The 1988 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title which was awarded to the winner of the 1988 Australian Formula 2 Championship. Australian Motor Racing Year page 181 indicates that the 1988 AF2C winner was awarded the CAMS Gold Star but that it was not certain that the series could be called the 1988 Australian Drivers' Championship. The 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4, however lists Onslow as the winner of the 1988 Australian Drivers' Championship. The winning driver received the 1988 CAMS Gold Star and is recognised by CAMS as the winner of both the 43rd Australian Drivers' Championship and the 21st Australian Formula 2 Championship. 1988 was the second and last year in which the Australian Drivers' Championship was contested by Australian Formula 2 cars, this being an interim arrangement between the demise of Formula Mondial in Australia at the end of 1986 and the introduction of Formula Holden in 1989.
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New South Wales driver Rohan Onslow won the first of his two Australian Drivers' Championships and his only Australian Formula 2 Championship driving a Cheetah Mk.8 Volkswagen and a Ralt RT30 Volkswagen. Queensland driver Derek Pingel (Ralt RT30 Volkswagen) finished second with Barry Ward (Ralt RT30 Volkswagen) placed third. Onslow and Neil Israel (Magnum 863 Volkswagen) each attained two round wins with single victories scored by Pingel, Ward and factory Nissan Touring Car driver Glenn Seton, who drove a Nissan Pulsar powered Ralt RT4 in two rounds of the championship. Seton's win at Adelaide International Raceway would be the only win for a car powered by an engine other than a Volkswagen Golf unit during the two years in which Australian Formula 2 cars contested the Australian Drivers' Championship.
Race calendar
The championship was contested over a seven round series with one race per round.
Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 30-27-24-21-19-17-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 basis for the first twenty places at each round. Only the best six results from the seven rounds could be retained by each driver.