1978 Australian Sports Car Championship

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The 1978 Australian Sports Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group D Production Sports Cars. [1] It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian National Title [2] and it was the tenth Australian Sports Car Championship. [3]

Contents

The championship was won by Ross Mathiesen [4] driving a Porsche Carrera. [3]

Calendar

The championship was contested over a four-round series. [4]

Round [4] Circuit [4] StateDate [4] Format [4] Round winner [4] Car
1 Calder Victoria 10 MarchTwo heatsRoss Bond Bolwell Nagari
2 Lakeside International Raceway [5] Queensland 2 AprilTwo heatsRoss Mathiesen Porsche Carrera
3 Amaroo Park New South Wales 21 MayOne raceRoss Bond Bolwell Nagari
4 Winton Victoria 20 AugustTwo heatsRoss Mathiesen Porsche Carrera

Classes

Cars competed in two engine displacement classes. [2]

Points system

Championship points were awarded at each round on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers in each class, and on a 4-3-2-1 to the first four finisher outright, irrespective of class. [2]

At rounds which were contested over two heats, round placings were determined by allocating "points" to the first fourteen placegetters in each heat on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. [2] Where more than one driver attained the same total, the relevant round placing was awarded to the driver gaining the higher place in the last heat. [2] Actual championship points were then awarded based on the calculated round placings. [2]

Championship results

PositionDriver [4] Car [4] Entrant [6] Class [4] Calder [7] Lakeside [7] Amaroo [7] Winton [7] Total [4]
1Ross Mathiesen Porsche Carrera [2] Ross MathiesenOver 2000cc91391344
2Bill Evans Triumph TR7 Playboy Racing TeamUp to 2000cc9941032
=Ross Bond Bolwell Nagari Ross BondOver 2000cc13613-32
4Allan Hanns Datsun 2000 Allan HannsUp to 2000cc649221
5John Latham Porsche Carrera John LathamOver 2000cc-9-918
6Alan Edwards [8] Bolwell Nagari Alan EdwardsOver 2000cc642214
7Ray Julian [9] Datsun 2000 Ray JulianUp to 2000cc166-13
8Neal Swingler [10] Triumph GT6 Neal SwinglerUp to 2000cc32-611
=Warwick Henderson Chevrolet Corvette (C3) W. HendersonOver 2000cc424111
10Peter Fitzgerald Porsche 911S ComplanOver 2000cc--639
11Fernando D'Alberto Datsun 260Z Fernando D'AlbertoOver 2000cc2--68
12Bob Kennedy Triumph TR5 Bob KennedyUp to 2000cc [11] 43--7
13Chris Swingler Triumph Spitfire AutocarbUp to 2000cc2--35
14Rex Colliver Lotus 47 Up to 2000cc---44
15Anthony Timmins Austin-Healey Sprite Up to 2000cc--3-3
=Ellen Reed MG Midget Ellen ReedUp to 2000cc-12-3
17Bernard van Elsen Bolwell Bernard van ElsenOver 2000cc1---1
=Michael Finnis Jaguar E-Type Michael FinnisOver 2000cc-1--1
=Matt Pintar Bolwell Mark 7 [12] Over 2000cc---11
=Gary Ryan Triumph Spitfire Up to 2000cc---11

References

  1. Conditions for Australian Titles in the 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport refers to “Sports Cars complying with Group D”. Classifications on page 240 of the 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport refers to “Production Sports Cars (Group D)"
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Conditions for Australian Titles, 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 84 to 86
  3. 1 2 Records, Titles and Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-6
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Australian Sports Car Championship, Australian Competition Yearbook, Number 8, 1979, pages 65 to 67
  5. Official Programme, Lakeside International Raceway, Sunday, April 2, 1978
  6. Official Programme, Calder, 19 March 1978
  7. 1 2 3 4 Round points calculated by applying the points system, as published in the 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, to the round results, as published in Australian Competition Yearbook Number 8
  8. Australian Competition Yearbook has Allan Edwards, Official Programme, Calder, 19 March 1978 has Alan Edwards
  9. Australian Competition Yearbook has Ray Julien, Official Programme, Calder, 19 March 1978 has Ray Julian
  10. Australian Competition Yearbook has Neil Swingler, Official Programme, Calder, 19 March 1978 has Neal Swingler
  11. Australian Competition Yearbook Number 8 indicates that Kennedy competed in the Up to 2000cc class at Calder and Lakeside, notwithstanding Triumph’s TR5 model being powered by a 2500cc engine.
  12. No SR6 here, wwwbollyblog.blogspot.com, as archived at web.archive.org

Further reading

Jim Shepherd, Australian Sports Car Championship, 1978, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, pages 178 to 179