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1958 British Saloon Car Championship

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The 1958 BRSCC British Saloon Car Championship was the inaugural season of the championship. The series was open to four separate classes, up to 1200cc, 1201-1600cc, 1601-2700cc and 2701cc and above. Equal championship points were to be scored in each class, meaning any driver could win the championship without winning any races outright. The first ever round was actually held on 26 December 1957[1] at Brands Hatch. The final round of the year was held on 5 October back at Brands Hatch.[2][3]

Jack Sears and Tommy Sopwith ended the final race on the same number of championship points. With this a possibility going into the final round it was initially suggested the champion would be decided by the toss of a coin. The idea was very unpopular with both drivers, and it was decided two identical looking Marcus Chambers-owned Riley One-Point-Five works rally cars would be brought along for a five lap shoot-out. To make the race fair, they raced five laps, switched cars, then raced five laps again with the driver who had the quickest combined time being crowned champion. In extremely wet conditions, the first head to head was won by Sopwith by 2.2 seconds. The second race was won by Sears by 3.8 seconds. This meant that Sears was crowned the first ever BSCC champion.[4]

Calendar

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The Austin A105 with which Jack Sears won the 1958 British Saloon Car Championship

Overall winners of multi-class races in bold.

Round Circuit Date Class A Winner Class B Winner Class C Winner Class D Winner
1 A Brands Hatch, Kent 7 April United Kingdom John Sprinzel Not contested. United Kingdom Jack Sears Not contested.
B Not contested. United Kingdom Alan Foster Not contested. United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
NC Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Liverpool 19 April Unknown. United Kingdom Alan Foster United Kingdom Peter Blond United Kingdom Gawaine Baillie
2 A Brands Hatch, Kent 20 April United Kingdom John Sprinzel Not contested.
B Not contested. United Kingdom Tommy Bridger Not contested.
C Not contested. United Kingdom Jack Sears United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
NC Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 3 May United Kingdom Graham Hill United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Jeff Uren United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn
3 A Mallory Park, Leicestershire 11 May United Kingdom John Sprinzel Not contested.
B Not contested. United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Jeff Uren United Kingdom Gawaine Baillie
4 A Brands Hatch, Kent 18 May United Kingdom John Sprinzel Not contested.
B Not contested. United Kingdom Tommy Bridger United Kingdom Jack Sears United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
NC Goodwood Circuit, West Sussex 26 May United Kingdom John Sprinzel United Kingdom Barney Everley United Kingdom Duncan Hamilton1
5 A Brands Hatch, Kent 8 June United Kingdom John Sprinzel Not contested.
B Not contested. United Kingdom Tommy Bridger United Kingdom Jack Sears United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
NC Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk 29 June United Kingdom John Sprinzel United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Edgar Wadsworth United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
6 Crystal Palace, London 5 July United Kingdom George 'Doc' Shepherd United Kingdom Alan Foster United Kingdom Jeff Uren United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
NC Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 19 July United Kingdom Bob Gerard United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Jack Sears United States Walt Hansgen
7 Brands Hatch, Kent 4 August United Kingdom John Sprinzel United Kingdom Alan Foster United Kingdom Jack Sears United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
8 Brands Hatch, Kent 30 August United Kingdom George 'Doc' Shepherd United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Jack Sears United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
9 Brands Hatch, Kent 5 October United Kingdom George 'Doc' Shepherd United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Jack Sears United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith
NC Brands Hatch, Kent 26 December United Kingdom George 'Doc' Shepherd United Kingdom Les Leston United Kingdom Jeff Uren United Kingdom Gawaine Baillie

1Classes combined.

Championship results

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Driver's championship
Pos. Driver Car Team Class Points
1 United Kingdom Jack Sears Austin A105 Jack Sears C 48
2 United Kingdom Tommy Sopwith Jaguar 3.4 Litre Equipe Endeavour D 48
3 United Kingdom John Sprinzel Austin A35 Team Speedwell A 47
4 United Kingdom Doc Shepherd Austin A35 Team Speedwell A 41
5 United Kingdom Alan Foster MG Magnette Dick Jacobs B 40
6 United Kingdom Jeff Uren Jaguar 3.4 Litre
Ford Zephyr
Jeff Uren C 36

References

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  1. ^ "History of the BTCC". BTCC. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Official BTCC 1958 standings". BTCC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  3. ^ "British Saloon Car Championship - 1958". Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  4. ^ "Official BTCC history page". BTCC. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013.
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