The 1978 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula 5000

Formula 5000

Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...

 race held on 10 September at the Sandown International Raceway.

It was the forty third Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...

 held and it was the Golden Anniversary AGP with the first being run in 1928

1928 Australian Grand Prix

The 1928 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held on the Phillip Island road course, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia on 31 March 1928...

. It also doubled as Round 2 of the 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship

Australian Drivers' Championship

The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...

.

John McCormack

John McCormack (racing driver)

‎John McCormack is a former Australian racing driver. Originally from Tasmania McCormack became one of the leading Formula 5000 racers in Australia during the 1970s....

 started on pole in his McLaren M23

McLaren M23

The McLaren M23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, and built by the McLaren team. It was a development of the McLaren M16 Indianapolis 500 car. A Ford Cosworth DFV engine was used, which was prepared by specialist tuning company Nicholson Engines...

 alongside Kiwi

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 Graham McRae

Graham McRae

Graham McRae is a former racing driver from New Zealand.McRae's single outing in the Formula One World Championship was at the 1973 British Grand Prix on 14 July 1973, where he retired in the first lap...

 in his own designed and built McRae GM3. McRae bolted away from the start and was never headed despite slowing for confirmation of a 'bad sportsmanship' flag for not slowing enough past Coopers crash on lap 22 and a spin on lap 32.

The race was marred by several crashes. Garrie Cooper

Garrie Cooper

Garrie Clifford Cooper was the founder of the highly successful Elfin Sports Cars and a competitive racing driver in his own right, winning the 1968 Australian 1½ Litre Championship and the 1975 Australian Sports Car Championship...

 broke some ribs and badly broke his leg in a 250kmh crash on the back straight, destroying his own designed Elfin MR8 in the process. Earlier his team mate Vern Schuppan

Vern Schuppan

Vernon "Vern" Schuppan is a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.-Formula One:...

 had tangled with Jon Davison in turn 1 and had to retire with damage. Late in the race Alan Hamilton badly crashed his Lola T430 under the old Dunlop Bridge

Dunlop Bridge

The Dunlop Bridge is a footbridge situated at a number of racing circuits.The bridge is considered to be one of the most significant landmarks in a motorsport venue particularly the Circuit de la Sarthe and Donington Park., although the latter was removed during renovations for the failed attempt...

 coming onto the main straight. The car crashed into the base of the bridge and was torn in two. Hamilton was unconscious and was taken to hospital with head injuries but made a full recovery.

After the race, McRae was awarded the Lex Davison

Lex Davison

Alexander Nicholas Davison was a racing driver who won the Australian Grand Prix four times between 1954 and 1961 and won the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1957...

 Trophy for winning from five time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...

. Following this, Fangio and Australia's three time world champ, Jack Brabham

Jack Brabham

Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....

 had a spirited three lap demonstration/race swapping the lead many times. Fangio was driving his old Mercedes-Benz W196

Mercedes-Benz W196

The Mercedes-Benz W196 was the Mercedes-Benz Formula One entry in the and Formula One seasons, winning 9 of 12 races entered in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss....

 while Brabham (not yet Sir Jack) drove his own Brabham BT19

Brabham BT19

The Brabham BT19 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ron Tauranac for the British Brabham team. The BT19 competed in the and Formula One World Championships and was used by Australian driver Jack Brabham to win his third World Championship in 1966...

. Brabham 'won' the demonstration.

Classification

Results as follows:

Pos	No.	Driver	Car	Laps	Time
1	2	Graham McRae Graham McRae Graham McRae is a former racing driver from New Zealand.McRae's single outing in the Formula One World Championship was at the 1973 British Grand Prix on 14 July 1973, where he retired in the first lap...	McRae McRae -People with the surname McRae:* Alister McRae, British Rally Champion* Alexander Duncan McRae, Canadian businessman, Army General, MP, Senator and farmer* Brian McRae, Major League Baseball player* Bruce McRae, American early actor...  GM3 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	49	52m 45.2s
2		John Briggs	Matich A51 Repco Holden	47
3		Peter Edwards Peter Edwards Peter Philip Edwards FRS is a British scientist. He won the 2003 Hughes Medal of the Royal Society "for his distinguished work as a solid state chemist...	Lola T332 Lola T332 The Lola T332 was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in Formula 5000 racing and made its racing debut in 1973. Commonly using the 5.0L Chevrolet V8 engine, the T332 was successful around the globe with race victories in places such as Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and...  Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	45
4	5	Peter Middleton	Elfin MR5 Elfin MR5 The Elfin MR5 is an Australian Formula 5000 racing car produced from 1971-1972 by Elfin Sports Cars. John McCormack drove an MR5 to victory in the 1973 Australian Drivers' Championship, the 1973 New Zealand Grand Prix, the 1974 New Zealand Grand Prix and the 1974 Lady Wigram Trophy....  Holden Holden V8 engine The Holden V8 is an overhead valve V8 engine which was produced by the Australian General Motors subsidiary Holden between 1969 and 2000. The engine was used initially in the Kingswood and Monaro model ranges; it was later utilised in the Torana and Commodore ranges...	43
5	3	Kevin Bartlett Kevin Bartlett (race driver) Kevin Bartlett , often known by his nickname "KB", is an Australian former open wheel and touring car racing driver who won the CAMS Gold Star in 1968 and 1969, as well as the prestigious Bathurst 1000. Bartlett was named in Wheels magazine's annual yearbook in 2004 as one of Australia's 50...	Brabham BT43 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	42
6		Ian Adams	Lola T330 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	39
7		Terry Hook	Lola T332 Lola T332 The Lola T332 was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in Formula 5000 racing and made its racing debut in 1973. Commonly using the 5.0L Chevrolet V8 engine, the T332 was successful around the globe with race victories in places such as Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and...  Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	37
Ret	19	Alan Hamilton	Lola T430 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	46	Accident
Ret		Barry Singleton	Chevron Chevron Cars Ltd Chevron Cars Ltd. is a manufacturer of racing cars, founded by Derek Bennett in 1965. Following Bennett's death in 1978, the firm has remained active in various guises. The original company's designs and name continue to be utilized by Roger Andreason to build replacement parts and continuation...  B24 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...
Ret	24	Jon Davison	Lola T332 Lola T332 The Lola T332 was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in Formula 5000 racing and made its racing debut in 1973. Commonly using the 5.0L Chevrolet V8 engine, the T332 was successful around the globe with race victories in places such as Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and...  Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	27	Accident
Ret	11	Vern Schuppan Vern Schuppan Vernon "Vern" Schuppan is a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.-Formula One:...	Elfin MR8 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	27	Accident
Ret	12	Garrie Cooper Garrie Cooper Garrie Clifford Cooper was the founder of the highly successful Elfin Sports Cars and a competitive racing driver in his own right, winning the 1968 Australian 1½ Litre Championship and the 1975 Australian Sports Car Championship...	Elfin MR8 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	22	Accident
Ret		Chris Milton	Lola T332 Lola T332 The Lola T332 was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in Formula 5000 racing and made its racing debut in 1973. Commonly using the 5.0L Chevrolet V8 engine, the T332 was successful around the globe with race victories in places such as Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and...  Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	18
Ret	10	Chas Talbot	Lola T332 Lola T332 The Lola T332 was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in Formula 5000 racing and made its racing debut in 1973. Commonly using the 5.0L Chevrolet V8 engine, the T332 was successful around the globe with race victories in places such as Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and...  Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...
Ret		Gary Dumbrell	McRae McRae -People with the surname McRae:* Alister McRae, British Rally Champion* Alexander Duncan McRae, Canadian businessman, Army General, MP, Senator and farmer* Brian McRae, Major League Baseball player* Bruce McRae, American early actor...  GM1 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...
Ret	1	John McCormack John McCormack (racing driver) ‎John McCormack is a former Australian racing driver. Originally from Tasmania McCormack became one of the leading Formula 5000 racers in Australia during the 1970s....	McLaren M23 McLaren M23 The McLaren M23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, and built by the McLaren team. It was a development of the McLaren M16 Indianapolis 500 car. A Ford Cosworth DFV engine was used, which was prepared by specialist tuning company Nicholson Engines...  Leyland	6	Head Gasket
Ret		Alfredo Costanzo Alfredo Costanzo Alfredo Costanzo is a retired Australian racing driver.The Italian-Australian was Australia's foremost domestic open wheeler driver in the late 70s and early 80s, proving equally adapt at winning races in the powerful Formula 5000 class as much as the nimble Formula Pacific cars that replaced them...	Lola T400B Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...	5	Engine
DNS		Colin Lovegrove	Lola T330 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...
DNS		Bronwyn Taylor	Matich A50 Repco Holden
DNP		Ian Adams	Lola T330 Chevrolet Chevrolet Small-Block engine The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...