The 1981 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Pacific

Formula Atlantic

Formula Atlantic is a specification of open wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club of America Formula Atlantic.-History:The history of...

 race held at Calder Park Raceway

Calder Park Raceway

Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a drag strip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clockwise or counter-clockwise .-History:Calder Park...

 on November 8, 1981.

It was the forty sixth Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...

 and the first to be restricted to Formula Pacific

Formula Pacific

Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was utilised in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was based on Formula Atlantic, with provision made...

 racing cars. It was the first AGP since 1968

1968 Australian Grand Prix

The 1968 Australian Grand Prix was a race held at Sandown International Raceway on 20 February 1968.It was the thirty third Australian Grand Prix and doubled as round seven of the 1968 Tasman Series...

 to feature two or more current or past World Drivers' Champions with reigning 1981 World Champion

1981 Formula One season

The 1981 Formula One season included the 32nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 15, 1981, and ended on October 17 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, claiming the first of his three Formula One titles...

 Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...

 of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and Australia's 1980 World Champion

1980 Formula One season

The 1980 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently from January 13 to October 5 over a fourteen race series...

 Alan Jones both in the field.

The race was won by 22 year old Roberto Moreno

Roberto Moreno

Roberto Pupo Moreno , usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship points. He raced in CART in 1986, and was Formula 3000 champion before joining...

 (the youngest driver to win the event) by over a lap from Nelson Piquet with Australian Geoff Brabham

Geoff Brabham

Geoff Brabham is an Australian racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States. He raced successfully in CART early in his career. In ten appearances in the Indianapolis 500, with a best result...

 finishing 3rd. The top 3 drivers all drove Ralt

Ralt

RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...

 RT4's (13 of the 20 starters were in fact driving the 1.6L Ford powered RT4's). To actually be able to compete in the Grand Prix Moreno needed 5 endorsements before the race to be able to obtain his FIA Super Licence

FIA Super Licence

The FIA Super Licence is a qualification allowing the licence holder to take part in Formula One Grands Prix as a driver. The licence is issued by the FIA upon request....

, 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 home while in second place. The first resident Australian driver home was another ex-Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 driver and future touring car

Touring car racing

Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia and Britain.-Characteristics of a touring car:...

 star Larry Perkins

Larry Perkins

Larry Clifton Perkins is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia.-Career:...

 who finished 4th, one lap behind Moreno.

Classification

Results as follows:

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time
1	19	Roberto Moreno Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno , usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship points. He raced in CART in 1986, and was Formula 3000 champion before joining...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT4 Ford	100	1h 07m 39.2s
2	9	Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...	Ralt RT4 Ford	99
3	12	Geoff Brabham Geoff Brabham Geoff Brabham is an Australian racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States. He raced successfully in CART early in his career. In ten appearances in the Indianapolis 500, with a best result...	Ralt RT4 Ford	99
4	3	Larry Perkins Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia.-Career:...	Ralt RT4 Ford	99
5	5	Andrew Miedecke	Ralt RT4 Ford	99
6	18	David Oxton David Oxton David Oxton is a former New Zealand racing driver. Oxton spent the majority of his career racing open wheel cars in New Zealand and Australia but did drive touring cars late in his career....	Ralt RT4 Ford	98
7	6	Ray Mallock	Ralt RT4 Ford	98
8	62	Bruce Allison	Ralt RT4 Ford	98
9	2	Charlie O'Brien Charlie O'Brien (racing driver) This article is about the Australian racing driver. For other people, see Charles O'Brien.Charles Lindsay O'Brien is a former Australian race car driver. From 1976 to 2003, he held the record for being the youngest winner of an Australian Touring Car Championship round.-Career results:-References:...	Ralt RT4 Ford	98
10	84	Alfredo Costanzo Alfredo Costanzo Alfredo Costanzo is a retired Australian racing driver.The Italian-Australian was Australia's foremost domestic open wheeler driver in the late 70s and early 80s, proving equally adapt at winning races in the powerful Formula 5000 class as much as the nimble Formula Pacific cars that replaced them...	Tiga Tiga Race Cars Tiga Race Cars Ltd. was a British auto racing constructor and team. The company was founded in 1974 by two former Formula 1 drivers, Australian Tim Schenken and New Zealander Howden Ganley. The company's name was formed by the first two letters of Tim and Ganley...  FA81 Ford	97
11		Peter Larner	Kaditcha Kaditcha Kaditcha was an automobile manufacturer in Australia. The company, formed by Queensland engineer Barry Lock, made open wheel and sports car racing cars, including cars for Formula 5000 and Australian Formula 2...  Ford	97
12	71	John Smith	Ralt RT4 Ford	96
13		Ron Barnacle	Ralt RT1 Ford	90
14	48	Ray Hangar	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...  77B Ford	87
Ret	27	Alan Jones	Ralt RT4 Ford	93	transmission
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1....	Ralt RT4 Ford	43	oil line
Ret	77	Peter Williamson	Toleman Toleman Toleman Motosport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and attended 70 Grands Prix.-Origins:In the 1970s, businessmen and motorsport fans Ted Toleman and Alex Hawkridge began their involvement in various car racing formulae in the UK. Ted was also noted...  TA860 Toyota	40	accident
Ret	4	John Bowe John Bowe (racing driver) John Bowe is an Australian racing driver, presently racing a 1969 Ford Mustang in the historic series, Touring Car Masters....	Ralt RT4 Ford	15	water pump belt
Ret	26	Lucio Cesario	Ralt RT3 Golf Volkswagen Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...	10	broken valve spring
Ret		Bob Creasy	Birranna 273 Ford	6	spin
DNS		Mike Quinn	Galloway HG1 Ford		gearbox input shaft