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British Sprint Championship 1975

The top six runners were much as they had been in 1974, except that John Ravenscroft was rarely seen and his place at the top table was taken by David Franklin and his nippy little Ensign. There were few new cars in the single seater classes as Bob Rose retained the McLaren M14D, Dave Harris his M10B/M14D and Johnty Williamson his Surtees. Among the smaller cars, David Render now had a 2-litre BDA for his Brabham BT35 but Rob Turnbull was still making do with 1600cc, as was Franklin in his Holbay-propelled Ensign.

Harris was completely on top in 1975, winning four events and finishing second in three more. Franklin won two but the Ensign was underpowered on some tracks, so was nearly caught for second in the title race by the consistent Rose. Hillclimbers again stepped in to win some events, Alister Douglas-Osborn winning at Curborough and Wellesbourne in October in his Pilbeam-Brabham R15, and Tony Griffiths again winning Weston in his ex-F1 Brabham BT33.

The races

23 Mar 1975 > Longridge

30 Mar 1975 > Yeovilton

20 Apr 1975 > Curborough

18 May 1975 > Wroughton

26 May 1975 > Bassingbourne

08 Jun 1975 > Curborough

15 Jun 1975 > Duxford

07 Sep 1975 > Wroughton

28 Sep 1975 > Yeovilton

04 Oct 1975 > Weston-Super-Mare Speed Trials

05 Oct 1975 > Curborough

11 Oct 1975 > Wellesbourne

RAC British Sprint Championship events shown in bold

1975 RAC British Sprint Championship table

1Dave Harris5-litre McLaren M10B/M14D - Chevrolet V868 pts4 wins
2David Franklin1.6-litre Ensign LNF3/73 - Ford BDA Holbay
1.6-litre March 733 - Ford BDA Holbay
54 pts2 wins
3Bob Rose5.7-litre McLaren M14D - Chevrolet54 pts1 win
4David Render2-litre Brabham BT35 - Ford BDA49 pts 
5Johnty Williamson5.7-litre Surtees TS11 - Chevrolet49 pts 
6Rob Turnbull1.6-litre Brabham BT35 - Ford BDA45 pts 
7Alister Douglas-OsbornPilbeam-Brabham R15 - Ford BDG27 pts2 wins
8Martyn GriffithsMcLaren M10B - Chevrolet V827 pts 
9Simon RileyMcLaren M10A/B - Rover V825 pts 
10Dave HartleyBrabham BT18 - Buick V818 pts 
11Richard LesterLola T100 - Ford BDA17 pts 
12Tony GriffithsBrabham BT33 - Cosworth DFV V816 pts1 win
13=Clive BraceyVebra Mk1 - Chevrolet turbo12 pts 
13=Martin SteeleLyncar 003 - Ford BDA12 pts 
15Terry SmithMarch 733 - Ford twin cam Holbay10 pts 

The points system for the championship remained the same as that used for the Hill Climb championship, awarding 10 points for the fastest time in the runoff, then 9 for second and on down to one point for tenth place (R.A.C Motor Sport Year Book 1973 p114 and 1976 p102 had no change between them). There was no longer an extra point awarded for beating the course's previous record time. With nine rounds taking place, the best seven results would count (ibid. p102).