F3 History

Month: May 2021

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Cheetah

Cheetah

The Cheetah was a Ford-powered F Junior car built by its driver Martin Slater and was also known as the Slater Special. It ran quite well on occasions and it made a few appearances in 1964 UK F3 races. Slater would later become a F1 designer for Lola, Brabham and March before building his own car, the Lyncar Ford, which was raced by John Nicholson.

Drivers

1964 Martin Slater.

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Caravelle

Caravelle

Designed by Richard Utley and built by Bob Hicks, who also drove it, the Caravelle Mk1 was a conventional F Junior design using a multi-tube spaceframe chassis that first raced in August 1960. Suspension was via independent unequal length wishbones, diagonally mounted at the rear, drum brakes were used all-round as were 13 inch magnesium wheels. Wheelbase was 84 inches whilst the front track was 46 inches and 49 inches at the rear. Hicks took several top ten places with a best of sixth at Oulton Park in 1960. During 1961 Mk2 and Mk3 variants appeared, each a development of the previous model, Hicks, driving a Mk3, took third and second at the Whit-Monday Goodwood races in 1960 and 1961 showing the design was basically sound. In May 1964 Clive Young finished 11th a lap down in a not very strong F3 race at Goodwood in what was seemingly an updated version of one of the Junior cars.

Drivers

1964 Clive Young.

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Cammarota

Cammarota

Entered for a round of the Italian F3 Championship held on the Junior circuit at Monza in May 1965 the Cammarota-Ford did not arrive and was never heard of again. This was, presumably, a modified F Junior Cammarota, these were first built in 1961 and powered by a Lancia engine.

Drivers

1965 Rosario Grasso.

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DAF

daf1
The Variomatic transmission undergoing tests in a converted Alexis Mk5.

DAF

The first DAFs were sold in 1959, with a 600cc air-cooled twin cylinder engine. This same engine remained in production in an enlarged 746cc guise until 1975 in the 33. Over the years, other DAF models were launched – the 44 with 850cc engine; the 55 with 1100cc four-cylinder Renault engine and the 66 with 1100/1300 Renault engines. Famed for their Variomatic transmission which was the brain child of Dr. Hub van Doorne (van Doorne’s Automobiel Fabrieken = DAF) and was infinitely variable in its ratios so that there were no noticeable gear changes. The pulleys in the transmission expanded and contracted, depending on speed, road conditions and driver’s demand automatically. Final drive to the rear wheels was transmitted by rubber-composite drive belts. In 1975 DAF was taken over by Volvo.

1965

To prove the worth of their system DAF went F3 racing, they started by fitting the system to an Alexis Mk5 chassis for testing and then racing. Initially there were problems in that belts that had been designed for road use weren’t suitable for competition stresses and strains but this problem was gradually overcome. Despite the Alexis chassis not being state of the art there was enough promise shown to consider the project worth further development
daf4
The Alexis-DAF on the left at Monaco, judging by the size of the radiator cooling was a problem.

1966

For 1966 a Brabham BT18 was purchased and adapted to try the transmission in a known competitive car. Results were promising with a number of top six finishes, Mike Beckwith took the best result, a third at Zolder.

daf5
The man himself, Jack Brabham testing the DAF-Brabham.

1967

For 1967 the Chequered Flag team built a DAF chassis that was designed by Chas Beattie along similar lines to a Brabham. The car showed flashes of promise but all the cars fitted with the Variomatic transmissions suffered from the belt system absorbing more power than a standard gearbox and in the days of the 1-litre engine the loss of even a few bhp was critical. In wet conditions, where the smooth power delivery was beneficial and wheel spin was minimised, the cars were often very competitive. The highlight of the year was an end of season victory for Mike Beckwith at Brands Hatch where he beat a top-class field. Gijs van Lennep also took a win at Skarpnack in Sweden in front of a lesser field.

daf2
Mike Beckwith in the DAF at Brands Hatch.
daf3
The DAF with its orange nose, presumably in deference to its national colour.

1968

For 1968, their final year in F3, a pair of Tecnos were suitably modified and raced. Several good results were obtained including a of seconds for Mike Beckwith at Zolder and Jarama. At the end of the year their point proven DAF left F3 racing.
tecno
The Tecno-DAF, the Variomatic transmission is visible at the back.
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CAF 3

CAF 3

The CAF 3 was entered for, but did not arrive, at Monza in May 1964, no engine was listed. There is an obvious connection between the car name and the driver’s name.

Drivers

1964  Angelo Caffi.

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Brabham

BT35d
Jochen Mass in his Novamotor powered BT35 at Brands Hatch in October 1971.

Brabham

After he left Coopers, double World Champion Sir Jack Brabham went into partnership with Ron Tauranac with the idea of producing a range of customer cars in addition to the works F1 and F2 cars. Brabham Racing Developments was formed in 1962 to deal with the customers whilst the Brabham Racing Organisation would look after the works cars. For the next 12 years Brabham’s would produce a huge range of incredibly successful cars in many different formulae, F2, F3, Tasman, Sports Cars, FB, all with a reputation for simplicity, ease of use and most importantly competitiveness. For many years the cars were called Repco Brabhams (as a thank you to Repco for early assistance in providing premises) irrespective of the actual power unit fitted, all cars also bore the BT (Brabham/Tauranac) type number. So successful were the cars that by the early 1970s over 500 cars had passed through the Brabham factory gates. In addition many of the smaller manufacturers around the world frequently “borrowed” the Brabham designs for their own cars e.g. Birel in Italy. This was possibly largely because Brabham preferred the space frame as opposed to monocoque route and it wasn’t until the BT 38 in 1972 that production cars employed monocoques. However by the beginning of the ’70s Sir Jack had hung up his helmet and sold his share of Brabhams to Tauranac and he in turn sold the company to Bernie Ecclestone, the emphasis soon switched from production cars and the lower formula towards F1 and an important chapter in F3 came to an end.

1964

The first F3 Brabham was the BT9, it was largely derived from the F Junior BT6 and it was very much a Tauranac design with its spaceframe chassis and outboard suspension. The gearbox was a Jack Knight unit based on the Hillman Imp road car, this meant that the rear cross-member was behind the centre-line of the driveshafts. Some F2 BT10s were used in F3, this chassis used a Hewland ‘box with Brabham designed side-plates that moved the driveshafts behind the line of the rear cross-member. 13 chassis were built but success was very much limited by the dominance of Jackie Stewart and his Tyrrell Cooper-BMC. A number of drivers converted their F Junior BT6s to F3 spec and had some success.

1965

The first F3 Brabham was the BT9, it was largely derived from the F Junior BT6 and it was very much a Tauranac design with its spaceframe chassis and outboard suspension. The gearbox was a Jack Knight unit based on the Hillman Imp road car, this meant that the rear cross-member was behind the centre-line of the driveshafts. Some F2 BT10s were used in F3, this chassis used a Hewland ‘box with Brabham designed side-plates that moved the driveshafts behind the line of the rear cross-member. 13 chassis were built but success was very much limited by the dominance of Jackie Stewart and his Tyrrell Cooper-BMC. A number of drivers converted their F Junior BT6s to F3 spec and had some success.

1966

The BT18 was designed as a multipurpose chassis for both F2 and F3. Compared with the BT15 the most noticeable change was the wishbone points were set wider apart to give a greater swing arm length to suit the ever widening wheels and tyres. A longer upright was also used to help spread the suspension loads created by wider tyres that caused cracking of the chassis tubes. The new uprights were a development of the F1/Tasman design. The F2 chassis had a few improvements: longer rear uprights, a 2.25 inch longer engine compartment, Armstrong adjustable dampers, fuel relief valve/pressure gauge and light alloy brakes. Since these additions only added £200 to the price many F3 teams opted for the F2 specification. The car once again was very successful with Chris Irwin in the works Chequered Flag car going particularly well. 32 BT18s in F3 spec were built.

1967

The 1967 BT21 (which debuted at the end of 1966) was a further refinement of the previous year’s model. The chassis was a little shallower (the top and bottom chassis rails were moved closer together) but importantly it was stiffer and the suspension was slightly modified with a wider track. A new sleeker bodywork was also fitted and the fuel tankage was increased. It all seemed to work especially on rougher tracks were the BT21 was noticeably superior to the BT18. Once again the car was a winner taking numerous victories throughout the year, the only consistently effective rival being the Matra MS5 which dominated in the French Championship. A grand total of 50 BT21s were built.

1969

Despite all the end of season testing of the BT21X the BT28 was late in arriving and then production problems at the Brabham factory meant deliveries of the car were very late and many orders were cancelled. This was a pity as the car was obviously right, the new rigid chassis made the car much better at putting its power down, especially out of slow corners and the slippery bodywork proved very effective at the quick tracks. All of this allied to the traditional Brabham qualities of good handling, controllability and ease of setting up meant the car was very quick everywhere. There were some early season problems with springs and lifting rear wheels but continued development soon saw these minor complaints dealt with.

1970

The BT28 continued into 1970 with no important changes to the design although as can be seen from the Gerry Birrell picture wing experimentation was still ongoing. A season of sorting meant that it was quick from the start and it won many races during the year, the only real rival being the Lotus 59, especially the works car of Dave Walker. At the end of the year the BT28 had racked up 23 wins from the 60 major races of the year.

1971

A typical Tauranac design, space frame chassis, outboard suspension with inboard rear brakes, it proved to be very popular especially outside the UK. However other constructors were learning the Brabham secret and victories were harder to come by although Colin Vandervell in the works car and Jochen Mass managed several. A number of drivers updated their previous year’s BT28, a relatively simple conversion. The BT35 designation also applied to formula B and Atlantic cars.

1972

Designed by Geoff Ferris after the Ecclestone takeover, the first monocoque production Brabham had a square section aluminium tub with a steel subframe behind the cockpit for the engine/suspension. Unequal length wishbones were fitted to the front with lower wishbones, a single top link and twin radius rods at the rear. Coil springs and dampers were outboard but the rear brakes were inboard. Late delivery followed by little development and a disinterested factory meant the only winner during the season was Tony Brise who won 3 races in the semi-works chassis. Once again the BT38 designation covered F2, FB and Atlantic as well as F3, the Formula 3 variant being sometimes known as the BT38C.

1971

This was to be Brabhams final year in F3 and the BT41 would prove to be somewhat of a disappointment. Consisting of an angular aluminium monocoque, with an 18 gauge mild steel inner skin treated with an anti-corrosion plastic to bring it up to the minimum weight limit, it used conventional wishbone suspension with outboard coil springs and dampers. It was the first production car to feature what would become the standard F3 gearbox, the Hewland Mk9. The general layout was very similar to a tidier lower version of the BT38. Only a few cars were sold in the UK although it proved more popular and successful in Italy. Towards the end of the year Larry Perkins in the works example showed what might have been in a well sorted example. A number of cars were converted to the new 2-litre formula, particularly in Italy, were they ran competitively for several seasons.

Drivers

1964
BT10
Frank Gardner.

BT9
Derek Bennett, Jean Blanc, Rodney Bloor, John Cardwell, Adrian Chambers, Piers Courage, Patrick Dal Bo, Hans-Peter Dechent, Hermann Domer, Walter Habbeger, Manfred Möhr, Bill Morgans, Picko Troberg, Frank Williams.

BT6
Clive Baker, Roger Mac, Silvio Moser, Denis O’Sullivan, John Peterson.

BT2
Michel Finquel, Eddie Fletcher.

?
Leo Matilla, David Prophet.

1965
BT16
Kurt Ahrens jnr., Trevor Blokdyk, Martin Davies, Bruno Deserti, Carlo Facetti, Tommy Hitchcock, Chris Irwin, Roger Mac, Denis O’Sullivan, Roy Pike, Alan Rollinson, Harry Stiller.

BT15
Andrea de Adamich, Bernhard Bauer, John Cardwell, David Cole, Patrick Dal Bo, Tony Dean, Jürg Dubler, Jörgen Ellekaer, Andrew Fletcher, Jean-Claude Franck, Martin Gill, Natalie Goodwin, Walter Habegger, Egert Haglund, Cliff Haworth, Tony Horsley, Tony Huggett, Chris Lambert, Jens-Christian Legarth, Manfred Möhr, Clay Regazzoni, Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Martin Slater, Rob Slotemaker, Harry Stiller, Jim Sullivan, Ulf Svensson, Sverrir Thoroddsson, Picko Troberg, Graham White.

BT10
Mike Beckwith, Piers Courage, Charles Crichton-Stuart, Martin Davies, Carlo Facetti, Peter Gethin, Jens-Christian Legarth, Charles Lucas, Denis O’Sullivan, John Peterson, Jonathan Williams.

BT9
Adrian Chambers, Hans-Peter Dechent, Tony Horsley, Dieter Mantzel, Manfred Möhr, Leif Persson, David Rees, Jean Sage, Martin Stefani, Keith St. John.

BT6
Guigliemo Bellasi, Hubert Discomps, Roger Laurent, Lars Lindberg, John Miles, Silvio Moser, Andrea Tosi.

?
Bengt Bergholm, Dieter Bohnhorst, Ernesto Brambilla, René Caumont, Georg Duneborn, Willy Franz, Sven Fürstenhoff, Fred Goeske, Frank Williams, Per-Olov Zetterström.

1966
BT21
Derek Bell.

BT18
Andrea de Adamich, Kurt Ahrens jnr., Clive Baker, Ken Bass, Mike Beckwith, Trevor Blokdyk, Bob Bondurant, Derek Booton, Roger Brash, Graham Coaker, David Cole, Charles Crichton-Stuart, Tony Dean, Wal Donnelly, Jürg Dubler, John Fenning, Rollo Fielding, Peter Gethin, Mike Gill, Natalie Goodwin, Erik Hazelhoff, Tommy Hitchcock, Tetsu Ikuzawa, Chris Irwin, Fritz Kallenberger, Mike Knight, Tony Lanfranchi, Lars Lindberg, Roger Mac, Steve Matchett, Fred McLean, Silvio Moser, Jackie Oliver, Ronnie Peterson, Alec Poole, Alan Rollinson, Tim Schenken, Len Selby, Richard Smith, Harry Stiller, Keith St. John, Jim Sullivan, Picko Troberg, Ole Vejlund, Mike Walker, Robin Widdows, Chris Williams, Frank Williams, Jonathan Williams.

BT16
Mike Barnett, Trevor Blokdyk, Dieter Bohnhorst, Ernesto Brambilla, Ken Costello, Carlo Facetti, John Hartle, Cliff Haworth, Chris Irwin, Lewis Kerr, Robs Lamplough, Lars Lindberg, Roger Mac, Silvio Moser, Brian Newton, Filippe Nogueria, Antonio Peixinho, George Pitt, Clay Regazzoni, Harry Stiller, Jim Sullivan, Tony Trimmer, David Walker, Dave Williamson.

BT15
Andrea de Adamich, Ray Allen, Patrick Allfrey, Giancarlo Baghetti, Bernard Baur, Dieter Bentz, Ernesto Brambilla, Johnny Calvert, John Cardwell, Roger Challoy, Graham Coaker, Ken Costello, Chris Craft, Jorge Cupiero, Paul Deetens, Michel Delacave, Liane Engeman, Andrew Fletcher, Sven Fürstenhoff, Pierre-Yves Gaggio, Cliff Haworth, Jens Heggov, Mike Keens, Chris Lambert, Tony Lanfranchi, Gijs van Lennep, Mike Loasby, Steve Matchett, Charles “Chuck” McCarty, John Millar, Manfred Möhr, Chris Moore, David Morgan, Brian Newton, Filippe Nogueria, George Pairetti, John Patterson, John Peterson, Teddy Pilette, John Ralph, Clay Regazzoni, Rolf Scheel, Martin Slater, Martin Stephani, Keith St. John, Ulf Svensson, Sverrir Thoroddson, Picko Troberg, Alex Trotter, Andreas Vianini, Mike Walker, Alistair Welch, Per-Olaf Zetterström.

BT14
Graham Coaker, Philippe Vidal.

BT10
Andrea de Adamich, Ray Calcutt, Charles Crichton-Stuart, Robin Darlington, Martin Davies, Carlo Facetti, Oscar ‘Cacho’ Fangio, Chris Jackson, Mike Keens, Mike Knight, Robert Lamplough, Tico Martini, Geoff Oliver, Jonathan Williams.

BT9
Ray Calcutt, Syd Fox, John Hartle, Dan Hawkes, David Rees, John Tomlinson, Tony Trimmer.

BT6
Bengt Berghom, Norman Foulds, Graham White.

?
Franco Bernabei, Lars Bjühr, Juan-Manual Bordeu, Roger Brash, Nasif Estefano, Tim Featherstonehaugh, Rene Fiesler, Kurt Gåre, Francesco Ghezzi, Andrew Huggett, Chris Jackson, Jean Johansson, Henry (Henrico) Jorger, Lewis Kerr, “Kurt”, Eddy Levin, Marco Macciantelli, Dino Margina, Luigi Malanca, Corrado Manfredini, Sven Mattson, Estefano Nasif, Luigi Petri, Jean Christian Petriacq, Jaime Piera, Vincente Sergio, Alfredo Simoni, Hans Sjosted, A. Tosi, Dieter Wipperfürth, Geddes Yeates.

1967
BT21B
Mike Keens, Dave Williamson.

BT21
Kurt Ahrens jnr., Mike Beckwith, Derek Bell, Bengt Bergholm, Dave Berry, Mike Beuttler, Bev Bond, Richard Burton, John Cardwell, Carlos Gaspar, Jean-Pierre Cassegrain, Brian Classick, Piers Courage, Charles Crichton-Stuart, Ken Crook, Prince Adam Czartoryski, Mac Daghorn, Jürg Dubler, Jörgen Ellekaer, Lars Elgén, Liane Engemann, Peter Fattorini, Rollo Fielding, Norman Foulds, Alain Franceschi, Howden Ganley, Carlos Gasper, Peter Gaydon, Peter Gethin, Natalie Goodwin, “Guido”, Jan Heggov, Philippe de Henning, Tommy Hitchcock, Tetsu Ikuzawa, Chris Jackson, Mike Keens, John Kendall, Leo Kinnunen, Mike Knight, Richard Knight, Robert Lamplough, Tony Lanfranchi, Gijs van Lennep, Curt Lincoln, Lars Lindberg, Charles Lucas, Corrado Manfredini, Tico Martini, Maurizio Montagnani, Silvio Moser, Morris Nunn, Ingvar Pettersson, Roy Pike, Comte Adam Potocki, Dave Rees, Doug Revson, Alan Rollinson, Malcolm Smith, Harry Stiller, Ulf Svensson, Andrea Vianini, Jouko Valli, Ole Vejlund, Mike Walker, Peter Westbury, Mervin Wingfield, Chris Williams, Roger Woodward.

BT18
Claude Ballot-Léna, Bernhard Baur, Mike Beckwith, Giugielmo Bellasi, Dave Berry, Trevor Blokdyk, Dieter Bohnhorst, John Campbell, George Cayley, Patrick Champin, Graham Coaker, David Cole, Eduardo Copello, Ken Crook, John Davies, Wal Donnelly, Jürg Dubler, Nasif Estefano, Beat Fehr, Pierre-Yves Gaggio, Howden Ganley, Peter Gaydon, Natalie Goodwin, Tony Goodwin, Egert Haglund, David Hobbs, Tetsu Ikuzawa, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Curt-Rune Johansson, Henry Jorger, Fritz Kallenberger, Harry King, Leo Kinnunen, Matti Lamminen, Robert Lamplough, Tony Lanfranchi, Carlos Marincovich, Rafael Marsans, Carlos Martin, Steve Matchett, Charles (Chuck) McCarty, Chris Meek, Ben Moore, Silvio Moser, Fillippe Nogueira, Joaquim Nogueira, Carlos Pairetti, Louis Parsons, John Patterson, Ronnie Peterson, Jaime Piera, George Pitt, Dave Rees, Alan Rollinson, Pierre Ryser, Richard Shardlow, Tim Schenken, Harry Stiller, Ulf Svensson, John Tomlinson, Alistair Walker, Mike Walker, Reine Wisell, David Williamson.

BT16
Ernesto Brambilla, Jean-Pierre Cornet, Jacques Crozier, Paul Deetens, Christophe Drier, Hans-Jürgen Duchene, Carlo Facetti, Cliff Haworth, Marcel Hollebeck, Michel Hollebecq, Tony Huggett, Jean Johansson, Eric de Keyn, René Ligonnet, Manfred Möhr, Silvio Moser, Brian Newton, Raimo Rinne, Hans Sjöstedt, Jean Sulpice, David Williamson.

BT15/18
Patrick Allfrey, Steve Matchett.

BT15
Patrick Allfrey, Bernard Baur, Dieter Bentz, Lars Bjühr, Max Bonnin, Juan-Manual Bordeu, John Campbell, Patrick Champin, David Conning, Jean-Pierre Cornet, Ken Costello, Alan Daykin, Jürg Dubler, Norman Foulds, Kai Godenhjelm, Franz Graf, Jean Johansson, Jean-Claude Lhoro, Greg Lilley, Ross MacGillivray, Barrie Maskell, Charles McCarty, John Millar, Manfred Möhr, Brian Newton, Geoff Oliver, John Ralph, Clay Regazzoni, Fritz Riesen, Rolf Scheel, Kurt Seerup, Martin Slater, Malcolm Smith, Martin Stephani, Ulf Svensson, Len Ward, Mike Watkins.

BT10
Andrea de Adamich, David Morgan, Geoff Oliver, Louis Parsons, John Patterson, Alex Trotter.

BT9
Börje Björkqvist, Norman Foulds, Alan Minshaw.

?
Jean Belin, Bengt Bergholm (chassis listed as Brabham Special), David Bridges, Ken Crook, “Guido”, Mike Herbertson, Kjell Jansson, Curth-Rune Johansson, Henry Jorger, Bob King, Stefano Monti, Rosario Nicoletti, Henri Pastrie, Brian Peake, Adam Potocki, Frank Ruata, Saverio Salerno, Andrea Saltari, Giuseppe Simini.

1968
BT21B
Bernhard Baur, Bev Bond, Richard Burton, Jean-Pierre Cassegrain, Patrick Champin, Jürg Dubler, John Epton, Peter Gethin, Jean-François Gerbault, Francesco Ghezzi, Carlos Giro, Malcolm Guthrie, Tetsu Ikuzawa, José-Maria Juncadella, Mike Keens, Rene Ligonnet, Curt Lincoln, Gunnar Martinsson, Wayne Mitchell, Ove Nicklasson, Per-Jonas Qvarnström, Giuseppe Simini, Harry Stiller, Bill Stone, UIf Svensson, Philip Tose, Alex Trotter, Peter Westbury, Dave Williamson.

BT21
Prince Jorge de Bagration, Bernhard Baur, Mike Beckwith, Kaj Berglund, Mike Beuttler, Lars Bjuhr, Bev Bond, Richard Burton, Jean-Pierre Cassegrain, Peter Ditzler, Wal Donnelly, Jürg Dubler, Hans-Jurgen Duchene, Jean-Paul Elena, Jörgen Ellekaer, Jean-Pierre Ellena, Juan Fernandez, Alain Franchesi, Pierre-Yves Gaggio, Howden Ganley, Carlos Gaspar, Francesco Ghezzi, Natalie Goodwin, Bill Gowdy, Rosario Grasso, Rolf Gröndahl, “Guido”, Malcolm Guthrie, Egert Haglund, Peter Hanson, Eddie Jacobsson, Jean Johansson, Ulf Karlsson, Peter Korda, Kinny Lall, Matti Lamminen, Tony Lanfranchi, Gijs van Lennep, Curt Lincoln, Lars Lindberg, Gunnar Martinsson, Chuck McCarty, John Miles, Manfred Möhr, Maurizio Montagnani, “Pelé”, Jan Persson, Ingvar Pettersson, Davy Powell, Jonas Qvarnström, Roland Salomon, Georges Schäfer, Giuseppe Simini, Karl Starke, Harry Stiller, Bill Stone, Ulf Svensson, Rolf Tellsten, Ole Vejlund, Philippe Vidal.

BT18/21B
Bill Stone.

BT18
Gustaf Dieden, Wal Donnelly, Fritz Kallenberger, Jean Johansson, Charles McCarty, Hans Nilsson, Georges Schäfer, Bill Stone.

BT16
René-Pierre Alié, Paul Deetens, Jacques Demoulin, Hans-Jürgen Duchene, Jörgen Ellekaer, Giancarlo Gagliardi, Manfred Möhr, Hans Sjöstedt.

BT15
René-Pierre Alié, Rudolfo Bay, Ole B. Damm, Karl Starke, Jean-Bernard Sulpice, Rodolfo Bay Wright.

BT10
“El Abulense”, Giorgio Pianta.

?
Helmut Adams, Börje Björqvist, Lars Bjuhr, Ulf Boman, Brüdes, M. Carbajo, Ernst Degner, Bo Ericsson, Juan Fernandez, Arthur Frischknecht, Daniel Gache, Rosario Grasso, Jean Johansson, Gunnar Martinsson, Massimo Natili, Hans Nilsson, “Pelé”, Giorgio Pianta, Gianluigi Picchi, Raimo Rinne, Diego Ritucci, Saverio Salerno, Andrea Saltari, Georges Schäfer, Félix Serra, Karl Starke.

1969
BT28
Mike Beuttler, Bev Bond, Jean-Pierre Cassegrain, Ernst Degner, Gustav Dieden, Alan Harvey, Keith Jupp, John Kendall, Wayne Mitchell, Ingvar Petersson, Tim Schenken, Ulf Svensson, Sverrir Thoroddsson.

BT23
Claudio Francisci.

BT21B
Bev Bond, Mats Bystrom, Humphrey Corbett, Jürg Dubler, Norman Foulds, Natalie Goodwin, Rolf Gröndahl, Bert Hawthorne, Eddie Jacobson, Roger Keele, Gregor Krönegard, Brendan McInerney, Torsten Palm, Luigi Petri, Per-Jonas Qvarnström, Alan Rollinson, Rolf Tellsten, Cyd Williams.

BT21
Mike Beckwith, David Cole, Willi Deutsch, Bo Ericsson, Walter Flückiger, Pierre-Yves Gaggio, Bill Gowdy, Rolf Gröndahl, Andreas Hängärtner, Keith Holland, James Hunt, Jean Johansson, Eddie Jacobsson, Wayne Mitchell, Gunnar Martinson, Jean-Bernard Mermod, Wayne Mitchell, Jan-Olaf Persson, Siegfried Schrieder, Richard Scott, Ole Vejlund, Jorg Zabrowski.

BT18
Peter Deal, Rainer Kaese, Ed Reeves, Rene Scailet, Gerald Storrer.

BT16
Giancarlo Gagliardi.

BT15
Karl Starke.

?
Harald Kämpf, Luigi Petri.

1970
BT28
Conny Andersson, Dick Barker, Luigi Battistello, Jacques Beranger, Mike Beuttler, Gerry Birrell, Jean Blanc, Carlo Breidenstein, Jean-Pierre Cassegrain, Gustav Dieden, “Dubis”, Jim Edwards, Jörgen Ellekaer, Adelmo Fossati, Claudio Francesci, Giancarlo Gagliardi, John Gillmeister, Rolf Gröndahl, Sten Gunnarsson, Alan Harvey, Sigi Hofmann, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Jorgen Jonsson, Keith Jupp, Giovanni Lo Voi, Allan McCully, Torsten Palm, Luigi Petri, Ingvar Pettersson, Pino Pica, David Purley, Erkki Salminen, Richard Scott, Alan Stubbs, Ulf Svensson, Sverrir Thorodsson, Tony Trimmer, Cyd Williams, Bob Wollek.

BT21B
Per-Eric Ericsson, Rolf Gröndahl, Bob Howlings, Jean-Bernard Mermod, Gianluigi Picchi, Rolf Tellsten, Ole Vejlund.

BT21
Alfano, Tony Birchenhough, Vittorio Brambilla, John Buxton, Dumons, Pierre-Yves Gaggio, Egert Haglund, Heinz Hartmann, Hans Sjostedt, Peter Korda.

BT18
Dietmar Flöer.

BT15
Jo Vonlanthen.

?
Klaus Enders, Arthur Frischknecht, Manfred Möhr, Giorgio Pianta, Taisto Saaria, Rolf Zumstein.

1971
BT35
Conny Anderson, Tom Belso, Mimo Bertoni, Jörgen Jonsson, Jean-Louis Lafosse, Bernard Lagier, Randy Lewis, Josef Ludescher, Jochen Mass, Jean-Bernard Mermod, Brendan McInerney, Jörg Obermoser, Chris O’Brien, Torsten Palm, Jan Persson, Terrance Petersson, Ingvar Petersson, Jorge Pinhol, Pierre-Giorgio Provolo, Pierre-Francois Rousselot, Lothar Schorg, Hannu Maurer Stroh, Ulf Svensson, Colin Vandervell.

BT28
Luigi Battistello, Girolamo Bertoni, Max Bonin, Carlo Breidenstein, Biagi Cammerone, Sonny Eade, Jose Ferreira, Adelmo Fossati, Giancarlo Gagliardi, Marcello Gallo, Rolf Gröndhal, Sten Gunnarsson, Egert Haglund, Peter Hull, Alan Jones, Alan Joy, Gerd Koppenhauser, Stan Matthews, Torsten Palm, Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi, David Purley, Jonas Qvarnstrom, Remo Ramanzino, Ronald Rossi, Erkki Salminen, Sandy Shepard, Ulf Svensson.

BT21B
Roger Rey.

BT21
John-Erik Johansson, Felix Martin, Erkki Salminen.

BT15
Karl Meisner.

?
Jean Blanc, Dieter Görsch, Jochen Mass, Hans Obrist, Reinhard Pfländer, Andrea Zucchi, Rolf Zumstein.

1972
BT38
Conny Anderson, Vittorio Brambilla, Tony Brise, Peter Hull, Alan Jones, Randy Lewis, John MacDonald, Damien Magee, Alan McCully, Bill McGovern, Brian McGuire, Ed Patrick, Rob Shellard, Ulf Svensson.

BT35
Conny Andersson, Yannick Auxemery, Carlos Azevedo, Giuseppi Bianchi, Adelmo Bignami, Max Bonnin, Ernesto Brambilla, Vittorio Brambilla, Sandro Cinotti, Alberto Colombo, Jurg Dubler, Togna Fiorenzo, Marcello Gallo, Phillipp Gantner, Wilhelm Geiss, Carlo Giorgio, Egert Haglund, Jorgen Jonsson, Ulf Karlsson, Heinz Lange, Lella Lombardi, Joseph Ludescher, Ronnie MacKay, Roberto Marazzi, Jean-Bernard Mermod, Manfred Möhr, Gunnar Nordström, Jörg Obermoser, Chris O’Brien, Torsten Palm, Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi, Giorgio Pianta, Pino Pica, Rolf Reisen, Kurt Rieder, Erkki Salminen, Hannu Maurer Stroh, Lars-Ake Tejby, Per-Olof Zetterström.

BT28
Paul Butler, Gianni Giudici, Reg James, Ulf Karlsson, Andy MacGregor, Nörbert Schüler, Bob Shellard, David Wadham-Smith.

BT21
Hans Burghöfer.

1973
BT41
Alberto Colombo, Giorgio Francia, Claudio Francisci, Ole Fall, Johnny Gerber, Ulf Karlsson, Loris Kessel, Randy Lewis, Lella Lombardi, John MacDonald, Damien Magee, Aldo Maggi, Larry Perkins, Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi, Ulf Svensson, Tony Trimmer, Per-Olof Zetterström.

BT38
Jimmy Fuller, Lasse Karlsson, Geoff Lambert, Joseph Ludescher.

BT35
Conny Andersson, Luigi Cinotti, Sandro Cinotti, Jurg Dubler, Marcello Gallo, Roberto Marazzi, Jean-Bernard Mermod, Andy McGregor, Torsten Palm, Giorgio Pianta, Erkki Salminen.

BT28/35
Eggert Haglund.

BT28
Erkki Salminien, Stellan Wingard.

1974
BT41
Eros Corolli, Robert Joubert, Loris Kessel, Aldo Maggi, Gaudenzo Mantova, Roberto Manzoni, Patrick Neve, Guido Passera, Luciano Pavesi, Clas Sigurdsson, Ulf Svensson, Ronny Wallin.

BT38
Lasse Karlsson.

BT35
Rolf Riesen, Lars Svensson.

1975
BT41
Luigino Grassi, Luciano Pavesi, Frederico Ragailo, Erkki Salminien, Clas Sigurdson, Ulf Svensson.

BT38
Lasse Karlsson.

1976
BT41
Peter Argetsinger, Guido Dacco, Lars Svensson, Jean-Jaques Witz.

BT38
Thorbjörn Carlsson.

1977
BT41
Lars Svensson.

BT28
Willi Hüsgen.

1978 BT28
Willi Hüsgen.

1979 BT28
Willi Hüsgen.

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Branca

Branca

Aquilino Branca and his team were based in Buscate on the outskirts of Milan and for some 20 years built a limited number of cars for Formula Junior and F3. The cars were sometimes named Moretti but since there was a Fiat conversion specialist in Turin with the same name, Branca was often used instead. The company first produced an F3 car in 1952 but owing to the popularity of Formula Junior in Italy a change to this formula was quickly adopted with a front-engined Fiat 1100 engine powered chassis. A change to a rear engined car followed but success was limited against the all conquering Stanguellini cars and the later British models. A switch to sports cars was the next chapter of the Branca story and then in 1964 a new F3 on Brabham lines with a Ford engine was introduced with some success. Branca continued intermittently building F3 cars until 1978 when they withdrew from racing.

1967

Thimgs were quiet for Branca until 1967 when Giancarlo Baghetti won a F3 slipstreamer at Monza For the first time Branca employed a monocoque chassis and later in the season a wedge shaped body was applied.

1971

During the middle of 1971 a Nova engined car appeared called the Branca 71 appeared and Giovanni Salvati won another race at Monza. Half a dozen drivers used a Branca during 1972 with minor success. That seemed to be almost the end of Branca with only the occasional appearance through to 1978.

1974

During the middle of 1971 a Nova engined car appeared called the Branca 71 appeared and Giovanni Salvati won another race at Monza. Half a dozen drivers used a Branca during 1972 with minor success. That seemed to be almost the end of Branca with only the occasional appearance through to 1978.

1978

This would seem to be the last of the F3 Brancas. Racing in 1978 it is notable for the slimness of the tub, however this is somewhat negated by the front suspension and the rear radiator being hung well out in the breeze!

Drivers

1964 Aquilino Branca, Carlo Facetti, Salvatore Giglio, Domenico Lo Coco, Ettore Rovida.

1965 Aquilino Branca, Giancarlo Gagliardi, Domenico Lo Coco.

1966 Giancarlo Baghetti, Ernesto Brambilla, Giancarlo Gagliardi.

1967 Scott Anderson, Giancarlo Baghetti, Lella Lombardi, Manfred Möhr, Luciano Pavesi.

1968 Enzo Corti, Carlo Franchi, Franco Galli, Lella Lombardi, Aldo Maggi, Luciano Pavesi, Giorgio Pianta, Pino Pica, Pier-Giorgio Provolo.

1969

1970 Aldo Maggi.

1971 Aldo Maggi, Luciano Pavesi, Giovanni Salvati

1972 Bergami, Aldo Maggi, Gaudenzio Mantova, Renzo Zorzi.

1974 Bruno Beccaro.

1976 Bruno Beccaro.

1978 Bozzetto

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Bowman

bc1a
The first appearance of the Bowman BC1.

Bowman

Steve Hollman started in motor racing working for his brother Vic who had formed the PRS F Ford 1600 and F Ford 2000 manufacturing company. Hollman then moved to Ralt Cars and in 1987 he was in charge of Eddie Jordan’s team that won the British F3 Championship with Johnny Herbert. For 1988 Hollman formed his own team, Bowman Racing, run from Gomm Metal Developments base in Woking, Surrey. The team ran a pair of Ralt RT32s in the British Championship and finished second in the standings with Gary Brabham winning three of the last four races. For 1989 it was even better with with David Brabham taking the Lucas Championship in a Ralt RT33, Steve Robertson finished fifth in a similar car and the team took first and second in the Class B for year-old cars with their RT32s. They continued with the RT33s in 1990, taking third and fifth with Steve Robertson and Peter Kox and once again winning in Class B with Charles Rickett. In an effort to get an edge over their rivals they built their own car in 1991 running it alongside a Ralt RT35.

1991

The first Bowman was designed by Bruce Cary (hence BC1), Cary having had some 12 years experience of engineering F3 cars especially Ralts. The whole car was based around its Spiess VW engine, the chassis was built of carbon-fibre composite with the extensive use of Kevlar. Suspension was pushrod at the front, pullrod at the rear and both the front and rear tracks were as narrow as possible to minimise the whole width of the car. The whole car looked very small and low compared with its rivals and every possible aerodynamic advantage was looked for including fairing in the rear suspension. The car was late out, originally intended to be out in 1990 it didn’t get on the tracks until the winter. Following an abortive test at Silverstone with Steve Robertson the narrow track suspension and enclosed bodywork were dropped and the contemporary coke-bottle shape and a wider track were adopted. Unfortunately for Bowman the Spiess VW wasn’t the engine to have and lead driver Steve Robertson didn’t like it so the team were stuck with running the BC1 and a Ralt RT35. Osvaldo Negri had some good runs and took a couple of thirds.

1992

The BC2 was an evolution of the BC1, the all-composite chassis was designed by Damon Chandler and had a larger cockpit than the BC1 and much more resembled its contemporaries. Mechanically it was almost identical to the BC1. Two cars went to France and Boullion won three races in the French Championship with his VW powered example finishing fourth in the final standings. Some cars were sold to Japan but results were very disappointing there with no top six finishes.

1993

The BC3, the 1993 car, was introduced at the end of 1992 and was heavily based on the BC2, there was a new tub and modified front suspension. Sadly the modifications seem to have moved the car backwards, Christophe Tinseau raced the car in France but struggled, switching to a Dallara he was immediately on the pace indicating the problem was the chassis not the driver. In Japan Souda Takeshi similarly found the BC3 a midfield runner in the one race he used it for, he too then took the Dallara option.
At the end of the year Jamie Spence appeared for the last couple of Japanese races in the BC4. The new car was mechanically virtually identical to the BC3 but it was heavily modified aerodynamically. Spence failed to qualify for one race with engine woes, he then qualified 25th and finished tenth in the final race indicating the new car was no better than the old one. Other than a brief appearance in the B class for year-old cars in 1994 with both the BC4 and the BC3 this was Bowman’s last show in F3.

Drivers

1991 Olivia Beretta, Yukihiro Hane, Osvaldo Negri, Steve Robertson.

1992
BC2
Eric Angelvy, “Jules” Boullion, Franck Guibbert, Shinsuke Shibahara, Takeshi Souda, Kouji Takahashi.

BC3
Olivier Thevenin.

1993
BC4
Jamie Spence.

BC3
Martyn Koene, Nicolas Leboissetier, Souda Takeshi, Christophe Tinseau.

BC2
Hiroyuki Aoki, Jean-Claude de Castelli, Miguel de Castro, Yukihiro Hane, Ryou Michigami, Jamie Spence, Kazuteru Wakida, Stephen Watson.

1994
BC4
Piers Hunnisett.

BC3
Davide Campana.

2000 BC2
Jukka Ylitalo.

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BPG

bpg1
The F Ford version of the BPG.

BPG

The BPG was announced in early 1968, primarily it was designed for F Ford use but it was also advertised as suitable for both F3 and F Libre racing, it was built by BPG Engineering in Leicester. The chassis was a tubular spaceframe with a sheet steel undertray, front suspension was via unequal length wishbones with a reversed lower wishbone, top link and twin radius rods found at the rear. Armstrong adjustable dampers were used and there was anti-dive built into the front suspension. In F Ford spec (designated as RA-2) the wheelbase was 91.0 ins with a front track of 52 ins and a rear track of 54.0 ins. There is no record of any F3 cars being built although at least one car was fitted with a twin-cam engine, bigger wheels and tyres and raced in F Libre with the RA-3 designation.
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Bovy

Bovy80
The Bovy on display at the Brussels Racing Car Show.

Bovy

One of Belgium’s few forays into the world of 2-litre Formula 3, it was built by Belgian F3 driver Quirin Bovy.

1980

The Bovy PB4 looked very similar to the Dallara designed 1978 Wolf. The car was powered by the ubiquitous Toyota Novamotor engine and 2 cars raced during the season with no success.

Drivers

1980 Quirin Bovy, Patrick Lancelot, Pierre Petit.