The 1978 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title[1] for Group D Production Sports Cars.[2] The title, which was the tenth Australian Sports Car Championship,[3] 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] State Date[4] Format[4] Round winner[4] Car
1 Calder Victoria 10 March Two heats Ross Bond Bolwell Nagari
2 Lakeside Queensland 2 April Two heats Ross Mathiesen Porsche Carrera
3 Amaroo Park New South Wales 21 May One race Ross Bond Bolwell Nagari
4 Winton Victoria 20 August Two heats Ross Mathiesen Porsche Carrera

Classes

Cars competed in two engine displacement classes.[1]

  • Up to and including 2000cc[1]
  • Over 2000cc[1]

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.[1]

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.[1] Where more than one driver attained the same total, the relevant round placing was awarded to driver gaining the higher place in the last heat.[1] Actual championship points were then awarded based on the calculated round placings.[1]

Championship results

Position Driver[4] Car[4] Class[4] Calder[5] Lakeside[5] Amaroo[5] Winton[5] Total[4]
1 Ross Mathiesen Porsche Carrera[1] Over 2000cc 9 13 9 13 44
2 Bill Evans Triumph TR7 Up to 2000cc 9 9 4 10 32
  Ross Bond Bolwell Nagari Over 2000cc 13 6 13 - 32
4 Allan Hanns Datsun 2000 Up to 2000cc 6 4 9 2 21
5 John Latham Porsche Carrera Over 2000cc - 9 - 9 18
6 Allan Edwards Bolwell Nagari Over 2000cc 6 4 2 2 14
7 Ray Julien Datsun 2000 Up to 2000cc 1 6 6 - 13
8 Neil Swingler Triumph GT6 Up to 2000cc 3 2 - 6 11
  Warwick Henderson Chevrolet Corvette (C3) Over 2000cc 4 2 4 1 11
10 Peter Fitzgerald Porsche 911S Over 2000cc - - 6 3 9
11 Fernando D'Alberto Datsun 260Z Over 2000cc 2 - - 6 8
12 Bob Kennedy Triumph TR5 Up to 2000cc[6] 4 3 - - 7
13 Chris Swingler Triumph Spitfire Up to 2000cc 2 - - 3 5
14 Rex Colliver Lotus 47 Up to 2000cc - - - 4 4
15 Anthony Timmins Austin-Healey Sprite Up to 2000cc - - 3 - 3
  Ellen Reed MG Midget Up to 2000cc - 1 2 - 3
17 Bernard van Elsen Bolwell Over 2000cc 1 - - - 1
  Michael Finnis Jaguar E-Type Over 2000cc - 1 - - 1
  Matt Pintar Bolwell Mark 7[7] Over 2000cc - - - 1 1
  Gary Ryan Triumph Spitfire Up to 2000cc - - - 1 1

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Conditions for Australian Titles, 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 84 to 86
  2. ↑ 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)"
  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. 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
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ No SR6 here, wwwbollyblog.blogspot.com Retrieved on 29 October 2012

Further reading

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

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