2004 Australian Drivers' Championship

2004 Australian Drivers' Championship

Company type	National motor racing series
Industry	Motorsport
Founded	2004
Area served	Australia
Key people	Neil McFadyen (series controller and driver)
Products	Formula 4000 racing competition

The 2004 Australian Drivers' Championship represented a national motor racing series in Australia, featuring Formula 4000 vehicles. Marking the 48th iteration of this competition, it was also the last to include Formula Holden / Formula Brabham / Formula 4000 cars. The champion received the prestigious 2004 CAMS Gold Star award, while the leading driver within the limited "Silver Star" category earned the Silver Star Trophy.

Known commercially as the 2004 Holden Australian Drivers' Championship, the series was largely controlled by Neil McFadyen, who had previously claimed the Australian Formula Ford Championship. McFadyen achieved six victories and secured second place in both races at Winton Motor Raceway, finishing behind ex-International Formula 3000 competitor Rob Nguyen. Ty Hanger secured second overall through steady podium finishes despite not winning any race, with Nguyen completing the top three standings.

Calendar

The championship consisted of four rounds, each comprising two races.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1	R1	Template:Country data South AustraliaTemplate:Namespace detect showall Mallala Motor Sport Park (Mallala, South Australia)	9 May	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Ralt Australia
	R2				Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Ralt Australia
2	R1	Template:Country data VictoriaTemplate:Namespace detect showall Winton Motor Raceway (Benalla, Victoria)	6 June	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Hocking Motorsport
	R2				Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Hocking Motorsport
3	R1	Template:Country data New South WalesTemplate:Namespace detect showall Oran Park Raceway (Sydney, New South Wales)	27 June	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Ralt Australia
	R2				Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Ralt Australia
4	R1	Template:Country data New South WalesTemplate:Namespace detect showall Eastern Creek International Raceway (Sydney, New South Wales)	1 August	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Ralt Australia
	R2				Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Rob Nguyen	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neil McFadyen	Ralt Australia

For award purposes, round winners were determined by the total championship points accumulated during that round.

Points system

Championship points for the Gold Star were allocated on a descending scale of 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 to the leading ten finishers overall in each race. Similarly, Silver Star points were distributed using the same 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 system to the top ten drivers within the Silver Star division.

Standings

Chris Farrell 35 Reynard92D Holden Hanger Racing - - 3 - - - - - 3

Rank	Competitor	Number	Vehicle	Team	Mallala		Winton		Oran Park		Eastern Creek		Aggregate
					Race 1	Race 2	Race 1	Race 2	Race 1	Race 2	Race 1	Race 2
GOLD STAR
1	Neil McFadyen	11	Reynard 96D Holden	Ralt Australia	20	20	15	15	20	20	20	20	150
2	Ty Hanger	48	Reynard 95D Holden	Hanger Racing	10	12	12	12	15	15	15	15	106
3	Rob Nguyen	74	Reynard 97D Holden	Hocking Motorsport	-	-	20	20	6	12	12	12	82
4	Ian Peters	24	Reynard 91D Holden	Peters Racing	6	8	8	8	4	8	4	10	56
5	Terry Clearihan	27	Reynard 92D Holden	NNS Racing	-	3	10	10	10	10	10	-	53
6	Paul Trengove	12	Reynard 94D Holden	Ralt Australia	15	15	-	-	12	-	-	-	42
7	Mark West	50	Reynard97D/98D Holden	Just Part Magazines	align=center  8   6   -   6   -   -   6   8	'34'
8 Ricky Occhipinti 32 Reynard97D Holden Formula Uno Racing 12 10 - - - - - - 22
9 Rohan Carrig 49 Reynard92D Holden Arlec CRD Motorsport - 4 4 2 2 6 - 3 21
10 Stephen Borness 17 Reynard96D Holden Mantis Racing - - - - 8 - 8 - 16
11 Michael Joannou 12 Reynard94D/95D Holden Ralt Australia - - 6 3 - - - 6 15
12 Greg Fahey 5 Reynard91D Holden Fahey Motorsport 4 2 2 1 1 - - - 10
13 Ray Hanger 35 Reynard92D Holden Hanger Racing - - - - - 4 2 2 8
14 Derek Pingel 8 Lola T87/50 Holden WISC Racing - - - - - - 3 4 7
15 Mark Ellis 17 Reynard-Holden Mantis Racing - - - 4 - - - - 4
rowspan=2  16 Ryan Campbell 13 Reynard-Holden Pure Power Racing - - - - 3 - - - 3
18 Cristina Orr 55 Reynard92D Holden Pure Power Racing - - - - - - 1 1 2

Rank	Competitor	Number	Vehicle	Team	Mallala	Winton	Oran Park	Eastern Creek	-

%}

Further reading

• CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 2004: Australian Title Conditions
• Mallala Power Surge 2004 Official Program, 9 May

External links

• Archived version of www.f4000.com.au
• Race Results Online at natsoft.com.au

- style = "font-weight:bold;" ! Rank ! Competitor ! Number ! Vehicle ! Team ! Mallala R1 ! Mallala R2 ! Winton R1 ! Winton R2 ! Oran Park R1 ! Oran Park R2 ! Eastern Creek R1 ! Eastern Creek R2 ! Aggregate |-	-	-	-	-	-	- style = "font-weight:normal;" 6 Derek Pingel 8 Lola T87/50 Holden WISC Racing _ _ _ _ _ _ 12 15 27
- style = "font-weight:normal;" 7 Mark Ellis 17 Reynard-Holden Mantis Racing _ _ _ 12 _ _ _ _ 12
- style = "font-weight:normal;" 7 Ryan Campbell 13 Reynard-Holden Pure Power Racing _ _ _ _ 12 _ _ _ 12
- style = "font-weight:normal;" 9 Chris Farrell 35 Reynard92D Holden Hanger Racing _ _ 10 _ _ _ _ _ 10