1978 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Racing Cars complying with Australian Formula 1.[1] It was the 22nd Australian Drivers' Championship to be awarded by CAMS.[2] The title winner, Graham McRae, was awarded the 1978 CAMS Gold Star.[3]

Calendar

The championship was contested over a three-round series.[3]

Round[3] Round name Circuit[3] Date[3] Format[3] Winner[3] Car Report
1 Oran Park 30 July One race John McCormack McLaren M23 Leyland[3]
2 Australian Grand Prix[3] Sandown 10 September One race Graham McRae McRae GM3 Chevrolet[4] Report
3 Calder 15 October Two heats Graham McRae McRae GM3 Chevrolet

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six place-getters[1] at each round.

Where a round was contested in two heats, points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first 14 place-getters in each heat.[1] The six drivers attaining the highest aggregate from both heats were then awarded the championship points for that round.[1] Where more than one driver attained the same total, the relevant placing was awarded to the driver who was higher placed in the last heat.[1]

Championship results
Position Driver[3] No.[5] Car[4] Entrant[5] Ora[3] San[3] Cal[3] Total[3]
1 Graham McRae 2 McRae GM3 Chevrolet Thomson Motor Auctions 2 9 9 20
2 John McCormack 1 McLaren M23 Leyland J McCormack 9 - 3 12
3 Kevin Bartlett 3 Brabham BT43 Chevrolet Thomson Motor Auctions 6 2 - 8
4 Terry Hook 19 Lola T332 Chevrolet T Hook 1 - 6 7
5 Peter Edwards 21 Lola T332 Chevrolet Shellsport - 4 2 6
= John Briggs 33 Matich A51 Repco Holden John Roberts Motors Pty Ltd - 6 - 6
7 Ian Adams 18 Lola T330 Chevrolet I Adams - 1 4 5
8 Garrie Cooper 12 Elfin MR8 Chevrolet Ansett Team Elfin 4 - - 4
9 Peter Middleton 5 Elfin MR5 Repco Holden P Middleton - 3 - 3
= John Bowe   Elfin MR8[3] Ansett Team Elfin[3] 3 - - 3
11 Bronwyn Taylor 14 Matich A50 Repco Holden B Taylor - - 1 1

Championship name

The regulations for the championship were published by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport under the name Australian Formula 1 Championship,[1] and the Official Souvenir Program for the 1978 Australian Grand Prix listed the race as "Round 2, 1978 Australian Formula One Championship".[5] However it was reported in the Australian Competition Yearbook (Number 8) as the Australian Drivers' Championship[3] and is recognized by CAMS as the 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship[2] and the latter term has been used for this article.

References
  1. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 84 to 86
  2. Records, Titles & Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
  3. Australian Drivers' Championship, Australian Competition Yearbook, Number 8, pages 92 to 99
  4. The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 416 to 424
  5. Official Souvenir Program, Sandown, 10 September 1978, page 79
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