Race Report: Sembach, 30 April 1972

sembach_30_4

Race Report: Sembach, 30 April 1972

sembach_30_4
This was a ten lap race for the German F3 Championship held on the 5.61 KM airfield circuit at Sembach, 13 cars took part in the proceedings.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Sembach, 30 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 April 1972

thruxton

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 April 1972

thruxton

A good field of 26 cars made it to Thruxton for this Lombard North Central round despite there having been a race for the same championship at Oulton Park the day before and a clashing round on the same day at Zandvoort for the Shell Championship. The only non-starter was Oulton runner-up Damien Magee who blew the engine in his Palliser during practice.

It was Sutcliffe away first as team-mate Neil Ginn muffed his start and at the end of the first lap it was the Sutcliffe (GRD 372) from Alan Jones (Brabham BT38), Mo Harness (Brabham BT28), Brian McGuire (Brabham BT38), Rikki von Opel (Ensign F372), Neil Ginn (GRD 372), Pierre-François Rousselot (GRD 372) and Ray Mallock (U2 Mk12). Harness moved up to second place and began challenging Sutcliffe for the lead and these two seemed to be pulling away from the others. A few places back Brian McGuire was giving team-mate Alan Jones a hard time until McGuire spun on lap 3 with locking front brakes, he retired for the same reason a few laps later. Rousselot then moved up to harry Jones together with Ginn, von Opel and Tony Brise who had moved his Brabham BT38 up well after stating from the sixth row.

Eight laps down and it was still Sutcliffe and Harness fighting for the lead with the GRD usually in front, Jones was beginning to fall away with third gear problems and Rousselot moved his GRD up to third position. Next it was to move up to third was Rikki Von Opel on lap 9 followed by Tony Brise, these two then concentrated on towing themselves onto the back of the leaders which they achieved by lap 12, further back Rousselot began to pull away from Jones and Ginn.
Lap 15 and the the final tour, it was still Sutcliffe with von Opel second and Brise third, Harness had fallen away behind Rousselot. As the three leaders came through Brooklands and Club von Opel slipstreamed past Sutcliffe into the lead, the GRD driver made a desperate attempt to regain the lead bouncing across the second half of the chicane but in rejoining the track Sutcliffe spun and the car entered Pit Straight backwards and careered off onto the grass and Sutcliffe was out. So it was von Opel first with Brise just a second behind, Rousselot just managed to hold off Harness for third, Ginn took Jones for fifth on the last lap when the Aussie’s gearbox wouldn’t engage third at the chicane. Notable retirements were Chris Skeaping who sun off at Club and Richard Mallock in the second U2 Mk12 who was out on lap 10 when he and Ross Ambrose (Lotus 69) went off together at Goodwood.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Zandvoort, 30 April 1972

zandvoort

Race Report: Zandvoort, 30 April 1972

zandvoort

A good entry arrived at Zandvoort for this round of the Shell Super Oil F3 Championship although two clashing rounds of the Lombard North Central Championship at Oulton Park and Thruxton kept several notable runners in the UK. There were two practice sessions on Saturday, an hour in the morning when the track was very damp and forty five minutes in the afternoon when it poured down. The race would be decided on the aggregate times over two 20 lap heats.

Colin Vandervell used a set of two-year old Firestone wets on his Ensign F372 to set a phenomenal time some three seconds quicker than next fastest runner Roger Williamson in his new GRD 372, completing the front row was German runner Manfred Möhr’s Brabham BT35. The second row saw Mike Walker’s Ensign heading Peter Lamplough in the Merlyn Mk21. Tom Pryce (Royale RP11) was fastest of the row three occupants, next up was Tony Trimmer (Lotus 73) and Bob Evans (March 723), row four was the Brabham BT38 of Peter Hull and the March 723 of Wolfgang Bülow. Belgian Bernard Crenier was next

with his old Tecno from the March 723 of Stan Matthews. Row six had the Lotus-Renault 69 of George Witti and stunt man Val Musetti in his Royale RP11 whilst row seven had the year-old Ensign of Ken Sedgley, the year-old Lotus-Renault 69 of Freddy Link and the latest Lotus 73 of Bernard Vermilio who was in tyre difficulties. Final runners included the two Travisco Lotuses of Barrie Maskell and Roger Keele, the Travisco transporter broke down in England and the replacement had three punctures enroute to Zandvoort. All this meant the cars didn’t arrive until the afternoon and only managed a few laps in the very wet conditions, Keele was taking the place of Geddes Yeates who had been refused an entry for Monaco whilst Keele had been accepted and the team were leaving for the principality as soon as the race was over.
Although the morning started wet the sun broke through during the day and the track was dry for the first heat although a few drops of rain before the start led to some fluttering hearts and caused Stan Matthews to fit a set of intermediates and Roger Keele to go for wets. Colin Vandervell made a flying start and had a good lead half way round the lap, already in trouble were Peter Hull who was shoved into the sand dunes at Tarzan, Bülow who didn’t make the start (no petrol!) and Link who spun to the back of the field at Hunzerug. It was Peter Lamplough who was really moving and at the end of lap 1 he and Vandervell crossed the finishing line side by side, as they went behind the pits a shock absorber on Vandervell’s car broke and the Ensign was pitched into the catch fencing in a second with minor suspension damage. It was now the turn of Roger Williamson and Mike Walker to move to the front and for the next four laps the crossed the line as one.
Tom Pryce had passed Lamplough for third on lap 4 and by lap 6 he had caught the two leaders, Lamplough was soon out with a spin at the hairpin so moving up were Evans, Möhr and Maskell who was making great progress from the back of the grid. For the last half of the race Pryce, Williamson and Walker were inseparable taking it in turns to lead and on one occasion crossing the line three abreast. The racing was very clean, if a little hairy at times, and as they started the last lap it was Walker in front with Williamson and Pryce right behind, they continued their battle around the track and as they crossed the line it was Walker, Williamson, Pryce, so close was it that all three drivers were given the same time. Evans took a troublefree fourth after Maskell and Möhr collided on lap 8 at Hunzerug, the German was out with suspension damage and the Lotus driver had to pit to a few laps later to have the nosecone removed. Wood was in fifth place until he was slowed by Maskell’s now ill handling Lotus and Vermilio took advantage and moved the Lotus 73 up a place, team-mate Trimmer lost time with a pitstop to replace a punctured tyre.
Once again there was panic just before the start of heat two as it began to rain quite hard but by the time the cars had done their warm up lap it was dry again and most drivers started on slicks including the first three finishers (and thus the front row) from heat one. Non-starters were Freddy Link with minor accident damage and Peter Hull with a broken throttle cable. As the flag fell it was Pryce who made the best start and led at the end of the first lap from Walker, Vermilio and Williamson, making a phenomenal start from the back row was Colin Vandervell who was up to seventh by the start of the second lap. Walker and Pryce slowly edged away from Williamson until the penultimate lap when an inattentive (and unidentified) backmarker had Pryce off into the catch fencing, this left Walker to cruise home by 6 seconds from Williamson. Initially behind the three leaders and fourth placed Vermilio there had been a fight between Bob Evans, whose March was on wets, Colin Vandervell and Tony Trimmer until the Lotus lost a couple of laps in the pits after stopping to have a misfire checked on lap 6. Meanwhile Lamplough who was going very well in the Merlyn caught and passed the March and the Ensign on lap 17, Vermilio then lost fourth to the flying Merlyn on lap 18 and Lamplough found himself in third at the finish with the demise of Pryce. Bob Evans eventually spun, another to get involved with a backmarker, loosing several places allowing Vandervell to finish fourth.

On aggregate victory of course went to Walker from Williamson with Evans getting third ahead of Vermilio. Matthews and Wood took fifth and sixth benefiting from steady drives when others were less circumspect.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Zandvoort, 30 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Oulton Park, 29 April 1972

oulton - 1

Race Report: Oulton Park, 29 April 1972

oulton - 1

With another race at Thruxton on the following day and the lure of Shell Super Oil points on offer at Zandvoort only 14 cars made it to Oulton Park for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship. This was further reduced when during the very wet practice session second fastest Masami Kuwashima found a cracked cylinder in the Holbay of his GRD 372, Brian McGuire didn’t even make it this far when a cracked wheel was discovered on his Brabham BT38.

The track was drier for the race although still requiring wets to be fitted, Damien Magee needed a push start on the grid which resulted in a 10 second penalty. Rikki von Opel was slow away at the start and Tony Brise drove his Brabham BT38 past the Ensign to take the lead at Old Hall, next up were Damien Magee in his Palliser from the GRD of Andy Sutcliffe. Brise extended his lead at the front as Magee found himself trapped behind von Opel until lap 4 when the Ensign took to the grass at Knickerbrook, Magee shot past and began to whittle down Brise’s lead moving into first place at Lodge on lap 11. Magee held

on despite his Novamotor making worrying noises to take the chequered flag first but his penalty dropped him to second, Sutcliffe took third after outbraking von Opel into Old Hall on the last lap, the GRD driver being a little lucky as his engine cut out on the slowing down lap.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 29 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Silverstone, 23 April 1972

silverstone - 1

Race Report: Silverstone, 23 April 1972

silverstone - 1

60 cars arrived for this round of the Shell Super Oil Championship with two heats on Saturday sorting out the 36 qualifiers for Sunday’s final. The large entry, including several French F3 teams, was probably due to the race being a supporting event for the F1 International Trophy.

Practice was split into two sessions, the first for 45 minutes on Friday and the second for 30 minutes on Saturday. Heat one pole went to Barrie Maskell who, after finding he couldn’t get a tow from anyone on Friday, borrowed a helmet from F Ford racer David Loring. With everybody now thinking Maskell’s car was driven by a slower team-mate Barrie had no problems finding a good tow! Next up was Alan Jones in his new AIRO Brabham BT38 from Sweden’s Conny Andersson in the earlier BT35 and Andy Sutcliffe who had a cracked block to contend with on Friday. All the other heat one drivers had fairly uneventful sessions except for Patrick Depailler who was much further down the grid than was to be expected, he, like all the works Alpines, was in head gasket difficulties seemingly as a result of trying a new blend of ELF fuel.

Fastest in heat two was the Ensign of Mike Walker with the similar car of Colin Vandervell second quickest. Completing the front row were Pierre-François Rousselot’s GRD and Tony Trimmer’s JPS Lotus. Once again the rest of the field were mostly drama free.

It was Sutcliife who got the best start in heat one with Maskell right behind him but as they completed lap one it was Conny Andersson who had been a little slow off the line who was in the lead from Sutcliffe, Williamson, Evans, Maskell, Purley, Jones, Wood, Lamplough, McCully, Pryce, von Opel, Yeates and Magee with the rest in a blur of colour behind. MacDonald was a first lap retirement, suffering severe damage when his March was pushed off the track by Mackintosh’s Ensign. By lap three Williamson was in front from Andersson and these two were edging away from the battle for third. Lap 5 and it was still Williamson and Andersson out in front but slipstreaming each other furiously for third were Sutcliffe, Purley, Maskell, Evans, Jones and Lamplough. Further back a similar dice was going on between Pryce, Sedgley, McCully, Wood and Mackintosh until Sedgley lost it at Woodcote on lap 5 fortunately without involving any of the other runners although the Ensign was out.
Andersson and Williamson continued their battle for the lead for the entire ten laps and although the Swede managed to get in front a couple of times Williamson always seemed in command and the March took took the inside line through Woodcote and won by 0.2 seconds. The next six crossed the line with just two seconds between them, Bob Evans coming out best through Woodcote moving from seventh to third with Maskell and Purley inches behind. Next up were Sutcliffe and Maskell after Alan Jones spun out and hit the bank hard badly damaging the front end of the BT38.

At the start of heat two a group of seven cars quickly detached themselves from the rest with Trimmer in front from Mass, Walker, Harness, Hunt, Hull and Rousselot, behind these a second group formed consisting of Brise, Ashley, Vandervell (a very poor start), Ginn, Ambrose, Coulon and Leclere. Walker moved his Ensign into first on lap two and Brise took his Brabham into the leading group with Vandervell looking to do the same. Gradually Walker, Mass and Harness began to edge away from the rest of the group which had Rousselot heading Hull, Trimmer, Vandervell (moving up well), Hunt and Brise. Mo Harness was next to try the front when he pushed his Brabham into first on laps 4 and 5 whilst Mass tried to get past Walker for second, behind them Vandervell was now up to fourth and pulling the rest of the group towards the three leaders. Lap 9 and one to go, it was Walker back in front with Vandervell flying in second from Harness, Hull, Trimmer, Rousselot, Mass and Brise. Final lap and it is still Walker in front and actually gaining on the rest, the Ensign managing to pull out to a 1.3 second win, the next seven were covered by a second with Harness coming out best on the inside line at Woodcote with Trimmer, Vandervell, Rousselot, Hull, Mass and Brise crossing the line almost as one.

The 36 car final was made up from the first ten in each heat with the next fastest sixteen lap times, the grid lined up as follows:

Maskell
 
Evans
 
Andersson
 
Williamson
 
Sutcliffe
 
Walker
 
Purley
 
Vandervell
 
Trimmer
 
Harness
 
Lamplough
 
Mass
 
Hull
 
Rousselot
 
McCully
 
Mackintosh
 
von Opel
 
Brise
 
O’Brien
 
Ginn
 
Ashley
 
Wood
 
Compain
 
Coulon
 
Pryce
 
Hunt
 
Sedgley
 
Auvray
 
Albera
 
 
Magee
 
Deutsch
 
Bond
 
McGuire
 
Tyrrell
 
    
Ambrose
 
Matthews

Andersson and Mass got away first but as the field reached the Motor Bridge Harness found himself in trouble after receiving a push up the rear, the Brabham veered back and forth across the track and was struck by Walker who then hit Purley. Harness was out immediately with a broken wishbone and a split radiator, Walker was out at Copse with a puncture whilst Purley managed one more lap with his Ensign leaving a oil smoke screen before he had to retire. At the end of lap one it was Williamson in the lead, the GRD taking first place at Stowe and that would be the last the rest of the field would see of him, even without the aid of a tow he left the rest of the field behind at a second a lap. Fighting over second place were Maskell from Andersson, Evans, Mass, Trimmer, Sutcliffe, Vandervell, Ashley, Hull, Mackintosh, Rousselot, Lamplough, Wood, Albera and Pryce. Vandervell moved up to second on lap 3 but a tap sent him off onto the grass where he had both radiators on the Ensign punctured by rocks, he also sent more rocks flying one of which hit the steering arm on the Royale of Tom Pryce bending it which caused the Welshman to retire with dodgy handling.
The next big change came on lap 4, behind Williamson it was Maskell, Mass, Anderson, Sutcliffe, Hull, Ashley, Evans, Mackintosh, Lamplough and Rousselot. As the next group crossed the finishing line Wood spun on someone else’s oil and spun off into the bank, Albera trying to avoid the March also put his Martini into the bank ripping off his wheel, this bounced back onto the track hitting the front of McCully’s Brabham, the Australian in trying to pull off the track was then hit by Auvray’s Martini which sustained a puncture. Also in trouble was Trimmer who lost a lap with a pit stop to replace a punctured tyre following a nudge at Woodcote and Maskell who was out when fourth gear exploded.
By lap 10 the field was down to 20 cars and this was further reduced when Deutsch retired with rear suspension damage after contact with Ambrose at Stowe, next out were Brise with a blown head gasket and Ashley with a broken metering unit. Meanwhile Williamson was still out in front, the second place group were still at it hammer and tongs and further back Magee, Hunt, Bond, Ginn and Mackintosh were having their own private duel.
Things quietened down for the final ten laps, the only additional retirements were Mackintosh and Hunt, the Ensign driver spinning at Becketts taking Hunt off with him much to the annoyance of the March driver. At the end of the 20 laps it was clearly an easy win for Williamson but who would finish second, it was four abreast under the Daily Express Bridge and as they entered Woodcote Mass dived inside Hull grabbing second place by inches. Evans and Sutcliffe crossed the line together with wheels almost interlocked, Sutcliffe got the verdict although many observers though it should have been Evans, Andersson came in sixth after loosing out at Stowe, next up were von Opel narrowly from Rousselot, the rest of the field coming home at a more sedate pace.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 23 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Silverstone, 16 April 1972

silverstone

Race Report: Silverstone, 16 April 1972

silverstone

A full grid contested this Silverstone round of the Forward Trust F3 Championship.

There was almost chaos just before the start of the race when it started to rain, there was a mad scramble for wets and intermediates but the organisers refused to allow the cars to change tyres on the grid. Fortunately it stopped raining before the start and slicks were the required tyre, had the rain increased though there could have been a nasty accident with the entire grid on the wrong tyres. Front row man von Opel was in trouble when a front slick was found to be punctured just as he was about to leave the paddock, an intermediate was fitted but the delay meant he was forced to start from the back of the field.

As the cars left the grid and headed to the Motor Bridge a potentially serious accident occurred when Bernard Vermilio (Lotus 73), Chris Skeaping (Chevron B20), Damien Magee (Palliser WDF3), Neil Ginn (GRD 372) and Robin Smythe (March 723) all made contact. Luckily the only physical damage was to Vermilio who suffered a badly sprained wrist, the organisers obviously felt Magee was to blame and fined him £20. Tony Brise was an inadvertent victim of the shunt when he had to retire his Brabham BT38 with a puncture caused by accident debris.
At the end of lap 1 with yellow flags waving it was Williamson (March 723) from Evans (March 723), Jones (Brabham BT38), Walker (Ensign F372), Wood (March 723), Trimmer (Lotus 73), Yeates (Lotus 69), Sutcliffe (GRD 372), Stan Matthews (March 723), James Hunt (March 723), Peter Hull (Brabham BT38) and Ray Mallock (U2 Mk 12). Williamson began to increase his lead whilst Walker got ahead of Jones to take third as Sutcliffe passed both Maskell and Trimmer for sixth. Trimmer however was out on the next lap when a failed late braking attempt by Yeates at Woodcote went amiss and both of the Loti were out.
Walker was up to second on lap 3 and he immediately began to close the gap to Williamson, next up were Evans, Jones, Wood and Maskell, then a gap to Sutcliffe in brake trouble and another gap to Hunt and Matthews with Hull falling back with a damaged exhaust. Lap 5 and Wood got ahead of Jones and lap 7 saw Walker right on the tail of Williamson. Walker made his move at Maggotts on the next lap and took the lead from Williamson, the March driver fought back furiously over the remaining two laps and on the last lap along Club Straight the two cars were side-by-side. Into the last corner and Williamson left his braking impossibly late and in an instant the March was spinning leaving Walker to take the win with Williamson recovering to finish in fifth. Jones took second after overtaking Evans on the ninth lap, the March driver tried to regain the place at Woodcote on the last lap but he also spun out and was unable to restart his engine. Maskell took third from Wood who drove well for fourth, notable retirements were Rikki von Opel with another puncture and Ray Mallock’s front engined U2 whose clutch packed up.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 16 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Monza, 16 April 1972

monza - 1

Race Report: Monza, 16 April 1972

monza - 1

This was the second round of the Italian F3 Championship and was apparently run to the “breakaway” Italian regulations which allowed a 23mm air restrictor.

Victory went to 24 year old Carlo Giorgio in his Brabham BT35 from the works Tecno’s of Fontanesi and Bodini. It was the usual tight Monza race with Giorgio only taking the lead at Parabolica on the last lap. Vittorio Brambilla won a heat with his Birel-Alfa Romeo but could only manage seventh in the final.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Monza, 16 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Mallory Park, 3 April 1972

mallory - 1

Race Report: Mallory Park, 3 April 1972

mallory - 1

Despite this being the third F3 race in four days over the Easter weekend an excellent entry of 40 cars made it to Mallory for the Easter Monday meeting. The race was run on a two heats and a final basis with the heats being made up from the alternate fastest times in practice.

Fastest for heat one was Barrie Maskell who was once again flying in the Travisco Lotus 69, sitting next to him was Roger Williamson in his March 723, Williamson being less than happy with his March as he was finding, like several other drivers, that he was suffering very badly from tyre scuffing especially through Gerards. Final front row occupant was Tom Pryce in his Royale RP11 which had required extensive rebuilding after his Oulton dramas. Leading row two was James Hunt in his works March 723, this was a new tub as March had found the Oulton chassis too badly damaged to be repaired. Also keeping March busy was Bob Evans who was going well, equalling Hunt’s time until a tyre went down at Gerards and the 723 hit the sleepers rendering it unfit to race. Row three saw Bernard Vermilio’s Lotus 73 heading Pierre-François Rousselot’s GRD 372 and the second Travisco Lotus 69 of Geddes Yeates whilst

on the next row it was Stan Matthews (March 723) from Ian Ashley (Royale RP11) who had also needed repairs after Oulton.

The fifth row saw the second works March of Brendan McInerney ahead of Val Musetti in another Royale RP11 and the old Brabham BT28 of Mo Harness, behind them came Damien Magee who had reverted to a Novamotor for his Palliser and Jorgen Jonsson’s Brabham BT35. Bringing up the rear were John Littler, getting used to his new Ensign F372, John MacDonald (March 713M), Jan Persson (Brabham BT35), Matt Spitzley (March 713M) and Alan Edgar in the ex-Dave Walker Lotus 69 who was going very slowly for reasons unknown.
Heat two had Mike Walker’s Iberia Ensign F372 from Peter Hull’s Brabham BT38, with newly rebuilt gearbox, and Ken Mackintosh in the ex-Steve Thompson Ensign F371 on the front row. It had to be said there was some surprise at the time given to the American Mackintosh due to his inexperience of the car. It was Tony Trimmer (Lotus 73) and Rikki von Opel (Ensign F372) on row two ahead of the GRDs of Neil Ginn and Andy Sutcliffe (who had lost first and second gears) and Colin Vandervell’s Ensign F372 on row three. Vandervell was hampered by broken piston rings which necessitated an engine change for the race. Row four contained Chris Skeaping (Chevron B20) and Tony Brise (Brabham BT28) with Peter Lamplough (ex-Jody Scheckter Merlyn Mk21), Mike Tyrrell (Ensign F372) and Ken Sedgley (ex-works Ensign F371) a row further back. Paul Butler’s Brabham headed row seven despite an accident at the Esses, the car was repaired for the race, next to him was Russell Woods March 723. Final runners were Australian Ross Ambrose in the third Travisco Lotus 69, the Ensign of Jeremy Gambs and the Lotus 69 of Bengt Radmyr who had a 10 second penalty after missing practice with a first lap accident at the hairpin. Non-starters were Reg James who blew a piston in his Brabham BT28 and Robin Smythe’s March 723 which was out after a practice accident.

Roger Williamson took the lead at the start of heat one and held it until the third lap when Maskell swept by into first place, the position he would hold to the flag. Williamson fell back into the clutches of Tom Pryce but the Welshman was under orders to take it easy in the heat so he made no serious effort to get past the March. Next up were Hunt and Yeates but the March driver found his engine loosing power and lap 8 saw Yeates move his Lotus up to fourth. Next up were Vermilio in the works Lotus who just headed Ashley across the finish line. The only retirements were Musetti who parked his Royale in the banking at Gerards on lap one and Magee who was out with falling oil pressure. Into ninth place and thus qualifying for the final was Bob Evans who had been loaned, in a very sporting gesture, the Ensign of Jeremy Gambs since his own March could not be repaired for the race. However in a far less sporting gesture several rivals protested this and Evans found his racing was over for the day.
Other than for half a lap it was all Mike Walker in heat two, however this doesn’t mean it was easy for the Ensign driver as Sutcliffe made a super start in his GRD and hounded Walker for the entire 10 laps finishing only a few feet behind at the chequered flag. Initially it was Hull in third but the Brabham began to suffer more and more from understeer and Hull had to give best to Tony Trimmer and Rikki von Opel. Next up were Neil Ginn and Tony Brise ahead of Mackintosh which perhaps indicated that the American’s practice time was a little generous although with only a season in F Ford behind him he still did well to qualify for the final. Only retirement was Paul Butler who threw his car at the hairpin barriers to complete an unhappy day for his BT28.

James Hunt had a new engine fitted for the final and attempts were made to install new ratios to Williamson’s gearbox but the cogs wouldn’t fit so the original ones were quickly reinstalled. The grid lined up according to the finishing times from the two heats which resulted in second heat winner Walker starting from the third row. The field got away cleanly but this lasted only to Gerards when some general bumping and boring saw Ashley being sent spinning off the track. The Royale was push started by the marshals but this resulted in Ashley being shown a black flag and he retired. The end of lap 1 saw Pryce leading from Maskell, Williamson, Hunt, Yeates, Sutcliffe, Trimmer and Walker. Maskell dived inside Pryce at the Esses to take the lead on lap 2, the Lotus soon pulling out a lead, Williamson and Hunt also found a way past the Royale and by lap 5 the order was Maskell pulling away from Williamson, Hunt, Pryce, Trimmer, Sutcliffe, Yeates and Walker.
On lap 6 Hunt, who was much happier with his new engine, took second from Williamson at the Esses whilst a lap later Trimmer got ahead of Pryce and set out after Hunt and Williamson. Lap 9 saw several front runners out when Walker tried to pass Pryce at the hairpin, the Ensign hit the Royale up the rear causing both serious suspension damage, both cars were out on the spot as was Geddes Yeates who was innocently involved in the incident. It was Trimmer who was making real progress, on successive laps he passed Williamson and Hunt and started hauling in Maskell, eight laps later the Lotus 73 was on the tail of the Lotus 69 and lap 17 at the Esses saw Trimmer through into first place. Maskell wasn’t about to give up his hard earned lead and for the rest of the race he harried the works Lotus even taking the lead again briefly on lap 24 when Trimmer stumbled over some backmarkers. The two Loti remained tied together to the flag with Trimmer crossing the line 0.2 seconds ahead of Maskell, the battle for third was just as intense with Williamson pulling almost level with Hunt on the line, they were given the same race time but the works car got the nod over the privateer. Tony Brise driving his Brabham with increasing confidence only just failed to catch the Marches on the line and Vermilio in the second works Lotus was pulled along in his wake. Sutcliffe came seventh his car’s handling deteriorating with a slow puncture and von Opel threw away a good placing with a spin at the hairpin.

Although Trimmer had clearly won the race he would receive no points towards the Shell British F3 Championship as the rules for the event stipulated that to score points competitors had to carry Shell stickers. Since Lotus were sponsored by Texaco who understandably baulked at their cars wearing a rival’s logo insisted the Lotus did not carry any such advertising so for Trimmer and Vermilio no stickers = no points.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mallory Park, 3 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Nurburgring, 2 April 1972

nurburg_2_4

Race Report: Nurburgring, 2 April 1972

nurburg_2_4

This was the first round of the German F3 Championship and 35 cars from an original entry of 69 travelled to the mighty Nurburgring for two 7 lap heats, the winner to be decided on aggregate times. Amongst the more interesting entries were four Alpine-Renaults, one a works car for Jean-Pierre Jabouille, the other three were entered by the German Renault division. There was a also small class for 1-litre cars which I’ve ignored, only 4 cars arrived.

The starting grid for heat two was based on the finishing positions for heat one.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Nurburgring, 2 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Rufforth, 1 April 1972

rufforth

Race Report: Rufforth, 1 April 1972

rufforth
With Shell F3 Championship rounds at Oulton Park on Friday and Mallory Park on Monday it was no great surprise when only 13 cars made it to the wilds of Rufforth to contest this Lombank North Central event. The numbers were further reduced when Val Musetti took his Royale home before the race and Ken Mackintosh’s ex-Steve Thompson Ensign never left the paddock. Practice saw Neil Ginn who had some Rufforth experience from his F Ford days take pole position in his Ensign from the similar car of Rikki von Opel and Andy Sutcliffe’s GRD. In trouble was the second Iberia Ensign of Mike Walker who had to start from the back after a flat tyre restricted him to only three practice laps. Damien Magee had reverted to a Rowland engine for his Palliser after problems with the Novamotor unit he had used at Oulton Park.

It was raining as the cars formed up on the grid and as the flag fell von Opel made a slow start, holding up team-mate Walker in the process, so it was Sutcliffe who lead from Magee and Ginn. Making storming progress was Tony Brise in the Brabham BT38 and by the time the cars reached Runway Bend just before the end of the opening lap Brise was in first. The Brabham began to pull away from von Opel and Sutcliffe who were merrily holding each other up, behind them it was Walker from Magee and Ginn (who had spun). On lap 5 Sutcliffe passed von Opel at York but was promptly overtaken again at Acomb, Walker moved in and passed Sutcliffe only to find himself being assisted out of the race by a punt up the rear from Sutcliffe in the Esses.
Onto the last lap and Brise’s lead was being quickly eroded by von Opel as the track dried out, the Ensign tried to pass the Brabham at York but Brise resisted, von Opel tried again at Acomb this time making contact with Brise, both cars spun off, von Opel continuing but Brise having trouble restarting his engine. A very surprised Sutcliffe found himself the winner from von Opel, Ginn and Magee.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Rufforth, 1 April 1972

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00