# 1982 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1982 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to racing cars complying with Australian Formula 1. It was the 26th Australian Drivers' Championship. The title winner, Alfredo Costanzo was awarded the 1982 CAMS "Gold Star".

## Schedule

The championship was contested over an eight-round series.
| Round | Name | Circuit | Date | Format | Winner | Car |
| 1 | | Oran Park | 25 April | Two heats | John Smith | Ralt RT4 Ford |
| 2 | | Adelaide International Raceway | 4 July | Two heats | Andrew Miedecke | Ralt RT4/81 Ford |
| 3 | | Wanneroo Park | 11 July | Two heats | John Bowe | Ralt RT4/81 Ford |
| 4 | | Lakeside | 25 July | Two heats | Charlie O'Brien | Ralt RT4/82 Ford |
| 5 | | Calder Raceway | 1 August | Two heats | Alfredo Costanzo | Tiga FA81 Ford |
| 6 | | Sandown Park | 12 September | One race | John Bowe | Ralt RT4/81 Ford |
| 7 | | Winton | 24 October | Two heats | Alfredo Costanzo | Tiga FA81 Ford |
| 8 | National Panasonic Australian Grand Prix | Melbourne International Raceway | 7 November | One race | Alfredo Costanzo* | Tiga FA81 Ford |
* French Formula One driver Alain Prost (Ralt RT4 Ford) won the Australian Grand Prix though he was ineligible for championship points. Alfredo Costanzo was the highest place domestic competitor (5th) thus earning the maximum championship points for the round.

## Points system

Championship points were awarded at each round on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers in round. Points were allotted only to Australian license holders, in their order of finishing, irrespectively of their actual position. The best seven rounds results were counted for each driver.
Where rounds were conducted over more than one heat, points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first 14 places in each heat and then aggregated for each driver to determine the actual round placings. Where more than one driver earned the same number of points the relevant round placing was awarded to the driver who was placed higher in the last heat.

## Championship results

| Position | Driver | No. | Car | Entrant | Ora | Ade | Wan | Lak | Cal | San | Win | Cal | Total |
| 1 | Alfredo Costanzo | 1 | Tiga FA81 Ford | Porsche Cars Australia | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 9 | - | 9 | 9 | 42 |
| 2 | John Bowe | 4 | Ralt RT4/81 Ford | Chris Leach Racing | - | 6 | 9 | - | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 38 |
| 3 | Andrew Miedecke | 2 | Ralt RT4/81 Ford | A Miedecke | - | 9 | - | 4 | - | 6 | - | 6 | 25 |
| 4 | John Smith | 71 | Ralt RT4 Ford & Ralt RT1 Ford | J Smith | 9 | - | - | 6 | - | - | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| 5 | Charlie O'Brien | 3 | Ralt RT4/82 Ford | C O'Brien | - | 4 | 4 | 9 | - | - | - | - | 17 |
| 6 | Richard Davison | 6 | Ralt RT4/81 Ford | Clive Millis Motors Pty Ltd | 6 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| 7 | Robert Handford | 14 | Ralt RT4/82 Ford | R Handford | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Graham Watson | 9 | Ralt RT4 Ford | Graham Watson Motor Racing P/L | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | 6 |
| = | Bruce Allison | 27 | Ralt RT4 Ford | | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | - | - | 6 |
| = | Alan Jones | 27 | Ralt RT4 Ford | Alan Jones Racing | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | 6 |
| 11 | Phillip Revell | 64 | Ralt RT4/81 Ford | Aub Revell | - | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | Paul Radisich | 25 | Ralt RT4 Ford | P Radisich | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | 4 |
| 13 | Bob Creasy | 16 | Ralt RT4 Ford | B Creasy | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| = | Chris Hocking | 74 | Cheetah Mk8 Ford | C Hocking | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 3 |
| 15 | Doug Macarthur | 12 | Ralt RT4 Ford | D M Macarthur | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| = | Willie Stobard | 23 | Ralt RT4 Ford | W Stobard | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| 17 | Russell Norden | | Ralt RT4/82 Ford | | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| = | Peter Williamson | 7 | Toleman TA860 Toyota | National Panasonic (Aust.) P/L | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| = | Graham Brown | 77 | March 81A/82A Ford | | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Note: At the Australian Grand Prix, fifth placed Alfredo Costanzo was the highest placed driver eligible for the championship and thus was awarded the maximum championship points for the round.

## Championship name

The conditions for the 1982 championship were published by CAMS under the name "Australian Formula 1 Championship". Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83 uses both "Australian Drivers Championship" and "Australian Formula One Championship" in its review of the series. CAMS uses "Australian Drivers' Championship" in its historical records and that has been followed here.