1982 Australian Grand Prix Explained

Type:CUST
Description:Round 8 of 8 of the 1982 Australian Drivers' Championship
Grand Prix:Australian
Country:Australia
Official Name:XLVII Australian Grand Prix
Location:Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne, Victoria
Date:7 November
Year:1982
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:1.000
Course Km:1.609
Distance Laps:100
Distance Mi:100
Distance Km:160.9
Weather:Sunny
Pole Driver:Alain Prost
Pole Country:FRA
Pole Team:Ralt-Ford
Pole Time:0'39.18
Fast Driver:Jacques Laffite
Fast Team:Ralt-Ford
Fast Time:0'39.62
Fast Country:FRA
First Driver:Alain Prost
First Country:France
First Team:Ralt-Ford
Second Driver:Jacques Laffite
Second Country:FRA
Second Team:Ralt-Ford
Third Driver:Roberto Moreno
Third Country:BRA
Third Team:Ralt-Ford

The 1982 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Melbourne International Raceway, formerly Calder Raceway, in Victoria, Australia on 8 November 1982.[1]

The race, which was the 47th Australian Grand Prix,[2] was open to racing cars complying with Australian Formula 1 regulations,[3] which for this year included only Formula Pacific cars.[4] It was the second Australian Grand Prix to feature only Formula Pacific cars. For the Australian-based competitors the race was also the eighth and final round of the 1982 Australian Drivers' Championship.

The race was won by Alain Prost of France driving a Ralt RT4. His subsequent victory in the 1986 Australian Grand Prix would see him secure his second straight Formula One World Championship for Drivers title and become the first driver to win the Australian Grand Prix in both its Australian domestic and World Championship formats. As of 2022 he remains as the only driver to have achieved this.

The 1982 race was the first Australian Grand Prix since 1968 in which no Australian driver placed in the first three positions. The highest-placed Australian was the Alfredo Costanzo who finished fifth in a Tiga FA81 Ford, thus clinching the 1982 Australian Drivers' Championship title. Costanzo was also the fastest Australian qualifier, starting from the third grid position behind the Ralt RT4 Fords of French Formula One drivers Alain Prost and Jacques Laffite.

Classification

Results as follows:[2]

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Qual Gap
115 Alain ProstRalt RT4 Ford0:39.18β€”
226 Jacques LaffiteRalt RT4 Ford0:39.42+0.24
31 Alfredo CostanzoTiga FA81 Ford0:39.59+0.41
44 John BoweRalt RT4 Ford0:39.67+0.49
518 Nelson PiquetRalt RT4 Ford0:39.67+0.49
619 Roberto MorenoRalt RT4 Ford0:39.77+0.59
727 Alan JonesRalt RT4 Ford0:39.81+0.63
871 John SmithRalt RT4 Ford0:39.89+0.70
941 David McMillanRalt RT4 Ford0:39.93+0.74
1014 Robert HandfordRalt RT4 Ford0:39.98+0.79
112 Andrew MiedeckeRalt RT4 Ford0:39.99+0.80
129 Graham WatsonRalt RT4 Ford0:40.01+0.83
138 Richard DavisonRalt RT4 Ford0:40.07+0.89
1420 Lucio CesarioRalt RT4 Ford0:40.09+0.91
1564 Phillip RevellRalt RT4 Ford0:40.16+0.98
1625 Paul RadisichRalt RT4 Ford0:40.30+1.12
173 Charlie O'BrienRalt RT4 Ford0:40.36+1.18
1812 Doug MacArthurRalt RT4 Ford0:40.41+1.23
1910 Neil CrangTiga FA82 Ford0:41.25+2.07
207 Peter WilliamsonToleman TA860 Toyota0:41.25+2.07
2174 Chris HockingCheetah Mk.8 Ford0:41.25+2.07
2223 Willy StobartRalt RT4 Ford0:41.27+2.09
2378 Brian SampsonCheetah Mk.8 Ford0:41.38+2.20
2416 Bob CreasyRalt RT4 Ford0:41.65+2.47
25

Notes and References

  1. Programme, National Panasonic Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne International Raceway, 6th–7th November 1982
  2. Book: Wilson . Stewart . Graham . Howard . The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix . 1986 . R & T Publishing . Gordon, NSW . 0-9588464-0-5 . 456–463 . 1982.
  3. Specific Conditions, Racing Titles, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport 1982, page 88
  4. Australian Formula 1 (Formula Pacific), CAMS Manual of Motor Sport 1982, pages 269–272