1980 Australian Grand Prix

The 1980 Australian Grand Prix was an open wheel racing car race held at Calder Park Raceway on November 16, 1980.

It was the forty fifth Australian Grand Prix and was run for cars eligible to international Formula 1, Formula 5000 and Formula Pacific regulations. It was also the final round of the 1980 Australian Drivers' Championship.

Background

Motorsport was in serious decline in Australia in 1980 with most domestic motor racing grids in sharp decline. Early in the season it was announced that the 1980 Australian Drivers' Championship technical regulations, then known as Australian Formula 1, but was essentially Formula 5000, would be expanded to allow for a more diverse array of machinery. The previous year Formula Pacific, the regional name for the Formula Atlantic category had already been allowed to enter, but the relative small cars were not a close match to the considerably more powerful Formula 5000 cars.

The addition was to allow Formula 1 cars, like those competing in the World Drivers Championship, or more optimistically second-hand cars like those in the British AFX Aurora series. The move however only attracted Guy Edwards driving a Fittipaldi.

Public interest in motor sport as Alan Jones closed in on winning the 1980 World Drivers' Championship, and further increased after the 'rock incident' that befell touring car driver Dick Johnson at the 1980 Bathurst 1000.

Entries

It was announced that the new world champion, Alan Jones, would return to Australia in November, bringing with him the Williams FW07 he used to win the world championship and would be the headline entry for the Australian Grand Prix extravaganza which was built up by Bob Jane who circumvented the rotational system of moving the Australian Grand Prix from state to state by securing it for his own race track, the tight confines of Calder Park Raceway.

The only other Formula 1 car to enter though sadly was an Alfa Romeo 179 entered by the factory Alfa Romeo team for Bruno Giacomelli to drive. Ligier driver Didier Pironi would also be present but he would race a Formula 5000, specifically the brand new Elfin MR9, the first and in the end only ground effect equipped Formula 5000 constructed. The factory Elfin Racing Cars team however ran behind and with the new MR9 untested prior to the race, designer Garrie Cooper decided he would race the car himself. Pironi would join Elfins regular team leader John Bowe in racing one of the teams older, conventional Elfin MR8 cars.

Another Formula 1 car was entered, but the McLaren M26 driven by John McCormack which had been converted to Formula 5000 regulations would not make the start with the driver injured after a race in North America.

The majority of the entry was made up of Lolas of varying ages, with number of locally constructed F5000s and older British cars, and a trio of Formula Pacifics completing the entry.

Race

The race was almost made infamous after Jones almost lost the race. Giacomelli was surprisingly fast and determined with the two F1s actually clashing and spearing off track together, but after the scare, Jones knuckled down to race and pulled steadily clear to win by over a lap from Giacomelli.

Four laps down at the finish, Pironi raced his Elfin steadily ahead of the local Formula 5000 racers to finish in third position and allow the imported Formula 1 drivers to clean sweep the podium.

Reliability plagued the local cars with many of the fancied drivers striking problems. In the end Costanzo was three laps clear of the nearest domestic competitor, Chas Talbot's Lola, enough to clinch his first Australian Drivers' Championship

Classification

Notes

*Pole position: Alan Jones - 0'36.1
*Fastest lap: Alan Jones - 0'36.9

References