Australian Formula 2 Championship - History

History

The Australian Formula 2 category was established by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) in 1964 as the third tier of single seater motor racing in Australia, below the Australian National Formula and the Australian 1½ Litre Formula and above Australian Formula 3. It was a two part formula consisting of (a) cars using production based engines of up to 1100cc capacity (the discontinued Formula Junior class from 1963) and (b) cars using free design four cylinder engines of up to 1000cc capacity (the then current FIA Formula Two class). A single race Australian Formula 2 Championship was instituted in 1964 however the title was discontinued after two years.

The engine capacity was raised to 1600cc in 1969, AF2 thus replacing the discontinued Australian 1½ Litre Formula as the country’s second tier single seater category. From the same year AF2 cars were eligible to compete alongside the 2½ litre Australian National Formula cars in the Australian Drivers' Championship for the first time. The Australian Formula 2 Championship was reintroduced for 1969 and was contested concurrently with the final round of the 1969 Australian Drivers’ Championship. It became a stand alone, single race title again in 1970.

For 1971, engines with more than two valves per cylinder were banned as were those of less than 1100cc capacity. In the same year the Australian Formula 2 Championship was contested over a series of races for the first time with all rounds run concurrently with those of the 1971 Australian Driver’s Championship. The 1974 championship, which enjoyed significant sponsorship from the Van Heusen Shirt Company, was run as a totally stand alone series.

The declining state of the category saw the 1977 championship downgraded to a single race affair and new regulations were announced to take effect in 1978. The engines were to be limited to 1600cc production based units with valve actuation by single overhead camshaft or pushrods. There was no national championship for the new AF2 in this first year but a championship series was reintroduced for 1979.

AF2 regulations were amended for 1987 to eliminate underbody aerodynamic aids, thus bringing the formula in line with the rest of the motor racing world. The decline of Australia’s premier open wheel category, Formula Mondial, saw the Australian Drivers' Championship move from that category to AF2 in the same year, with the title awarded to the winner of the Australia Cup, an AF2 race held in support of the 1987 Australian Grand Prix at the Adelaide Street Circuit. The Australian Formula 2 Championship continued and for 1988 the Australian Drivers' Championship was awarded to the winner of the Australian Formula 2 Championship series. The 1988 AF2C title was to be the last awarded by CAMS and the Australian Drivers' Championship was to be determined over a series of races for the new Formula Holden category for 1989.

In an effort to increase fields, an additional class for cars using 2 litre FIA Formula Three engines was incorporated into AF2 for 1999 alongside the existing 1600cc class FIA Formula Three was itself officially adopted in Australia as a separate category the following year but the 2 litre cars remained eligible to compete in AF2 through to 2002. AF2 reverted to a single class 1600cc formula again for 2003.