MOTOR RACING GRAND PRIX AT SAN DIEGO : By Any Measurement, Robinson Holds Lead

OK, calculators ready, loosen up those fingers. Gentlemen, start your computations.

The International Motorsports Assn. Camel GT points race is the closest in history, with a computerized analysis revealing 30,624 possible point totals at the end of today’s Camel Grand Prix of Greater San Diego.

More simply, Chip Robinson leads the standings with 166 points, followed by Geoff Brabham with 163 and Davy Jones with 156.

Each can win up to 25 points, which are awarded to the top 10 finishers, with the winner getting 20, second-place finisher 15, third 12, fourth 10 and fifth eight. There is a bonus point in each category for winning the pole position, recording the fastest lap and leading the most laps. If a driver sweeps all three, he gets two extra points as well, and if he also wins the race, he has 25.

At stake is a $150,000 prize for winning the points title. Robinson and Brabham--who has won the past three Camel GTP championships--drive for Nissan, which has clinched the manufacturer’s title for the fourth year in a row. Jones drives for Jaguar.

None of the three gained any points Saturday. Englishman Wayne Taylor won the pole with a course-record qualifying run of 59.405 seconds, an average speed of nearly 97 m.p.h., in a Chevrolet Intrepid. The Nissan team had a better day than Jaguar, with Brabham placing second and Robinson fourth, while Jones was seventh and teammate Martin Brundle eighth.

History favors Robinson: The leader going into the final race has failed to win the title only twice in 20 years.

However, in 1989 Robinson was the points leader entering the season’s final race, and he lost the championship to Brabham.

Brabham found it ironic that “you have the three guys dicing for the championship driving the three least-suited cars for the track. If one of us was driving an Intrepid, he’d have an advantage.”

With so many drivers and teams in the running for points, Taylor predicted an exciting race today: “It will be tough to pass. With several teams desperate to win (they will take risks). I think there will be a lot of cautions, with the race won in the last 10 laps.”