1961 Australian Tourist Trophy Explained

The 1961 Australian Tourist Trophy was a motor race open to Sports Cars and invited GT Cars,^[1] staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on 1 October 1961.^[2] The race was organised by the Australian Racing Drivers Club.^[3] It was the fifth in a sequence of annual Australian Tourist Trophy races, and was recognized by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as the Australian championship for sports cars.^[4]

The race was won by Bib Stillwell driving a Cooper Monaco.^[2]

Results

Position^[5]	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Class	Class pos.	Laps
1	Bib Stillwell	6	Cooper Monaco Coventry Climax^[6]	BS Stillwell	2001 to 3000 cc	1	19
2	Frank Matich	86	Jaguar D-Type	Team Leaton	Over 3000 cc	1	19
3	Bob Jane	133		Autoland Pty Ltd	2001 to 3000 cc	2	18
4	Alan Jack	4	Cooper T39 Coventry Climax	A Jack	1101 to 1500 cc	1	17
5	Graham White	79	Lotus XI Coventry Climax	Continental Motors	751 to 1100 cc	1	16
6	John Suttor	120	Jaguar XK140	J Suttor	Over 3000 cc	2	?
7	Ralph Sach	82	Elfin MG^[7]	J Hextall	1501 to 2000 cc	1	?
8	Tony Reynolds	96	Triumph TR3	AJ Reynolds	1501 to 2000 cc	2	?
9	Charlie Campbell	94	Triumph TR3	C Campbell	1501 to 2000 cc	3	?
10	Ted Laker	101	Triumph TR3	E Laker	2001 to 3000 cc	3	15
11	Sam Miller	101	Austin-Healey 100S	S Miller	2001 to 3000 cc	4	15
12	John Evans	33	MGTC	JL Evans	1101 to 1500 cc	2	14
13	Peter Addison^[8]	24		PG Addison	1501 to 2000 cc	3	13
14	George Kypson	19	Austin Sprite	G Kypson	751 to 1100 cc	2	?
15	Ron Marshall	23		R Marshall	1501 to 2000 cc	4	11
DNF	Derek Netting	9		Dents Auto Service	1501 to 2000 cc	-	?
DNF	Mike Nedelko	27	Prad	M Nedelko	2001 to 3000 cc	-	?
DNF	John Martin	111	Lotus XI Coventry Climax^[9]	Martins Neutral Bay Motors	751 to 1100 cc	-	11
DNF	Murray Carter	3	Corvette Special	MW Carter	Over 3000 cc	-	8
DNF	Alec Lazich	53	Malford Ford	A Lazich	1101 to 1500 cc	-	4
DNF	Peter Ganderton	37		P Ganderton	1101 to 1500 cc	-	3
DNF^[10]	Don Holland	10		Robinson's Auto Park Pty Ltd	2001 to 3000 cc	-	2
DNF	Tom Sulman	99	Aston Martin DB3S	T Sulman	2001 to 3000 cc	-	1
DNF	Harry Cape	126		J Wright	2001 to 3000 cc	-	0
Disq	John Malcolm	75		Dents Auto Service	751 to 1100 cc	-	?
DNS	John Ampt^[11]	11	Cooper T33 Jaguar	J Ampt	Over 3000 cc	-	-
DNS	Tom Sulman^[12]	99	Lotus XI Coventry Climax	T Sulman	1101 to 1500 cc	-	-
DNS	Bob Cutler^[13]	14	Austin-Healey	R Cutler	2001 to 3000 cc	-	-

• DNF = did not finish
• Disq = disqualified
• DNS = did not start

Notes

• Attendance: 12,000^[14]
• Entries: 43^[7]
• Starters: 25^[5]
• Finishers: 15^[7]
• Race distance: 19 laps – 75 miles^[15] (120 km)
• Winner's race time: 53 minutes 11.9 seconds^[15]
• Fastest lap: Bib Stillwell - 2 minutes 44.9 seconds^[15]

References

1. Event 3, 1961 Australian Tourist Trophy, Official Programme, Mount Panorama, Bathurst, Sunday 1 October 1961, page 21
2. Driver untroubled in trophy race win, Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 2 October 1961, page 6
3. Mike Kable, Stillwell Unchallenged Winner of Australian Tourist Trophy, Sports Car World, December 1961, pages 50 to 53
4. National Titles, 1961 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 53
5. John Medley, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing, pages 286 to 293
6. John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979
7. Stillwell wins T.T. , Australian Motor Sports, December 1961, pages 536 & 537
8. Australian Tourist Trophy to Stillwell, Racing Car News, November 1961, pages 1& 3
9. Records tipped in racing classic, The Cumberland Argus, Wednesday, 22 September 1961, page 22
10. The race report in Australian Motor Sport makes reference to the "Robinson Park" car retiring
11. Medley indicates that John Ampt's Cooper Jaguar destroyed its differential in practice and did not start the race.
12. Medley indicates that "Tom Sulman destroyed the motor of his 1220xccc Lotus XI" in practice and that the car did not start the race
13. Medley indicates that R. Cutler Did Not Start. Racing Car News states that "Bob Cutler broke the chassis in the Austin Healey"
14. Lance Lowe, Stillwell Wins Aust. T.T., Australian Motor Manual, December 1, 1961, page 39
15. David McKay, Bib Tops in T.T., Modern Motor, December 1961, pages 24 & 25