1958 British Saloon Car Championship
Introduction 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 at Brands Hatch. The final round of the year was held on 5 October back at Brands Hatch.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.
Calendar The Austin A105 with which Jack Sears won the 1958 British Saloon Car ChampionshipOverall 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  John Sprinzel ''Not contested.'' '''Jack Sears''' ''Not contested.'' B ''Not contested.'' Alan Foster ''Not contested.'' '''Tommy Sopwith''' NC Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Liverpool 19 April ''Unknown.'' Alan Foster  Peter Blond  '''Gawaine Baillie''' 2 A Brands Hatch, Kent 20 April  John Sprinzel ''Not contested.'' B ''Not contested.'' Tommy Bridger ''Not contested.'' C ''Not contested.'' Jack Sears  '''Tommy Sopwith''' NC Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 3 May  Graham Hill  Les Leston  Jeff Uren  '''Mike Hawthorn''' 3 A Mallory Park, Leicestershire 11 May  John Sprinzel ''Not contested.'' B ''Not contested.'' Les Leston  Jeff Uren  '''Gawaine Baillie''' 4 A Brands Hatch, Kent 18 May  John Sprinzel ''Not contested.'' B ''Not contested.'' Tommy Bridger  Jack Sears  '''Tommy Sopwith''' NC Goodwood Circuit, West Sussex 26 May  John Sprinzel  Barney Everley  '''Duncan Hamilton'''1 5 A Brands Hatch, Kent 8 June  John Sprinzel ''Not contested.'' B ''Not contested.'' Tommy Bridger  Jack Sears  '''Tommy Sopwith''' NC Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk 29 June  John Sprinzel  Les Leston  Edgar Wadsworth  '''Tommy Sopwith''' 6 Crystal Palace, London 5 July  George 'Doc' Shepherd  Alan Foster  Jeff Uren  '''Tommy Sopwith''' NC Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 19 July  Bob Gerard  Les Leston  Jack Sears  '''Walt Hansgen''' 7 Brands Hatch, Kent 4 August  John Sprinzel  Alan Foster  Jack Sears  '''Tommy Sopwith''' 8 Brands Hatch, Kent 30 August  George 'Doc' Shepherd  Les Leston  Jack Sears  '''Tommy Sopwith''' 9 Brands Hatch, Kent 5 October  George 'Doc' Shepherd  Les Leston  Jack Sears  '''Tommy Sopwith''' NC Brands Hatch, Kent 26 December  George 'Doc' Shepherd  Les Leston  Jeff Uren  '''Gawaine Baillie'''1Classes combined.
Championship results  Driver's championship Pos. Driver Car Team Class Points 1  Jack Sears Austin A105 Jack Sears C 48 2  Tommy Sopwith Jaguar 3.4 Litre Equipe Endeavour D 48 3  John Sprinzel Austin A35 Team Speedwell A 47 4  Doc Shepherd Austin A35 Team Speedwell A 41 5  Alan Foster MG Magnette Dick Jacobs B 40 6  Jeff Uren Jaguar 3.4 LitreFord Zephyr Jeff Uren C 36
References
External links * Official website of the British Touring Car Championship