The 1957 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS-sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The championship was contested over a nine race series with the winner awarded the 1957 CAMS Gold Star.[1] It was the first Australian Drivers' Championship and the first motor racing title to be decided over a series of races at Australian circuits.
The series was won by Victorian racer Lex Davison[2] driving a Ferrari 500/625.[3] Davison dominated the championship, winning six of the nine races, including the series-opening 1957 Australian Grand Prix, to finish 19 points ahead of Tom Hawkes (Cooper T23 Bristol). The other drivers to win races were Murray Trenberth (Vincent 1000), Arnold Glass (HWM Jaguar) and Stan Jones (Maserati 250F).
The championship was contested over a nine race series.[1]
| Race | Circuit | Date[4] | Winning drivers | Car | Report | |
| Caversham | 4 March | Lex Davison & Bill Patterson[5] | Ferrari 500/625 | Report | ||
| Victorian Trophy | Albert Park | 24 March | Lex Davison[6] | Ferrari 500/625 | ||
| South Australian Trophy | Port Wakefield | 22 April[7] | Murray Trenberth | Vincent 1000[8] | ||
| Bathurst 100 | Mount Panorama | 22 April | Arnold Glass | HWM Jaguar | ||
| Queensland Road Racing Championship | Lowood | 16 June | Lex Davison[9] | Ferrari 500/625 | ||
| Lowood Trophy | Lowood | 11 August | Stan Jones[10] | Maserati 250F | ||
| New South Wales Road Race Championship | Mount Panorama | 6 October | Lex Davison[11] | Ferrari 500/625 | ||
| Port Wakefield Trophy | Port Wakefield | 12 October | Lex Davison[12] | Ferrari 500/625 | ||
| Australian Motor Sports Magazine Trophy Race | Phillip Island | 27 October | Lex Davison[13] | Ferrari 500/625 |
Shortly after the running of the Victorian Trophy, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport announced that it had introduced an annual "Gold Star" award for the champion Australian racing driver, with the Australian Grand Prix and the Victorian Trophy being retrospectively included in the list of nominated races counting towards the inaugural championship.[14]
Championship points were awarded on an 8-5-3-2-1 basis for the first five places at each race.[1]
| Position | Driver | Car | Entrant | Cav | AP | PW[15] | MP | Low | Low | MP | PW | PI | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lex Davison | Ferrari 500/625 | Ecurie Australie | 6 | 8 | - | - | 8 | - | 8 | 8 | 8 | 46 |
| 2 | Tom Hawkes | Cooper T23-Repco Holden | TV Hawkes | - | 2 | - | - | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 27 |
| 3 | Stan Jones | Maserati 250F | Stan Jones | 5 | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | 13 |
| 4 | Arnold Glass | HWM-Jaguar | Capitol Motor Cycles | - | - | - | 8 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 10 |
| 5 | Derek Jolly | Decca Special Mk 11-Climax | DE Jolly | - | - | 5 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Len Lukey | Cooper T23-Bristol | Len Lukey | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | - | 9 | |
| 7 | Jack Brabham | Cooper T41-Climax | Jack Brabham | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| Murray Trenberth | Vincent 1000-Vincent | M Trenberth | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | |
| 9 | Jack Robinson | JRS-Jaguar | J Robinson | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 |
| 10 | Bill Patterson | Ferrari 500/625 Cooper T39-Climax | Ecurie Australie W Patterson | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Alec Mildren | Cooper T20-Bristol Cooper T41-Climax | AG Mildren | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | 4 | |
| 12 | Bill Pitt | Jaguar D-Type | Mrs G Anderson | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Eddie Perkins | Porsche Special | EB Perkins | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Doug Whiteford | Maserati 300S | D Whiteford | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
| Bill Pile | MG Special | WM Pile | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
| Ralph Snodgrass | Talbot-Lago T26C | R Snodgrass | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
| 17 | Keith Rilstone | Zephyr Special-Ford | KW Rilstone | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 2 |
| Ron Phillips | Austin-Healey 100S | RK Phillips | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Ray Wamsley | Alfa Romeo Tipo B-GMC | R Wamsley | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | |
| Frank Gardner | Jaguar C-Type | F Gardner | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | |
| Jim Johnson | J Johnson | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | ||
| 22 | Jack French | Cooper Mk.IV-Norton | JW French | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Tom Stevens | MG Special | TE Stevens[16] | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
| Gordon Stewart | Stewart-MG | Ecurie Cinque | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
At the Australian Grand Prix race at Caversham Lex Davison shared the winning car with Bill Patterson and championship points were allotted in proportion to the laps driven by each.[1]
The championship was referred to by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport at the time simply as "The CAMS Gold Star".[1] However the actual Gold Star medallion was inscribed with the words "Champion Australian Driver"[1] and historical records published by CAMS use the term "Australian Drivers' Championship".[17]