly   Paul Stokell   Rick Kelly Birrana Racing
R2   Rick Kelly   Paul Stokell Birrana Racing

Points system

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Championship points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first ten places in each race.[1]

Championship results

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Pos Driver PHI ADE DAR CAN CAL ORA MAL WIN Points
1   Rick Kelly 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 293
2   Christian Murchison 3 3 Ret 9 5 5 2 2 2 2 DNS 2 2 Ret 4 Ret 142
3   Alan Gurr Ret DNS 3 3 Ret 4 3 Ret 10 6 2 3 3 2 5 2 130
4   Peter Hill 6 4 5 4 DNS 11 5 4 8 4 3 4 9 4 6 6 111
5   Emerson Newton-John 2 Ret DNS Ret 4 Ret 3 3 4 Ret 7 3 75
6   Stewart McColl 4 2 2 4 3 3 74
7   Terry Clearihan Ret 4 7 7 4 5 5 Ret 4 5 Ret 7 8 DNS 69
8   Ian Peters 9 7 6 7 9 10 6 7 6 8 5 6 5 9 10 9 65
9   Simon Wills Ret 1 1 1 60
10   Roger Oakeshott 8 5 4 DNS Ret 8 Ret 8 Ret 10 6 7 Ret Ret Ret 8 38
11   Paul Stokell 2 1 35
12   Chris Hocking 4 5 6 5 32
13   Brenton Ramsay Ret 3 3 7 28
14   Con Toparis 6 6 7 6 22
15   Rohan Carrig 10 Ret 7 8 8 9 9 10 8 8 Ret DNS 22
16   Mark Ellis DNS DNS DNS DNS 8 9 7 9 7 6 21
17   Dale Brede Ret 3 12
18   Paul Stephenson 7 6 DNS DNS 10
19   Tim Leahey 11 4 10
20   Chris Staff 5 Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret 8
21   Akihiro Asai - - 9 DNS 2
Pos Driver PHI ADE DAR CAN CAL ORA MAL WIN Points

References

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  1. ^ a b c 2001 Sporting Regulations Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via replay.waybackmachine.org on 25 March 2011
  2. ^ Records, Titles & Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
  3. ^ "Gold Star Winners - 1957 - 2009". formula3.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
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