1978 Elite Racing League season

All information on this page is not part of canon.

1978 Elite Racing League season
Previous: 1977	Next: 1979

Drivers Champion	Manufacturers Champion
Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari

The 1978 Elite Racing League season was the 19th season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing support series (the series would remain a support series until 1997.) The Drivers Championship was won by Clay Regazzoni whilst his team that he was driving for, Ferrari, also won the Constructors Championship in dominant fashion wrapping up the Constructors title at Monza, the Drivers Championship would be decided the following race at what is now known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Ferrari were the first team in ERL history to score more than 100 points in a season, scoring 120.

Season Review

Rnd	Race	Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Constructor
1	Argentine Grand Prix	Buenos Aries	Gilles Vileneuve	Gilles Vileneuve	Gilles Vileneuve	Ferrari
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	Interlagos	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Gilles Vileneuve	Riccardo Patrese	Template:GBR Arrows-Ford
3	South African Grand Prix	Kyalami	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
4	Template:USA United States Grand Prix	Sonoma	Emerson Fittipaldi	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	Template:FRA Renault
5	European Grand Prix	Mugello	Gilles Vileneuve	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
6	Template:AUT Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	Gilles Vileneuve	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	Template:FRA Renault
7	Monaco Grand Prix	Monaco	Riccardo Patrese	Emerson Fittipaldi	Emerson Fittipaldi	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford
8	Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:GBR Lotus-Ford
9	Template:FRA French Grand Prix	Magny-Cours	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Gilles Vileneuve	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
10	Template:GBR British Grand Prix	Silverstone	Emerson Fittipaldi	Emerson Fittipaldi	Emerson Fittipaldi	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford
11	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Gilles Vileneuve	Template:USA Eddie Cheever	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	Template:FRA Renault
12	Dutch Grand Prix	Zandvoort	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
13	Italian Grand Prix	Monza	Emerson Fittipaldi	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
14	Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Gilles Vileneuve	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
15	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	Template:USA Mario Andretti	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	Template:FRA Renault

Teams and Drivers

Arrows entered ERL as a new team filling the vacant spot on the ERL grid left by BRM's departure, this was pretty last minute but they accepted as the ERL at the time needed to have 12 drivers at the minimum for that season to be officially declared a championship.

Lotus driver Mario Andretti won the Formula 1 Drivers Championship this year yet he had a very mixed 1978 ERL season he said in one of the first TV interviews during a race broadcast that he "is now determined to win the ERL title to go with his Formula 1 championship." he also stated that he was going nowhere in the ERL however he was looking for other drives as he feels his move to Lotus hadn't been a good decision in his eyes.

Team	Constructor	Engine	Tyres	#	Driver	Rounds
Template:GBR Arrows Racing Team	Arrows-Ford	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	Template:Goodyear	1	Riccardo Patrese	All
				2	Jochen Mass	All
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	Template:Michelin	3	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	All
				4	Gilles Vileneuve	All
Template:GBR Team Lotus	Lotus-Ford	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	Template:Goodyear	5	Template:USA Mario Andretti	All
				6	Template:FRA Jean-Pierre Jarier	All
Template:GBR Team McLaren	McLaren-Ford	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	Template:Goodyear	7	Emerson Fittipaldi	All
				8	Template:FRA Patrick Tambay	All
Template:USA Penske Car Racing	Penske-Ford	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	Template:Goodyear	9	Template:USA Danny Ongais	All
				10	Template:USA Eddie Cheever	All
Template:FRA Elf Equipe Renault	Renault	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t	Template:Michelin	11	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	All
				12	Template:FRA Jean-Pierre Jabouille	All

Drivers Championship

Pos.	Driver	Points
1	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni	67
2	Template:FRA Jacques Laffite	60
3	Gilles Vileneuve	51
4	Template:USA Mario Andretti	51
5	Emerson Fittipaldi	44
6	Riccardo Patrese	23
7	Template:FRA Jean-Pierre Jabouille	18
8	Template:USA Eddie Cheever	17
9	Template:FRA Jean-Pierre Jarier	14
10	Template:FRA Patrick Tambay	11
11	Template:USA Danny Ongais	10
12	Template:USA Bobby Rahal	9

Constructors Championship

Pos.	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	120
2	Template:FRA Renault	78
3	Template:GBR Lotus-Ford	65
4	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford	55
5	Template:GBR Arrows-Ford	32
6	Template:USA Penske-Ford	27