1971 Australian Drivers' Championship
The 1971 Australian Drivers’ Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Australian Formula 1 and Australian Formula 2 racing cars. It was the fifteenth Australian Drivers' Championship and the first to feature cars complying with a new for 1971 Australian Formula 1 which permitted cars with production based V8 engines of up to 5 litre capacity or racing engines of up to eight cylinders and up to 2 litre capacity. The championship winner was awarded the 1971 CAMS Gold Star and the title of Australian Champion Driver.
The championship was won by Max Stewart from Kevin Bartlett, Alan Hamilton and John McCormack, with only two points separating first from fourth after the final race.
Calendar
The championship was contested over a six race series. Races were staged concurrently with those of the 1971 Australian Formula 2 Championship| Race | Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Car |
| 1 | Governor's Trophy | Lakeside | 6 June | Kevin Bartlett | McLaren M10B Chevrolet |
| 2 | Angus & Coote Diamond Trophy | Oran Park Raceway | 27 June | Max Stewart | Mildren Waggott |
| 3 | Glynn Scott Memorial Trophy | Surfers Paradise International Raceway | 29 August | Frank Matich | McLaren M10B Repco Holden |
| 4 | Victoria Trophy | Sandown | 12 September | Kevin Bartlett | McLaren M10B Chevrolet |
| 5 | Examiner 1000 | Symmons Plains | 25 September | Tony Stewart | Elfin 600B England |
| 6 | Rothmans Trophy | Mallala Race Circuit | 11 October | John McCormack | Elfin MR5 Repco Holden |
Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each race. Each driver could retain points only from his/her best five race results. Only holders of a General Competition License issued by CAMS were eligible to compete for the title.Championship standings
| Position | Driver | Car | Entrant | Lak | Ora | Sur | San | Sym | Mal | Total |
| 1 | Max Stewart | Mildren Waggott | Alec Mildren Racing Max Stewart Motors | 6 | 9 | 3 | - | 1 | 4 | 23 |
| 2 | Kevin Bartlett | McLaren M10B Chevrolet | Kevin Bartlett Shell Racing | 9 | - | 4 | 9 | - | - | 22 |
| = | Alan Hamilton | McLaren M10B Chevrolet | Porsche Distributors Racing | 4 | 6 | 6 | - | - | 6 | 22 |
| 4 | John McCormack | Elfin MR5 Repco Holden | Elfin Sports Cars | - | - | - | 6 | 6 | 9 | 21 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | Elfin 600B England Ford | Paul England Pty Ltd | 3 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 1 | 16 |
| 6 | Henk Woelders | Elfin 600C Waggott | Bill Patterson Racing | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | - | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Warwick Brown | McLaren M4A Cosworth | Pat Burke Racing | - | - | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | 10 |
| 8 | Frank Matich | McLaren M10B Repco Holden | Rothmans Team Matich | - | - | 9 | - | - | - | 9 |
| 9 | Jack Bono | Elfin 600B Ford | Graham Collier | - | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | - | 6 |
| 10 | Garrie Cooper | Elfin 600B Lotus | Elfin Sports Cars | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 3 |
| = | Colin Hyams | Lola T192 Chevrolet | Colin Hyams | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | Ivan Tighe | Elfin 600B Ford | Ivan Tighe | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| 13 | John Walker | Elfin 600C Ford | City State Racing Team | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| = | John Ampt | Elfin Mono IIB Ford | John Ampt | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
New Zealander Graeme Lawrence placed second at Oran Park, but not being an Australian resident he did not qualify for championship points.