1962 Australian GT Championship explained

The 1962 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title^[1] for drivers of Appendix K GT cars.^[2] The title, which was the third Australian GT Championship,^{[1] [3]} was contested over a single race held at the Lakeside circuit, in Queensland, Australia on 8 July 1962.^[4]

The championship was won by John French driving a Centaur Waggott.

Results

Position	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Laps
1	John French	26	Centaur Waggott	GP Cars Racing Team	50
2	Tony Basile	31^[5]	Porsche Carrera	S Sakzewski	50
3	Bill Pitt^[6]	34^[7]	Jaguar 3.4 Litre	Mrs DI Anderson	50
4	Les Howard	21	Austin-Healey Sprite - Ford Cosworth	Howard and Sons Racing Team
5		7	Lotus Elite	Scuderia Veloce^[8]
Under 1000cc
1	Sib Petralia	51	Austin-Healey Sprite	Chequered Flag Racing Team
2	Terry Kratzmann	30	Renault Floride	Sqadra Sotto
?	M. Hunt	6	Renault Dauphine
1000cc to 1600cc
1	Tony Basile	31	Porsche Carrera	S Sakzewski	50
2	Les Howard	21	Austin-Healey Sprite - Ford Cosworth	Howard and Sons Racing Team
3	Brian Foley	7	Lotus Elite	Scuderia Veloce
?	Tony Osborne	16	Lotus Elite
?	Paul Fallu	60	Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1600cc to 2600cc
1	John French	26	Centaur Waggott	GP Cars Racing Team	50
2	Ken Peters	4	Derrington Wolseley 15/60	KA Peters
2600cc and Over
1	Bill Pitt	34	Jaguar 3.4 Litre	Mrs DI Anderson	50
2	Dennis Geary^[9]	22	HWM Jaguar GT	Geary's Sports Cars

Race statistics

• Pole position: John French (Centaur Waggott), 1m 15.6s^[4]
• Race distance: 50 laps, 75 mile^[4] (120 km)
• Number of starters: 14^{[4] [10]}
• Number of finishers: Not yet ascertained
• Race time of winning car: 62m 03.6s^[4]
• Fastest lap: John French, 1m 12.3s^[11]

External links

• Image of the Centaur Waggott in action

Notes and References

1. 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-6
2. [Pedr Davis]
3. Some difference of opinion exists regarding the actual name of the title. Australian Motor Sport, September 1962 uses both "Australian G.T. championship" and "Australian Gran Turismo Championship", The Courier Mail, Monday, 9 July 1962 uses "Australian Grand Touring Championship" and the 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport uses "Australian GT Championship"
4. John French wins 1962 Australian G.T. championship, Australian Motor Sports, September 1962, pages 37-39
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20200922035951/https://primotipo.com/2019/09/23/lakeside-early-days/ Lakeside early days…, primotipo.com, as archived at web.archive.org
6. Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, page 185
7. Australian G.T. title to French's Centaur, Racing Car News, August 1962, Page 8
8. Keith Thallon, John French unchallenged in Australian GT Championship, Sports Car World, September 1962, pages 54 & 55
9. John Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, page 167
10. Australian Motor Sports, September 1962, pages 37-39 states that there were 14 starters in the race but only includes 12 names in its grid listing and only mentions the same 12 in the text of the race report
11. Car Wrecked at Lakeside, The Courier Mail, Monday, 9 July 1962, page 13