1978 Australian Grand Prix

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1978 Australian Grand Prix
Round 2 of the 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship
Race details
Date10 September 1978
Official name XLIII Australian Grand Prix
Location Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit, [1] Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.100 km (1.926 miles)
Distance 49 laps, 148.8 km (92.448 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Leyland
Time 1'00.9
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham McRae McRae-Chevrolet
Time 1'01.9
Podium
First McRae-Chevrolet
Second Matich-Repco Holden
Third Lola-Chevrolet

The 1978 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race open to cars complying with Australian Formula 1, [2] (commonly referred to as Formula 5000 cars). It was held on 10 September 1978 at the Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit, in Victoria, Australia. [1]

Contents

It was the forty third Australian Grand Prix held and it was the Golden Anniversary AGP with the first being run in 1928. It also doubled as Round 2 of the 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship.

Summary

Qualifying

John McCormack started on pole in his McLaren M23 alongside Kiwi Graham McRae in his own designed and built McRae GM3, complete with a unique clear perspex cockpit cover allowing people to see McRae at work in the car. Before the start McCormack's crew discovered in the warm up that a blown head gasket in qualifying had resulted in damage to the 5.0L Leyland's cylinder heads but had no time to replace it so McCormack started under a cloud. Vern Schuppan qualified his Ansett Team Elfin MR8 3rd with a time equal to that of McRae with the Lola's of Alan Hamilton and Jon Davison rounding out the top 5 qualifiers.

Ian Adams did not practice in his Lola T330, but was permitted to start the race from the rear of the grid.

Race

McRae won the start and was never headed despite slowing on the start/finish line for confirmation of a 'bad sportsmanship' flag for not slowing enough past Coopers crash on lap 22, and a spin at the Dandenong Road corner (turn 7 on the old circuit) on lap 32. During the time of Cooper's crash alone McRae extended his lead over Jon Davison and Vern Schuppan by more than half the length of the almost 1 km long front straight as others slowed for the yellow flags where McRae did not resulting in the bad sportmanship flag for McRae.

Alfredo Costanzo was the first to retire on lap 5 when he lost 2nd gear in Kevin Bartlett's spare Lola T400B, while McCormack retired his McLaren from 3rd place with head gasket failure on lap 6.

McRae won the 49 lap race by two laps from John Briggs driving an older model Matich A51 Repco-Holden, with Peter Edwards in a Lola T332 finishing 3rd. McRae's fastest race lap of 1:01.9 (average speed of 180.29 km/h or 112 mph) was also the fastest lap of the race.

The race was marred by several crashes, with two drivers taken to hospital. On lap 22 Garrie Cooper broke some ribs and badly broke his leg in a 250 km/h crash at Rothmans Rise on the back straight, completely destroying his self-designed Elfin MR8 in the process. Cooper's simple explanation of the crash was that "something broke" sending him sliding sideways along the old fence that separated the race track from the horse track. Five laps later, his 3rd placed teammate Vern Schuppan had tangled with the ex-Alan Jones Lola T332 of 2nd placed Jon Davison in turn 1 and had to retire with damage, leaving both Ansett Team Elfin cars with heavy damage. The crash also saw Davison retire with his car with terminal damage just moments later at Holden Corner (turn 2). Then with only 3 laps left, Alan Hamilton badly crashed his Lola T430 into the old Dunlop Bridge coming through the high speed causeway onto the main straight. The car crashed into the base of the bridge and was torn in two with Hamilton's body exposed at the front of the car while he was still strapped to his seat (thankfully this time drivers heeded the yellow flags and proceeded slowly through the scene as Hamilton and what was left of his car had bounced back onto the race track). Hamilton was unconscious and was taken to hospital with minor head injuries and some broken bones but went on to make a full recovery.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos [3] No [1] Driver [3] Car [3] Entrant [1] Qual [3] Gap [3]
11 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John McCormack McLaren M23 / Leyland 5.0L V8 J McCormack1:00.9
22 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham McRae McRae GM3 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Thomson Motor Auctions1:01.3+0.4
311 [3] Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan Elfin MR8 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Ansett Team Elfin 1:01.3+0.4
419 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Hamilton Lola T430 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Porsche Cars Australia1:02.0+1.1
524 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jon Davison Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Ranger Truck Rentals1:02.3+1.4
610 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Milton Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Shellsport1:03.3+2.4
73 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Bartlett Brabham BT43 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Thomson Motor Auctions1:03.5+2.6
840 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chas Talbot Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 C Talbot1:04.0+3.1
915 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Hook Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 T Hook1:04.7+3.8
1084 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alfredo Costanzo Lola T400B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Auto Sprint Motors1:04.8+3.9
1133 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Briggs Matich A51 Repco Holden 5.0L V8 John Roberts Motors Pty Ltd1:04.8+3.9
125 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Middleton Elfin MR5 Repco Holden 5.0L V8 P Middleton1:07.0+6.1
1312 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garrie Cooper Elfin MR8 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Ansett Team Elfin 1:09.1+8.2
1421 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Edwards Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Shellsport1:10.2+9.3
1598 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Singleton Chevron B24 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Barry Singleton Motors Pty Ltd1:12.2+11.3
164 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Dumbrell McRae GM1 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Wynne's Friction Proof Racing1:12.7+11.8
1734 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Trengrove Lola T330 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Trengrove Racing Cars1:22.7+21.8
1814 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bronwyn Taylor Matich A50 Repco Holden 5.0L V8 Bronwyn Taylor1:39.3+38.4
1918 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Adams Lola T330 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 I AdamsDNP

Race

Pos [3] No [1] Driver [3] Car [3] Entrant [1] Laps [3] Time [3]
12 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham McRae McRae GM3 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Thomson Motor Auctions4952m 45.2s
233 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Briggs Matich A51 Repco Holden 5.0L V8John Roberts Motors Pty Ltd47
321 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Edwards Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Shellsport45
45 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Middleton Elfin MR5 Repco Holden 5.0L V8P Middleton43
53 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Bartlett Brabham BT43 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Thomson Motor Auctions42
618 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Adams Lola T330 Chevrolet 5.0L V8I Adams39
715 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Hook Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8T Hook37
Ret19 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Hamilton Lola T430 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Porsche Cars Australia46Accident
Ret98 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Singleton Chevron B24 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Barry Singleton Motors Pty Ltd
Ret24 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jon Davison Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Ranger Truck Rentals27Accident
Ret11 [3] Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan Elfin MR8 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Ansett Team Elfin 27Accident
Ret12 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garrie Cooper Elfin MR8 Chevrolet 5.0L V8 Ansett Team Elfin 22Accident
Ret10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Milton Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Shellsport18
Ret40 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chas Talbot Lola T332 Chevrolet 5.0L V8C Talbot
Ret4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Dumbrell McRae GM1 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Wynne's Friction Proof Racing
Ret1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John McCormack McLaren M23 Leyland 5.0L V8J McCormack6Head Gasket
Ret84 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alfredo Costanzo Lola T400B Chevrolet 5.0L V8Auto Sprint Motors5Gearbox
DNS34 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Trengrove Lola T330 Chevrolet 5.0L V8Trengrove Racing Cars
DNS14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bronwyn Taylor Matich A50 Repco Holden 5.0L V8B Taylor

Notes

Post Race Exhibition

After the race, McRae was awarded the Lex Davison Trophy for winning from five time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio, stating in his short victory speech that he never thought he would ever get to meet Mr Fangio and that he believed it was a greater honour than having won his 3rd AGP. Following this Fangio, Australia's three time world champion, Jack Brabham, Bob Jane driving a Maserati, and former racer turned Holden dealer Bill Patterson driving a Cooper, had a spirited three lap demonstration/race with Fangio and Brabham clearing out and swapping the lead many times. Fangio was driving a Mercedes-Benz W196 that he raced in 1954 and 1955, while Brabham (not yet Sir Jack) drove the Repco V8 powered Brabham BT19 in which he won the 1966 World Championship of Drivers. Brabham 'won' the demonstration, just ahead of Fangio, with Patterson and Jane some distance behind in 3rd and 4th. [5]

The 67-year-old Fangio had been invited to the meeting by race organiser's to demonstrate his Mercedes. However the great man stated that he would not demonstrate his World Championship winning Mercedes, he was going to race it. Fangio also intended to drive in a T-shirt like he had in his Formula One days, but had to conform to safety regulations about uncovered body parts and wore a full set of white overalls, though he was permitted to use his old goggles and Herbie Johnson racing helmet.

Despite not having raced competitively for 20 years, Juan Manuel Fangio was still the holder of a full FIA Super Licence which he would still hold at the time of his death in 1995.

The fastest lap of the demonstration was a 1:21.6 by Jack Brabham, almost 20 seconds slower than McRae's fastest lap for the Grand Prix. Showing that it was more a demonstration than a race, Jack's lap was some 17 seconds slower than the old Tasman Series races at the circuit, with the series lap record being a 1:04.500 by Chris Amon in a Ferrari set in 1968.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Official Souvenir Program, Sandown, 10 September 1978, page 79
  2. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 84 to 86
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1978". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 416–424. ISBN   0-9588464-0-5.
  4. Australian Competition Yearbook Number 8, page 96
  5. 1978 Australian Grand Prix - Fangio vs Brabham
Preceded by Australian Grand Prix
1978
Succeeded by