The 1988 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title[1] which was awarded to the winner of the 1988 Australian Formula 2 Championship. The winning driver received the 1988 CAMS Gold Star[1] and is recognised by CAMS as the winner of both the 43rd Australian Drivers' Championship and the 21st Australian Formula 2 Championship.[1] 1988 was the second and last year in which the Australian Drivers' Championship was contested by Australian Formula 2 cars, this being an interim arrangement between the demise of Formula Mondial in Australia at the end of 1986[2] and the introduction of Formula Holden in 1989.[3]
New South Wales driver Rohan Onslow won the first of his two Australian Drivers' Championships and his only Australian Formula 2 Championship driving a Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen and a Ralt RT30 Volkswagen. Queensland driver Derek Pingel (Ralt RT30 Volkswagen) finished second with Barry Ward (Ralt RT30 Volkswagen) placed third. Onslow and Neil Israel (Magnum 863 Volkswagen) each attained two round wins with single victories scored by Pingel, Ward and factory Nissan Touring Car driver Glenn Seton, who drove a Nissan Pulsar powered Ralt RT4 in two rounds of the championship. Seton's win at Adelaide International Raceway would be the only win for a car powered by an engine other than a Volkswagen Golf unit during the two years in which Australian Formula 2 cars contested the Australian Drivers' Championship.
The championship was contested over a seven-round series with one race per round.[4]
| Round | Circuit | State | Date | Winning driver | Winning car | |
| 1 | Calder Park | Victoria | 26 March | Neil Israel | Magnum 863 Volkswagen | |
| 2 | Amaroo Park | New South Wales | 27 March | Barry Ward | Ralt RT30 Volkswagen | |
| 3 | Oran Park | New South Wales | 17 April | Neil Israel | Magnum 863 Volkswagen | |
| 4 | Adelaide International Raceway | South Australia | 1 May | Glenn Seton | Ralt RT4 Nissan | |
| 5 | Mallala Motor Sport Park | South Australia | 5 June | Rohan Onslow | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | |
| 6 | Lakeside | Queensland | 24 July | Derek Pingel | Ralt RT30 Volkswagen | |
| 7 | Sandown Park | Victoria | 11 September | Rohan Onslow | Ralt RT30/85 Volkswagen |
Championship points were awarded on a 30-27-24-21-19-17-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 basis for the first twenty places at each round.[5] Only the best six results from the seven rounds could be retained by each driver.[3]
| Position[6] | Driver | No.[7] | Car | Entrant | Cal | Ama | Ora | Ade | Mal | Lak | San | Total | |
| 1 | Rohan Onslow | 7 | RJ MacArthur Onslow | 27 | - | 27 | 27 | 30 | 27 | 30 | 168 | ||
| 2 | Derek Pingel | 8 | Ralt RT30 Volkswagen | Ralt Australia Pty Ltd | - | 27 | 24 | 24 | - | 30 | 21 | 126 | |
| 3 | Barry Ward | 4 | Ralt RT30 Volkswagen | Barry Ward | 19 | 30 | 21 | - | - | - | 24 | 94 | |
| 4 | Graham Blee | 2 | Cheetah Mk.6 Volkswagen | Graham Blee | 14 | 15 | (12) | 17 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 87 | |
| 5 | Graeme Smith | 27 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Graeme Smith | 24 | 19 | - | - | 12 | 17 | 17 | 89 | |
| 6 | Neil Israel | 44 | Magnum 863 Volkswagen | Magnum Racing Australia | 30 | - | 30 | - | 27 | - | - | 87 | |
| 7 | Rod Moody | 18[8] | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota | Rod Moody | 11 | 13 | - | - | 19 | 19 | 15 | 77 | |
| 8 | Wayne Ford | 31 | Ralt RT3 Ford | Wayne Ford | - | - | 13 | 19 | 24 | - | 9 | 65 | |
| 9 | Arthur Abrahams | 1 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | New Racing Corporation | 21 | 21 | - | - | - | - | - | 42 | |
| 10 | Ron Barnacle | 5 | Wren Volkswagen | David Green | 9 | - | - | 21 | - | - | 11 | 41 | |
| 11 | Tony Rees | 79 | Ralt RT3 Volkswagen | AG Rees | - | 14 | 14 | - | - | - | 12 | 40 | |
| 12 | Bap Romano | 35 | Elfin 852 Volkswagen | 15 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | 39 | ||
| 13 | Barry Johnson | 74 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Barry Johnson | - | - | 17 | - | 17 | - | - | 34 | |
| 14 | Brian Sampson | 78 | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota | Brian Sampson | 10 | - | 15 | - | - | - | 5 | 30 | |
| = | Glenn Seton | 53 | Ralt RT4 Nissan | Dave Thompson | - | - | - | 30 | - | - | - | 30 | |
| 16 | Mike Drewer | 45 | Cheetah Mk.7 Volkswagen | Mike Drewer | - | - | - | 15 | 14 | - | - | 29 | |
| 17 | Roger Martin | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | - | - | - | - | - | - | 27 | 27 | |||
| 18 | Noel Orphan | Elfin 700 Ford | - | - | - | - | - | 24 | - | 24 | |||
| 19 | Bronte Rundle | 29 | Kaditcha Alfa Romeo | Bronte Rundle | 8 | - | - | - | 15 | - | - | 23 | |
| 20 | Dean Hosking | 25 | Arbyen Volkswagen | The Volkshop | - | - | - | - | 21 | - | - | 21 | |
| = | Rolf Vine | March 77B Volkswagen | - | - | - | - | - | 21 | - | 21 | |||
| 22 | Ian Richards | 22 | Richards 201C Volkswagen | Ian Richards | - | - | 19 | - | - | - | - | 19 | |
| = | Carl Gibson | Elfin 792 Volkswagen | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 19 | |||
| 24 | John Wise | Cheetah Mk.7 Volkswagen | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 17 | |||
| = | David Goode | Elfin 700 Ford | - | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | 17 | |||
| 26 | Kees Koppenol | Elfin 700 Ford | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | - | 15 | |||
| 27 | Shane Flynn | 17 | Kaditcha Volkswagen | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | ||
| = | David Robinson | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | - | 13 | |||
| = | Adrian Martin | Ralt RT1 Ford | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 13 | |||
| 30 | Ray Cutchie | Ralt RT4 Ford | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | |||
| 31 | Peter Jones | 65 | Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen | Peter Jones | - | - | - | - | 11 | - | - | 11 | |
| 32 | Ian Caldwell | 6 | Cheetah Mk.6 Mitsubishi | Ian Caldwell | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | 10 | |
| = | Sam Astuti | 12 | Cheetah Mk.6 Ford | Sam Astuti | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 10 | |
| 34 | Ray Colenso | 76 | Cheetah Mk.7 Volkswagen | Ray Colenso | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | 8 | |
| 35 | Peter Clark | Magnum 823 Volkswagen | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | 7 | |||
| 36 | Ian Carrig | CRD 852 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 6 |
Whilst the 1988 Australian Formula 2 Championship winner was awarded the CAMS Gold Star, it was not certain at the time that the winner would be officially recognised as the 1988 Australian Champion Driver.[9] Subsequently, however, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport listed Onslow as the winner of both the 1988 Australian Formula 2 Championship and the 1988 Australian Drivers' Championship.[1]