1978 British Formula One Championship

The 1978 British Formula One season (formally the 1978 Aurora AFX F1 Championship) was the first British Formula One Series season. It commenced on March 24, 1978, and ended on September 24 after twelve races.

The Aurora AFX F1 Championship replaced the Shellsport Group 8 series that had been run in 1976 and 1977 to Formula Libre rules. As part of the changes, Formula 5000 cars were no longer eligible to race in the Aurora AFX championship. Formula 1 cars were now the focus of the series, with Formula 2 cars still being permitted as a 'B-class'.^[1]

Results and standings

Races

Round	Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Winning car
1	International Gold Cup	Oulton Park	March 24	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M23
2	Evening News Trophy	Brands Hatch	March 27	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M23
3	Anglia TV Trophy	Snetterton	April 16	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M23
4	Sun Trophy	Mallory Park	May 1	Geoff Lees	Ensign N175
5	International Whitsuntide Race	Zandvoort	May 15	Bob Evans	Surtees TS19
6	Donington Formula 1 Trophy	Donington Park	May 21	Giancarlo Martini	Ensign N175
7	Radio 210 European Trophy	Thruxton	May 29	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M23
8	Oulton Park Formula 1 Trophy	Oulton Park	June 24	Guy Edwards	March 781
9	Dave Lee Travis Trophy	Mallory Park	July 30	Bruce Allison	March 781
10	Fuji Tapes Trophy	Brands Hatch	August 28	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M23
11	Radio Victory Trophy	Thruxton	September 10	Guy Edwards	March 781
12	Budweiser Trophy	Snetterton	September 24	David Kennedy	Wolf WR3

Drivers

Pos Driver OUL BRH SNE MAL ZAN DON THR OUL MAL BRH THR SNE Pts 1 Tony Trimmer 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 149 2 Bob Evans 1 3 2 5 7 2 2 7 93 3 Emilio de Villota 2 3 2 4 Ret 5 7 Ret 4 Ret 8 8 84 4 Guy Edwards Ret 4 Ret 10 Ret 2 Ret 1 3 DNS 1 Ret 78 5 Geoff Lees Ret 2 3 1 Ret 5 5 69 6 Bruce Allison DNS 6 Ret Ret 4 2 1 Ret 12 3 63 7 Valentino Musetti NC NC Ret 3 7 4 5 3 Ret 6 4 DNS 62 8 John Cooper 3 8 Ret 8 8 7 8 7 9 10 4 44 9 Mike Wilds Ret 6 Ret 7 6 DNS 6 6 8 7 13 5 43 10 Desiré Wilson Ret 6 4 3 6 34 11 Giancarlo Martini 4 1 32 12 David Kennedy 1 22 13 Teddy Pilette Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret 20 14 Divina Galica 2 7 19 15 Kim Mather 4 Ret NC 5 NC Ret DNS NC Ret Ret 18 16 Boy Hayje 3 12 = Ray Mallock 3 12 12 = Elio de Angelis 3 12 19 Iain McLaren 5 9 10 11 = Adrian Russell DNQ 10 NC 13 9 8 9 8 NC Ret Ret 11 21 Brett Lunger 5 10 22 Brett Riley 5 Ret 8 23 Don Breidenbach 10 6 7 24 Geoff Brabham 6 6 25 Walter Raus 7 4 = Stephen South Ret 9 4 27 John David Briggs 8 17 3 28 Warren Booth NC 9 Ret 2 = Carlo Giorgio 9 Ret 2 = Richard Jones 9 11 Ret 2 — Andy Barton 12 11 0 — Gerd Biechteler 11 DNS 13 0 — Alan Baillie DNQ 14 NC NC 15 DNS 0 — Norman Dickson DNS Ret DNS 14 0 — Dennis Leech 16 0 — Alo Lawler Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret Ret 0 — Kevin Bowditch DNQ DNS 0 — Nigel Clarkson DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 — Jörg Zaborowski DNQ 0 — Eugen Grupp DNQ 0 Pos Driver OUL BRH SNE MAL ZAN DON THR OUL MAL BRH THR SNE Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap

References