Race Report: Mallory Park, 29 May 1972

mallory-park_29_5_72

Race Report: Mallory Park, 29 May 1972

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Such was the number of cars entered for this round of the Shell Super Oil Championship that it was necessary to split the field into three heats to qualify for the final.

It was French visitor Michel Leclere in his Alpine A364 who took pole position for heat one 0.2 seconds outside the lap record, the lap record holder Tony Trimmer was next in his Lotus 73 that was trying a track and wheelbase both shortened by two inches as well as a shortened nose, completing the row was Brands Hatch winner Bob Evans who was once again in the Alan McKechnie March 723. Row two comprised James Hunt still in the La Vie Claire March 713M and Mo Harness who suffered a broken cam follower in his Brabham BT28. Andy Sutcliffe wasn’t too pleased with the timekeepers as he felt he had been quicker than the time he had been credited with. Right at the back of the grid Bubbles Horsley was in the Dastle that Steve Thompson had gone so well in at Monaco.

There was a very Gallic feel to the sharp end of the grid for heat two with Jacques Coulon equalling the lap record to take pole in his Ecurie Antar-Filipinettti Martini Mk 9, sitting next to him was the second works Alpine of Alain Serpaggi with the Brabham BT38 of Tony Brise on the outside. Peter Hull lead row 2 in his BT38 whilst going very well and sharing Hull’s time was Jeremy Gambs in his Ensign F372. Barrie Maskell was further down than usual when his Lotus 69 suffered a broken crank during practice. Starters of interest were Christian Ethuin in the French Narval, Simon Sherman who was out in a new Royale RP11 and a second Mallock U2 Mk12 for Richard Mallock, his brother Ray had his Mk12 entered in heat one.

Mike Walker lead the other runners in heat three also equalling the lap record in his Iberia Ensign F372, Colin Vandervell was second quickest in his similar Ensign with local hero Roger Williamson in third. Row two had Alan Jones in the works STP March 723 again featuring its new nose and Rikki von Opel, his Ensign giving the F372 three out of the five fastest times in this heat. Further back Chris O’Brien was debuting his new Brabham BT38 whilst on the back row was a furious Chris Skeaping with everyone agreeing his Chevron B20 had gone much faster than the timekeepers official figure.
The start of heat one was a disaster for Andy Sutcliffe, his GRD wouldn’t fire up when his starter motor jammed and he was left sitting on the grid as the rest of the field roared off towards Gerards, a push start saw him chasing vainly after them. It was Trimmer leading Evans and Leclere as they exited Gerards but Horsley, de Henning and Dahlqvist were all at the corner, lap two saw Bond and Nelleman joined the retirements at the Esses. Meanwhile out at the front Trimmer found his Lotus suffering from a lack of brakes as he tried to pull away from Evans and Leclere. Evans lost second place to Leclere on lap 5 and by lap 8 the flying Frenchman had caught and passed Trimmer, the Lotus driver held on to finish half a length back at the finish. Evans dropped back into a big nine car battle for third loosing a place to Harness by the finish.

It appeared to most viewers that Serpaggi jumped the start to heat two but the judges didn’t agree so there was no penalty. Despite this Brise led the first two laps in his Brabham until on the third lap he went sideways at the hairpin, stalled his engine and was unable to restart it. This left Serpaggi in the lead he would hold to the finish even though he couldn’t relax as the Martini of Coulon tracked him all the way, Maskell held third until the last lap when Hull moved his Brabham ahead of the Lotus. Next up were Guitteny, Gambs (who was delayed by Brise’s problems) and Ethuin. Kuwashima and Ambrose had a collision at the hairpin with both cars being forced to retire.

The third heat was a battle between the Ensigns of Colin Vandervell and Mike Walker who worked together to pull away from the other cars, Roger Williamson could have expected to be with them but a flat (borrowed) battery on the grid meant a push start and the accompanying penalty meant that, like Sutcliffe, he wouldn’t make the final. Alan Jones held third until lap 8 when von Opel passed the March to make it an Ensign 1-2-3, Andersson took fifth from Skeaping who gained a place on the last lap when Mackintosh went straight on at the hairpin. Jean-Pierre Jabouille missed the start when a transmission problem stopped the Alpine on the warm-up lap.
There was almost complete indecision about what tyres to wear when it started to rain just before the start of the final, the start was delayed and as the sun began to shine Leclere and Rousselot decided on slicks, Walker, von Opel, Trimmer and Vermilio opted for the Firestone wet that had worked so well at Monaco, Jones and Guitteny went for Firestone intermediates whilst Vandervell had an old set (from the pre-slick days) of Firestone YB11s.
Walker jumped into an immediate lead and began to pull away from Vandervell who in turn was dropping Serpaggi, by lap 5 Walker had taken out his lead to nine seconds and seemed unstoppable. However as the track dried Vandervell’s tyres began to work better and better, initially holding the gap to Walker and then over the last five laps reeling the works car in. It was still Walker on the last lap but Vandervell went for the inside at the Esses, the Potterton Ensign went through into the lead and as Walker tried to hold onto Vandervell the Iberia car spun and, like Brise in heat one, Walker lost the engine and was unable to restart.
Behind Vandervell it was Alan Jones in the works March who took second as Trimmer and von Opel fell away as their wets broke up on the drying track, also in tyre problems was Serpaggi and he too found himself sliding down the order. Andersson, using a set of knobbly Firestones came through to take third ahead of Rousselot and Trimmer with Guitteny in sixth. The only retirements were Leclere who spun out of fourth at Gerards with four laps left, Coulon who lost it at the same corner and Evans who was forced onto the wet at the Esses and went off.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mallory Park, 29 May 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, 28 May 1972

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Race Report: Brands Hatch, 28 May 1972

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There were some old faces in new cars for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship, there had been major changes to the works March team and the cars formerly driven by James Hunt and Brendan McInerney were now in the hands of Alan Jones and Russell Wood. In an attempt to help with their straight line speed problem a new bulbous nose with fairings on the end of the front wings was being tried on the STP 723s. Bob Evans had hoped the new Puma would be ready but as it wasn’t he was still using his usual March 723.

Practice saw pole go to Mike Walker’s Iberia Ensign, he was joined on the outside of the front row by team-mate Rikki von Opel with the Brabham BT28 of Mo Harness splitting the pair of them. Well down the grid was the man currently leading the Lombank Championship, Andy Sutcliffe, a last minute change to Dunlop rubber saw his GRD suffering from excessive understeer.

It was Mike Walker who made the best start with Mo Harness tucking in behind him through Paddock, Walker continued to lead as far as Kidney where he spun the Ensign, and with nowhere to go the Brabham of Harness hit Walker and they were both instant retirements. Also out were both STP Marches, Wood slowed to avoid the Walker/Harness accident and was hit from behind by his Australian team-mate, both cars retired in the pits with minor damage. Final victim of the shunt was F3 newcomer Bill McGovern who also damaged his ex-Alan McCully Brabham BT38 in the confusion. It was Tony Brise who managed to get through the melee and take first place from Bob Evans, but on lap 2 Brise spun out at Paddock and it was Evans who gratefully took the lead.
Due to cars getting delayed in the Kidney kerfuffle Evans found himself with quite a good lead from von Opel, Magee, Sutcliffe, Hull, McGuire and the recovering Brise. By lap 5 Brise had climbed back up to second helped by Magee who, in his efforts to hold onto third, seemed to be holding up Sutcliffe, Hull and von Opel. Brian McGuire was falling away in his Brabham BT38 and was being caught by the GRD of Pierre-François Rousselot.
Just when it looked like Brise would take the lead he was black-flagged for overtaking under a yellow, Brise was forced to pit to receive a lecture from the Clerk of the Course and resumed at the back of the field. This left Evans still in front with a good lead over Sutcliffe, Hull and von Opel who had managed to find a way past Magee. Hull moved his BT38 up to second on lap 13 and started to chase after Evans whilst Magee gained a place back from von Opel but could only hold it for a lap. With four laps to go it looked as if Hull was going to catch Evans but the New Zealander went wide at Paddock damaging his side radiator and dropping to fourth. Rikki von Opel then moved his Ensign into second ahead of Sutcliffe whilst Hull had to retire his Brabham with two laps to go as a result of his off-course excursion. So at the finish Evans took a slightly fortuitous win from von Opel with Sutcliffe third and Magee fourth, Rousselot narrowly took fifth from McGuire and a fast closing Neil Ginn.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 28 May 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, 27 – 28 May 1972

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Race Report: Monza, 27 – 28 May 1972

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It was four heats and two finals over two days for the Italian F3 runners at Monza. One surprise was that Vittorio Brambilla had given up on his Birel-Alfa Romeo and was now running a Brabham-Novamotor BT38, his elder brother Tino was having a run in the Birel, his first F3 race for several years.

On the 27th the first heat, after a typical Monza slipstreamer, went to Pino Pica from Giorgio Pianta, Vittorio Venturi and “Pibo” with just 0.4 seconds separating them at the finish. Heat two saw Vittorio Brambilla take a relatively easy 2 second win over Claudio Francisci, Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi was a further 0.2 seconds behind with Gaudenzio Mantova and Tino Brambilla fourth and fifth, 0.3 seconds apart.
The final was an incredibly close affair with the first five cars being separated by 0.2 seconds, Pino Pica took the win from Carlo Giorgio, Vittorio Brambilla, Sandro Cinotti and Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi.

On the 28th some more drivers arrived to join in the fun and it was Alberto Colombo winning heat one by 0.1 seconds from Vittorio Brambilla, “Pibo”, Marcello Gallo and “Gero”. Heat two and it was Carlo Giorgio heading Adelmo Bignami, Pino Pica and Sandro Cinotti.
The final was fought out between three drivers with Alberto Colombo taking the victory from Carlo Giorgio and Vittorio Brambilla, fourth and fifth were Adelmo Bignami and Sandro Cinotti.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Monza, 27 – 28 May 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, 27 May 1972

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Race Report: Nurburgring, 27 May 1972

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19 cars arrived at the Nurburgring for this German Championship round over 5 laps on the full 22.835 km circuit.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Nurburgring, 27 May 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: Chimay, 21 May 1972

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Race Report: Chimay, 21 May 1972

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The general carnage at Monaco meant that the entry for this the 41st Grand Prix des Frontières was some what depleted and several top names were missing, nevertheless it was a good field that arrived for the 12 lap race. Practice was split into two sessions, the first was damp to wet but the second was completely dry and all the best times were set in the latter session. One casualty of the first qualifying was Jorgen Jonsson who tried going out with slicks on his MUM for Men Brabham BT38, he lost control exiting the town hairpin and hit a telegraph pole tweaking the monocoque and rupturing the fuel tank.

It was Andy Sutcliffe who took pole position, the works GRD was really flying and Andy had a troublefree qualifying until the final lap when his engine broke. Second fastest was James Hunt who had fallen out with the works team as a result of the various problems at Monaco, and he was again in the La Vie Clare March 713M showing there was nothing wrong with the year-old car. Two time Chimay winner, and looking for the hat-trick, David Purley in his Ensign F372 completed the front row. The second row contained Pierre-François Rousselot who was at last getting the hang of his GRD and John Bisignano who was delighted with his new Martini Mk9 which he had first used at Monaco.

Manfred Möhr headed row three, the German had been fastest in the opening wet session but fell away in the dry, next to him were Bev Bond in the Ehrlich and Michel Leclere in the fastest of the two Alpines. Row four saw Stan Matthews put his March ahead of the second of the Alpines driven by Alain Serpaggi, next up were Christian Ethuin in the Narval that had gone so well at Monaco, Conny Andersson who was suffering from overheating in his Brabham BT38 and Neil Ginn in his white GRD 372. Of the remaining runners Tony Brise was in all sorts of difficulties with his Brabham BT38, Barrie Maskell missed most of the dry track time with a broken engine and Richard Croucher was learning about his Lenham Hurst.
Non-starters for the race were Jonsson whose car couldn’t be repaired, Horsley who blew his engine in the first session and Munier and his Martini who left for reasons unknown.
It was Michel Leclere who made a superb getaway from the third row to lead at the end of the first lap with a huge group of slipstreaming cars sitting on his tail, already out was Andy Sutcliffe whose new engine lasted about a quarter of a mile. More seriously whilst travelling flat out along the long straight Neil Ginn hit the rear of the Ehrlich of Bev Bond sending both cars cartwheeling through the air, Bond ending up temporarily trapped in his upturned car. Both drivers were lucky to escape with no more than a severe shaking, also caught up in the accident was Davy Powers who lost a rear wheel when he hit one of the cars.
Tony Brise moved up to lead lap 2 from Bisignano and Rousselot, the French GRD driver then took his turn on the third lap relegating Brise to second and Bisignano to third. This leading group now consisted of 13 furiously slipstreaming cars with the two favourites for victory, Purley and Hunt, keeping out of trouble in the middle of the pack. By lap 4 the positions were Brise, Rousselot, Bisignano, Hull, Ethuin, Andersson, Hunt, Purley, Svensson, Leclere, Evans, Möhr and Serpaggi, there was then a gap to a lonely Matthews followed by Deutsch, de Henning, Musetti, Tyrrell, Maskell, Croucher, Crenier, Nelleman, Hurst and Moger.
It was still Brise on lap 5 from Rousselot, Hull, Ethuin, Bisignano and Andersson until at the hairpin Leclere struck Svensson’s Brabham in the rear, both cars staggered round to the pits and retired, Svensson with misaligned suspension and Leclere with bodywork damage. Lap 6 saw de Henning retire his March with engine problems. Brise kept the lead for the next couple of laps but Bisignano and Hull were out of the leading bunch when the American braked too late for the hairpin and his Martini broadsided Hull’s Brabham. Hull was less than pleased with Bisignano’s driving and at the end of the meeting made a formal protest but the organisers rejected it, saying it was a simple racing accident. At the front on lap 8 it was now Rousselot from Ethuin, Brise, Purley (moving up towards the front), Hunt, Andersson and Evans. Trailing a few seconds down after being delayed in the Bisignano/Hull incident were Serpaggi and Möhr with the rest nowhere.
Purley showed his hand by leading on lap 9 with Hunt, Rousselot and Brise right behind, lap 10 and it was Ethuin’s Narval whilst lap 11 it was Andersson’s turn to put his Brabham into first. Lap 12 and the last lap and into the hairpin and around the back of the circuit it was still Andersson until the corner before the downhill descent to the finish when his engine suddenly died, Evans who had moved up to second behind the Swede got boxed in and fell back into the rest of the pack. Down the hill and it was Rousselot in front until at the bottom the leaders came across two slow backmarkers, Croucher and Nelleman, Purley cleverly used their slipstream to pull himself ahead of Rousselot and take the third victory he had set his heart on. Rousselot held onto second 0.4 seconds behind with Ethuin taking a very good third from Brise, Hunt took fifth with a flat tyre from the disappointed Evans down in sixth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Chimay, 21 May 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, 14 May 1972

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Race Report: Hockenheim, 14 May 1972

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This race took place the day after the Monaco F3 race and several drivers who hadn’t qualified an Monaco quickly packed up their cars and headed for Hockenheim. Most notable of these was Vittorio Brambilla who used his slipstreaming skills, honed at Monza, to take the win from German drivers Willi Deutsch and Willi Somner. Welshman Davy Powers would have been fourth but a last lap spin dropped him to sixth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Hockenheim, 14 May 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, 14 May 1972

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Race Report: Silverstone, 14 May 1972

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Held the day after the Monaco F3 race the entry was based more on quantity than quality although several top names appeared notably Roger Williamson who, despite injuring his foot in his Monaco accident, flew back to drive the prototype GRD 372 usually handled by Andy Sutcliffe. Jeremy Gambs led away at the start in his Ensign F372 but soon found himself demoted so that at the end of lap 1 it was Williamson from Skeaping and von Opel. Skeaping put the Chevron into the lead at Woodcote on lap 2 but Williamson immediately retook first spot and gradually pulled away from the rest of the field to take an easy victory. Rikki von Opel took second place from Skeaping on lap 5 and although the Chevron driver stayed on the tail of the Ensign for the rest of the race he never looked like regaining second place. The main battle was for fourth between ex-MGB racer Tony Binnington (March 713M), Masami Kuwashima (GRD 372), Ross Ambrose (Lotus 69) and Ray Mallock (U2 Mk12).

Binnington appeared to be coming out on top until lap 9 when some barging at Woodcote saw Ambrose push the March into the sleepers, although the car was badly damaged luckily Binnington was unhurt. Ambrose also spun in the melee allowing Kuwashima and Mallock to pull away, the wildly driven GRD and the U2 fought over fourth until lap 13 when Mallock got ahead and eased away over the remaining two laps.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 14 May 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: Monaco, 13 May 1972

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Race Report: Monaco, 13 May 1972

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As was to be expected for this, the jewel in the F3 crown, 69 of the accepted 70 entries arrived at Monaco for practice, of these 69 cars 40 would race in two heats of 20 in each. Practice took place on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at 05:30 (!) with each heat having 40 minutes per session.

Patrick Depailler was flying in heat one qualifying and he set a time 0.8 seconds quicker than any of the other runners to take pole position, the Alpine looking particularly impressive through the tight corners. Second fastest was Andy Sutcliffe who was suffering from brake problems as were all the GRD runners, next up was the second Alpine of Michel Leclere from the Brabham of Torsten Palm. Mike Walker had problems in the first session when his black box failed after a lap but it was sorted for the second session although Walker felt the Ensign wasn’t particularly suited to the track. Going very well was Steve Thompson who was having an outing in Bubbles Horsley’s Dastle as Horsley couldn’t get an entry, also suffering engine problems Thompson still managed to get the Dastle on the fourth row.

David Purley set fourth fastest time in the first session but an engine failure early in the second meant the Ensign driver lined up only fourteenth, also in difficulties was McCully who had gearbox problems in the first session and couldn’t get a clear lap in the second, to further add to his woes his team timed him a lot faster then the official watches did. Maskell was another driver who would have expected to be higher up the grid but in the first session his Lotus was badly undergeared and in the second a shock absorber broke at Tabac and the suspension was ripped off on one side. Vermilio was very disappointed not to qualify his Lotus 73 but a rocker cover gasket failed in the first session and was then incorrectly replaced causing oil to spray over the rear brakes of the 73 during the second session. Other surprise non-qualifiers were Peter Hull as both handling and engine problems stopped him setting anything like a competitive time and Vittorio Brambilla who was also in handling problems with his rather tatty Alpine-like Birel.
It was Roger Williamson who took pole position for the second heat, despite suffering the universal GRD brake problem he was only 0.1 seconds slower the Depailler. Jacques Coulon was also going very quickly in the latest Martini and lined up next to the GRD, the second row consisted of Claudio Francisci in his Lotus 69 and the second Martini of José Dolhem. Tony Trimmer got his Lotus 73 on the fourth row despite engine problems and handling difficulties which were alleviated by fitting an odd shaped nose. Equalling Trimmer’s time was an interesting new car, the French Narval, being driven by former Tecno driver Christian Ethuin.
An unfortunate incident befell Peter Lamplough and Tom Pryce and it was only pure luck that there weren’t tragic consequences, Pryce’s Royale stopped just before Casino and the Welshman was looking at the engine for a possible faulty wire when Lamplough lost the Merlyn which cannoned into the Royale knocking Pryce over. Both drivers suffered broken legs and were expected to be out of racing for several months. Jochen Mass was disappointed to be on row fifteen, he was overdriving the March and bouncing off the kerbs far too much, he suggested things would be better if the kerbs were made of rubber!
James Hunt’s run of bad luck continued when he found his car wasn’t ready at the start of practice despite the factory having had two weeks since his Silverstone accident. The car was eventually ready 20 minutes late but as he went out on the track the throttle cable broke at the Gasworks hairpin, Hunt ran back to the pits and returned a few minutes later with Brendan McInerney’s mechanic to find that in the interim Tecno driver Pesce had hit the March removing a rear wheel, Hunt had several words with the Italian who wasn’t seen again at the meeting. Despite an all nighter by the March team the car wasn’t ready for the morning session on Friday so Hunt spoke to former team manager Chris Marshal about using the spare La Vie Clare March 713M which was a bitsa made out of spares. The normal driver Jean-Claude Alzerat had lost his license after a disagreement with the French Police, Hunt took over his entry in the first heat and qualified sensibly despite his lack of familiarity with the car.
Barrie Maskell’s Lotus was deemed beyond immediate safe repair so team-mate Roger Keele very sportingly stood down to allow Maskell to use his car. This meant with only 19 starters in heat one, Jorge Pinhol as first reserve should have been allowed to start but for some incomprehensible reason the organisers refused to let the GRD onto the grid.
Patrick Depailler’s Alpine made the best start and at the end of lap 1 he led from Andy Sutcliffe, following closely behind were Palm, Walker, Albera, Leclere, von Opel, Svensson, Serpaggi, Thompson, Guitteny, Purley, Vandervell, Wood, Hunt, Bond , Maskell, McCully and Bianchi. Hunt’s bad luck continued at the chicane on lap 2 when Wood was far too late on the brakes and spun pushing Hunt off into the barriers. Depailler, Sutcliffe and Palm were starting to pull out a small lead on the rest of the pack as Walker began to drop away with a flat engine. Bev Bond had to pit with a sticking throttle, not the best thing to have at Monaco and Maskell joined Hunt and Wood at the chicane when the engine in his Lotus blew its water out onto the rear wheels of the car. Lap 5 and it was still Depailler with Sutcliife in close attendance, Palm was dropping away a little whilst there was a big battle for fourth between Albera, von Opel and Leclere. There were seven cars squabbling over seventh consisting of Serpaggi from Vandervell (missing first gear), Svensson, Thompson (no second gear), Purley, Guitteny and McCully, and they were beginning to pull back up again to the three cars ahead. By half distance Depailler had eked out a one second lead over Sutcliffe with Palm a similar distance back in third but there was trouble further back when von Opel passed Albera but as the two cars turned onto the waterfront the Martini gave the Ensign a chop, the two cars collided and were both out, Albera suffering a broken arm. Depailler passed through the carnage on the next lap with no flags being evident but when Sutcliffe arrived yellow and oil flags were waved causing the GRD man to slow and loose ground to the Alpine. Sutcliffe then put the hammer down for the next few laps and began to reel the Alpine in again but mysteriously on the last three laps yellow flags were furiously waved at Sutcliffe and Palm despite the lack of any apparent reason whilst the flag marshalls seemed to miss Depailler every time he went past them. So it was that Depailler took the flag 7 seconds ahead of Sutcliffe who in turn had three seconds in hand over Palm. Purley should have been fourth after really flying over the last few laps and setting the fastest lap but his engine blew on the last lap dropping him to tenth which at least meant he qualified for the final, he was able to borrow a spare engine from Williamson for the race. Leclere moved up to fourth ahead of Guitteny after Serpaggi made a late pit stop and McCully took Vandervell for sixth on the last corner of the last lap.
It was another 19 car field for heat two after Stan Matthews was unlucky enough to suffer a CV joint failure on the warm up lap. Coulon took the lead at the start and was in front at the end of the first lap from Williamson but the GRD driver took the lead at St Devote on lap 2 and immediately began to leave the rest behind. Coulon held second under pressure from Dolhem and Francisci, next up were Pica, Brise, Ethuin, Rousselot, Jones, Trimmer, Evans, McInerney, Möhr, Giorgio, Mass, Rabbione, Lombardi and Compain who had a bad misfire, pit stopping was Pessenti Rossi with a broken throttle cable. There were problems for Brise on lap 3 at the Station hairpin when the top of his header tank blew off covering his rear tyres with coolant, the Brabham spun and whilst Brise was backing up Alan Jones had to stop to avoid contact, stalling his engine and needed a push start after everyone else had gone.
Williamson had pulled out a three second lead over Coulon by lap 3 who in turn led Francisci and Pica, Dolhem had been next but he spun and hit the barrier at St Devote allowing the impressive Ethuin to move up to fifth. Trimmer was in seventh but unhappy as his tyres had rolled on their rims causing all sorts of handling problems. Williamson further extended his lead until it stood at six seconds on lap 10, Tom Wheatcroft held out a “Slow” sign to him and the Englishman eased off a little until Francisci who had passed Coulon on lap 11 closed within two seconds, Williamson immediately eased away again and took the chequered flag some four seconds ahead of the Italian. Coulon took third only about a second down on Francisci, Ethuin should have taken fourth but he missed the chicane on lap 13 and fell to seventh. Pica was next ahead of Rousselot who had been dicing with Trimmer but as the tyre problems on the 73 got worse the Brabham was able to pull away and take fifth.
The first ten in each heat made it through to the final although one or two might not have been too pleased when the heavens opened in the afternoon and the track was soon soaking. The drivers were given two warm up laps and were told that under no circumstances would any last minute adjustments be allowed on the grid under penalty of disqualification, these rules were rigidly enforced on all drivers whose names weren’t Depailler or Coulon!
It was Depailler who scrabbled away in the lead as everyone was suffering from wheelspin, Sutcliffe slotted into second with Palm third and Williamson fourth until the Station hairpin when Williamson tried to take the inside line, it was wetter than he expected, his brakes locked and he went wide, Roger gathered it together, found reverse and rejoined the track but he was down to ninth. At the end of the lap it was Depailler from Sutcliffe, Coulon, Leclere, Pica, Rousselot, Francisci, Williamson, Ethuin, Mass (good progress from the back), Guitteny, Vandervell, Purley, McCully, Evans, Thompson, Bianchi and Möhr.
Back at the front Depailler still led but he wasn’t dropping Sutcliffe and Williamson was really moving (both up and down), lap 2 saw him fifth, lap 3 back to eighth after missing the chicane, fourth on lap 4 and third on lap 6. Although Depailler had by now pulled out a gap to Sutcliffe the arrival of Williamson on his tail spurred Andy on and the two GRDs began to catch the Alpine at a second a lap. Palm was in fourth leading a battling group consisting of Rousselot, Coulon, Vandervell, Trimmer, Francisci and Mass. Retirements at this point were Ethuin who hit the rail at St Devote and a few laps later he was joined by Pica.
Williamson’s challenge lasted until lap 12 when he was descending the hill towards Mirabeau, his brakes locked on and the car hit the barrier and he had to retire accompanied by loud applause from the stands. Sutcliffe continued to close in on the Alpine until the gap was down to a second and then, just as in his heat, the marshalls began to wave yellow and oil flags at him despite there being no apparent reason, it worked and by lap 16 the Alpine was well clear again.
The rain had now stopped and the track had begun to dry and Tony Trimmer and Colin Vandervell who were wearing a new low profile Firestone front found the tyres working really well. Vandervell who had been fourteenth on the first lap and Trimmer who had been tenth were now carving their way through the field, by lap 16 Vandervell was on Sutcliffe’s tail having set fastest lap on the way. Trimmer was with them two laps later after having had a stroke of good luck, earlier he had locked up at Mirabeau and ended up interlocked with an Alpine facing the barrier. Using the red light in the rain had flattened his battery so Trimmer couldn’t restart, suddenly another car spun hitting Trimmer up the rear, he banged the Lotus into gear and bumped started it.
The positions were now Depailler, Sutcliffe, Vandervell, Trimmer, Francisci, Palm, McCully, Leclere, Mass and Coulon. David Purley had been next but like Williamson he went off at Mirabeau. By lap 18 Trimmer and Vandervell were attacking the GRD for second, Sutcliffe tried to hold on but the Firestones were working too well and the Lotus and the Ensign were ahead. They then began to catch the Alpine at a tremendous rate but there just wasn’t enough time left and Depailler took the win by 1.9 seconds from Trimmer with Vandervell very close behind. Sutcliffe was a disappointed fourth with McCully fifth (another Firestone user), Francisci had been sixth but he retired on lap 20 with waterlogged electrics so Leclere took the place.

There was a certain amount of discord after the race when the winning Alpine appeared to have a very cursory and private eligibility check whilst the Lotus and the Ensign were given a very thorough public check with repeated vacuum tests but despite the scrutineers best efforts both cars were found fully legal. Mo Nunn then asked that the Alpine be vacuum tested in front of everyone, but unfortunately the scrutineers managed to break the tester. Vegantune offered their tester but then the French police were called and told to stop anyone touching the Alpine unless a £90 fee was paid, the AIRO team agreed to pay. The race officials then insisted that the car be checked in front of the Alpine team only so nobody was sure that the engine was legal, coupled with the flag marshalling problems it cast a shadow over Depailler’s victory.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Monaco, 13 May 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, 1 May 1972

magny_1_5_72

Race Report: Magny Cours, 1 May 1972

magny_1_5_72

Held on a Monday to celebrate a public holiday this meeting featured F3 and 2-litre sports cars.

The race was dominated by the works Alpine-Renaults with victory going to Alain Serpaggi from Jacques Coulon after team-mate Michel Leclere spun off. Leclere recovered to finish third and set a new lap record whilst just pipping fourth placed Phillipe Albera to the post

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Magny Cours, 1 May 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