FP No. Driver Entrant Chassis Engine Class Time Best Lap Grid Qual. Time Reason Chassis Points Total Points Total
1964 Gold Star Round 1 XXIX Australian Grand Prix Sandown 63 laps (124 miles) February 9th 1964.                  
1 1 Jack Brabham Ecurie Vitesse Brabham BT7A Climax FPF ANF1 75:19.2 01:09.5 1 01:09.6   IC-2-63        
2 6 Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 75:31.1   7 01:11.1   IC-3-62 9   9  
3 5 John Youl John Youl Cooper T55 Climax FPF ANF1 75:34.1   9 01:11.5   F1/10/61 6   6  
4 8 Timmy Mayer Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF ANF1 76:06.5   5 01:10.7   FL/1/64        
5 2 Denis Hulme Ecurie Vitesse Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 60 laps   4 01:10.4   IC-2-62        
6 12 Jim Palmer George Palmer Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 60 laps   11 01:14.1   F2/13/58        
7 17 Arnold Glass Capitol Motors Lotus 27 Ford TC ANF1.5 57 laps   16 01:16.3   27-FM-24 4   4  
8 14 Tony Shelly Shelly Motors Ltd. Lola Mk4A Climax FPF ANF1 57 laps   10 01:13.3   BRGP-44a        
9 26 David Walker David Walker Brabham BT2 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 54 laps   17 01:16.5   FJ-12-62 3   3  
10 21 Frank Gardner Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT6 Ford TC ANF1.5 53 laps   14 01:14.8 Gearbox FJ-9-63        
DNF 9 Bill Patterson    Doug Whiteford Bill Patterson Motors Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 42 laps   8 01:11.3 Accident F1/5/61        
DNF 7 Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF ANF1 37 laps 01:09.5 2 01:09.7 Engine FL/2/64        
DNF 10 Doug Whiteford Bill Patterson Motors Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.2 ANF1 36 laps   12 01:14.2 Engine F2/2/57        
DNF 4 Lex Davison Ecurie Australie Cooper T62 Climax FPF ANF1 29 laps   6 01:11.0 Piston CTA/BM/2        
DNF 22 David Fletcher David Fletcher Lola Mk5 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 29 laps   23 01:19.4 Accident BRJ51        
DNF 24 Mel McEwin Mel McEwin Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 24 laps   21 01:17.7 Gearbox 623        
DNF 18 Keith Rilstone K. Rilstone Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 5 laps   18 01:16.5 Electrics 6317        
DNF 11 Frank Matich Team Total Brabham BT7A Climax FPF ANF1 4 laps   3 01:10.1 Differential IC-1-63        
DNF 16 Charlie Smith Charlie Smith Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 2 laps   20 01:17.3 Valve 625        
DNF 15 Tony Osborne Tony Osborne Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 2 laps   22 01:17.9 Differential          
DNF 19 Wally Mitchell East Burwood Motors MRD Brabham Ford 1500 ANF1.5     24 01:21.1   FJ1        
DNS 25 Leo Geoghegan Total Team Lotus 27 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     13 01:14.7   27-JM-11        
DNS 20 Glyn Scott Glyn Scott Motors Lotus 27 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     15 01:16.2   27-JM-18        
DNS 23 Jack Hunnam Jack Hunnam Motors Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5     19 01:17.3   6316        
DNA 3 Greg Cusack Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1           IC-1-62        
1964 Gold Star Round 2 IV South Pacific Trophy - Longford 25 laps (110 miles) March 2nd 1964.        
1   Graham Hill Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 60:25.8 02:23.6 2 02:24.3   IC-1-62        
2   Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF ANF1 60:35.1 02:23.3 16 DNP   FL/1/64        
3   Frank Matich Team Total Brabham BT7A Climax FPF ANF1 61:03.3   3 02:24.9   IC-1-63 9 18 9 9
4   Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 61:03.4   4 02:25.2   IC-3-62 6 6 6 15
5   John Youl John Youl Cooper T55 Climax FPF ANF1 61:26.0   6     F1/10/61 4 10 4 10
6   Lex Davison Ecurie Australie Cooper T62 Climax FPF ANF1 61:30.7   5 02:26.0   CTA/BM/2 3 3 3 3
7   Tony Shelly Shelly Motors Ltd. Lola Mk4A Climax FPF ANF1 61:33.1   8 02:27.0   BRGP-44a        
8   Jim Palmer George Palmer Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 61:51.8   9 02:31.6   F2/13/58        
9 8 Frank Gardner Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT6 Ford TC ANF1.5 24 laps 02:33.0 12 02:37.7   FJ-9-63        
10   Greg Cusack Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT6 Ford TC ANF1.5 24 laps   10 02:37.3   FJ-15-63 2 2 2 2
11   Jack Hobden Louise Hobden Cooper T51 Climax FPF ANF1 23 laps   14 02:48.7   F2/9/60 1 1 1 1
12   Mel McEwin Mel McEwin Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 23 laps   17 DNP   623        
13   Arnold Glass Capitol Motors Lotus 27 Ford TC ANF1.5 18 laps   11 02:37.7   27-FM-24       4
14   Bill Patterson Bill Patterson Motors Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 13 laps   7 02:26.5   F1/5/61        
DNF   Jack Brabham Ecurie Vitesse Brabham BT7A Climax FPF ANF1 21 laps   1 02:24.2 Differential IC-2-63        
DNF   Tony Osborne Tony Osborne Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 6 laps   13 02:46.2   (F2/8/60)        
DNS   David Walker David Walker Brabham BT2 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     15 03:00.1   FJ-12-62       3
DNS 11 Timmy Mayer Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF ANF1         Fatal accident FL-2-64        
1964 Gold Star Round 3 Governor's Trophy - Lakeside 50 laps (75 miles). September 13th 1964. Standing Record 0:58.7 Jack Brabham.        
1 6 Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 51:02.5 00:59.3 3 00:59.0   IC-3-62 9 27 9 24
2   Greg Cusack Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT6 Ford TC ANF1.5 51:09.3 00:58.8 5 00:59.3   FJ-15-63     6 8
3   Kerry Grant Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 51:39.4 01:00.3 6 01:00.7   IC-1-62        
4   Arnold Glass Capitol Motors Lotus 27 Ford TC ANF1.5 49 laps 01:01.0 9 01:03.0   27-FM-24     4 8
5   Barry Collerson Hunter & Delbridge Brabham BT2 Ford 1100 ANF2 46 laps   11 01:07.0   FJ-8-62     3 3
6   Glyn Scott Glyn Scott Motors Lotus 27 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 46 laps 01:01.1 7 01:01.0   27-JM-18     2 2
DNF   John Youl John Youl Cooper T55 Climax FPF ANF1 30 laps   2 00:58.0 Bearing F1/10/61       10
DNF   Lex Davison Ecurie Australie Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 25 laps 00:58.7 4 00:59.3 Accident IC-2-62       3
DNF   Noel Hall Noel Hall Rennmax Climax FPF ANF1 24 laps   10 01:04.5 Accident  'Hall'        
DNF   David Walker David Walker Brabham BT2 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 10 laps   8 01:01.8 Oil pressure FJ-12-62       3
DNF   Frank Matich Team Total Brabham BT7A Climax FPF ANF1 9 laps 00:57.7 1 00:56.4 Oil line IC-1-63       9
1964 Gold Star Round 4 Mallala 45 laps (71.8 miles) October 12th 1964.        
1 4 Lex Davison Ecurie Australie Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 60:08.9 01:18.9       IC-2-62 9   9 12
2 6 Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 60:09.5 01:18.9       IC-3-62     6 30
3 2 Garrie Cooper Elfin Sports Cars Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 42 laps 01:25.1       M6441     4 4
4 3 Bill Pile W.M. Pile Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 42 laps 01:25.9       M6442     3 3
5 21 Andy Brown Autocourse Elfin Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 41 laps 01:25.1       61P1     2 2
6 22 Granton Harrison Granton Harrison Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford TC ANF1.5 41 laps 01:25.4       M6445     1 1
7 84 Jimmy Orr Jimmy Orr Austin 7 Special Austin ANF2 40 laps 01:26.8                
8 25 Noel Potts Noel Potts Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 39 laps 01:26.1       627        
9 14 Dud Dansie Dud Dansie BBM 2 Mercedes 220 ANF1 35 laps 01:26.5                
DNF 29 Greg Cusack Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT6 Ford TC ANF1.5 30 laps 01:22.7     Half shaft FJ-15-63       8
DNF 74 Tony Osborne Tony Osborne Cooper T53 Climax FPF ANF1 14 laps 01:24.0       (F2/8/60)        
DNF 19 Wally Mitchell East Burwood Motors MRD Brabham Ford 1500 ANF1.5 10 laps 01:25.2       FJ1        
DNF 1 Geoff Vercoe Don Fraser Cooper T53 BRM 2.5 ANF1 9 laps 01:25.0     Overheating F1/2/61        
DNS   Jack Hunnam Jack Hunnam Motors Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford TC ANF1.5         Engine M6443        
DNA   Mel McEwin Mel McEwin Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5       Car sold 623        
1964 Gold Star Round 5 Hordern Trophy - Warwick Farm 34 laps (75 miles)December 6th 1964. Standing Record 1:37.4 Frank Matich        
1 11 Leo Geoghegan Total Team Lotus 32 Ford TC ANF1.5 57:48.0 01:40.9 2 01:39.4   32-FL-7 9   9 9
2   Greg Cusack Scuderia Veloce Elfin Catalina Ford 1500 ANF1.5 58:16.4   5 01:40.8   6310   6 14
3   Rocky Tresise Ecurie Australie Cooper T62 Climax FPF ANF1 58:51.5   6 01:41.9   CTA/BM/2   4 4
4   Lex Davison Ecurie Australie Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 59:26.7   4 01:40.1   IC-2-62   3 15
5   Arnold Glass Capitol Motors Cooper T55 Climax FPF ANF1 33 laps   14 01:46.2   F1/10/61   2 10
6   Glyn Scott Glyn Scott Motors Lotus 27 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 33 laps   8 01:43.7   27-JM-18   1 3
7   Barry Collerson Hunter & Delbridge Brabham BT2 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     7 01:43.3   FJ-8-62     3
8   Geoff McClelland Geoff McClelland Brabham BT2 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     11 01:45.2   FJ-3-62      
9   Paul Bolton Paul Bolton Rennmax BN1 Hillman Minx ANF1.5     15 01:46.8    'Williamson'      
10 8 Bob Jane Bob Jane Autoland Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     12 01:45.3   M6444      
11   Rick Price Rick Price Lotus 18 Ford 1100 ANF2     19 01:50.7          
12   Doug Kelley Doug Kelley Cooper T41 Climax FWB ANF1.5     17 01:48.2   F2/4/56      
13   Ken Wiggins Ken Wiggins Lotus 20B Ford 1500 ANF1.5     16 01:47.9   20-J-955      
14   Jim Larkin Jim Larkin Lotus 20B Ford 1500 ANF1.5     20 01:54.1   20-J-908      
15   Bob Salter Bob Salter Lotus 22 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     10 01:44.6          
16   Doug Ferris Doug Ferris Lotus 20B Ford 1500 ANF1.5     18 01:48.3   20-J-965      
DNF 2 Frank Matich Total Team Brabham BT7A Climax FPF ANF1 25 laps 01:38.1 1 01:37.8 Valve IC-1-63     9
DNF   Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPF ANF1 15 laps   3 01:39.6 Blown engine IC-3-62     30
DNF   Lionel Ayers Motor Racing Components MRC Lotus 22 Ford 1500 ANF1.5 14 laps   13 01:45.8 Brakes        
DNF   Kurt Keller Kurt Keller Motors Brabham BT6 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     21 02:01.1   FJ-15-63      
DNF   Bill Fairall Bill Fairall Lotus 18 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     22 01:54.5        
DNS   Les Howard Howard & Sons Lotus 27 Ford 1500 ANF1.5     9 01:44.1 Crankshaft 27-JM-11      
Bib Stillwell   31 30
Lex Davison   25 15
Greg Cusack   25 14
John Youl         10
Arnold Glass   25 10
Frank Matich   25 9
Leo Geoghegan   25 9
Garrie Cooper   25 4
Rocky Tresise   25 4
David Walker   25 3
Bill Pile   25 3
Glyn Scott   25 3
Barry Collerson   25 3
Andy Brown   25 2
Jack Hobden   25 1
Granton Harrison   25 1
Source Elfin chassis numbers - Brian Lear, Elfin Register
Primary source other chassis numbers - OldRacingCars.com
Secondary source other chassis numbers - The Chassis History Archive - 10 Tenths Motorsport
Rnds1&2 Primary source - Tasman-Series.com
Rnd3 Primary source - Racing Car News October 1964
Secondary source - Sports Car World November 1964
Rnd4 Primary source - Racing Car News November 1964
Secondary source - Sports Car World December 1964
Rnd5 Primary source - Racing Car News January 1965
1964 saw the start of the Tasman Championship Series incorporating four races in New Zealand on successive weekends, followed by a weeks break and then the same format in Australia. The Australian Grand Prix and the South Pacific Championship at Longford also doubled as the first two rounds of the CAMS Gold Star. As it was for Australia's Champion Driver, only those that were driving on an Australian competition licence were eligible for points. These races are well covered at Tasman-Series.com, so will be reported in here from the Gold Star perspective.
                                 
Round 1, Australian Grand Prix at Sandown International Raceway.
      The Sandown promoters insisted on, and were granted, the first weekend in Australia to conduct the Australian Grand Prix. This was to prove of no consequence to those chasing the Gold Star, but proved to be detrimental to the structure of the Tasman Series, with the Lakeside round in particular suffering.
The best qualifiers of the Gold Star competitors was Frank Matich on the outside of the first row with a 1:10.1, compared to polesitter Brabham's 1:09.6. It was a very strong showing against the internationals, and something we would come to expect from Matich. Next was the complete third row of Melbournites Davison, Stillwell and Patterson with John Youl from Tasmania next in eighth. There followed Doug Whiteford in twelfth and coming out of retirement to drive Bill Patterson's second car, followed by Frank Gardner in a one and a half litre twin-cam Brabham.
The rest of the field was made up of 1.5 litre cars with the exception of Tony Osborne back in position 22 in a T53 Cooper. Those that didn't greet the starter were Geoghegan, Scott and Hunnam, all in 1500 cars.
As the field launched from the start into Shell, Lex Davison had made a blistering start to be fourth inside Brabham, and tried to go inside Matich where there wasn't quite enough room. As he spun at the apex, it was only luck and brilliant driving by those around him that left him unscathed and able to resume. By now the standings were Matich in second, Stillwell and Patterson fifth and sixth.
Into Shell for the second time and Brabham outbraked Matich to put him back to third. Unfortunately this was short lived, as on lap 5 his differential packed it in. Stillwell had now moved up to fourth, Patterson being displaced by Hulme in sixth from Youl. By lap 10 Davison had threaded his way through the field up to seventh followed by Whiteford with Gardner using the most of the twin cam to be tenth and heading the 1.5 litre cars.
With the race half over, Bill Patterson fell ill and brought his Cooper into the pits. A couple of laps later, his second string car came in with a blown motor, and Whiteford raised a few eyebrows by merely jumping out of his mount and into Patterson's idle car. This bold tactical move was not to prove fruitful though, as the combination came to grief against the fence at Shell.
It was about this time, on the 38th lap when McLaren's engine blew into Peter's Corner after being displaced from the lead by Brabham. This left Stillwell in second, although trying to hold Mayer at bay, who soon succumbed to fuel pressure issues which ended up dropping him behind Youl. Frank Gardner had total domination in the 1500cc class, and by lap 40 he was a lap ahead of the others. Unfortunately, a little over 10 minutes from the finish he was to suffer transmission failure as he passed the grandstand.
In the final standings, Stillwell finished second behind Brabham followed by Youl. Glass and Walker finished 7th and 9th with Walker being the last to actually finish, although Gardner was credited with 10th.
Round 2, South Pacific Championship at Longford.
The Gold Star spotlight then moved to Longford in Tasmania for the long weekend in March. The main contenders had generally kept their eye in by pitting themselves against the internationals at Warwick Farm and Lakeside, although Stillwell didn't race, no doubt discouraged by the mad scramble after the race to get back down to Melbourne for the mid-week ferry to Tasmania.
First practice left everyone uneasy, as McLaren's team mate the American Tim Mayer crashed fatally at Longford Corner, outside the pub. McLaren then took no further part in proceedings until the Championship race on the Monday.
Grid positions for the main race were taken from two 50 mile heats on the Saturday. Frank Matich again ended up on the outside of the front row, then came Stillwell, Davison, Youl and Patterson. In tenth was Cusack followed by Glass and Gardner, their twin cam engines showing their superiority, followed by a couple of older 2.5 Coopers, McLaren and the pushrod 1500s.
When the flag dropped the front row surged away in grid order and by the end of lap 3, Matich in third had a 3 second lead over Stillwell. McLaren was already up to fifth from position 16. Patterson broke a half-shaft on the opening lap and spent 10 laps in the pits replacing it. By lap 9 Matich had developed a misfire in the Climax, and the irresistable McLaren was through to push Matich back to fourth. Matich's engine only got worse, but pulling into the pits would be fruitless as a dispute with his pit crew led to them preparing the car and then downing tools. With only 4 laps to go, Matich's break over Stillwell was down to 14 seconds and closing.
There was a dash from Mountford on the last lap, and it was Stillwell going down by a mere tenth from Matich. Bib was followed by Youl and Davison, with Gardner best of the litre and a half brigade followed by Cusack.
Frank Gardner set a new 1.5 litre record of 2:33.0, and Matich had the highest speed through the flying mile of 167mph.
Round 3, Governor's Trophy at Lakeside.
The internationals had headed back to Europe, and it was a 6 month wait until the Gold Star Series resumed and the field had thinned significantly. Of significant note was that Davison had moved from his Cooper into Hulme's Tasman mount, a BT4 Brabham along with New Zealander Kerry Grant who took over Graham Hill's car that he drove for Scuderia Veloce over the summer. Noel Hall turned up for the first Gold Star appearance of a Rennmax.
Lakeside had undergone some development work since the Tasman circus was there in late February and it showed in practice. Matich had jaws dropping with a magnificent 57.2 in first practice, a full second and a half under Brabham's February lap record time. He blew this time into the weeds in the second session, recording a 56.4 to put pole well beyond doubt. Next best was Youl on 58 flat, Stillwell 59, then Davison and the flying Greg Cusack both recording 59.3 This was 1.7 seconds faster than the next quickest 1.5, Glyn Scott in the Lotus 27. Sandwiched between them was the visitor Grant, and following Scott was David Walker in the little Brabham, Glass in his Lotus 27, Hall's Rennmax powered by a 2.2 litre Climax and finally Barry Collerson in the Formula 2 Brabham.
Youl blasted away at the start, leading Matich and Stillwell with the cheeky Cusack behind. Matich noticeably made ground in the straight, but Youl was able to hold him out until heading into the Karrussell to begin the third lap. Davison had in the meantime sorted things out with Cusack to establish the correct pecking order with Grant behind and the two 27s commencing a dice that was to last almost to the flag.
Matich poured on the pressure from the front, recording a new record of 57.7 on the fourth tour. Youl battled on bravely, keeping the Cooper under the minute, and Davison moved himself past the championship leader Stillwell in the straight. Cusack's little Brabham clung on bravely to the bigger cars, lapping around the minute.
On the tenth lap, the pressure that Matich was applying finally told. In a scene that was to be played out all to often when driving his BT7A, Matich proved to be blindingly fast, too fast for his machine. His car erupted into a dramatic pall of smoke as an oil line erupted, spraying the hot exhaust and half the circuit before he retired to the pits.
With the hare gone, the pace eased considerably, Youl lapping a few seconds outside the minute mark. He had a reasonable gap on Davison, with Stillwell a hundred yards away. Cusack was starting to lose contact with the big boys, as the slick track around the back negated the Brabham's nimble handling. Walker's Brabham 1500 by now had also pulled into the pits with no oil pressure, and soon Grant had enough confidence in the track to move past Cusack to set up station behind Stillwell. Slowly the surface regained its composure and the main contenders started lapping under the minute again. Davison had now moved up behind Youl's gearbox, and sensing that all was not well with the Cooper, pressed him hard.
Coming down the straight to the near flat left kink, the leading duo came across Hall's dawdling Rennmax for the second time. Youl passed to the right, and Davison went to follow. The problem was that Hall had waved Davison past on the other side, and moved over to give Davison room. Davison was by now committed to the outside, and threw out the anchors but it was too late. The big red Brabham leaped eight feet into the air over the Rennmax at over 100mph and threatened to take off. It was airborne for over 50 yards and landed perpendicular to the track on a protective earth mound, which it bounced off to come to rest on a secondary mound. Davison launched his shaken frame from the car, only to be knocked to the ground by an enthusiastic steward intent on saving him from an arsenal of liberated wheels and a Rennmax that was still gyrating. Both drivers were unhurt, but their trusty steeds were out of the contest.
Stillwell was now up to the 6 point position, and chose to let Youl set his own pace rather than risk them. With four cars out from the small lineup of eleven it was a wise move. Cusack clung behind Grant who was now third, and the battling Lotus 27s were a further half lap behind. At this point Stillwell's prudence bore fruit, as Youl's Cooper started blowing small clouds of smoke, and on lap 30 he retired with a rear brake line adrift. With that the dramas of the race ended. Almost.
On lap 32 Grant, with Cusack behind, came across an official who was too focussed on the job at hand of pursuing a stray Alsatian that had wandered onto the circuit. The ensuing spins lost him 14 odd seconds, and he was fortunate not to stall the engine.
From there Cusack was able to pick up the pace in second spot, finishing only 6.8 seconds behind Stillwell and a half minute ahead of Grant. Glass came in fourth, finally shaking off Scott when Glyn did a quick spin and stall. Before Scott could re-start, Collerson had taken the little 1100 Brabham past.
Stillwell had now amassed an almost unbeatable swag of points, all of the other 2.5 litre threats fell by the wayside when leading him.
Round 4 at Mallala.
Four weeks later, and the entourage had moved to Mallala in South Australia. Here the full 2 and a half litre cars were thin on the ground, with only Lex Davison and Bib Stillwell in the BT4s, Geoff Vercoe in Don Fraser's BRM powered Cooper and Dud Dansie in the Mercedes powered, rear engined BBM 2. The rest of the field was made up of Cusack's TC Brabham, and an armada of Elfins on their home turf, most of them the newly released Elfin 100, commonly known as the Mono.
Unfortunately, after practice their number had decreased by two. Hunnam's new Mono ran into engine troubles, and Mel McEwin had disposed of his Catalina to Ian Fergusson and was awaiting a new twin cam Mono which would arrive in December.
When the national flag dropped for the remaining nine, Stillwell led away with Lex in pursuit. Cusack was next, but was not going to be the threat here that he was at Lakeside. Then followed Vercoe and a clutch of Elfins. Vercoe was not to last, retiring after 3 laps with overheating, while at the same time Davison moved past Stillwell to get the stoush started.
By the end of lap 16, Stillwell had regained the lead, but Davison hung on like a bull terrier hassling him for the next 7 laps before shooting past. Shortly after the leaders lapped Cusack, who was himself over a lap ahead of the next drivers, Pile and Cooper. But it wasn't for long, as Cusack had the rare occurence of mechanical failure when a halfshaft let go.
Davison reached the flag by four tenths from Stillwell, whose Gold Star was secure once again. Cooper came in third, ahead of Pile in another Mono and Andy Brown.
Round 5 Hordern Trophy at Warwick Farm.
At last a good sized field of 22 turned out for the Hordern Trophy, five of which were 2.5s with Davison's protege Rocky Tresise in Lex's T62 Cooper from the previous Tasman Series and Arnold Glass back in his Cooper Climax. Cusack had sold his BT6 to Kurt Keller, who lined up on the back of the grid, so he was left to his old drum-braked Catalina with a 1500 installed. The biggest surprise though was Leo Geoghegan in his new twin cam Lotus 32, as was to be seen from first practice.
Practice was characterised by strong cross-winds and scorching temperatures, and Matich got pole with a 1:37.8, 1.6secs outside his lap record. Stillwell nailed a 1:39.6 for the outside of the front row, Lex a 1:40.1 for the inside of the second row beside Cusack's 1:40.8 The big shock though, was Geoghegan putting the 1500 Lotus in the middle of the front row with an amazing 1:37.4 Rocky was in sixth grid slot, followed by a gaggle of 1.5s, most of them with Lotus badges, and Glass' Cooper well back. Bob Jane was over from Melbourne to give his new Mono a run.
Matich led from the start, but there was nothing between he and Stillwell heading down Hume Straight the first time. From Creek Corner is where Matich really shines, and he held a decisive lead at the end of lap 1. Davison was back a similar distance, closely followed by the leader of the 1.5 class in Geoghegan.
By lap 4, Stillwell was equidistantly positioned between Matich in the lead and Davison in third with 75 yards to each. Geoghegan was a longer gap back from Lex, followed by Cusack, Tresise, Scott, McClelland, Collerson and Jane who was looking decidedly cramped in his new Mono. Come lap 10 and Matich had extended his lead to 7 seconds, despite slowing to mid-39s lap times. The distance had stretched back to Davison at the same rate, but Geoghegan was now making a move and nearing the red Brabham. From there is was a long gap to Tresise's Cooper, and some 23 seconds to the rest.
Up until now most seemed untroubled although Salter and Ayers had both come in for brake system checks, with Ayers having to return to the pits losing 3 laps in the process. This reliability was about to change though as on his 16th run down Hume Straight, Stillwell experienced a disintegrating piston, with the now non-connecting rod violently ventilating the block and almost bisecting it. This left Matich well out on his own, with an 18 second break to Davison even though he had slowed to the 1:42 region. Geoghegan was by now regaining some ground lost to Davison and was 18 seconds clear of Tresise who had 41 seconds to Glass, followed by Collerson, Scott, Bolton and Jane.
What happened next was a cruel twist of fate for Davison, who had never acheived the same level of success since begrudgingly and belatedly forsaking his "real racing cars" for one of the rear-engined "mechanical mice". Conscious of the lack of reliability which had hampered his campaign, he pitted for water when the temperature gauge rose alarmingly. A full lap was lost before the fault had been traced to a faulty gauge. He joined just behind Geoghegan, who was now a full lap ahead and in second place. Fate then twisted the knife in Davison when Matich's crew were shocked to see steam gushing from the blue Brabham's exhaust, and once again Matich was out, having led the field a merry dance. It turns out that a small stone had been ingested, and bent a valve.
Geoghegan was now 23 seconds ahead of Cusack's pushrod Elfin with Tresise in third ahead of his mentor. Then followed Glass, Collerson, Scott, McClelland, Bolton, Jane (after spinning at the Causeway), Price and Kelley. Geoghegan was now irrepressible, taking the flag from Cusack in a 1500 quinella by some 28 seconds, then Tresise and Davison both on the lead lap. How the script could have been different for poor Lex if not for that faulty gauge.
                                 
In the end Stillwell won the championship with consistency and reliability, and Matich lost it by a similar amount of unreliability. Davison too had some bad luck, but in the end Stillwell's application and meticulous preparation held him in good stead. The strong showing of the twin cam cars, particularly at the tighter tracks, was showing a potential threat to the venerable Climax FPF.