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]
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 Repco-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 |
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]
| 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 Repco-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 |
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.
