John McCormack (born 9 July 1938) is a former Australian racing driver. Originally from Burnie, Tasmania, McCormack became one of the leading Formula 5000 racers in Australia during the 1970s.
McCormack won the Australian Drivers' Championship three times, driving an Elfin MR5 Repco Holden in 1973, an Elfin MR6 Repco Holden in 1975, and in an ex-British Grand Prix winning McLaren M23 powered by a Repco Leyland V8 engine in 1977. He also won consecutive New Zealand Grand Prix in 1973 and 1974. McCormack was competitive in the Tasman Series and Australian Grand Prix his best results being second in both events. Most of McCormack's major wins were under the banner of the Ansett Team Elfin.
As well as open-wheelers, McCormack drove sports sedans, winning the 1974 Toby Lee Sports Sedan Series driving his highly modified Chrysler Valiant Charger-Repco Holden V8 which underneath the Charger shell had specifications virtually identical to those of his Formula 5000 car.
In 1979, McCormack was one of the first drivers to race a Chevrolet Camaro (filling in for fellow F5000 racer Kevin Bartlett who was nursing a broken leg) at the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst. After numerous problems with the big Chev during practice, McCormack and co-driver Bob Forbes started 60th (out of 63), and were a DNF after just 62 laps when the 350ci V8 failed.
Career results
Season Series Position Car Entrant / team 1966 Australian Drivers' Championship 10th Repco Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax J McCormack 1967 Australian Drivers' Championship 9th Repco Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax John McCormack 1970 Australian Drivers' Championship 7th Elfin 600C Coventry Climax John McCormack 1971 Australian Drivers' Championship4th Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1972 Tasman Series11th Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1972 Australian Drivers' Championship3rd Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1973 Tasman Series2nd Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1973 Australian Drivers' Championship 1st Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1974 Tasman Series4th Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Elfin ML6 Repco-Leyland Ansett Team Elfin 1974 Australian Drivers' Championship5th Elfin ML6 Repco-Leyland Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1974 Toby Lee Sports Sedan Series 1st Chrysler VJ Valiant Charger Repco-Holden Ansett Team 1975 Tasman Series4th Elfin MR6 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1975 Australian Drivers' Championship 1st Elfin MR6 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1976 Rothmans International Series= 10th Elfin MR6 Repco-Holden Ansett Team Elfin 1976 Australian Drivers' Championship3rd McLaren M23 Repco-LeylandBudget 1977 Rothmans International Series= 9th McLaren M23 Repco-LeylandBudget Rent-A-Car System 1977 Australian Drivers' Championship 1st McLaren M23 Repco-Leyland Budget 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship 2nd McLaren M23 Repco-Leyland McCormack Uniparts Team 1979 Rothmans International Series9th McLaren M23 Repco-Leyland McCormack Uniparts Team 1980 Australian Sports Sedan Championship4th Jaguar XJ-S McCormack – Unipart Racing
Literature Australian Motor Racing Annual, 1972, page 40 Australian Competition Yearbook, 1974, pages 59–60 Australian Competition Yearbook, 1975, pages 46, 146 Australian Competition Yearbook, 1976, pages 117-119 Australian Competition Yearbook, 1977, page 85 Australian Competition Yearbook, 1978, pages 85, 110
References