| Category | Tasman Formula 1964–69 2.5 litre 1970–71F5000 & 2.5 litre 1972–75 F5000 & 2.0 litre |
|---|---|
| Country |  Australia New Zealand |
| Inaugural season | 1964 |
| Folded | 1975 |
| Drivers | 28 (1975) |
| Constructors | 12 (1975) |
| Engine suppliers | 3 (1975) |
| Last Drivers' champion | Warwick Brown |
TheTasman Series (formally theTasman Championship for Drivers)[1] was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 over a series of races inNew Zealand andAustralia. It was named after theTasman Sea which lies between the two countries. The Tasman Series races were held in January through to late February or early March of each year, during theFormula One off season, taking advantage of winter in theNorthern Hemisphere to attract many top drivers to summer in the south. TheTasman Cup was the permanent trophy awarded to the winning driver.[1]
The Tasman initially started in 1960 as a series of unrelated races betweenAustralia andNew Zealand.[2] In 1964 the official Tasman Championship for Drivers was established.[3] Until 1969, theTasman Formula specified open-wheel single-seater racing cars similar to Formula One cars, yet retaining F1 engine rules that were in effect until 1960. Thus, engines of 2500 cm³ that were obsolete for the contemporary Formula One class were eligible for the Tasman Formula.
After F1 upgraded to 3000 cm³ in 1966, the Tasman Formula regulations continued to specify a 2500 cm³ limit for another four years. Usually, the chassis of the previous F1 season were fitted with "Tasman" engines, and entered "down under". In what many[who?] consider Tasman's zenith season, 1968,Cosworth even produced a Tasman variant of its legendaryDFVV8, known as the DFW, andBRM equipped its cars with a reduced capacity version of their F1V12 while the leading contender local cars were usually equipped with either aRepco-Brabham V8, the olderCoventry Climax FPF (made in Australia under licence by Repco) or in the case ofAlec Mildren Racing, theTipo 33Alfa Romeo V8. In 1969 both Lotus and Ferrari contested the series with two cars teams,Jochen Rindt andGraham Hill inLotus 49BTs andChris Amon andDerek Bell inDino 246 Tasmania cars which used F2 chassis fitted with modernised versions of the late 1950s F1 2.4 Dino V6 engine.Piers Courage strongly challenged the work teams in a Frank Williams Cosworth 2.5 BT24 Brabham which beat the Lotus and Ferrari teams atTeretonga in New Zealand.
Unfortunately for the Tasman Series, F1's "return to power", coupled to ever increasing costs, reduced the cachet of its Antipodean sister and after 1969 teams became increasingly unwilling to invest significant funds into what many perceived as a lesser championship. Only one Cosworth DFW 2.5 powered car appeared in the 1970 and 1971 Tasman series, Bell driving an uncompetitive Goodyear shod Wheatcroft Brabham BT26 in 3 rounds in 1970 and Amon and fellowKiwiDavid Oxton each contesting 2 rounds of 1971 series in the ex Andretti March 701.
In an attempt to reduce costs, the Tasman Formula was extended to incorporateFormula 5000 cars from 1970[4] and the limit on pure racing engines was reduced from 2.5 litres to 2.0 litres from 1972.[5] Even these changes failed to contain spiralling costs and at the end of the 1975 event the series folded.
The four Australian former Tasman races became theRothmans International Series from 1976 to 1979 (still under Formula 5000 regulations). The four New Zealand races became the 'Peter Stuyvesant Series' and after 1976 changed toFormula Pacific cars.
Many high-profile local drivers from that era, such asJack Brabham,Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon,Denny Hulme andFrank Gardner took part in their home events, but the series also attracted international F1 stars likeJim Clark, Graham Hill,Phil Hill,John Surtees, Jochen Rindt,Pedro Rodríguez andJackie Stewart, who travelled the long way from Europe.
For two brief years beginning in 1999 the Tasman Series was revived as a series forFormula Holden racing cars withSimon Wills andAndy Booth winning the two series held exclusively in New Zealand.
The Tasman Series was briefly revived as part of the short-livedS5000 Series.[6]
| Season | Driver | Car | Wins | Podiums | Points | Margin (pts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tasman Formula | ||||||
| 1964 | Bruce McLaren | CooperT70-Coventry Climax FPF | 3 | 5 (7) | 39 | 6 |
| 1965 |  Jim Clark | Lotus32B-Coventry Climax FPF | 3 (4) | 4 (5) | 35 | 11 |
| 1966 | Jackie Stewart | BRMP261 | 4 | 5 | 45 | 15 |
| 1967 | Jim Clark | Lotus33-Coventry Climax FWMV | 3 (5) | 6 (8) | 45 | 27 |
| 1968 | Jim Clark | Lotus49T-Cosworth DFW | 4 | 5 | 44 | 8 |
| 1969 | Chris Amon | FerrariDino 246 Tasmania | 4 | 6 | 44 | 14 |
| 1970 | Graeme Lawrence | FerrariDino 246 Tasmania | 1 | 5 | 30 | 5 |
| Formula 5000 | ||||||
| 1971 | Graham McRae | McLarenM10B-Chevrolet | 3 | 5 | 35 | 4 |
| 1972 | Graham McRae | Leda GM1-Chevrolet | 4 | 4 | 39 | 11 |
| 1973 | Graham McRae | McRae GM1-Chevrolet | 3 | 5 | 40 | 11 |
| 1974 | Peter Gethin | ChevronB24-Chevrolet | 2 | 5 | 41 | 15 |
| 1975 | Warwick Brown | LolaT332-Chevrolet | 2 | 4 | 31 | 1 |
| Formula Holden | ||||||
| 1999 | Simon Wills | Reynard 94D-Holden | ||||
| 2000 | Andy Booth | Reynard 95D-Holden | 2 | 2 | 84 | 2 |
| S5000 | ||||||
| 2021 | Aaron Cameron | RogersAF01-Ford[a] | 1 | 3 | 165 | 22 |
| 2022 | Nathan Herne | RogersAF01-Ford | 4 | 4 | 187 | 21 |
| 2023 | Aaron Cameron | RogersAF01-Ford | 3 | 3 | 130 | 21 |
| Formula Regional Oceania | ||||||
| 2024 | Christian Mansell | Tatuus FT-60-Toyota | 1 | 4 | 135 | 8 |
| 2025 | Zack Scoular | Tatuus FT-60-Toyota | 1 | 4 | 139 | 30 |
Note: values in parentheses include the results from all races, not all of which counted towards the championship.
