The 1961 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the newly completed Mallala Motor Sport Park on 9 October 1961. The race had 17 starters.

It was the twenty 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 would be the last to be held in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 until the creation of the Adelaide Street Circuit

Adelaide Street Circuit

The Adelaide Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the central business district of the city of Adelaide in South Australia....

 for the first World Championship Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in 1985

1985 Australian Grand Prix

The 1985 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Adelaide on November 3, 1985. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1985 Formula One season....

. Lex Davison

Lex Davison

Alexander Nicholas Davison was a racing driver who won the Australian Grand Prix four times between 1954 and 1961 and won the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1957...

 won his fourth and final AGP setting a record for wins that still stands today, having only been equalled by Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

. It would be the last victory for a domestically-based Australian until the emergence of Formula 5000

Formula 5000

Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...

 in 1970

1970 Australian Grand Prix

The 1970 Australian Grand Prix was a race held at Warwick Farm Raceway on November 22, 1970.It was the thirty fifth running of the Australian Grand Prix. Frank Matich won his first AGP and started the race on pole and also drove the fastest race lap....

.

David McKay

David McKay (journalist)

David McKay was an Australian journalist and prominent motoring identity.While most well known as a journalist, specifically as a motoring writer, McKay was also a prominent figure in motor racing as both a driver and a race team owner...

 actually crossed the finish line first but had been assigned a one minute penalty for a jumped start which dropped him to third position behind Bib Stillwell.

Classification

Results as follows.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Car	Laps	Time
1	4	Lex Davison Lex Davison Alexander Nicholas Davison was a racing driver who won the Australian Grand Prix four times between 1954 and 1961 and won the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1957...	Ecurie Australia	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  / Climax FPF 2.2L	50	1h 29m 01s
2	6	Bib Stillwell	B.S. Stillwell	Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T55 / Climax FPF 2.5L	50	1h 29m 42s
3	14	David McKay David McKay (journalist) David McKay was an Australian journalist and prominent motoring identity.While most well known as a journalist, specifically as a motoring writer, McKay was also a prominent figure in motor racing as both a driver and a race team owner...	Scuderia Veloce Scuderia Veloce Scuderia Veloce was an Australian motor racing team founded by journalist racer David McKay that competed in many motor racing categories in the 1960s. The team is regarded as the first professional motor racing operation in Australia....	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  / Climax FPF 2.5L	50	1h 30m 05s
4	9	Bill Patterson Bill Patterson (racing driver) Gerard William Riggall "Bill" Patterson was an Australian motor racing driver, race team owner and businessman....	Bill Patterson Motors	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  / Climax FPF 2.5L	48
5	15	Murray Trenberth		Alta / Holden Holden motor The Holden straight-six motor is a straight-six engine produced by General Motors–Holden's in Australia between 1948 and 1986. Initially dubbed the Grey motor alluding to the colour of the cylinder block, later iterations came in the form of a Red, Blue, Black and the four-cylinder Starfire engine...  2.5L	46
6	20	Eddie Clay		Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T23 / Bristol Bristol Cars Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Patchway, near Bristol, United Kingdom. Bristol have always been a low-volume manufacturer; the most recent published official production figures were for 1982, which stated that 104 cars were produced in that year...  2.2L	45
7	26	Alan Jack		Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T39 / Climax FPF 1.5L	48
8	45	Trevor Ellis		Austin Austin Motor Company The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...  Special / Austin Austin 8 The Austin 8 was a small car made by the Austin Motor Company. Launched in 1939 and produced into the war , about 9,000 of the wartime Austin 8 models were two-seater tourers produced for the military and government, and the rest were saloons...  Supercharged	38
9	16	Mel McEwin		Tornado / Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...  4.6L
10	60	Peter Wilkinson		Elfin Aero / Ford Ford Sidevalve engine The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve from the British arm of the Ford Motor Company. The engine had its origins in the 1930s Ford Model Y, and were made in two sizes, 933cc or "8 HP", and 1172cc or "10 HP". The early engines were very basic and did not have a waterpump as standard relying on...  1.2L
Ret	5	John Youl John Youl John Youl was an Australian motor racing driver, race track owner and prominent Tasmanian grazier.Youl was best known for his driving in open wheel racing cars during the 1950s and 1960s and by the 60's was one of the most prominent Australians of this discipline...	John Youl	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  / Climax FPF 2.5L	46	Exhaustion
Ret	19	Doug Whiteford Doug Whiteford Doug Whiteford was an Australian racing driver.Whiteford was best known as a competitor in the Australian Grand Prix which he won three times in four years. He was fondly remember for his Talbot-Lago T26 Formula One car which he used to win his second and third Grands Prix. His third win was at the...	Bill Patterson Motors	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  / Climax FPF 2.5L	30	Engine
Ret	11	John Ampt		Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T38 / Jaguar Jaguar XK6 engine The renowned Jaguar XK dual overhead camshaft inline 6-cylinder engine was introduced in 1949 and continued in manufacture until 1992. It was produced in five displacements for Jaguar passenger cars, with other sizes being made by Jaguar and privateers for racing...  3.8L	26
Ret	30	John Newmarch		Ricardian / Holden Holden motor The Holden straight-six motor is a straight-six engine produced by General Motors–Holden's in Australia between 1948 and 1986. Initially dubbed the Grey motor alluding to the colour of the cylinder block, later iterations came in the form of a Red, Blue, Black and the four-cylinder Starfire engine...  2.4L	14
Ret	8	Keith Rilstone		Zephyr Special / Ford Ford Zephyr engine Ford's revolutionary United Kingdom Zephyr/Consul cars used a new family of engines. The so-called Zephyr engine included both straight-4 and straight-6 OHV engines. Production began in 1951 and lasted through to 1966.-Consul/Zephyr 4:...  2.3L
Ret	3	Laurie Whitehead		Ausper Formula Junior / 1.1L
Ret	56	Helene Bittner		Vitesse / Ford 100E Ford Sidevalve engine The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve from the British arm of the Ford Motor Company. The engine had its origins in the 1930s Ford Model Y, and were made in two sizes, 933cc or "8 HP", and 1172cc or "10 HP". The early engines were very basic and did not have a waterpump as standard relying on...  1.2L
DNS	2	Stan Jones Stan Jones (racing driver) Stanley Jones was an Australian racing driver.Today better known as father of 1980 World Drivers' Champion Alan Jones, Stan was a prominent racing driver himself, racing mainly in the 1950s. He is one of eleven drivers to have won the Australian and New Zealand Grands Prix...		Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  / Climax FPF 2.5L		Engine
DNS	29	Garrie Cooper Garrie Cooper Garrie Clifford Cooper was the founder of the highly successful Elfin Sports Cars and a competitive racing driver in his own right, winning the 1968 Australian 1½ Litre Championship and the 1975 Australian Sports Car Championship...	Elfin Sports Cars	Elfin Formula Junior / 1.1L		Gearbox
DNS		Dud Dansie		BBM rotary valve special / Holden - Dunstan Rotary Valve