British Sprint Championship 1972
After two seasons in which the championship had been largely ignored, it burst into life in 1972 with three drivers taking it very seriously: reigning champion Johnty Williamson who had traded the fearsome Cooper-Chrysler for a F5000 McLaren M10A/B, 'King of Curborough' Rob Rose in his McLaren M10B, and his nearest challenger for that title John Ravenscroft with a 1600cc Brabham BT21A. 14 rounds were scheduled which meant that the best eight results would count, but only ten took place, which meant it was only the best seven that counted. After wins at Gaydon and Duxford, Ravenscroft led into the Weston Speed Trials at the end of September, but when the Brabham driver was unable to start, Williamson came from behind to beat Rose by just 0.01s. At Bassingbourne the next day, Rose won from Williamson, and with four wins, two seconds and a third, Rose's total of 66 points could not be overhauled at the last event, in the chill Cotswold wind at Little Rissington two weeks later. Williamson's win at that event gave him second place in the championship by the narrowest of margins from the unfortunate Ravenscroft, the two being equal on 64 points, just two points behind Rose.
Still many sprint competitors were not registered for the RAC series. For example at Blackpool there was as much interest in the Longton & District championship and the LAC series. John Wallwork came very close to taking BTD at that event in the Brabham BT11-Traco Oldsmobile he shared with Longton series leader Allan Smith.
The races
25 Mar 1972 > Yeovilton
16 Apr 1972 > Curborough
14 May 1972 > Gaydon
04 Jun 1972 > Curborough
18 Jun 1972 > Blackpool
02 Jul 1972 > Duxford
10 Sep 1972 > Duxford
30 Sep 1972 > Weston-Super-Mare Speed Trials
01 Oct 1972 > Bassingbourne
15 Oct 1972 > Little Rissington
1972 RAC British Sprint Championship table
| 1 | Bob Rose | McLaren M10B - Chevrolet V8 | 66 pts | 4 wins |
| 2 | John Ravenscroft | Brabham BT21A - Ford | 64 pts | 2 wins |
| 3 | Johnty Williamson | McLaren M10A/B - Chevrolet V8 | 64 pts | 2 wins |
| 4 | Geoff Inglis | March 702 - Cosworth FVA | 55 pts | |
| 5 | John King | Landar R6 - BMC | 26 pts | |
| 6= | Rob Turnbull | Alexis - Ford twin cam | 22 pts | |
| 6= | John McCartney | TechCraft 4WD - BRM V8 | 22 pts | |
| 6= | John Bailey | Mallock U2 Mk 11 - Ford | 22 pts | |
| 9 | David Render | Ginetta G12 - Buick V8 | 16 pts | |
| 10 | Terry Smith | Cooper T81B - Chrysler RB 440 V8 | 15 pts | 1 win |
| 11 | Dave Hartley | Brabham BT18 - Buick V8 | 12 pts | |
| 12= | Spencer Elton | Brabham BT21B - Ford twin cam Vegantune | 11 pts | |
| 12= | Les Edmunds | Alexis Mk15 - Ford | 11 pts | |
| 14 | Tony Griffiths | Brabham BT35X - Repco V8 | 10 pts | 1 win |
| 15 | Tom Elton | Brabham BT18 - Ford BDA | 9 pts | |
| 16= | Frank Aston | McLaren Special - Ford | 8 pts | |
| 16= | Tony Harrison | McLaren M12C/M6B - Chevrolet V8 | 8 pts | |
| 18 | Maurice Ogier | Brabham BT23C - Ford twin cam Vegantune | 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 1972 p128). An additional point was awarded to each driver that improved on the best time for the course prior to the meeting.