The 1996 Australian Formula Ford Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Formula Ford racing cars.[1] It was the 27th national series for Formula Fords to be held in Australia and the 4th to be sanctioned as an Australian Formula Ford Championship.[2] The series was promoted as the 1996 Ford Racing Slick 50 Australian Formula Ford Championship.[3]
The championship was won by David Besnard driving a Van Diemen RF96.
The title was contested over an eight round series,[3] with two races per round.[4]
| Round | Circuit | State | Date | |
| 1 | Eastern Creek Raceway | New South Wales | 27 January | |
| 2 | Sandown International Motor Raceway | Victoria | 4 February | |
| 3 | Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst | New South Wales | 25 February | |
| 4 | Phillip Island | Victoria | 14 April | |
| 5 | Lakeside International Raceway | Queensland | 12 May | |
| 6 | Wanneroo | Western Australia | 28 May | |
| 7 | Mallala Motor Sport Park | South Australia | 2 June | |
| 8 | Oran Park | New South Wales | 16 June |
Championship points were awarded on a 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis to the first ten finishers in each race.[3]
| Position | Driver | No. | Car | Entrant | Eas | San | Mou | Phi | Lak | Wan | Mal | Ora | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Besnard | 84 | Van Diemen RF96 Ford | David Besnard | 18 | 16 | 28 | 40 | 40 | 20 | 36 | 32 | 230 | |
| 2 | Jason Bargwanna | 10 | Spectrum 05c Ford | Team Arrow | 22 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 30 | 36 | 14 | 20 | 190 | |
| 3 | John Blanchard | 49 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Australian Motor Sport Academy | 3 | 34 | 21 | 8 | 30 | 14 | 18 | 28 | 156 | |
| 4 | Marcos Ambrose | 50 | Swift SC95K Ford | Swift Racing Cars | 11 | 32 | 22 | - | - | 14 | 36 | 1 | 116 | |
| 5 | Iccy Harrington | 5 | Van Diemen RF96 Ford | David Harrington | 23 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 6 | - | 28 | 12 | 103 | |
| 6 | Daniel Orr | 11 11 | Spectrum 05c Ford Van Diemen RF92 Ford | Team Arrow Daniel Orr | - | 18 | 18 | 30 | - | - | 10 | 10 | 86 | |
| 7 | Justin Cotter | 71 & 25 | Swift SC93F Ford | Justin Cotter | - | 4 | 32 | 12 | 14 | 4 | - | 8 | 74 | |
| 8 | Dugal McDougall | 6 | Mygale SR95 Ford | Dugal McDougall | - | - | - | 24 | 18 | 14 | - | 16 | 72 | |
| 9 | Scott Bargwanna | 20 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Scott Bargwanna | - | 16 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 12 | - | 8 | 55 | |
| 10 | Rich Fowler | 86 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | Tradelink Plumbing Supplies | 25 | - | - | 10 | 1 | 10 | - | - | 46 | |
| 11 | Christian Jones | 27 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Australian Motor Sport Academy | - | 1 | 6 | 16 | 12 | 6 | - | 4 | 45 | |
| 12 | Todd Kelly | 19 | Van Diemen RF93 Ford | Todd Kelly | 10 | - | - | - | 1 | 16 | - | 16 | 43 | |
| 13 | Darren Pate | 13 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Australian Motor Sport Academy | - | 5 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 1 | - | 10 | 41 | |
| 14 | Kerry Wade | 61 | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | Kerry Wade | - | - | - | - | - | 18 | 8 | 4 | 30 | |
| 15 | Ashley Cutchie | 9 | Swift SC95K Ford | Swift Racing Cars | - | - | - | 8 | 14 | - | - | - | 22 | |
| 16 | Paul Stephenson | 14 | Van Diemen RF93 Ford | Paul Stephenson | 18 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | |
| 17 | Garth Tander | 96 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Fastlane Racing | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 2 | 6 | 18 | |
| 18 | Brett Burvill | 73 | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | Fastlane Racing | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 14 | - | 15 | |
| 19 | Dean Lindstrom | 31 | Van Diemen RF91 Ford | Dean Lindstrom | - | - | - | 13 | - | - | 1 | - | 14 | |
| 20 | Cameron Partington | 15 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | Reef City Ford | 1 | 4 | 4 | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | 13 | |
| 21 | Garry Gosatti | 22 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | Fastlane Racing | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | 12 | |
| Mark Lowing | 53 | Swift SC93F Ford | Mark Lowing | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 12 | ||
| 23 | Michael Dutton | 26 | Swift SC94F Ford | Stephen Austin | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | |
| 24 | David Clark | 35 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Australian Motor Sport Academy | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | 6 | |
| David Clinton | 81 | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | David Clinton | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | 6 | ||
| 26 | Geoff Foster | 82 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Fastlane Racing | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | 4 | |
| 27 | Cameron Shearer | 48 | Mygale SR95 Ford | Dugal McDougall | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 | |
| 28 | Brendan Richards | 30 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Brendan Richards | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Anderson | 90 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | William Anderson | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | ||
| 30 | Ben Morley | 43 | Reynard 88 Ford | Roadchill Express | 0.5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.5 |