1971 Australian Grand Prix
The 1971 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Warwick Farm Raceway in New South Wales, Australia on 21 November 1971. It was open to Racing Cars complying with either Australian Formula 1 or Australian Formula 2 regulations.
The race was the thirty sixth running of the Australian Grand Prix. Frank Matich won his second straight AGP and, as in 1970, he started the race on pole and also set the fastest race lap. The race marked the debut of Matich's self designed and built Matich A50 which was powered by a Repco Holden V8 engine. Matich won the race by 58.7 seconds from Kevin Bartlett driving a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet, with Alan Hamilton, also driving McLaren M10B-Chevrolet, 1.1 seconds behind Bartlett in third place.
Other than two New Zealanders, the only international driver in the event was Formula One World Drivers' Champion John Surtees. The Englishman started ninth in his Surtees TS8-Chevrolet, and battled with Bartlett, Hamilton, and, until his retirement, Colin Bond in the McLaren M10B in which Matich had won the 1970 Australian Grand Prix. Surtees ultimately placed 14th after suffering two punctures late in the race. 1971 Rothmans F5000 European Championship winner Frank Gardner was unable to start the race after damaging his Lola T300 in the first practice session on the Saturday.
Classification
Results as follows:Official practice
Grid positions for the race were determined during "official practice".Pos | No | Driver | Car/Engine | Time | Gap |
1 | 1 | Frank Matich | Matich A50 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8 | 1:24.3 | — |
2 | 8 | Bob Muir | Mildren Mono / Waggott TC 4V 2.0L I4 | 1:25.4 | +0.9 |
3 | 7 | John Harvey | Brabham BT36 / Waggott TC 4V 2.0L I4 | 1:25.6 | +1.3 |
4 | 6 | Max Stewart | Mildren / Waggott TC 4V 2.0L I4 | 1:25.8 | +1.5 |
5 | 14 | Graeme Lawrence | Brabham BT30 / Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 | 1:26.0 | +1.7 |
6 | 9 | Alan Hamilton | McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | 1:26.3 | +2.0 |
7 | 2 | Colin Bond | McLaren M10B / Repco Holden 5.0L V8 | 1:26.4 | +2.1 |
8 | 5 | Kevin Bartlett | McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | 1:26.8 | +2.5 |
9 | 3 | John Surtees | Surtees TS8 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | 1:27.2 | +2.9 |
10 | 11 | John McCormack | Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8 | 1:27.6 | +3.3 |
11 | 12 | Warwick Brown | McLaren M4A / Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4 | 1:29.3 | +5.0 |
12 | 26 | Jack Bono | Elfin 600B / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:29.7 | +5.4 |
13 | 15 | Don O'Sullivan | McLaren M18 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8 | 1:29.7 | +5.4 |
14 | 17 | Gary Campbell | Elfin 600B / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:30.1 | +5.8 |
15 | 20 | Alfredo Costanzo | Elfin AC1 / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:30.1 | +5.8 |
16 | 16 | Henk Woelders | Elfin 600C / Waggott T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:31.2 | +6.9 |
17 | 10 | Colin Hyams | Lola T192 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | 1:31.4 | +7.1 |
18 | 19 | Terry Quartly | Lotus 32B / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:31.8 | +7.5 |
19 | 25 | Ian Fergusson | Bowin P3A / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:33.0 | +8.7 |
20 | 21 | Ian Cook | Devione LC2 / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:33.8 | +9.5 |
21 | 24 | Ross Ambrose | Elfin 600B / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:34.2 | +9.9 |
22 | 18 | Clive Mills | Elfin 600B / Ford T/C 1.6L I4 | 1:34.8 | +10.5 |
23 | 23 | Chris Farrell | Brabham BT6 / BRM Ford T/C 1.6L 4cyl | DNP | |
- | 4 | Frank Gardner | Lola T300 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | DNP | - |
Race
- indicates Australian Formula 2 car