British Sprint Championship 1978
David Franklin bought a March 772/782 for 1978, a car built new for him by March using a Formula 2 772 monocoque and F2 BMW engine but with the front radiator and nose from the Formula 1 771. With this he took on both the British Hill Climb Championship and the British Sprint Championship, the first time anyone had seriously attempted it. He won all his first six sprint events but missed two rounds, so by the time he wrapped up the hillclimb title at Doune on 24 September, he had only 64 points in the sprint title table, well behind the consistent Dave Harris on 75 points. But with only the best eight scores to count, Harris could only improve his score by two even if he won the two remaining rounds, whereas Franklin was still capable of reaching a maximum score of 80.
Franklin's 2-litre March could not compete with the 5-litre cars on the straightline blasts at Brighton and Weston, so after only finishing seventh behind the heavy brigade at Brighton, Franklin borrowed Terry Smith's powerful Brabham-Repco BT35X at Weston, and placed third behind Smith and Harris. Franklin then showed the superiority of the March in the corners with a win at Talbenny to clinch the sprint title by just three points.
The races
01 Apr 1978 > Oulton Park
09 Apr 1978 > Yeovilton
30 Apr 1978 > Curborough
20 May 1978 > Wellesbourne
04 Jun 1978 > Curborough
18 Jun 1978 > Longridge
16 Jul 1978 > Blackpool
30 Jul 1978 > Colerne
05 Aug 1978 > Wellesbourne
20 Aug 1978 > Blackbushe
02 Sep 1978 > Oulton Park
09 Sep 1978 > Brighton Speed Trials
07 Oct 1978 > Weston-Super-Mare Speed Trials
15 Oct 1978 > Talbenny
RAC British Sprint Championship events shown in bold
1978 RAC British Sprint Championship table
| 1 | David Franklin | March 772/782 - BMW Euroracing Brabham BT35X - Repco V8 | 78 pts | 7 wins |
| 2 | Dave Harris | McRae GM1 - Chevrolet Smith V8 | 75 pts | 3 wins |
| 3 | Alan Richards | March 742/772 - Cosworth FVC | 68 pts | |
| 4 | Terry Smith | Brabham BT35X - Repco V8 March 772/782 - BMW Euroracing | 58 pts | 2 wins |
| 5 | Allan Humphries | March 762 - Hart 421R | 39 pts | |
| 6 | David Render | Lotus 77 - Cosworth DFV V8 | 35 pts | |
| 7 | Ted Williams | March 772 - Hart 420R | 33 pts | |
| 8 | Johnty Williamson | McLaren M14A - Chevrolet V8 | 32 pts | |
| 9 | Simon Riley | Brabham BT33 - Cosworth DFV V8 | 28 pts | |
| 10 | Paul Edwards | Brabham BT38 - Cosworth BDE | 26 pts | |
| 11 | Rob Turnbull | Ralt RT1 - Hart 420R | 18 pts | |
| 12 | Clive Bracey | Vebra Mk1 - Chevrolet turbo | 16 pts | |
| 13 | Bob Clapham | Surtees TS8 - Chevrolet V8 | 14 pts | |
| 14 | Richard Lester | March 73B - Ford | 12 pts | |
| 15= | Alan Newton | Huron SS20A - Ford twin cam | 11 pts | |
| 15= | Noel le Tissier | Chevron B32 - Chevrolet V8 | 11 pts | |
| 15= | Geoff Breakell | Chevron B23 - Cosworth FVC | 11 pts | |
| 18 | Peter Riley | March 722 - Cosworth FVA | 10 pts | |
| 19 | John McCartney | BRM P153 - BRM P142 V12 | 9 pts | |
| 20 | John Hinley | Lola T332C - Chevrolet V8 | 7 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 1976 p102).