Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 May 1971

oulton_31_5_71

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 May 1971

oulton_31_5_71

23 drivers arrived to contest the British Empire Trophy at Oulton Park from an original entry of 45, it was a two heat and a final format with the cars divided unevenly between the two heats due to the non-starters.

Dave Walker duly took pole position for the first heat by two tenths from Steve Thompson’s Ensign which had been repaired after its Montlhery accident. Final front row starter was Colin Vandervell in his Brabham BT35 on its new Firestones, ahead of the similar car of Brendan McInerney. Fifth fastest was series newcomer Alan McCully in an ex-works Lotus 69, this was part of the three car Australian 

International Racing Organisation which was an odd title since McCully is a New Zealander! The other two members of the team were Alan Jones and Brian McGuire with their Brabham BT28s, all three cars were using Vegantune engines running on Weber carbs. Leading the next row of the grid was Ronald Rossi in his usual Brabham BT28 ahead of Tim Goss (March), Ulf Svensson, Rikki von Opel, Pierre-Francis Rousselot and Torsten Palm. Next up was Alan Jones who had only managed two laps before an oil pipe broke causing the Aussie to spin off at Island. Final runners were Richard Longman, Bernard Lagier and another new face, Keith St John in the ex Peter Hanson Chevron B17.

There were only eight cars in the second heat and fastest for this race was Bev Bond in the works Ensign, this week trying Dunlops. Setting the same time as Bond was the March of Roger Williamson and completing the front row was a very tender (after his Monaco practice accident) Barrie Maskell. The second row was headed by Chris Skeaping’s Chevron and Brian McGuire’s ex Tony Trimmer BT28. Bringing up the rear were Alan Joy, Chris O’Brien and final débutante Bengt Radmyr in a Lotus 59/69.

With a few minutes to go before the start of the first heat panic set in when a sudden heavy rain shower soaked the track, Thompson, Vandervell, McInerney, Svensson, Goss, Palm, Longman and St John switching to wets. With five minutes to go and the track beginning to dry Thompson put the Ensign back onto dry tyres. As the flag fell Walker took an immediate lead from Vandervell and Thompson, McCully, Svensson, McInerney and Goss. On a fast drying track Walker quickly pulled away whilst Vandervell was forced to hunt for wet patches to try an cool his tyres as Thompson passed him for second place. Vandervell was able to hold onto third place ahead of a hard charging von Opel who had dropped to ninth at the start but clawed his way back to fourth. Alan Jones spun on lap one at Lodge removing his nosecone and dropping to last but got up to twelfth by the finish.

The track had dried completely by the start of heat two, not that it helped Maskell who had to be pushed off the grid when his starter motor came unattached. Bond took an immediate lead from Williamson and and Skeaping. The Ensign led to the finish but it wasn’t easy as Williamson was attacking him all round the track bur especially at Knickerbrook were he often got ahead only to drop back again at Lodge. Skeaping actually made it up to second for a few laps until fuel starvation caused his engine to cut out intermittently and he fell back again. So it was that Bond took the chequered flag only to find he had been penalised 1 minute for jumping the start which dropped him to fifth. Williamson inherited the win from Skeaping, Joy, O’Brien and Radmyr. Maskell managed to get out and do five laps to qualify for the final.

 

Williamson took pole position for the final due to the dry second heat being quicker than the damp first one but Walker who was beside him made no mistakes as the flag fell and jumped into an immediate lead. Walker was determined to try and build up as much of a lead as possible to avoid the potential threat of Bev Bond back on the fourth row and at the end of the first lap he was ahead of Williamson, Thompson, Skeaping and a fast starting Bond. Vandervell was already dropping back but was still ahead of McCully, McInerney, Rousselot, Rossi and Radmyr. Trailing well back were Maskell and Jones who had required push starts and Goss who had started a lap behind due to a fuel pump problem. On lap 2 Thompson got past Williamson who was now being threatened by Skeaping but it was Bond who was really flying and in the next three laps he dealt with all three cars and he was just 4 seconds behind Walker.
However having got up to second Bond seemed unable to close in on Walker and dropped further behind as he met backmarkers, he was also having to watch the sister Ensign of Thompson who was trying to get second place back. Thompson did get ahead briefly on lap 22 at Knickerbrook but it was all academic anyway as two laps later Bond retired with steam coming from the engine due to a blown head gasket.
Behind the leaders there was a battle royal going on between Vandervell, Rossi, McInerney, McCully, Radmyr, Rousselot, Svensson and von Opel who had made an awful start. Quickly joining this group was Barrie Maskell who carved his way through in great style, his only problem being Rossi who solved the problem by having a huge accident at Knickerbrook (without personal injury). Maskell concentrated on trying to close the gap to Skeaping whilst von Opel and Rousselot were having a great battle, behind them Vandervell was trying to get away from McInerney and Svensson.
Walker was finding it easy at the front extending his lead from a tiring Thompson, Williamson and a closing Skeaping. Sadly Maskell’s great drive came to an end 10 laps from the finish when he had to stop for a new battery which dropped him to the tail of the field. At the finish Walker won by nearly 40 seconds from Thompson, Williamson, and Skeaping. von Opel just beat Rousselot to fifth ahead of a lapped Vandervell, Svensson, McCully and McInerney.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 May 1971

Qualifying Heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:42.6

2 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.8

3 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:43.2

4 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:44.0

5 Allan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 1:44.4

6 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:45.0

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:45.4

8 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:45.6

9 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:45.6

10 Pierre-François

Rousselot Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:46.2

11 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:47.0

12 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:47.6

13 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:47.8

14 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:50.2

15 Keith St John

Chevron-Piper B17 1:54.2

Qualifying Heat 2

1 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.0

2 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:42.0

3 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:42.8

4 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:44.6

5 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:45.8

6 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:47.6

7 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:48.0

8 Bengt Radmyr

Lotus-Holbay 59/69 1:48.2

Race Heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:42.6

2 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.8

3 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:43.2

4 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:44.0

5 Allan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 1:44.4

6 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:45.0

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:45.4

8 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:45.6

9 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:45.6

10 Pierre-François

Rousselot Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:46.2

11 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:47.0

12 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:47.6

13 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:47.8

14 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:50.2

15 Keith St John

Chevron-Piper B17 1:54.2

Race Heat 2

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:42.0

2 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:44.6

3 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:47.6

4 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:45.8

5 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.0

6 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:48.0

7 Bengt Radmyr

Lotus-Holbay 59/69 1:48.2

8 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:42.8

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 30 May 1971

brands_30_5_71

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 30 May 1971

brands_30_5_71
Only 11 starters made it to this Lombank round due to the clashing Shell Super Oil meeting the next day at Oulton Park. As the flag dropped pole-sitter Roger Williamson’s March 713M took the lead on what was a very wet track from the Brabham BT35s of Colin Vandervell and Brendan McInerney, after 5 laps McInerney started to close in on Vandervell but then started to drop away again. After 10 laps Vandervell, who had been carrying out a lot of testing on the BT35, closed in on Williamson and for the rest of the race he harried the March unmercifully but although the Brabham was all over the March in the corners the Rowland was loosing out to the Holbay on the straights. At the finish Williamson held on to win by 0.6 seconds. McInerney finished an untroubled third ahead of Ronald Rossi’s Brabham BT28 and Jose Ferreira in a similar car, Ferreira was still wearing a plaster cast as a result of his Silverstone shunt and had the additional handicap of a 10 second penalty.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 30 May 1971

Fastest Lap

Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 |58.0 | 76.97

Race

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M | 19:44.2 | 20 | 75.40

2 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 19:44.8 20

3 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |19:56.6 | 20

4 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 |20:07.6| 20

5 Jose Ferreira

March-Holbay 713M 20:23.2 | 20

6 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69| 20:25.6 | 20

7 Geoff Bremner

Chevron-Ford| B17 | ?

8 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Ford| BT35 | 19

9 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Novamotor |BT35 | 16

Race Report: Chimay, 30 May 1971

chimay_30_5_71

Race Report: Chimay, 30 May 1971

chimay_30_5_71
Most of the British based drivers stayed at home for the clashing F3 races at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park, however the three that made it dominated the meeting. David Purley (Brabham-Holbay BT28) and Claude Bourgoignie (Lotus-Holbay 69) lead from the start and soon pulled out an 8 second lead over Randy Lewis (Brabham-Holbay BT35) but Lewis in only his second F3 race caught them back up. The three then proceeded to have a great battle to the line with 0.3 seconds covering all three at the finish, but it was the experience of Purley and Bourgoignie that told and they took first and second places. Lewis had the consolation of setting a new lap record, beating James Hunt’s old figure.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Chimay, 30 May 1971

Qualifying

Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 | 3:30.6

Fastest Lap

Randy Lewis

Brabham-Holbay BT35| 3:30.7

Race

1 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 |50:10.8 | 14

2 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 |50:11.0 | 14

3 Randy Lewis

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |50:11.1 | 14

4 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S | 14

5 Jonas Qvarnstrom

Brabham-Sportscars BT35 | 14

6 Guy Dhotel

Martini-Ford/BRM MW7 | 14

7 Roger Hurst

March-Novamotor 713M | 13

8 Utz Schad

Tecno Ford | 13

9 Josef Kremer

March-Ford 703 | 13

Race Report: Monza, 30 May 1971

monza_30_5_71
monza_30_5_71
This race (round 6 of the Italian Championship) was entitled the Coppa Agip F3 race and took place on the 2.4km junior circuit at Monza and was split into two heats and a final. Star of the Monaco F3 race Giancarlo Naddeo won the first heat from Marcello Gallo while Vittorio Brambilla in his Birel-Alfa Romeo took the second heat from the Brabham BT28 of Girolamo Bertoni. Brambilla also won the final again from Bertoni, the race being affected by a heavy rainstorm.

By this stage of the season it is possible that all the cars might have 1600cc engines.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Monza, 30 May 1971

List Formatted as -

Rank- Driver

Car | Time | Lap

Qualifying

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel-Alfa Romeo | 57.7

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 | 57.7

Race heat 1

1 Giancarlo Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor |19:50.0 20| 90.42

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 |19:50.2 | 20

3 Phillip Albera

Martini-Novamotor MW7| 19:50.5 | 20

4 Jean Blanc

Tecno-Ford| 19:50.7 | 20

5 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 |19:50.8 20

6 Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi

Brabham-Ford BT28| 19:59.8 | 20

7 Giorgio Pianta

Chevron-Alfa Romeo B17 |20:00.0 |20

8 Giuseppe 'Pino' Babbini

Tecno-Ford |20:03.4 |20

9 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 |20:14.3| 20

10 Giuseppe Piazzi

Chevron-Alfa Romeo B17 20:41.1 | 20

11 Dietmar Flöer

March-Ford 713M | 19

12 "Canale"

Tecno-Ford | 19

Fastest Lap

Giancarlo Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor| 57.4 |72.53

Race heat 2

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel-Alfa Romeo |19:46.6| 20 |90.66

2 Girolamo Bertoni

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 |19:46.8| 20

3 Giuseppi Bianchi

Lotus-Novamotor 69| 19:46.8 | 20

4 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor MW7| 19:47.0 | 20

5 Carlo Giorgio

Tecno-Novamotor |19:48.6| 20

6 Joël Auvray

Martini-Novamotor MW7| 20:01.6 |20

7 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M |20:01.6 | 20

8 Carlo Scarambone

Chevron-Novamotor B17 20:08.1 | 20

9 "Gimax"

de Sanctis-Ford| 20:08.3 |20

10 François Rabbione

Martini-Novamotor MW7 |20:27.1 | 20

11 Patrick Perrier

Martini-Ford MW7 |20:40.4

12 Guidetti

18

Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel-Alfa Romeo |37:42.9 | 31 73.69

2 Girolamo Bertoni

Brabham-Novamotor BT28| 37:49.1| 31

3 Carlo Giorgio

Tecno-Novamotor |37:49.8 |31

4 Giancarlo Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor |37:55.2 | 31

5 Giuseppe

Bianchi Lotus-Novamotor 69 |38:01.4 | 31

6 Pino Babbini

Tecno 38:18.8 | 31

7 Jean Blanc

Tecno-Ford 38:32.3 | 31

8 Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi

Brabham-Ford BT28 | 30

9 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor MW7 | 30

10 Carlo Scarambone

Chevron-Novamotor B17 | 28

11 Marcello Gallo

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 | 27

12 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M | 26

13 Joël Auvray

Martini-Novamotor MW7 |20

14 Giorgio Pianta

Chevron-Alfa Romeo B17 | 20

Race Report: Kinnekulle, 23 May 1971

kinnekulle_23_5_71

Race Report: Kinnekulle, 23 May 1971

kinnekulle_23_5_71
Round 3 of the Swedish Championship, the Svenska Mästeskapen, saw Torsten Palm take a narrow three second win over Sten Gunnarsson, both were driving Brabham Bt28s.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Kinnekulle, 23 May 1971

Qualifying

1 Rolf Gröndahl

Brabham-Ford BT28
0:56.2

Fastest Lap

Torsten Palm

Brabham-Ford BT28
0:56.1

Race

1 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Ford BT28
5:55.1
24

2 Sten Gunnarsson

Brabham-Ford BT28
25:58.4

3 Ingvar Pettersson

Brabham-Ford BT28
23:03.2

4 Rolf Gröndahl

Brabham-Ford BT28
23:10.8

5 Jean Johansson

Tecno-Ford 69
23:11.2

6 Egert Haglund

Tecno-Ford 69
23:22.2

Race Report: Montlhéry, 23 May 1971

montlery

Race Report: Montlhéry, 23 May 1971

montlery

Surprisingly this race at Montlhéry, the XVI Prix de Paris, was scheduled to take place on the day after the Monaco GP support race but even so a representative entry arrived with several drivers stopping off at the French track on their way back to their bases. The race was held over 20 laps and was the sixth round of the French F3 Championship.

Fastest in practice was Jean-Louis Lafosse in his Brabham BT35 from the Martinis of Patrice Compain and Lucien Guitteny.

At the start the leading group consisted of Lafosse, Ethuin (Tecno), Coulon (Martini), Williamson (March), Thompson (Ensign), Depailler (Alpine) and Jabouille (Alpine). Coulon was soon out with a blown engine and then Depailler crashed out at Virage de la Ferme when he hit a patch of oil. Next out was Williamson and Jabouille found himself falling back from the leading group. This left Ethuin, Lafosse and Thompson fighting for victory, Thompson got ahead of Lafosse’s Brabham but found the Tecno of Ethuin a more difficult prospect. On the last corner of the last lap Thompson pushed the Ensign ahead of the Tecno and held on to take the chequered flag by two tenths of a second. In the overtaking attempt Thompson lost control of the Lotus as it crossed the line and hit a straw bale wiping a corner off the car, he commented after it was a case of hit the bale or finish second!

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Montlhéry, 23 May 1971

Qualifying

1 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Brabham-Holbay BT35

2 Patrice Compain

Martini-Novamotor MW7

3 Lucien Guitteny

Martini-BRM MW7

4 Christian Ethuin

Tecno-Renault TF3/71

5 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Renault MW7

6 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1

7 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor MW7

8 Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360

9 Joel Auvray

Martini-Novamotor MW7

10 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M

Race

1 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 31:59.2

2 Christian Ethuin

Tecno-Renault TF3/71 31:59.4

3 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Brabham-Holbay BT35 32:03.4

4 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor MW7 32:11.9

5 Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Alpine-Renault A360 32:25.4

6 François Lacarrau

Martini-Renault MW7 19 Laps

Race Report: Markgräfler, 23 May 1971

mark_25_5_71

Race Report: Markgräfler, 23 May 1971

mark_25_5_71
This race was held at what was probably an airfield track over 15 laps of the 3.7km track, all the runners were German and it is likely that some of the cars were 1-litre powered.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Markgräfler, 23 May 1971

Race

1 Dieter Kern

March-Ford 703 | 15

2 Hannelore Werner

March-Ford 713 | 15

3 Willi Somner

March-Ford 713 | 15

4 Jo Vonlanthen

Tecno-Ford | 15

5 Wilhelm Geiss

Tecno-Ford | 15

6 Felix Martin

Brabham-Ford BT21 | 15

7 Jean-Bernard Mermod

Brabham-Ford BT28 | 15

8 Klaus Enders

March 713 | 15

9 Wilfried Holder

McNamara-Ford 3B | 15

10 Josef Kremer

March-Ford 703 | 15

11 Peter Krause

March-Ford 703

12 Hans-Peter

Hoffmann Tecno

13 Hans Werner

Tecno-Ford

14 Rolf Zumstein

Brabham

15 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Ford 713

16 Horst Seidel

Tecno-Ford

17 Gerald Storrer

Tecno-Ford

18 Hans Werner

Tecno-Ford

19 Roger Ray

Brabham BT21B

Race Report: Monaco, 22 May 1971

monaco_22_5_71

Race Report: Monaco, 22 May 1971

monaco_22_5_71

An excellent field of 45 runners arrived for this race, the F3 jewel in the crown, with just about every top car/driver combination in attendance, the only notable British non-runners being Bev Bond, James Hunt and Colin Vandervell. As was to be expected there were a significant number of French entries with Martini MW7s being a popular choice, drivers were José Dolhem (BRM), Lucien Guitteny (BRM), François Migault (Novamotor) and Patrice Compain (Novamotor), Renault powered MW7s were driven by Jacques Coulon and François Lacarrau . Renault units were also in the works Alpine A360s of Patrick Depailler and Jean-Pierre Jabouille and the Tecno of Christian Ethuin. Interestingly all the Renault power plants were still using Webers although they were expecting to switch to Lucas fuel injection shortly. Also from France were the Brabham-Holbay BT35s for Jean-Louis Lafosse, Pierre-François Rousselot and Bernard Lagier.

Nine cars came from Italy, a 1969 Tecno-Novamotor for Giancarlo Naddeo, an elderly Brabham (listed as a F2 type BT23) for Marcello Gallo also with a Novamotor. Giuseppe Bianchi and Fabrizio Noe had their Lotus-Novamotor 69s while older Novamotor powered cars were the Tecno of Giorgio Carlo and the Chevron B17 of Carlo Scarambone. Also in a Chevron B17 but with Alfa Romeo power was Sandro Cinotto. Luigi Fontanesi also arrived with his Tecno but it sat on its trailer all weekend.
A large contingent of British based runners made the trip south headed by the works Lotus-Novamotor 69 of Dave Walker. Similarly mounted was Andy Sutcliffe in his newly painted “American Express Team Lotus” Holbay car. The sole Ensign to arrive, in the absence of Bev Bond, was Steve Thompson (Holbay) whilst Roger Williamson, Tim Goss and John Bisignano had their usual March-Holbay 713s. American Cliff Haworth had his older 703 with Alfa Romeo power that he raced in European rounds, the car was entered by Team Pschitt (apparently a brand of soft drink). Barrie Maskell had the Sports Motors Chevron-Holbay B18 with Chris Skeaping in his older B17 Rowland. Two of the rarer cars were Bob Evans with the Puma BRM and newcomer Cyd Williams with the Ehrlich EMC. Brabham-Holbay BT35s arrived for usual pilote Brendan McInerney and American debutante Randy Lewis. In Holbay powered BT28s were David Purley, Ronald Rossi and Sandy Shepard.
Liechtenstein was represented by Rikki von Opel’s Lotus Holbay 69, whilst for Switzerland there were the Martini-Novamotor MW7s of François Rabbione and Phillip Albera. Sweden had the two Brabham BT35s of Ulf Svensson (Holbay) and Jonas Qvarnstrom (Swedish Sportscars). Surprisingly Germany only had two representatives, both Novamotor powered, the Lotus 69 of Manfred Möhr and the March 713M of Dietmar Floer who was having his first outing in the car. Last but not least was the Lotus-Holbay 69 of Belgium’s Claude Bourgoignie.

Friday’s practice session was cancelled due to heavy rain meaning that all qualifying would have to be done on Saturday morning’s extended session. The cars were split into two groups and the first bunch of 20 cars had to contend with a drying track and overcast conditions. José Dolhem in his Martini proved best suited to the changing conditions and set the fastest time ahead of Jabouille, Lafosse, Rousselot, Svensson and Guitteny. Lafosse managed to spin and damage his car in the tunnel but it was repaired in time for the race. Next up were a group of the British runners with Goss showing good form to lead Purley, Maskell, Shepard, Williamson and Rossi. Maskell was suffering from a bad cold and Rossi had severe engine problems necessitating a new unit be installed for the race. Surprise non-qualifier was François Migault whose engine failed after a lap time of 7:42.2, some six minutes off pole! Less surprising was the non-qualification of Chris Haworth whose Alfa engine broke an oil pipe, destroying itself and liberally soaking the circuit with lubricant.
By the time the second group of drivers joined the circuit conditions were much improved and so lap times were 2 or 3 seconds faster. Dave Walker proceeded to destroy the rest of the opposition with a 1:37.8 lap, a full 1.2 seconds quicker than next man Jacques Coulon. Close behind Coulon were Bourgoignie and Thompson with Naddeo surprising many with his sixth fastest time, next up was Depailler suffering engine problems, Lacarrau and Ethuin. Two of the British drivers in trouble were Skeaping whose throttle jammed open on his first lap at Mirabeau and he hit the sea wall wrecking his Chevron and Sutcliffe who had broken engine and gearbox mounts giving him very odd handling. Floer, who had been ready and waiting for the wet Friday session, did not appear in the dry Saturday practice for some unknown reason.
Rather unfairly the grids for the two heats were made up by putting the times from both sessions together and then selecting alternating times for each heat, this meant that the drivers from the slower first session were put at an immediate disadvantage, fastest driver from session one, Dolhem, found himself on row 2 of the first heat.

 

As the cars came out for the heat the the track was wet but beginning to dry, making the tyre choice difficult especially with the surprising omission any warm up lap to allow the drivers to check out the track conditions. Walker took an immediate lead from pole position with Bourgoignie and Depailler close behind but second row starter Dolhem had an immediate off at Tobacconists and retired immediately, Rousselot and Fossati came past minus their nose cones and Ethuin, showing signs of accident damage, pulled into the pits to retire . Rousselot’s damage must have been more than just the missing nosecone as he retired just before the Gasometer on lap four. Walker was pulling away at the front of the field whilst Bourgoignie tried desperately to hold Depailler at bay but on the fifth lap the Alpine was through although Bourgoignie wasn’t beaten and for the next six laps there was a tremendous battle between the two until Bourgoignie clipped the kerb at Gasometer breaking a rod end on the Lotus causing the Belgian to pull off to retire.
Depailler was now in an untroubled second place ahead of Sutcliffe who had been behind the similar Lotus of von Opel until the unfortunate Liechtenstein driver lost a wheel on his way up Ste Devote. There was a huge fight going on for what was now fourth place with Shepard, Rossi, Compain, Lewis and Qvarnstrom all determined to be on top, they were swopping positions all round the track and judging by some of the hairy manoeuvres it was only a matter of time before someone came to grief. With one lap to go it was Shepard leading the bunch only to swipe the Armco at Ste Devote and remove a wheel, thus fourth place fell to Compain followed by Rossi, Lewis and Qvarnstrom. Fossati’s noseless Brabham was next followed by Lagier and final qualifier Goss who was hampered first by his gear lever snapping and then by the March getting stuck in 4th gear. Scarambone helped the carnage at Ste Devote by spinning his Chevron and being collected by the similar car of Cinotti. Walker took the chequered flag a relatively comfortable 3.3 seconds ahead of Depailler, the two drivers had been swopping fastest laps during most of the race, Walker finally setting a 1:37.0 to settle the argument.

Once again conditions were tricky for this heat, like the first heat the track began wet and dried throughout the course of the race.
The second heat turned into a battle between Jabouille and the unfancied Naddeo in his Tecno, the Italian leading the opening four laps until the Alpine got past. Naddeo then sat on Jabouille’s tail until the run to the flag on the last lap when he pulled out of the slipstream, dived inside the Frenchman and took the heat victory. Steve Thompson’s Ensign kept a close eye on the battle ahead never being more than a second away in third place. Quickest man on the track was Manfred Möhr who got faster and faster as the track dried, setting a best lap of 1:35.6 as he caught up with Thompson but the Briton made the Ensign a little too wide to pass, the first four finishers were separated by 2.2 seconds at the flag. Lacarrau fell back to a distant fifth after being passed by Möhr and was chased home by Guitteny, Svensson, Williamson and Coulon who had a spin at the chicane. Final qualifier was Gallo who led home a sickly Maskell (whose cold was worse). Evans abandoned the Puma in the pits on lap 11 deciding it was uncompetitive, Lafosse was in trouble with an overheating engine, Albera had to pit a couple of times with clutch problems and Giorgio hit the barrier at Casino and retired.

 

Yet again the drivers were faced with a wet but drying track and there was a last minute panic for Dave Walker who was suffering from oil on his rear brakes from a cracked oil cooler, the car was jacked up and run with the brakes on to burn the oil away. Paul Frère dropped the flag and the two Alpines made a demon getaway from the second row with Depailler leading Jabouille at the end of the lap. Behind these two a long train followed consisting of Walker, Naddeo, Sutcliffe, Möhr, Compain, Rossi, Thompson, Lacarrau, Svensson, Guitteny, Lagier, Lewis, Qvarnstrom, Fossati, Coulon, Williamson, Goss and Gallo. Gallo had been as high as eighth but spun at the Gasometer delaying himself and several other runners, he then hit the wall at Beau Rivage ending his race for good. Also in trouble was Bernard Lagier who had to pit with a sticking throttle. Back at the front Walker wasn’t to be denied, he passed Jabouille on lap 2 and Depailler on lap 3 taking Naddeo with him. Depailler fought back and retook Naddeo for a lap until the Tecno driver got ahead again and this time made it stick. Jabouille fell further back when both Sutcliife and Möhr caught and passed him and he now found himself fighting off the attentions of Steve Thompson. Möhr fell to the back of the field when he had to make a pit stop with a flat front tyre and Compain retired his Martini with a broken rear wishbone as did team mate Coulon only his damage was to the front suspension.
Thompson now made his move and passed Jabouille and Sutcliffe whose motor was beginning to sound rough. Sutcliffe still held sixth but Roger Williamson was storming up through the field, eighteenth at the end of lap 1 he was now seventh on lap 19 and closing on Sutcliffe fast. Svensson when passed by Williamson had sat on his tail and was now up to seventh ahead of Rossi.
At the finish it was Walker who took a comfortable victory from surprise man of the meeting Giancarlo Naddeo with Depailler in third. Thompson took fourth from Jabouille, Sutcliffe who held off the charging Williamson and Svensson whilst Guitteny made it ahead of Rossi on the last lap.

 

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Monaco, 22 May 1971

List Formatted as -

Rank- Driver

Car | Time | Lap

Qualifying

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69| 1:37.8 | 2

2 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Renault MW7 | 1:39.0| 2

3 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 | 1:39.1 |2

4 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1| 1:39.6| 2

5 José Dolhem

Martini-BRM MW7| 1:40.3| 1

6 Giancarlo Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor 69 |1:40.4| 2

7 Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360| 1:40.5 | 2

8 François Lacarrau

Martini-Renault MW7 |1:40.5 | 2

9 Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Alpine-Renault A360| 1:40.8 | 1

10 Christian Ethuin

Tecno-Renault TF71/3| 1:40.8 | 2

11 Patrice Compain

Martini-Novamotor MW7 |1:40.9| 2

12 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |1:41.0| 1

13 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Novamotor 69| 1:41.0 | 2

14 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 |1:41.0 |2

15 Pierre-François

Rousselot Brabham-Holbay BT35 |1:41.4| 1

16 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |1:41.5 | 1

17 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 |1:41.6 | 2

18 Lucien Guitteny

Martini-BRM MW7 |1:41.8 | 1

19 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M |1:41.9| 1

20 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28| 1:42.1| 1

21 Randy Lewis

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |1:42.1 | 2

22 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18|1:42.6| 1

23 Sandy Shepard

Brabham-Holbay BT28| 1:42.8| 1

24 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35| 1:42.8| 2

25 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69| 1:42.9 | 2

26 Marcello Gallo

Brabham-Novamotor BT23| 1:43.2| 2

27 Giuseppe Bianchi

Lotus-Novamotor 69| 1:43.3| 2

28 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M| 1:43.4 | 1

29 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 |1:43.5| 1

30 François Rabbione

Martini-Novamotor MW7| 1:43.6 | 1

31 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 |1:43.7 | 1

32 Phillip Albera

Martini-Novamotor MW7| 1:43.8 | 1

33 Jonas Qvarnstrom

Brabham-Sportscars BT35| 1:44.4| 1

34 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M|1:44.6 | 2

35 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |1:45.0| 1

36 Cyd Williams

Ehrlich-EMC| 1:45.9 | 2

37 Sandro Cinotti

Chevron-Alfa Romeo B17 |1:46.0 | 2

38 Bob Evans

Puma-BRM |1:48.2 |2

39 Carlo Giorgio

Tecno-Novamotor |1:50.9 | 1

40 Carlo Scarambone

Chevron-Novamotor B17 |1:51.1 | 2

41 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor M Martini-Novamotor |MW7 7:42.2 | 1

42 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17| NT | 2

43 Cliff Haworth

March-Alfa Romeo 703 |1:51.1 (DNS) | 1

44 Dietmar Floer

March-Novamotor 713M| DNP 2

45 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Novamotor |DNP | 1W7 |1:43.8 |1

Fastest Lap

Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69| 1:36.1 | 73.59

Race heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 26:33.1| 16 | 70.65

2 Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360 26:36.4 | 16

3 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 27:22.9 | 16

4 Patrice Compain

Martini-Novamotor MW7 27:33.4 | 16

5 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 27:34.1 | 16

6 Randy Lewis

Brabham-Holbay BT35 27:34.8 |16

7 Jonas Qvarnstrom

Brabham-Sportscars BT35 27:51.2 | 16

8 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 28:04.0 | 16

10 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 28:08.1 |16

11 Sandy Shepard

Brabham-Holbay BT28| 15

12 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Novamotor 69 | 15

13 Giuseppe Bianchi

Lotus-Novamotor 69 | 14

Race heat 2

1 Giancarlo Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor 69 |26:04.9 |16 |71.97

2 Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Alpine-Renault A360 |26:05.1| 16

3 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1| 26:06.4 | 16

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69| 26:07.1 | 16

5 François Lacarrau

Martini-Renault MW7 |26:26.2 |16

6 Lucien Guitteny

Martini-BRM MW7 |26:28.5 | 16

7 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |26:36.6 | 16

8 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M| 26:38.4 | 16

9 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Renault MW7 |26:38.8 | 16

10 Marcello Gallo

Brabham-Novamotor BT23 |26:39.0 | 16

11 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 |26:41.9| 16

12 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 |26:44.3| 16

13 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |26:55.2 | 16

14 François Rabbione

Martini-Novamotor MW7 |27:09.4| 16

15 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M | 15

16 Cyd Williams

Ehrlich-EMC | 15

Race Final

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 39:16.4 24 71.65

2 Giancarlo Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor 69 39:26.9 24

3 Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360 39:28.2 | 24 |

4 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 |40:01.3 | 24

5 Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Alpine-Renault A360| 40:05.7 |24

6 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 |40:08.1 |24

7 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M |40:10.2 |24

8 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |40:10.5 | 24

9 Lucien Guitteny

Martini-BRM MW7 |40:20.2 | 24

10 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 |40:21.5| 24

11 François Lacarrau

Martini-Renault MW7| 40:42.3 |24

12 Randy Lewis

Brabham-Holbay BT35 | 23

13 Jonas Qvarnstrom

Brabham-Sportscars BT35| 23

14 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M | 23

15 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 | 23

16 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35| 21

17 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 | 17

18 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Renault MW7 | 12

19 Patrice Compain

Martini-Novamotor MW7 | 4

20 Marcello Gallo

Brabham-Novamotor |BT23 | 1

Race Report: Imola, 16 May 1971

imola_16_5_71

Race Report: Imola, 16 May 1971

imola_16_5_71
Another round of the Italian F3 Championship.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Imola, 16 May 1971

Race

1 Gianfranco Naddeo

Tecno-Novamotor TF69

2 Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi

Brabham BT28

3 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham

Race Report: Zandvoort, 16 May 1971

zandvoort_16_5_71

Race Report: Zandvoort, 16 May 1971

zandvoort_16_5_71
Pole sitter Steve Thompson on his way through
the sand dunes of Zandvoort.

The clashing races at Oulton Park and Silverstone helped keep the number of starters down to 23 for this round of the Shell Super Oil Championship. The entry consisted of the usual British Championship contenders with the addition of a couple of newcomers. Lotus 69s were handled by Dave Walker (Novamotor), Andy Sutcliffe (Holbay), Freddy Kottulinsky (BMW), Sigi Hoffman (Holbay), Claude Bourgoignie (Holbay), Harald Ertl (Alfa Romeo) and Manfred Möhr (Novamotor). James Hunt’s March-

Holbay 713S had been repaired after it’s Silverstone shunt, other Marches were driven by Roger Williamson, Tim Goss, Franz Pesch, and Wolfgang Bülow all with Holbay powered 713s, Hermann Unold had a Schnitzer-tuned BMW in his 713. In Brabham BT35s were Colin Vandervell (Rowland), Brendan McInerney, Bernard Lagier and Ulf Svensson, all Holbay, David Purley (Holbay) and Peter Hull (Rowland) had their BT28s. Completing the entry list Bev Bond and Steve Thompson had their Ensign-Holbay LN1s while Chevron were represented by Barrie Maskell in his Holbay powered B18 and Chris Skeaping in his B17 (Rowland).

Practice consisted of two half hour sessions and by the end Steve Thompson had planted his Ensign on pole followed by the Loti of Walker and Möhr. James Hunt was disappointed to end up on the back row after his engine siezed on his third practice lap, he was able to borrow a spare from Brendan McInerney for the race

The race format was two 20 lap heats with the result being decided on aggregate times. Barrie Maskell had a few moments panic at the start of the first heat when his engine wouldn’t start but luckily it fired up at the last moment. The start was clean but at the second corner Ertl made contact with Kottulinsky who went off the track taking Svensson with him, this split the field into two with Bond, Möhr, Walker and Thompson leading. Bad luck soon struck Thompson as a piston failed leaving the other three ahead with Vandervell, McInerney, Maskell, Bourgoignie and Williamson following, these five caught up with the leaders again but Vandervell began to fall away. Hunt, embroiled in a battle with Ertl and Purley, was not making any progress, being hampered with handling problems. Back at the front McInerney locked up going into Tarzan and Williamson spun off in avoidance, this left Walker to take a very narrow victory from Bond, Maskell and Bourgoignie, all four covered by less than half a second.

 

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Zandvoort, 16 May 1971

Qualifying

1 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:34.0

2 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:34.1

3 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:38.2

4 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:34.8

5 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:34.8

6 Freddy Kottulinsky

Lotus-BMW 69 1:35.1

7 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:35.2

8 Colin Vandervel

l Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:35.2

9 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:35.2

10 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:35.5

11 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:35.8

12 Harald Ertl

Lotus-Alfa Romeo 69 1:36.2

13 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:36.8

14 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:36.9

15 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:37.3

16 Hermann Unold

March-Holbay 713S 1:37.4

17 Sigi Hoffman

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:37.6

18 Franz Pesch

March-Holbay 713S 1:37.6

19 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 1:38.5

20 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:38.7

21 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:40.1

22 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713S 1:40.4

23 Peter Hull

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:40.5

Fastest Lap

Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:34.0 160.412

Race Heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 32:10.3 20

2 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 32:10.4 20

3 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 32:10.5 20

4 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 32:10.7 20

5 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 32:10.8 20

6 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 32:11.8 20

7 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 32:39.1 20

8 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 32:40.4 20

9 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 32:40.6 20

10 Harald Ertl

Lotus-Alfa Romeo 69 32:40.8 20

11 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 32:50.5 20

12 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713S 32:55.3 20

13 Franz Pesch

March-Holbay 713S 33:13.1

14 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 33:13.1 20

15 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 33:13.2 20

16 Peter Hull

Brabham-Rowland BT28 33:20.8 20

17 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 33:21.1 20

18 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 33:22.6 20

19 Hermann Unold

March-Holbay 713S

Race Heat 2

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 32:22.6 20

2 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 32:23.4 20

3 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 32:23.7 20

4 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 32:38.1 20

5 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 32:38.2 20

6 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 32:38.7 20

7 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 32:48.1 20

8 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 32:48.2 20

9 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 32:48.4 20

10 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 33:08.5 20

11 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 33:08.6 20

12 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 20

13 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 20

14 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 14