2011 Australian Drivers' Championship

2011 Australian Drivers' Championship
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The 2011 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title with the championship winner receiving the 2011 CAMS Gold Star award. It was the 55th Australian Drivers' Championship and the seventh to be contested with open wheel racing cars constructed in accordance with FIA Formula 3 regulations. It was also recognised as the 11th Australian Formula 3 Championship.[1] The championship was contested over a series which was officially known as the "2011 Australian Formula 3 Drivers Championship for the CAMS Gold Star".[2] The series began on 21 March 2011 at Winton Motor Raceway and finished on 13 November at Symmons Plains Raceway after seven rounds across five different states and territories, with three races at each round.

The championship was won by Queensland driver Chris Gilmour. Gilmour moved into the series lead when British racer and 2008 champion James Winslow missed the Morgan Park round. Winslow returned to the series at the next event. He won a total of eight races to Gilmour's six, but had given away a points lead to Gilmour he would never regain, ultimately falling eight points short of the winners total. Gilmour is the first Australian driver to win the championship since 2007 after three consecutive years of British drivers claiming the title. John Magro, also from Queensland, was the only driver of the 2007 generation cars apart from Gilmour to contest the full series and was rewarded with third place in the championship, but was 32 points behind Gilmour and achieved only one race win. Occasional racer Mat Sofi dominated the Eastern Creek round with three race wins while 2007 champion Tim Macrow won the final race of the season in his older, 2004 specification Dallara.

Four other drivers contested the full series in the older National Class cars in which they also competed for their own class award. As in the outright championship, the National Class winner was not decided until the final race of the season. However the spoiling presence of Macrow limited the amount of points Ben Gersekowski could retrieve in his fight with Steel Guiliana, and the latter ultimately claimed the National Class award by seven points. Tasmanian driver Josh Burdon was over sixty points behind Guiliana with Roman Krumins a further twelve points in arrears.

Class structure

Cars competed in two classes:[2]

An additional Invitation Class, for automobiles constructed in accordance with the appropriate regulations that applied in the year of manufacture,[2] was provided for in the regulations,[2] however no eligible cars competed during the course of the season.

Points System

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole
Position
Fastest
Lap
Races 1 & 2 12 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 (R1
only)
1
Race 3 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 0 1

Drivers of cars from all three classes were eligible to score points towards the Australian Drivers' Championship. National Class and Invitation Class drivers were also eligible to score points towards their respective class awards using the same points system as applied for the outright championship, but based on their relative finishing position within their class in each race.[2]

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the 2011 Australian Drivers' Championship. Entries sourced in part from:[3]

Team Class Chassis Engine No Driver
Transwest Gold Star Dallara F307 Mugen-Honda 2 Australia Mat Sofi
Team BRM Gold Star Dallara F307 HWA-Mercedes-Benz 3 Australia John Magro
4 Australia Kristian Lindbom
R-Tek Motorsport Gold Star Dallara F307 HWA-Mercedes-Benz 6 Australia Bryce Moore
National Dallara F304 Spiess-Opel 7 Australia Steel Giuliania
8 Australia Josh Burdon
Gold Star Dallara F307 HWA-Mercedes-Benz 9 United Kingdom James Winslow
Astuti Motorsport Gold Star Dallara F307 Renault 11 Australia Mat Sofi
BF Racing National Dallara F304 Spiess-Opel 14 Australia Roman Krumins
42 Australia Ben Gersekowski
Gilmour Racing Gold Star Dallara F307 HWA-Mercedes-Benz 17 Australia Chris Gilmour
Fusion Formula National Dallara F304 Renault-Sodemo 25 Australia Tim Macrow

Race calendar

The championship was contested over a seven round series.[4]

A long-time bastion of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships the 2011 season saw the Gold Star shift several events onto the International V8 Supercars Championship calendar, after occasional appearances at the Clipsal 500 and other major events. The series appeared on the program of V8 Supercar rounds at Winton, Symmons Plains, and, in a first for the category, Hidden Valley Raceway in the Northern Territory.

Round Race Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning driver Winning team
1 1 Victoria (Australia) Winton Motor Raceway 20–22 May John Magro James Winslow James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
2 Bryce Moore James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
3 race cancelled due to rain[5]
2 4 Northern Territory Hidden Valley Raceway 17–19 June James Winslow Bryce Moore James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
5 Bryce Moore John Magro Team BRM
6 John Magro Kristian Lindbom Team BRM
3 7 New South Wales Eastern Creek Raceway 14–17 July Mat Sofi James Winslow Mat Sofi Transwest
8 James Winslow Mat Sofi Transwest
9 Mat Sofi Mat Sofi Transwest
4 10 Queensland Morgan Park Raceway 12–14 August John Magro John Magro Chris Gilmour Gilmour Racing
11 John Magro Chris Gilmour Gilmour Racing
12 Chris Gilmour Chris Gilmour Gilmour Racing
5 13 Victoria (Australia) Sandown Raceway 9–11 September John Magro James Winslow James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
14 James Winslow Chris Gilmour Gilmour Racing
15 James Winslow James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
6 16 Victoria (Australia) Phillip Island 4–6 November James Winslow John Magro James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
17 James Winslow James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
18 Chris Gilmour Chris Gilmour Gilmour Racing
7 19 Tasmania Symmons Plains Raceway 11–13 November James Winslow John Magro Chris Gilmour Gilmour Racing
20 James Winslow James Winslow R-Tek Motorsport
21 James Winslow Tim Macrow Fusion Formula

Results

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver WIN
1
WIN
2
WIN
3
HID
1
HID
2
HID
3
EAS
1
EAS
2
EAS
3
MOR
1
MOR
2
MOR
3
SAN
1
SAN
2
SAN
3
PHI
1
PHI
2
PHI
3
SYM
1
SYM
2
SYM
3
Pts
GOLD STAR
1 Australia Chris Gilmour 4 2 - 4 Ret 2 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 3 1 1 5 5 210
2 United Kingdom James Winslow 1 1 - 1 Ret 4 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 4 1 2 202
3 Australia John Magro 2 Ret - 6 1 6 4 4 4 2 3 2 3 Ret 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 178
4 Australia Steel Giuliania 5 6 - 7 5 8 7 5 7 4 5 3 4 3 5 7 Ret 5 6 6 8 111
5 Australia Ben Gersekowski 8 4 - 8 6 7 6 6 6 5 4 4 6 Ret 6 6 6 6 7 7 6 102
6 Australia Mat Sofi 1 1 1 4 4 4 5 4 4 93
7 Australia Bryce Moore 3 3 - 3 2 5 5 9 5 3 2 Ret 77
8 Australia Josh Burdon 6 5 - 10 7 9 Ret 7 8 Ret DNS DNS 5 5 4 5 5 7 8 8 7 73
9 Australia Roman Krumins 7 7 - 9 8 10 8 8 9 Ret 6 5 7 4 7 8 7 8 9 9 9 66
10 Australia Tim Macrow 5 4 3 3 2 1 62
11 Australia Kristian Lindbom 2 3 1 37
NATIONAL
1 Australia Steel Guiliania 5 6 - 7 5 8 7 5 7 4 5 3 4 3 5 7 Ret 5 6 6 8 228
2 Australia Ben Gersekowski 8 4 - 8 6 7 6 6 6 5 4 4 6 Ret 6 6 6 6 7 7 6 221
3 Australia Josh Burdon 6 5 - 10 7 9 Ret 7 8 Ret DNS DNS 5 5 4 5 5 7 8 8 7 162
4 Australia Roman Krumins 7 7 - 9 8 10 8 8 9 Ret 6 5 7 4 7 8 7 8 9 9 9 150
5 Australia Tim Macrow 5 4 3 3 2 1 97
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd 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 participate (DNP)
Excluded (EX)

Note: Race 3 at the opening round at Winton was cancelled due to heavy rain.[5]

Note: There were no competitors in the Invitation Class at any of the seven rounds.

See also

References

External links

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