1978 Australian Sports Sedan Championship

The 1978 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was an Australian motor racing competition organised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport for Group B Sports Sedans.[1] It was the third Australian Sports Sedan Championship title to be awarded by CAMS.[2]

The championship was won by Allan Grice driving a Chevrolet Corvair for Craven Mild Racing.

Calendar

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

Round [3] Name Circuit [3] State Date [3] Format [3] Winning driver [3] Car
1 Surfers Paradise International Raceway Queensland 21 May Two heats Allan Grice Chevrolet Corvair
2 The Advertiser Trophy [4] Adelaide International Raceway South Australia 11 June Two heats Jim Richards Ford XC Falcon Hardtop
3 Wanneroo Park Western Australia 18 June Two heats Jim Richards Ford XC Falcon Hardtop
4 Sandown Park Victoria 2 July Two heats Allan Grice Chevrolet Corvair
5 Lakeside Queensland 17 July Two heats Allan Grice Chevrolet Corvair
6 Calder Victoria 6 August One race Jim Richards Ford XC Falcon Hardtop
7 Symmons Plains Tasmania 17 September Two heats Allan Grice Chevrolet Corvair

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the first six places at each round.[1] Points from the six best round results could be retained by each driver.[1]

Where a round was contested over more than one heat, round points were awarded on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first 14 placegetters in each heat.[1] These points were then aggregated to determine the placings for the round.[1] Where more than one driver attained the same total, the relevant round placing was awarded to the driver with the highest placing in the last heat.[1]

Results

Ron Harrop placed fourth in this Holden LH Torana entered by the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team. (The car is pictured in 2015 in its 1978 livery)
Position Driver[3] No. Car[3][5][4] Entrant[4] R1[3] R2[3] R3[3] R4[3] R5[3] R6[3] R7[3] Total[3]
1[6] Allan Grice 6 Chevrolet Corvair Craven Mild Racing 9 - 6 9 9 3 9 45
2 Jim Richards 12 Ford XC Falcon Hardtop Jim Richards Motor Racing 6 9 9 6 6 9 (3) 45 [7](48)
3 Bruce Gowans 11 Toyota Celica-Repco Holden Ling Gowans Toyota - - 3 4 4 - 6 17
4 Ron Harrop 2 Holden LH Torana Marlboro Holden Dealer Team - 6 4 3 - - - 13
5 John Mann 49 Ford Cortina   - - - - - 6 2 8
6 Phil Lucas 3 Volvo Wrigleys - 2 2 - - - 4 8
7 Tony Edmondson 9 Chrysler VK Charger-Repco Holden Donald Elliott 3 4 - - - - - 7
8 Pat Crea 300 Ford Cortina Pat Crea 1 3 - - 2 - - 6
9 Garry Rogers 34 & 3 Holden HQ Monaro Greater Pacific Finance 4 - - 1 - - - 5
10 Clem Smith 15 Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Clem Smith - - - - - 4 - 4
11 Geoff Russell 35 Holden LJ Torana   - - - - 3 - - 3
12 Phil Ward 32 Ford Escort Mark 1 Wrigleys 2UW Racing Team 2 - - - - - - 2[8]
Murray Carter 18 Ford Falcon   - - - 2 - - - 2
Neil West 97 Hillman Imp   - - - - - 2 - 2
15 David Jarrett 14 Chevrolet Camaro Shell Sport - 1 - - - - - 1
Ian Diffen 98 Holden Torana   - - 1 - - - - 1
Steve Land 47 Holden Torana   - - - - 1 - - 1
Andy McIntyre 66 Morris Cooper   - - - - - 1 - 1
Ken Hastings 57 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia   - - - - - - 1 1

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e f Conditions for Australian Titles, 1978 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 84-86
  2. ^ CAMS Online Manual of Motor Sport > About CAMS > Australian Titles Archived 3 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from www.camsmanual.com.au on 2 July 2010
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Australian Competition Yearbook Number 8, pages 144-151
  4. ^ a b c Official Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, Sunday, 11 June 1978
  5. ^ Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, pages 160-162
  6. ^ Jim Richards scored a total of 48 championship points compared to the 45 earned by Allan Grice. The "best six round results" rule meant that both drivers retained 45 points however Grice was awarded the championship title based on his four round wins to Richards' three.
  7. ^ The Final Points Score list in Australian Competition Yearbook shows 39 points for Richards but the accompanying text states that he finished equal with Grice on 45 points.
  8. ^ The Final Points Score list in Australian Competition Yearbook shows three points for Ward but the round results published with that list show a fifth at Surfers Paradise as Ward's only top six round placing.