Race Report: Brands Hatch, 25 June 1972

brands-hatch_25_6_72

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 25 June 1972

brands-hatch_25_6_72

There was a good field for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship and taking pole position in his first race since he broke his leg at Monaco was Tom Pryce. The talented young Welshman was still limping from his injury but was going well, equalling the lap record in his brand new Royale RP11.

It was the RP11 of Pryce that leapt into the lead at the start with the similar car of Val Musetti an astonishing second after an excellent start from row two, by the end of the first lap it was Pryce ahead of Andy Sutcliffe’s GRD and Rikki von Opel’s Ensign, Musetti having fallen away to sixth. Over the next eight laps Pryce extended his lead leaving Sutcliffe and von Opel to fight over second, fourth was Tony Brise who had started well down the grid and was catching the two in front of him. Suddenly Pryce’s lead began to dwindle as the Royale began to misfire with suspected fuel starvation and by lap 10 Sutcliffe had caught Pryce and on the following lap the GRD driver took the lead. Pryce managed to keep von Opel at bay for the next few laps although the Ensign driver was getting worried by the sight of Tony Brise looming ever larger behind him. Pryce started to lap some backmarkers on lap 17 and in the confusion von Opel was able to find a way past and a lap late Brise joined him.

Out in front Sutcliffe kept a cool head and took the flag 2 seconds ahead of von Opel who managed to hold off Brise to the tune of 0.2 seconds for second and third respectively. Pryce managed to hold onto fourth ahead of a tight battle between Russell Wood, whose March was running the new-style bodywork, Peter Hull (Brabham BT38) and the second gear-less Chevron B20 of Chris Skeaping, they finished in that order 0.8 second apart.
Major retirements were the GRDs of Masami Kuwashima and Neil Ginn who collided at Druids on lap 3, Ian Ashley (Royale RP11) with a broken fuel pump and Brian McGuire’s Brabham BT38 with no oil pressure.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 25 June 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: Rouen, 25 June 1972

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Race Report: Rouen, 25 June 1972

rouen_25_6_72

This race was a round of the French F3 Championship and several of the UK runners who had been racing at Anderstorp and Estoril decided to join in the fun. There was a qualifying session on the Thursday before the race to select the 20 runners for the race, amongst those not making it through were Barrie Maskell whose trailer broke down at Southampton stranding his Lotus 69, the March 723s of Davy Powers and Stan Matthews, the Brabham BT38 of Randy Lewis and the Ensign F371 of Ken Sedgley all of whom had various engine maladies, the other non-qualifiers were sundry French F3 runners.
Practice was dominated by the two works Alpine-Renault A364s of Michel Leclere and Alain Serpaggi although Colin Vandervell went well to equal Serpaggi’s time with his Ensign despite not liking the circuit very much.

Walker was pleased with his fifth fastest time which was equalled by F3 returnee Jean-Pierre Jarier who racing one of the March 713Ms of James Hunt’s former team La Vie Clare. The two JPS Lotuses of Bernard Vermilio and Tony Trimmer were running well to set the eighth and tenth fastest times, they sandwiched James Hunt who, like Steve Thompson at Monaco, was showing there was nothing much wrong with the Dastle Mk9. Other UK based runners on the grid were Bob Evans who set a 2:05.8 after aerodynamic problems with his March 723, Mike Tyrrell (Ensign F372) with a 2:06.1 and John MacDonald who set a 2:07.4 with his March 713M. Amongst the four non qualifiers on the day were Bubbles Horsley with a 2:09.0.
Once again the 25 lap race was an Alpine benefit, Serpaggi lead Leclere away from the grid but lap 2 saw Leclere move into the lead and the two cars proceeded to pull away from the rest of the field. There was a nine car battle going on behind the two leaders, Colin Vandervell managed to pull away from them for a few laps on lap 2 but then he was caught and passed by Guitteny and then Walker. The Iberia Ensign of Walker had been baulked at the start and had dropped to twelfth but some inspired driving saw him move up to fourth at the finish only 1 second behind Guitteny.
After Walker and Guitteny broke away from the pack the remaining bunch consisting of Vandervell (Ensign), Vermilio (Lotus), Jarier (March), Hunt (Dastle), Trimmer (Lotus), Coulon (Martini), Ethuin (Narval) and Rabbione (Martini) had a frantic battle passing and repassing each other all round the track. Coulon was first out of the group when he was punted into the barrier by Jarier, the Martini driver was able to continue further down the field, Vermilio found himself forced wide into the catchfencing which tore a corner off the Lotus. Team-mate Trimmer had his nosecone knocked askew by a Martini and Ethuin was out with overheating, this left Hunt and Jarier fighting over sixth. Hunt led on the penultimate lap and looked slightly more in control than Jarier who was locking his brakes up everywhere but on the last lap Jarier made it past and Hunt’s attempt to regain the place was thwarted by a tardy backmarker. Behind them Trimmer led Beguin home, next there was a very tight battle between Tyrrell, Evans and Compain, Compain had been chopping Evans at every opportunity but at the last corner the March driver forced the Martini wide and Evans was able to follow Tyrrell home in eleventh.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Rouen, 25 June 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: Neiderstestten, 25 June 1972

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Race Report: Neiderstestten, 25 June 1972

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This was a German F3 race that had a small class for Swiss drivers, it was held over 20 laps of the 2.665 km airfield circuit.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Neiderstestten, 25 June 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: Estoril, 18 June 1972

estoril_18_6_72

Race Report: Estoril, 18 June 1972

estoril_18_6_72

This was the first race meeting to be held at the new Estoril circuit which was opened by the President of Portugal. The F3s were the star attraction and were racing in the grandly named Taca Joao Ortigao Ramos Formula Three Race, they were allocated two practice sessions on the Saturday afternoon, one of 30 minutes and one of an hour.

Practice was dominated by the two Alpine-Renaults with Alain Serpaggi heading team-mate Michel Leclere by half a second, joining them on the front row was the Gitanes GRD 372 of Pierre-François Rousselot who was concerned with the way his car was weaving on the track and was relieved to find most of the other runners suffering from the same problem on the new surface. Row two saw Manfred Möhr’s Brabham BT35 fourth fastest despite having three pistons fail in his Novamotor during the second session, next to him was local driver Ernesto Neves who was going very well indeed in the Ross Ambrose Lotus 69 he had hired for the race. Leading the third row was the first of the Martinis, the Holbay Mk9 of Jacques Coulon, next to him was the Novamotor powered Mk9 of Bernard Beguin which had a suspect piston ring and there was doubt it could last the race, completing the row was American Ken Mackintosh in his Ensign F371. Row four was all Ensign with the F371 of Ken Sedgley ahead of the similar car of Antiguan Mike Tyrrell.

Joel Auvray’s Martini was next up which was odd as neither the Frenchman or his car were at the circuit but the timekeepers still gave him a time! Auvray’s grid space was left empty so the other row five inhabitants were John MacDonald’s March 713 and Randy Lewis in his new Brabham BT38, the American was suffering brake problems in the untested car. Brian McGuire was the next timed runner which again like the imaginary Auvray was interesting as he was at Thruxton. Next up was Jorge Pinhol who suffered a leaking water pump during the first session, an old Holbay was fitted to his GRD for the second session but a burnt out starter motor and a flat battery meant he missed the faster second session completely. Joining Pinhol on row seven were American Cliff Haworth in his Martini Mk9 and Tony Binnington in his March 713M. Final runners were Italian Togna Fiorenzo’s Brabham BT35, Bob Shellard in his ex-Peter Hull Brabham BT28, Portuguese runner Carlos Azevedo’s hired BT38 and Ray Caruthers Martini Mk9 which had all sorts of engine problems.

Not surprisingly it was the two Alpines that led away at the start of the 50 lap race, at the end of lap 1 it was Leclere, his nose cone bottoming badly, with a healthy lead over Serpaggi, Neves was third from Coulon, Rousselot and Beguin with a gap back to Mackintosh, Sedgley and Tyrrell. Möhr’s good grid position was negated by a terrible start that left him tenth at the end of the opening lap. By lap 5 the two Alpines were well in the lead, circulating a couple of seconds apart, behind them there was a big battle for third between Rousselot, Neves, Coulon and Beguin but the latter began to fall away over the next few laps, next came Mackintosh from a recovering Möhr followed by Sedgley, MacDonald, Pinhol, Lewis, Binnington, Fiorenzo, Powers and Haworth. Retirements by this stage were Tyrrell with a broken throttle cable and Caruthers and Azevedo both of whom were out with engine problems.
The status quo remained over the next five laps although Möhr was beginning to suffer from a broken petrol breather that was spraying petrol over him, Pinhol had pulled himself up to MacDonald but was out on lap 11 when his engine lost all its water. By half distance up at the front Leclere was extending his lead as Serpaggi was suffering from chunking front tyres whilst Coulon was pulling away from Rousselot in third. Neves promising run came to an end a couple of laps later when his engine blew and Möhr was forced to retire with a bad petrol burn on his thigh leaving Mackintosh an untroubled eighth.
The rest of the race was an Alpine demonstration run, by lap 41 Leclere had lapped everybody up to and including third man Coulon and he crossed the finishing line on lap 50 some 14 seconds ahead of the Serpaggi car. Coulon, Rousselot and Beguin finished a lap down in third, fourth and fifth with Mackintosh sixth and Lewis who had passed MacDonald on lap 33 and Sedgley on the last lap a pleased seventh.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Estoril, 18 June 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, 18 June 1972

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Race Report: Thruxton, 18 June 1972

thruxton_18_6_72

Another wet race for the Forward Trust Championship runners, the outcome of which would very much depend again on whether you car was fitted with the Firestone B33 wet tyre or not.

Once again it was Rikki von Opel revelling in the wet conditions who put his Iberia Ensign into the lead from the start, hot on his heels after a great start from the second row following a stripped third gear in practice was Brian McGuire in his Brabham BT38. Needless to say both of the two leaders were wearing the required Firestones. There was a big battle for third place between Tony Brise (Brabham BT38), Bev Bond (Ehrlich ES1), Chris Skeaping (Chevron B20), Mike Wilds (March 713S), James Hunt (Dastle Mk9), Russell Wood (March 723) and the GRD 723s of Masami Kuwashima and Andy Sutcliffe. It was Brise and Wilds with their B33 wets that began to pull away from the others with Brise holding third until lap 10 when a spin at the chicane allowed Wilds to take the place and hold it to the flag, an excellent result in only his second F3 race in the ex-Hunt March. Brise soon began to recover from his mistake but found Andy Sutcliffe in combative mood and it was several laps before the Brabham passed the GRD into fourth place.

Chris Skeaping lost his Chevron B20 at Campbell on lap 7 and Bond spun out at the chicane on lap 8 although he was able to continue. Interestingly the 8th placed U2 of Ray Mallock was equipped with F Ford Firestone Torinos and went very well in the conditions.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 18 June 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: Anderstorp, 18 June 1972

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Race Report: Anderstorp, 18 June 1972

andestorp_18_6_72

This round of the Shell Super Oil Championship was held as part of the Ronnie-Gala meeting with Peterson himself demonstrating his F1 March 721X to the crowds. The race was held over two 12 lap heats with the result being decided on aggregate times.

Mike Walker claimed pole position in the works Ensign F372, he knew the track having raced a F5000 car here, next up were Jochen Mass in the works STP March 723 and Peter Hull in his Brabham BT38 both of whom had taken advantage of some pre-race testing. Dave Walker had done over 100 laps testing to set up the JPS lotus 73s and Bernard Vermilio appeared to benefit as he equalled Hull’s time in fourth place. Newcomer Gunnar Nordström was fifth in his Brabham BT35 from Colin Vandervell’s Ensign F372 whilst Roger Williamson found himself back on row three due to a stripped third gear.

The grid lined up for heat one in a 2-2-2 formation and it was Mike Walker who made the best start with Hull moving up to second as Mass bogged down slightly in the STP March, the German then took Hull at the second corner only to loose the place again on the main straight. Williamson and Vandervell were making good progress and when Hull went off at he end of the main straight with brake problems on lap 2 they both moved onto the tail of the leading Ensign.
Vandervell took over the lead on laps seven and eight but then Williamson moved into the lead for the final four laps, Walker and Vandervell battled over second place with Walker succeeding in getting ahead for the important last two laps. Mass had dropped to fourth on lap 8 but an excursion onto the grass on lap 11 saw him remove the nosecone from his March, he resumed to finish eleventh. Vermilio had been having a steady run in fifth but a broken ignition lead saw him retire on lap 10, Hull, still dealing with his brake problems, moved up to and finished fifth behind Conny Andersson (Brabham BT38). Tony Trimmer struggled home in eighth, very unhappy with his Lotus 73. Retirements included Ulf Svensson (Brabham BT38) and Erikki Salminen (Brabham BT28) after a shunt.

It was Williamson again in front for heat two followed by Walker, Vandervell, Andersson, Jonsson and Hull, Vandervell and Walker were constantly swopping position in their fight for second whilst Hull moved his Brabham up to fourth. Trimmer was going a little better in this heat and lap 5 saw him move the Lotus up to sixth at the expense of Andersson whilst Jonsson’s good run came to an end when he retired on lap 7 when he went off at the end of the main straight. Meanwhile at the front Williamson continued on his relaxed way to an easy win, behind him the battle for second was resolved when Walker spun off on lap 10 leaving Vandervell with the position from Trimmer and Hull. Hull passed Trimmer on the last lap and as Trimmer tried to regain the place Andersson joined in the fun putting two wheels on the grass in his attempts to get third, but at the line it was Hull from Trimmer and Andersson. Mass had a mixed race, he had to pit at the end of lap 1 to have a loose wheel tightened on his March, he then set fastest lap before spinning out of the race.

The aggregate result left Williamson the clear winner from Vandervell and Walker, this meant that Williamson now had a 14 point lead in the Shell Championship from Vandervell with Walker a further six points down.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Anderstorp, 18 June 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, 11 June 1972

silverstone_11_6_72

Race Report: Silverstone, 11 June 1972

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A full grid of runners came to Silverstone for this Forward Trust Championship round only to be greeted by very wet conditions which was good news for those who had the use of the Firestone wet but bad news for everyone else.

As the field left the grid Bev Bond who had been fastest in qualifying in his Ehrlich quickly slipped down the field whilst the two works Iberia Ensigns with their Firestone wets slithered into the lead. Von Opel and Walker then proceeded to dominate the race until Walker spun at Woodcote falling from second to fifth. It was then the turn of Roger Williamson, who had made a brilliant start from the fourth row to to be third at the end of the opening lap, and was making the most of his Dunlops to challenge the von Opel Ensign with his GRD. Williamson then moved up to second when Walker spun but dropped back to third when the recovering Walker took the place back again, the GRD driver’s cause wasn’t being helped by a misfiring engine that a change of plugs on the grid hadn’t cured.

Bernard Vermilio finished a good fourth with his Lotus trying the wider front suspension that Tony Trimmer had used at Mallory, team-mate Trimmer finishing in sixth despite a puncture. Tony Brise should have been up at the pointed end with his Firestone wets but a half spin at Copse on lap 5 meant he spent most of the race regaining lost ground to finish fifth. Russell Wood went off at Woodcote backwards doing his works March 723 no good at all, debutante Mike Wilds in his ex-James Hunt 713S was involved in the incident retiring with minor damage. James Hunt himself was having his first outing in the Dastle Mk9 but he was out within 100 yards when he hit the pit wall in the spray that was thrown up at the start, Barrie Maskell (Lotus 69) and Matt Spitzley (March 713M) also fell victim of the spray and joined Hunt.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 11 June 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: La Chatre, 4 June 1972

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Race Report: La Chatre, 4 June 1972

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There was a small but select entry for this non-championship race held on the tiny 1.2 km La Chatre circuit. Due to its small size and restricted width only 10 cars are allowed to start so a two heats and a final were adopted to give everyone a race.

Heading the UK runners were Roger Williamson in his GRD 372 and Tony Brise in his Brabham BT38, also from England was Stan Matthews (March 723). James Hunt was entered in his March 713M but team-mate in the La Vie Clare team, Philippe de Henning, had badly damaged his car at Mallory and Hunt stood down to let de Henning use his car to gain more recognition with the French F3 organisers. Heading the French runners were the two works Alpine-Renault A364s of Michel Leclere and Alain Serpaggi backed up by the private A360 of Lucien Guitteny. A host of Martini Mk 9s arrived for Jacques Coulon, François Rabbione, Bernard Beguin, Guy Dhotel, Joel Auvray, Patrice Compain (in the ex-José Dolhem car) and Philippe Munier. Christian Ethuin had the Narval JC3 that had been running well recently, there were Lotus 69s for Freddy Link and Gerhard Witti, and finally Brabham BT35s for Hannu Maurer Stroh and Yannick Auxemery (the latter wearing Alpine influenced bodywork).

Heat one was all about Williamson and Brise as the two Englishmen pulled away from the rest of the field, the GRD driver led until near the end when a small mistake allowed Brise to take the lead and win by 1.5 seconds. Auvray was third until lap 19 when his engine suddenly went off allowing the Alpines of Leclere and Serpaggi through to third and fourth.

It was all Coulon in the second heat, he was initially challenged by Ethuin but the Narval driver found that,. like several other Novamotor users, his fuel lines were getting too hot in the high ambient temperatures and causing fuel vaporisation. Stan Matthews March was another to suffer from this problem and he fell away from a qualifying place, Witti, Dhotel and Compain completed the five qualifiers for the final.

The final proved to be another Williamson versus Brise battle but this time Williamson kept his cool to win by 0.4 seconds, Coulon took third 4.2 seconds further back with the Alpines of Serpaggi and Leclere lagging surprisingly far back in fourth and fifth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: La Chatre, 4 June 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