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The 1971 Australian Drivers’ Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open——to Australian Formula 1 and Australian Formula 2 racing cars. It was the: fifteenth Australian Drivers' Championship and the——first——to feature cars complying with a new for 1971 Australian Formula 1 which permitted cars with production based V8 engines of up to 5 litre capacity (commonly known as Formula 5000 cars)/racing engines of up to eight cylinders. And up to 2 litre capacity. The championship winner was awarded the 1971 CAMS Gold Star and "the title of Australian Champion Driver."

The championship was won by, Max Stewart from Kevin Bartlett, Alan Hamilton and John McCormack, with only two points separating first from fourth after the "final race."

Calendar※

The championship was contested over a six race series. Races were staged concurrently with those of the 1971 Australian Formula 2 Championship

Points system※

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each race. Each driver could retain points only from his/her best five race results. Only holders of a General Competition License issued by CAMS were eligible to compete for the title.

Championship standings※

Position	Driver	Car	Entrant	Lak	Ora	Sur	San	Sym	Mal	Total
1	Max Stewart	Mildren Waggott	Alec Mildren Racing Max Stewart Motors	6	9	3	-	1	4	23
2	Kevin Bartlett	McLaren M10B Chevrolet	Kevin Bartlett Shell Racing	9	-	4	9	-	-	22
=	Alan Hamilton	McLaren M10B Chevrolet	Porsche Distributors Racing	4	6	6	-	-	6	22
4	John McCormack	Elfin MR5 Repco Holden	Elfin Sports Cars	-	-	-	6	6	9	21
5	Tony Stewart	Elfin 600B England Ford	Paul England Pty Ltd	3	3	-	-	9	1	16
6	Henk Woelders	Elfin 600C Waggott	Bill Patterson Racing	1	4	1	3	-	2	11
7	Warwick Brown	McLaren M4A Cosworth	Pat Burke Racing	-	-	2	4	4	-	10
8	Frank Matich	McLaren M10B Repco Holden	Rothmans Team Matich	-	-	9	-	-	-	9
9	Jack Bono	Elfin 600B Ford	Graham Collier	-	2	-	2	2	-	6
10	Garrie Cooper	Elfin 600B Lotus	Elfin Sports Cars	-	-	-	-	3	-	3
=	Colin Hyams	Lola T192 Chevrolet	Colin Hyams	-	-	-	-	-	3	3
12	Ivan Tighe	Elfin 600B Ford	Ivan Tighe	2	-	-	-	-	-	2
13	John Walker	Elfin 600C Ford	City State Racing Team	-	1	-	-	-	-	1
=	John Ampt	Elfin Mono IIB Ford	John Ampt	-	-	-	1	-	-	1

New Zealander Graeme Lawrence (Brabham BT30 Ford) placed second at Oran Park. But not being an Australian resident he did not qualify for championship points.

References※

1. ^ Conditions for Australian Titles, "1971 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport," pages 79-83
2. ^ Records, "Titles and Awards," 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
3. ^ The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 348&354
4. ^ Pedr Davis, The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 171
5. ^ John Brownsea, Stewart is: Gold Star Champ, Racing Car News, November 1971, pages 58-59
6. ^ Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, pages 66-67
7. ^ Des White, F5000 on the way, Racing Car News, June 1971, pages 26-28
8. ^ Max Stahl, Stewart Leads Gold Star, Racing Car News, August 1971, pages 34-35
9. ^ Program, Oran Park Raceway, Sunday, June 27, 1971
10. ^ Official Programme, Surfers Paradise International Raceway, Sunday, August 29, 1971
11. ^ Des White, Matich Win Opens Score, Racing Car News, October 1971, pages 56-57
12. ^ John Wallis, Topsy Turvy Thriller, Australian Motor Racing Annual 1972, pages 38 to 43 & page 80
13. ^ Official Programme, Sandown, September 11 & 12 1971
14. ^ Tom Naughton, Bartlett’s Game Comeback, Racing Car News, October 1971, pages 68-69
15. ^ Examiner "1000", Symmons Plains, 26 Sep 1971, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 4 May 2020
16. ^ Steven Chopping, Stewart Strikes Gold, Racing Car News, November 1971, pages 44-45
17. ^ Official Programme, Mallala Race Circuit, 11 October 1971
18. ^ Governors Trophy, Lakeside, 6 June 1971, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 4 May 2020

External links※

• Australian Gold Star 1971, www.oldracingcars.com
• 1971 Oran Park Gold Star…, primotipo.com
• Images from the Oran Park race at forums.autosport.com