Visiting Swedish rider Pelle Granquist dominated the 1978 Australian Hang Ten Championships, winning both the 250 and 500cc classes at the Reg Hunt circuit.

That year Stephen Gall (NSW, Yamaha) had emerged from Anthony Gunter’s (NSW, Suzuki) shadow, breaking through to finally win the Mr Motocross title after blitzing the final round. 

He was expected to win his first National title at Broadford. But unfortunately for both Gall and Gunter, they decided to ride in the 250 and 500 classes (not the unlimited class) – the same ones that Granqvist did, who convincingly won these titles.

The expatriate Swede showed how fast and smooth he was in the longer motos, compared to the short, sharp sprints in the Mr Motocross series – capping off a great year on his Ric Andrews-supplied Husqvarnas.

Gall finished second to Granquist in both the 250 and 500cc classes, with Peter Boyle (NZ, Suzuki) and Gary Flood (VIC, KTM) finishing in third, respectively.

The Unlimited class was an easy victory for Western Australian rider Graeme Smythe on a Yamaha to win the Duke of Edinburgh Award. He finished ahead of Mike Landman (VIC, Yamaha) and Dean Vick (SA, Yamaha).

Milledge-Motocraft teamsters Landman and Trevor Flood gave everyone a preview of the new Yamaha YZ125F machines when they raced the only two in the country to first and second in the 125 class. It was Flood’s last major placing in motocross.

1978 was the second year the Australian Championships were sponsored by Hang Ten, which introduced a new format in 1977 where the riders had to be selected on their merits, not on the basis of lodging an entry. Each state was required to run qualifying heats to select their representatives, with three riders in each state allowed to be selected on past merits .