# 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship was an Australian motor racing competition open to racing cars complying with CAMS Formula Holden regulations. The championship winner was awarded the 1989 CAMS Gold Star as the Australian Drivers' Champion. It was the 33rd running of the Australian Drivers' Championship and the first to feature the Formula Holden class which had been developed during 1988, originally named Formula Australia.
The championship began on 7 May 1989 at Mallala Motor Sport Park and ended on 10 September at Sandown Raceway after ten rounds. Defending champion Rohan Onslow of Sydney won his second consecutive Australian Drivers' Championship driving a Ralt RT20. Mark McLaughlin placed second in his Elfin FA891 with Channel 7 television commentator Neil Crompton finishing third in his debut year in open wheel racing driving a Ralt RT20.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship.
| Team | Car | No | Driver |
| R.J.Macarthur Onslow | Ralt RT20 | 1 | Rohan Onslow |
| Tony Blanche | Ralt RT21 | 3 | Tony Blanche |
| Competitive Edge | Ralt RT20 | 4 | Roger Martin |
| Clive Kane Photography | Ralt RT21 | 5 | Simon Kane |
| Elfin Sports Cars | Elfin FA891 | 6 | Mark McLaughlin |
| Boylan Racing | Ralt RT20 | 7 | Neil Crompton |
| Bap Romano | Spa FB001 | 8 | Bap Romano |
| Cascone Corporation | Spa FB001 | 8 12 | Sam Astuti |
| John Briggs | Ralt RT21 | 9 | John Briggs |
| Ray Cutchie | Ralt RT4 | 11 | Ray Cutchie |
| Brian Shead | Cheetah Mk.9 | 13 | Peter Glover |
| TAFE Team Motorsport | Shrike NB89H | 18 | Arthur Abrahams Ian Richards |
| TAFE Team Motorsport | Shrike NB89H | 20 | Peter Doulman Mark Poole |
| David Mawer | Ralt RT21 | 27 | Elwyn Bickley John Smith |
| Brett Fisher | Liston BF3 | 50 | Brett Fisher |
| Chris Hocking | 87B | 74 | Chris Hocking Rohan Onslow |
| John Hermann | Ralt RT4 | 88 | John Herrman |
Note: All cars were required by the Formula Holden regulations to be fitted with 3.8 litre Holden V6 engines.

## Race calendar

The 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over ten rounds at five race meetings.
| Rd. | Circuit | Location / state | Date | Winner | Team |
| 1 | Mallala Motor Sport Park | Mallala, South Australia | 7 May | Mark McLaughlin | Elfin Sports Cars |
| 2 | Mallala Motor Sport Park | Mallala, South Australia | 7 May | Rohan Onslow | R.J.Macarthur Onslow |
| 3 | Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla, Victoria | 4 June | Rohan Onslow | R.J.Macarthur Onslow |
| 4 | Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla, Victoria | 4 June | John Briggs | John Briggs |
| 5 | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 9 July | Rohan Onslow | R.J.Macarthur Onslow |
| 6 | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 9 July | Rohan Onslow | R.J.Macarthur Onslow |
| 7 | Amaroo Park | Sydney, New South Wales | 6 August | Neil Crompton | Boylan Racing |
| 8 | Amaroo Park | Sydney, New South Wales | 6 August | Simon Kane | Clive Kane Photography |
| 9 | Sandown International Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 10 September | Sam Astuti | Cascone Corporation |
| 10 | Sandown International Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 10 September | Neil Crompton | Boylan Racing |

## Points system

Championship points were awarded 9–6–4–3–2–1 based on the top six race positions at each round.

## Results

| Pos | Driver | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 8 | Rd 9 | Rd 10 | Pts |
| 1 | Rohan Onslow | 5th | 1st | 1st | Ret | 1st | 1st | Ret | 6th | 2nd | 3rd | 49 |
| 2 | Mark McLaughlin | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | DNS | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | Ret | Ret | 41 |
| 3 | Neil Crompton | 3rd | 5th | Ret | 3rd | 2nd | 6th | 1st | DNS | 3rd | 1st | 39 |
| 4 | Sam Astuti | | | Ret | DNS | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 31 |
| 5 | Simon Kane | DNS | DNS | 4th | 4th | 7th | 2nd | 5th | 1st | Ret | DNS | 23 |
| 5 | John Briggs | 4th | 6th | 3rd | 1st | Ret | 8th | | | 4th | 4th | 23 |
| 7 | Peter Glover | 2nd | 3rd | 6th | DNS | | | | | | | 11 |
| 8 | Chris Hocking | | | 5th | 5th | 6th | 5th | 7th | DNS | 5th | DNS | 9 |
| 9 | Peter Doulman | 9th | Ret | | | | | 6th | 4th | 6th | 5th | 7 |
| 10 | Mark Poole | | | | | 3rd | Ret | | | | | 4 |
| 11 | Bap Romano | Ret | 4th | | | | | | | | | 3 |
| 11 | John Smith | | | | | | | 4th | DNS | | | 3 |
| 11 | Tony Blanche | Ret | DNS | Ret | Ret | 8th | 7th | 8th | 5th | DNS | 6th | 3 |
| 14 | Ian Richards | | | | | 5th | Ret | | | 8th | Ret | 2 |
| 15 | Ray Cutchie | 7th | 8th | 7th | 6th | | | | | 7th | Ret | 1 |
| 15 | Brett Fisher | 6th | 9th | | | Ret | Ret | | | | | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 8 | Rd 9 | Rd 10 | Pts |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |