Race Report: Thruxton, 30 July 1972

thruxton_30_7_72

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 July 1972

thruxton_30_7_72

A large entry of 76 cars was received for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship including many of the top French teams, regrettably industrial action at the docks meant that several of the foreign cars never made it to the track. Due to the number of cars the entry was split into two 10 lap qualifying heats for the 20 lap final.

Roger Williamson made a superb start from pole position in heat one and by the end of the first lap he was a second to the good over the rest of the pack, he continued to pull away at a few tenths per lap to win by four seconds. Initially Rikki von Opel had slotted into second place but at the end of lap 1 Mike Wilds outbraked the Ensign into the chicane to take second, Jochen Mass also tried to get past but couldn’t quite make it. The works March of Mass was wearing a new nosecone, based on the old bulbous design it now had a slot added for the newly relocated front radiator. Wilds began to pull away from the battling von Opel and Mass on lap 3 but almost immediately he was struck by fuel surge problems and von Opel and Mass towed themselves back onto the Ensign’s tail.

Lap 6 saw von Opel make it ahead of Wilds into second place which he held to the flag despite concerted efforts from both Wilds and Mass to get ahead especially under braking into the chicane. Alain Serpaggi closed right up to the battling trio in front but was 0.2 seconds down at the finish, Tony Trimmer had been next until a spin at Segrave on lap 6 left the Lotus well down the field. Peter Hull finished in sixth, the Brabham had been right with Serpaggi but the spinning Trimmer caused the New Zealander to loose the tow and fall away.
Mike Walker had taken pole for heat two with his Ensign sporting a raised roll centre, revised pick-up points and a longer wheelbase. Chris Skeaping should have been next but a hub failed in practice sending the works Chevron heavily into the bank at the chicane, the car was hastily repaired for the race but on the warm-up the cockpit bodywork flew off, with no spare the Chevron was out.

Japanese driver Masami Kuwashima took advantage of the empty space resulting from Skeaping’s withdrawal to put his GRD into the lead ahead of Jacques Coulon at the start, however over-enthusiasm saw a kerb clipping moment at Church causing Kuwashima to spin off into the infield loosing a couple of laps before he regained the track. This left Coulon in the lead but Walker was soon ahead and despite several good efforts from the Frenchman Walker eventually pulled away to a 3.2 second victory. Sutcliffe and Leclere had a tremendous battle for third with Sutcliffe being hampered with wrong gearing, at the end they crossed the line almost together and were credited with the same time. Neil Ginn, Alan Jones and Jean-Pierre Jarier had a great dustup for fifth with Ginn coming out on top, the three cars being separated by 0.4 seconds at the finish. Next up was Damien Magee having his first run in the ex-Alan McCully Brabham BT38, the Irishman dead-heating on time with the similar car of Tony Brise.

A few drops of rain had fallen at the end of the second heat so the grid for the final was made up from the first fifteen in each heat in alternating grid slots with Williamson in pole. There was some doubt about the engine in Williamson’s car has it had been emitting rattling noises during the first heat but it was decided not to change it for the final.
Once again it was Williamson who made the best start and at the end of lap 1 he led from Walker, von Opel, Mass, Sutcliffe, Leclere, Serpaggi, Wilds, Jarier, Coulon, Jones, Hull, the Brise brothers, Vermilio, Magee, Harness, MacDonald, Tyrrell, Trimmer and the rest. von Opel locked up at the chicane on lap 2 and dropped a couple of places which allowed Walker to break away from the rest of the pack. Mike Wilds was soon out with bad fuel surge after a float chamber had been adjusted to try and cure the surge he had suffered in his heat.
Now clear of the other cars Walker began to home in on Williamson and on lap 4 he took the lead at the chicane, Williamson stayed on the tail of the Ensign for a lap but then Walker began to edge away and at half distance he was leading by a couple of seconds. However Williamson wasn’t beaten and he gradually began to close the gap again, the GRD was quicker under braking and through the corners whilst the Ensign had the advantage down the straights. On lap 14 Williamson was right with the Ensign and he made a couple of efforts to get by on the straight only to drop back again, the GRD lost ground again on lap 16 and it seemed as if Walker had the measure of his fellow competitor. Williamson put his head down again and on lap 19 he put the GRD back into the lead albeit briefly but then a moment at the complex at the last lap seemed to be the end of his chances. At Church Williamson began to close up again on Walker and as they went into the chicane the Ensign moved wide to block the outside line and Williamson immediately dived to the inside and as the two cars braked it was Williamson on the absolute limit that took the lead and as they crossed the finish line the GRD was 0.2 seconds ahead of the Ensign.
Behind the first two finishers third had initially been a fight between Leclere, Serpaggi, Coulon, Sutcliffe, von Opel, Mass, Hull, Jarier, Tony Brise, Jones and Tim Brise. von Opel’s problem at the chicane broke the group a little and left Mass leading Leclere, Sutcliffe and Serpaggi. Tony Brise went straight on at the hairpin on lap 7 which delayed both Alan Jones and his brother. Mass had dropped to the back of the third placed group by lap 11 along with Sutcliffe as both were suffering from down on power engines whilst von Opel had moved up to challenge the three Frenchmen. Leclere and Serpaggi worked together to pull ahead of von Opel and Coulon and by the finish they had a four second gap over Sutcliffe who lead Coulon by 0.4 seconds.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 July 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, 23 July 1972

mallorypark_23_7_72

Race Report: Mallory-Park, 23 July 1972

mallorypark_23_7_72

This consolation race was made up of the 11 non-qualifiers from the Lombank North Central round.

It was Jeremy Gambs who made the best start from the middle of the front row whilst pole man Keiichi Tahara went off the road at the Esses writing off his GRD in the process. Richard Mallock moved into second place until overheating caused his U2 to drop away and eventually retire leaving Simon Sherman in his Royale RP11 and John MacDonald’s March 713M to squabble over the runner-up spot. In the last few laps Sherman closed in on Gamb’s Ensign but the Royale man failed to catch the winner by 1.4 seconds. Of the other runners front row occupant John Littler’s Ensign was out with carburetor problems and Jorge Pinhol’s GRD spun off at the Esses.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mallory-Park, 23 July 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, 23 July 1972

Mallory-Park_23_7_72

Race Report: Mallory Park, 23 July 1972

Mallory-Park_23_7_72

A more than full grid arrived for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship and the non-qualifiers were given a consolation race at the end of the day.

Only 1.8 seconds covered the 20 runners in the main race, fastest was the works Iberia Ensign of Mike Walker from the GRD of Andy Sutcliffe, the man currently leading the Lombank Championship, third fastest was the GRD of Japanese driver Masami Kuwashima. Surprisingly far back were the GRD of Roger Williamson with tyre and handling problems, Tony Brise whose Brabham BT38 needed an engine change and Barrie Maskell in Roger Keele’s usual Lotus 69 who appeared to have been been given a wrong time.

It was Kuwashima in his GRD who made the best start and and the end of lap 1 he led from Mike Walker with a hard charging Roger Williamson already up to third, Andy Sutcliffe was fourth with Peter Hull and Bob Evans in fifth and sixth. For the next three laps the field circulated nose to tail with no change of positions, then on lap 4 Walker passed Kuwashima into the Esses and at the hairpin Williamson and Sutcliffe followed suit. For the remainder of the race it was a three-cornered battle between these three top drivers, Walker led most of the race although Williamson got ahead at Gerards on lap 9 but the Ensign was back in front at the Esses. Williamson made his move on lap 19 when he took the lead again at Gerards and he immediately eked out a small lead he held to the finish. Walker fought hard to keep Sutcliffe behind him aided by the GRD driver being hampered by a misfire. Kuwashima had fallen back into a long battle with Hull and the GRD and the Brabham swopped places continually until near the end of the race when Kuwashima had to drop back when his engine started to loose oil from a loose filter.
Most of the rest of the field ran the race without difficulty the only notable retirement being that of Barrie Maskell with sundry problems, both Tony Brise and Alan Jones were disappointed with their lowly finishes for no obvious reason.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mallory Park, 23 July 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: Salzburgring, 16 July 1972

salzburgring_16_7_72

Race Report: Salzburgring, 16 July 1972

salzburgring_16_7_72
This race was entitled the Rundstreckenrennen Ulm and took place over an unknown number of laps of the 4.238 km circuit, clashing with a race at Hockenheim the very small entry consisted of four lesser known German F3 runners and a couple of Italian entries.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Salzburgring, 16 July 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: Cadwell Park, 16 July 1972

cadwell-park_18_7_72

Race Report: Cadwell Park, 16 July 1972

cadwell-park_18_7_72

It was a two heats and a final scenario for this Forward Trust round but the ravages of the British GP support race two days earlier meant that most of the runners would automatically make the final as long as they didn’t wreck their cars in the heats.

Pole position sitter for the first heat was the familiar sight of Roger Williamson and his GRD 372, sharing the front row with Williamson were Rikki von Opel’s works Iberia Ensign and the March 723 of Stan Matthews. Next up was the new GRD of Mo Harness, the Lotus 69 of Roger Keele and the works JPS Lotus 73 of Bernard Vermilio.
It was Mike Walker in the second Iberia Ensign fastest in heat two with Barrie Maskell’s Lotus 69 and Tony Trimmer’s Lotus 73 alongside him at the front. Fourth fastest was the Brabham BT38 of Peter Hull with newcomer Ronnie MacKay in the MRE Brabham BT35 hire car in fifth.

Heat one was a Williamson walkover, he led from the start and at the end of the 8 laps his GRD was 18 seconds ahead of second place man Rikki von Opel. Bob Evans moved his March up to third, which he held to the flag despite the close attentions of Roger Keele’s Lotus 69, Vermilio ran in fifth until a spin at the Gooseneck lost him two places to John Bisignano and Stan Matthews. Harness had his GRD in seventh until his engine, which had been running badly from the start, blew up on the sixth lap. Mike Wild’s new Ensign was next despite having to do the last two laps with the car stuck in third gear due to a missing bolt in the gear linkage. Ross Ambrose’s Lotus 69 finished ninth which although qualifying for the final would be a nonstarter due to falling oil pressure as would the twelfth placed GRD of Japanese driver Keiichi Tahara which also had engine problems.

Mike Walker dominated heat two just as easily as Williamson had heat one and he won by a similar margin of 18 seconds, initially Tony Trimmer kept with the Ensign but a spin at Barn dropped him to fourth behind a battling Maskell and Hull. After swopping places continually at the finish it was Hull in second by a car’s length from the Lotus, Trimmer held onto fourth ahead of MacKay who went very well in his first F3 race. Next up were Gambs and Spitzley who had another good dice which had also included Dick Mallock until the U2 spun at Coppice near the end. Paul Butler would have made the final in his Brabham BT28 but he emulated Mallock with a spin at Coppice on lap 7 due to an oil leak that caused his retirement.

Roger Williamson made a demon getaway at the start of the 10 lap final so demon in fact that the judges thought long and hard about whether it was a little too good but after some thought they decreed it was legal. Not surprisingly Mike Walker was a little slower away and that break was all Williamson needed to lead the race for all 10 laps, the GRD driver pulled out a two second lead and despite Walker’s best efforts he couldn’t get any closer. Rikki von Opel held third for the entire race although towards the end he came under pressure from Peter Hull and Tony Trimmer. Hull’s race wasn’t improved by a spin at the hairpin on the second lap but because the track is so narrow no one else was able to pass him and he held his place. Vermilio finished well adrift in seventh whilst Bisignano took eighth from Keele on lap 7 and although the Lotus driver tried his best the American held on to the position to the flag. Barrie Maskell finished a fed-up fifteenth after needing a push start on the grid and setting off well behind everyone else.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Cadwell Park, 16 July 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: Hockenheim, 15 – 16 July 1972

hockeinheim_15_7_72

Race Report: Hockenheim, 15 – 16 July 1972

hockeinheim_15_7_72

A race for the usual German F3 runners entitled the Südwestpokal Rennen over 20 laps of the 6.788 km Hockenheim track.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Hockenheim, 15 – 16 July 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: Magny Cours, 14 July 1972

magny-cours_14_7_72

Race Report: Magny Cours, 14 July 1972

magny-cours_14_7_72

Held as part of the Bastille Day celebrations this was very much a French affaire with most of the top domestic runners in attendance. Michel Leclere put his Alpine on pole followed by Jacques Coulon in the Filipinetti Martini, Leclere led from the start with Coulon close behind. After several laps of hard fighting Coulon passed the Martini and stayed in the lead until 5 laps from finish when his Holbay engine began to misbehave and he quickly fell away. This left Leclere to take the chequered flag from team-mate Serpaggi second and a very disappointed Coulon third. Of the other runners Jean-Pierre Jarier had been running well in the top half-dozen but he had to retire his La Vie Clare March 713M at half distance.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Magny Cours, 14 July 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: Brands Hatch, 14 July 1972

brands-hatch_14_7_72

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 14 July 1972

brands-hatch_14_7_72

Despite receiving in excess of 100 entries, more than enough for three heats and a final, for some reason best known to themselves the organisers accepted only 41 (35 to race plus 6 reserves) of which 39 arrived for this the supporting race to the British GP. This somewhat shortsighted attitude meant the very large crowd had to forgo the pleasure of seeing most of the best foreign drivers as well as many of the regular British runners.

Practice was held over two one hour sessions during the mornings of Thursday and Friday, the first session was generally a couple of seconds slower than the second due to oil dropped by the F5000 runners. Fastest of all, as is becoming his trademark, was Roger Williamson who suffered a blown head gasket on Thursday but after experimenting with different Dunlop compounds on Friday he was half a second fastest than the rest. Sharing the front row was Colin Vandervell and his Ensign, Vandervell suffered a slipping clutch on Thursday but was flying on Friday. Row two, unusually for Brands Hatch the organisers were using a 2X2 grid, consisted of Mike Walker’s Ensign and Tony Trimmer’s Lotus 73.

Tom Pryce headed row 3 with Stan Matthews who was having his best run to date in his March 723, next up were Jochen Mass in the works STP March, there was some problem with the car but the team couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was and Brendan McInerney who was delighted with his new Ensign. Peter Hull led row 6, he had been second fastest on Thursday but gear selection problems slowed him on Friday, his time was shared by Brise who was 400rpm down due to a metering unit problem, von Opel who felt he should have gone quicker and Evans and Wood.
Of the rest of the runners, Maskell was in handling difficulties as were Skeaping and Jones although Jones was very pleased with the service from the GRD team in trying to sort things out with his new car. Roger Keele had a spin at Stirlings as the result of a puncture and was hit by the closely following James Hunt, the Dastle flipped twice and ended up inverted on a barrier, Hunt was very lucky to crawl out uninjured. Damage to Roger Keele’s Lotus was restricted to a couple of bent radius rods that were replaced for the race although he was a nonstarter when his shock absorber broke on the warm-up lap probably as a result of the accident. Other drivers in trouble were Vermilio whose Lotus was in bad gear selection difficulties, Bev Bond who crashed the Ehrlich, Lamplough who only did one session with engine problems, MacDonald with clutch problems, Horsley who had a shunt and O’Brien who didn’t qualify after an engine blow up.
Colin Vandervell had the edge at the start with Trimmer trying to follow him through but by Paddock it was Williamson from Vandervell, Walker, Trimmer and Mass. Further back Maskell braked hard to miss those in front, spinning as a result, several other drivers including Jones and Matthews taking to the grass to avoid him. Walker and Vandervell had agreed a plan to work together to try and beat Williamson but entering Druids Walker got inside Vandervell and slid wide allowing Trimmer and Mass to get through as well as giving Williamson the break he needed. At the end of lap 1 Williamson had a huge three second lead over Trimmer, Mass, Vandervell, Walker, Brise, Hull, Pryce, von Opel, Wood, Rousselot, Vermilio, and Skeaping. At the back were a recovering Maskell and McInerney, the latter having found himself pushed off at Druids. Of the midfield runners Stan Matthews called into the pits with handling difficulties with his March whilst Bond and Harness were out with broken engine mounts and a faulty fuel pump respectively.
Williamson continued to pull away at an unbelievable three seconds a lap whilst behind him Trimmer, Mass, Vandervell and Walker were having a great battle until lap 4 when Vandervell and Walker got ahead of the other two and began to pull away. The Brabhams of Brise and Hull were already out, Brise hit the barriers at Stirlings when trying too hard on lap 3 and Hull was out three laps later with a broken throttle cable. Pryce was another retirement when he was helped off at Druids which left von Opel in fifth from Sutcliffe, these two were pulling away from a battle between Rousselot, Vermilio, Evans, Skeaping and Wood.
By lap 7 Williamson was 13 seconds to the good and he was shown the “Easy” pitboard, second was Walker who was edging away from Vandervell and Mass. Tony Trimmer dropped 12 places when he went wide at Druids and hit Pryce’s abandoned Royale, fortunately he didn’t damage the Lotus 73. MacDonald was out on lap 8 after spinning at Hawthorns and Matthews retired with a puncture although he would have been disqualified anyway for reversing in the pit road .
Walker reduced the gap to Williamson to ten seconds by half distance but it was obvious that the GRD driver had everything well under control, Vandervell had pulled away from Mass who was suffering engine problems, next up was von Opel who had a couple of seconds in hand over Andy Sutcliffe. By this stage of the race the main interest was in the battle for seventh between Rousselot, Vermilio, Evans Skeaping and Wood. On lap 11 Evans was out with a damaged nose but Alan Jones moved his GRD up to take his place, Skeaping was next to go when a wheel stud sheered on lap 14. Meanwhile Jones had now moved to the front of the seventh place battle on lap 17 despite the best efforts of Vermilio to get ahead.
With only one lap remaining Mike Walker was an unfortunate retirement from second place when the engine in his Ensign cried enough although he had some consolation with a new lap record. So at the end of 20 laps it was Williamson who coasted to an easy 17.2 second win over Colin Vandervell, Mass took third despite his engine problems with von Opel fourth ahead of Sutcliffe and Jones. Late retirements were McInerney who bent a steering arm after light contact with Lamplough, Musetti who was another to go off at Druids and Lewis who had engine troubles.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 14 July 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: Salzburgring, 2 July 1972

salzburgring_2_7_72

Race Report: Salzburgring, 2 July 1972

salzburgring_2_7_72

This race was entitled the Bavariarennen and took place over 25 laps of the 4.238 km circuit, the entry consisted of the usual German F3 runners.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Salzburgring, 2 July 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: Clermont ferrand, 2 July 1972

clermont-ferrand_2_7 _72

Race Report: Clermont ferrand, 2 July 1972

clermont-ferrand_2_7 _72

Although this FFSA Formula Three Trophy race supported the French GP there were surprisingly few foreign entries and the majority of the field was made up of domestic runners. This was possibly partially due to the fact that there was no start money on offer and also that the grid was restricted to 25 starters.

Fastest in qualifying was Roger Williamson in his usual GRD 372, he soon came to terms with the difficult track and his pole time was less than 12 seconds away from some of the slower F1 boys. F3 returnee Jean-Pierre Jabouille set the second fastest time in Depailler’s Monaco winning car, it was thought that Alpine wanted the F2 driver in one of the cars to continue their run of success in the French championship races. Two more Alpines were to be found on the second row of the 2X2 grid, the works car of Michel Leclere and the 1971 ex-Depailler car now handled by Lucien Guitteny.

Row three was Jean-Pierre Jarier, once again going very well in the La Vie Clare March 713M and the first of the numerous Martini Mk9s this one driven by Jacques Coulon. Further down the grid the man who builds the Martinis, Richard Knight, who had semi-retired was out giving a customer’s car a run. Both of the works Dastles arrived for James Hunt and Bubbles Horsley but worn out engines and wheel bearing problems afflicted both cars, Horsley did not qualify and although Hunt made it a broken upright meant he non-started. Bev Bond was initially first reserve in the Ehrlich ES1 but Hunt’s withdrawal meant he made it onto the back of the grid. UK non-qualifiers were John MacDonald (March 713M), David Powers (March 723) and Brian McGuire (Brabham BT38), Tony Brise could have expected to make the race but his BT38 was stuck at Calais due to problems with the French Customs.

It was Williamson who led Jabouille into the first corner at the start and once in front he was confident that he could keep the other cars behind him due to the problem of overtaking at this circuit. Two drivers were out immediately, somebody moved over on Ulf Svensson who then hit Bernard Beguin’s Martini, both cars spun and retired. Ascending the hill behind the pits Ethuin spun the Narval and was struck by Knight’s Martini which reared up over a low guard rail and dropped down a 50 foot ravine, Knight suffered a broken collar bone but more seriously the spectating wife of a photographer received serious chest injuries.
Behind Williamson and Jabouille it was Guitteny, Jarier, Rousselot, Rabbione, Leclere and Coulon. Mike Walker was down in eleventh after being delayed at the start and out were Stan Matthews with broken throttle slides, Alain Serpaggi with no third or fourth gears and Rikki von Opel with a broken clutch. Despite Jabouille’s best efforts Williamson continued to lead and the two drivers were pulling away at a second a lap from the chasing pack. Rousselot moved up to third outbraking Guitteny and Jarier into the pits hairpin, Jarier and Leclere then had a great battle until a bit of a misunderstanding saw Leclere leave the track under braking and hit a course marker which damaged the Alpine’s suspension and causing its immediate retirement.
At half distance Williamson still led with Jabouille indulging in some fist-waving in second, third was Rabbione whose Martini had lost its airbox and as a result was flying, next came Rousselot, Guitteny, Jarier and Coulon. Further back Lacarrau was ahead of the Dhotel/Walker battle followed by Wood, Andersson, Lewis and Bond all of whom were spread out from each other. Next retirements were Lacarrau and Dhotel who hit each other when they were blinded by the dust raised by the helicopter dealing with the injured from the Richard Knight opening lap accident, Mike Walker was lucky to avoid the two colliding Martinis.

On lap 8 Williamson suddenly appeared on his own as Jabouille had hit the rear of the GRD under braking and had fallen back into the middle of the third place battle. Williamson was now able to relax and so at the end of the 10 laps it was the Englishman in first from Rabbione who was immediately disqualified for his lack of airbox this moved Rousselot up to second making it a GRD 1-2. Guitteny took third from the disgruntled Jabouille with Jarier fifth despite his March having lost most of its oil. At the end of the race all the leading cars were scrutineered and weighed in public, much to everyone’s relief, and happily they were all declared fully legal.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Clermont ferrand, 2 July 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