1994 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1994 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing competition open to drivers of racing cars complying with CAMS Formula Brabham (formerly known as Formula Holden) regulations.[1] The championship winner was awarded the 1994 CAMS Gold Star as the Australian Champion Driver.[1] It was the 38th running of the Australian Drivers' Championship and the sixth to feature the Formula Holden / Formula Brabham category which had been developed during 1988. The championship began on 17 April 1994 at Eastern Creek Raceway and ended on 28 August at Oran Park Raceway after six rounds.

The championship was won by Birrana Racing's Paul Stokell after a season long duel with Triple Eight Racing driver Greg Murphy. Murphy and his Ralt RT23 was the better combination at the start of the season, winning the first four races. Stokell started the year in a Reynard 90D, moving into the teams newer 91D at the second round. Stokell took his first win at Winton Motor Raceway and won every race bar one for the rest of the season to push past Murphy and win the championship.

Reynard 91D driver Adam Kaplan won the competition for third place in the championship on consistency, only finishing in the top three at the final race of the season with a second place at Oran Park. Tied for fourth place in the championship was Kevin Weeks (Reynard 91D) and Craig Lowndes in his first season in winged open-wheel racing cars. The emerging Formula Ford driver drove the ageing Cheetak Mk.9 owned by Brian Sampson with some impressive drives in the best of the aluminium constructed cars.

Teams and drivers

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Greg Murphy's Ralt RT23 at the Lakeside round of the championship

The following drivers competed in the 1994 Australian Drivers' Championship.

Driver No Car
Allan Galloway 3 Reynard 91D
Ron Barnacle 4 Reynard 90D
Adam Kaplan 7 Reynard 91D
Paul Stokell 9 Reynard 90D
Reynard 91D
Graham Watson 11 SPA 003
Peter Brennan 17 Ralt RT21
Rick Fabri 18 Ralt RT21
Arthur Abrahams 19 Reynard 92D
Greg Murphy 21 Ralt RT23
Chas Jacobsen 24 Reynard 92D
Ross Hodgson 32 Ralt RT21
Bernie Stack 38 Ralt RT21
Craig Lowndes 49
94
Cheetah Mk. 9
Bob Minogue 64 Lola T87/50
Kevin Weeks 70 Reynard 91D
Stan Keen 73 Shrike NB89H
Chris Hocking 74 Reynard 91D
Paul Collins 88 Liston BF3
Roger Seward 96 Ralt RT23
Albert Callagher 99 Ralt RT21
Colin Milne Hocking 911

Results and standings

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Race calendar

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The 1994 Australian Drivers' Championship consisted of six rounds held in four different states. Each round consisted of two heats. The final round at Oran Park in Sydney used the shorter (1.96 km) South Circuit rather than the 2.6 km Grand Prix Circuit. Results sourced from:[2]

Rd. Circuit City / state Date Winner
1 Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 17 April Greg Murphy
2 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 22 May Greg Murphy
3 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 19 June Paul Stokell
4 Lakeside Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 17 July Paul Stokell
5 Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia 7 August Paul Stokell
6 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 28 August Paul Stokell

Drivers Championship

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Points were awarded 20–16–14–12–10–8–6–4–2–1 based on the top ten race positions.

Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Pts
1 Paul Stokell 2nd 4th DNS 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 200
2 Greg Murphy 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 2nd Ret 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd Ret 178
3 Adam Kaplan 5th 5th 7th 7th 5th 5th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 2nd 128
4 Craig Lowndes Ret 6th 3rd 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 116
Kevin Weeks 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 4th 3rd 3rd Ret Ret 116
6 Bob Minogue 6th 7th 6th Ret 8th 8th 5th 5th 6th 6th 8th 7th 76
7 Allan Galloway 4th 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th DNS 5th Ret DNS 72
8 Chris Hocking DNS 6th 7th Ret 5th DNS 5th 4th 46
9 Graham Watson 8th 8th 9th 9th 6th 6th 28
10 Arthur Abrahams Ret DNS Ret 6th 2nd Ret 24
11 Bernie Stack 7th Ret 5th 8th DNS 10th 21
12 Ron Barnacle 7th 5th 16
13 Peter Brennan 10th Ret 8th 9th 8th 8th 15
14 Chas Jacobsen 9th 7th 8
Stan Keen 7th 9th 8
16 Ross Hodgson 9th 9th 4
17 Rick Fabri Ret Ret 9th 10th 3
18 Paul Collins 12th 11th 10th DNS 10th Ret 2
19 Al Callegher 11th 10th Ret Ret 1
Roger Seward 10th Ret 1
Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References

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  1. ^ a b Australian Title Conditions, 1994 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 164
  2. ^ Normoyle, Steve, ed. (1994–95). "Worth the Wait". Australian Motor Racing Year. 24. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing Group Pty. Limited: 178–187 & 284–5. ISSN 0158-4138.
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