1981 Australian Grand Prix


The 1981 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Pacific motor race held at Calder Park Raceway in Victoria, Australia on 8 November 1981.
It was the forty sixth Australian Grand Prix and the first to be restricted to Formula Pacific racing cars. It was the first AGP since 1968 to feature two or more current or past World Drivers' Champions with reigning 1981 World Champion Nelson Piquet of Brazil and Australia's 1980 World Champion Alan Jones both in the field.
The race was won by 22-year-old Roberto Moreno by over a lap from Nelson Piquet with Australian Geoff Brabham finishing third. The top three drivers all drove Ralt RT4's. To actually be able to compete in the Grand Prix Moreno needed five endorsements before the race to be able to obtain his FIA Super Licence, the first endorsement coming from Calder Park Clerk of Course Ken Smith.
Defending race winner Alan Jones failed to finish after transmission failure in his RT4 six laps from the finish while in second place. The first resident Australian driver home was another ex-Formula One driver and future touring car star Larry Perkins who finished fourth, one lap behind Moreno.

Classification

Results as follows:

Qualifying

Race

PosNo.DriverCarEntrantLapsTime
119 Roberto MorenoRalt RT4 FordGraham Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd1001h 07m 39.2s
29 Nelson PiquetRalt RT4 FordGraham Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd99
312 Geoff BrabhamRalt RT4 FordG Brabham99
43 Larry PerkinsRalt RT4 FordL Perkins99
55 Andrew MiedeckeRalt RT4 FordAW Miedecke99
618 David OxtonRalt RT4 FordOxton Motors98
76 Ray MallockRalt RT4 FordCliff Smith Racing98
862 Bruce AllisonRalt RT4 FordB Allison98
92 Charlie O'BrienRalt RT4 FordCitizen Watches Australia98
1084 Alfredo CostanzoTiga FA81 FordPorsche Cars Australia97
1183 Peter LarnerKaditcha FordPaul England97
1271 John SmithRalt RT4 FordOSCL96
1311 Ron BarnacleRalt RT1 FordNissalco Garage Equipment90
1448 Ray HangarMarch 77B FordR Hanger87
Ret27 Alan JonesRalt RT4 FordTheodore Racing93transmission
Ret26 Jacques LaffiteRalt RT4 FordJ Laffite43oil line
Ret7 Peter WilliamsonToleman TA860 ToyotaToyota Dealer Team40accident
Ret4 John BoweRalt RT4 FordChris Leach Racing15water pump belt
Ret16 Lucio CesarioRalt RT3 Volkswagen GolfFormula One Automotive10broken valve spring
Ret36 Bob CreasyBirrana 273 FordR Creasy6spin
DNS77 Mike QuinnGalloway HG1 FordPeter Williamson Pty Ltdgearbox input shaft