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

Entrant	Chassis	No	Driver	Rounds
Birrana Racing	Reynard 94D	1	Simon Wills	2–3
		1	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	11	Alan Gurr	2
	Reynard 97D	12	Emerson Newton-John	5
	Reynard 97D	12	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
NRC Racing	Reynard 95D	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

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
1	R2		23–25 March		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
2	R2	Adelaide Street Circuit (Adelaide, South Australia)	6–8 April		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
3	R2	Hidden Valley Raceway (Darwin, Northern Territory)	11–13 May		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
4	R2		8–10 June		Rick Kelly	Rick Kelly	Birrana Racing
5	R1	Calder Park Raceway (Melbourne, Victoria)	13–15 July	Rick Kelly	Rick Kelly	Rick Kelly	Birrana Racing
5	R2	Calder Park Raceway (Melbourne, Victoria)	13–15 July		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
6	R2	Oran Park Raceway (Sydney, New South Wales)	27–29 July		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
7	R2	Mallala Motor Sport Park (Mallala, South Australia)	10–12 August		Rick Kelly	Rick Kelly	Birrana Racing
8	R1	Winton Motor Raceway (Benalla, Victoria)	7–9 September	Rick Kelly	Paul Stokell	Rick Kelly	Birrana Racing
8	R2	Winton Motor Raceway (Benalla, Victoria)	7–9 September		Rick Kelly	Paul Stokell	Birrana Racing

Points system

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

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

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