Race Report: Silverstone, 26 August 1974

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Race Report: Silverstone, 26 August 1974

silverstone_26_8_74

This Lombard North Central round took place on the day after the race at Mallory Park, despite this there was a reasonable entry with several new names making an appearance.

It rained just before the race but by the time the cars formed up on the grid it was dry again and everyone fitted slicks for the race. It was Brian Henton who made a great start from row two to lead the other cars into Copse and his cause was helped by the GRD 374s of Alex Ribeiro and Marcos Moraes coming together in the corner and delaying a number of cars. It was Tony Rouff who took second place ahead of Nick von Preussen in third whilst the curse of pole man Mike Tyrrell struck again as the March driver spun down to the back of the field at Maggott’s. Dick Parson’s took advantage of the other cars spinning to slot into fourth at the end of the first lap in his Smiths Crisps Ensign.

The first four remained unchanged until lap 10 when Parsons retired and von Preussen had to pit with his engine making strange noises, some adjustments were made and he continued to finish sixth. Leader Henton continued to be untroubled and he took the flag 2.8 seconds ahead of Rouff with Ribeiro in third. Fourth went to Brazilian newcomer Marivaldo Fernandez who was having an outing in “Teleco’s” March 733, he had raced F3 before in the 1970 1-litre Temporada series where he had handled a works Lotus. Marcos Moraes was black flagged when the bodywork on his GRD was rubbing against a tyre with the ensuing risk of a puncture.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 26 August 1974

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, 25 August 1974

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Race Report: Mallory Park, 25 August 1974

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It was another 11 car field for this Lombard North Central round with pole position going to America’s Danny Sullivan. Brian Henton was only fifth fastest complaining about a down on power engine and Barrie Maskell needed some modifications to the bodywork on his Dastle where it was rubbing on a tyre.

From the start it was Rouff from Sullivan and Henton and although the positions remained unchanged for the full 15 laps the race was never boring as each driver strove to get an advantage over the other two. The race was run at a new record speed and Brian Henton set a new lap record indicating just how hard the three men were trying. Marcos Moraes had been fourth but a spin at the Esses on lap 2 in his GRD which involved the March of Nick von Preussen saw both cars drop to the back of the field. Alex Ribeiro also spun and found himself in the company of Moraes and von Preussen.

An interesting newcomer was Patrick Neve who finished sixth in his first F3 race driving a modified Brabham listed in the entry as a BT41B, his result was even more impressive as he was only running a 1600 cc engine. Barrie Maskell was a retirement with a recurrence of the rubbing bodywork he had suffered in practice.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mallory Park, 25 August 1974

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: Jyllandsring, 25 August 1974

jylandsring_25_8_74

Race Report: Jyllandsring, 25 August 1974

jylandsring_25_8_74

The Danish GP was split into two heats one held on the Saturday the other on the Sunday with the first heat being shorter than the second.

Jac Nelleman won Heat 1 in his GRD from Ulf Svensson (Brabham) and Hans Binder (March) despite it raining in the closing stages. Nelleman repeated his win in Heat 2 helped by Svensson colliding with Hakan Alriksson (GRD) at the first corner. Binder took second this time round with Gunnar Nordström third. Peter Dugdale brought his March 743 over from the UK but a burned out clutch spelt retirement.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Jyllandsring, 25 August 1974

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 August 1974

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Race Report: Thruxton, 18 August 1974

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The field for this Forward Trust event was boosted by a couple of extra cars from the Italian series who were heading to a race in Scandinavia. Practice saw Mike Tyrrell (March 733) get his hat trick of pole positions setting a time 0.2 seconds quicker than Danny Sullivan in his similar car. Pre-race favourite Brian Henton was relegated to the back row after only a few practice laps due to a troublesome engine that needed changing.

Tyrrell lead away from pole position but once again it all went wrong for the Antiguan on the opening lap, as the field entered Cobb there was chaos with seven cars involved in an incident. The perpetrator wasn’t clear, some thought it was Moraes, others Tyrrell himself, either way Tyrrell was out on the spot as was the March-Lancia 733 of visiting Italian Marcello Rosei. At the end of the first lap it was Ribiero closely followed by Danny Sullivan with Henton who had taken to the grass at Cobb to avoid the kerfuffle up to third. Lap 3 saw Henton get within striking distance of Ribeiro and Sullivan, this lap also seeing the demise of Moraes with a puncture sustained in the opening lap incident.

Tony Rouff had moved up to fourth ahead of a group of cars that were soon to be reduced as a continuing consequence of the lap 1 accident, José Espirito Santo was black flagged on lap 3 with his oil cooler becoming unattached and Barrie Maskell was out with a flat rear tyre. Henton pushed Sullivan down to third on lap 5 and promptly set off after Ribeiro, behind Sullivan it was Tony Rouff, Dick Parson’s Ensign and Nick von Persian’s March but within three laps Parson’s was out with gearbox problems and von Preussen had his engine seize when he lost his oil cooler.
The field was failing fast there were now only six cars running of which only four were on the same lap, Henton was still trying to find a way past Ribeiro and on lap 9 he did it. Once ahead he immediately pulled away to take the victory by 2.6 seconds, Ribeiro finished second with Sullivan completing the podium in third.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 18 August 1974

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: Kassel Calden, 18 August 1974

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Race Report: Kassel Calden, 18 August 1974

kassel-calden_18_8_74

The “Hessenpreis”, round 8 of the Polifac Trophy and another support round to the Interserie series.

Pole sitter Gunnar Nordström led the field on the opening lap with his GRD but the track had become very slippery and he spun off which put Giorgio Francia in his March into the lead. Conny Andersson had been running second but he had disconnected his rear anti roll bar to improve his handling, it didn’t and he fell away to finish fourth as both Willi Deutsch and Hans Binder passed him. Gunnar Nilsson could have expected to be up with the front runners but he had problems in practice and then his clutch exploded on the line and he started a lap down.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Kassel Calden, 18 August 1974

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, 11 August 1974

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Race Report: Brands Hatch, 11 August 1974

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For their second race in two days 13 F3 cars made it to Brands Hatch for this Lombard North Central round, however practice saw one car eliminated, the José Espirito Santo March was out with front end damage. One notable absentee was Tony Rouff following the problems he suffered at Oulton Park the day before. Mike Tyrrell showed his Oulton pole position was no fluke by once again being the fastest runner at the end of qualifying.

Unfortunately for Tyrrell his pole position came to naught when he was a first lap retirement with clutch failure in his March 733. It was Brian Henton who took the lead from the start and for the rest of the race his rivals had to sit and watch his gearbox from a distance as the works March cruised to a nearly 4 second win.

Brazilian Alex Ribeiro took second at the start initially chased by the March of Nick von Preussen but it was Danny Sullivan who quickly moved ahead of von Preussen to chase Ribeiro. For the rest of the race the GRD and the March fought a great battle, Sullivan had a bit of a moment on lap 8 which dropped him back a little but by the finish he had closed right up again to finish 0.8 seconds behind the Hollywood sponsored car. Nick von Preussen stayed close to the duo in front to finish fourth while Derek Lawrence had another steady run in the Ehrlich to take fifth ahead of the second works March of Jose Chateaubriand.
Two new runners this weekend were Norman Pierce in the Dastle normally pedalled by Barrie Maskell who went quite well despite a spin at Druids and Frank Scurria who had an outing in his 1600 cc Ensign F372 and needed a push start but did well to catch up and pass several runners ahead of him.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 11 August 1974

Race Heat 1

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 20:09.40

2 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 20:09.50

3 Luigi Fontanesi

Tecno-Ford 20:13.10

4 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 20:23.40

Race Heat 2

1 Giovanni Lo Voi

Brabham-Ford BT28 15:05.00

2 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 15:05.00

3 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 15:21.00

4 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 15:34.10

5 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28

Race Final

1 Vittorio Brambilla

Birel Alfa Romeo 30:44.30 144.318

2 Marcello Gallo

Brabham BT28 30:44.34

3 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Ford 69 30:45.10

4 Adelmo Fossati

Brabham BT28 30:55.40

5 Patrice Compain

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

6 Carlo Franchi (Gimax)

De Sanctis-Alfa Romeo 31:11.50

7 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Ford 31:59.60

8 Giovanni Lo Voi

Martini-Ford MW7 31:08.00

Race Report: Oulton Park, 10 August 1974

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Race Report: Oulton Park, 10 August 1974

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The latest Lombard North Central round was all about the weather, it rained heavily in practice which gave the unusual site of Mike Tyrrell on pole in his ex-Tony Brise March 733, and it rained heavily in the race.

There was chaos before the start when on the warm up lap there seemed to be a misunderstanding between Brian Henton and José Espirito Santo which caused Santo to punt Tyrrell up the rear breaking the oil cooler on the Antiguan’s March. Tyrrell stopped at Druids after leaving a long oil trail on the track whilst Santo came to the grid his brakes covered in oil. Henton arrived very late after having to stop to have a broken fuel injection rod fixed and in the confusion he forgot to switch his engine off.

This wasn’t the end of the problems for Henton as both he and team mate Jose Chateaubriand were penalised 70 seconds for jumping the start. To make matters worse the March pit weren’t informed of the penalty until the race was 10 laps old, although Henton speeded up on hearing of the penalty there was insufficient time for him to build up anything like enough of a gap and at the finish he and Chateaubriand dropped to sixth and seventh respectively despite a protest by the March team.
Henton actually finished first on the road thirteen seconds ahead of Alex Ribeiro who became the winner after Henton’s penalty was applied. Nick von Preussen drove very well to take second after demoting Chateaubriand at Old Hall on the last lap and finishing less than a second behind Ribeiro. Derek Lawrence took third from a closely following Tony Rouff and Marcos Moraes, Rouff might have hoped to do better but his race was ruined by broken mounting points on his GRD resulting in terrible handling problems. Santo’s disappointing race was concluded after five slow tours of the wet track.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 10 August 1974

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