Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 September 1974

oulton-park_28_9_74

Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 September 1974

oulton-park_28_9_74

It was Brian Henton, back in his familiar 743, who took pole position for this Lombard North Central round, his March benefiting from a lightened Pinto engine fitted with a revised camshaft. Henton shared the front row with his main rival this year, Tony Rouff and Brazilian coming man Alex Ribeiro. A welcome sight on row two was Sweden’s Conny Andersson who had taken out a British licence to compete in the last remaining races of the year. Jose Chateaubriand was trying a Novamotor Toyota in his works March 743 for this weekend instead of his usual Holbay Pinto. For this race the F3 had to contend with the FF2000 cars who were added to augment the grid.

It was raining as the cars lined up on the grid and everyone opted for wet tyres. Rouff made the best start to lead Henton who found his rev counter not functioning and was trying to change gear by ear. Just as Henton was about to give up as he found the noise of Rouff’s engine drowning out his Pinto the American locked his brakes at Lodge and spun. With nobody in front of him Henton quickly opened out a gap on the new second place man, Conny Andersson. Next up it was Alex Ribeiro from Nick von Preussen, Jose Chateaubriand and Mike Tyrrell.
This was Andersson’s first wet race of the year and being a little rusty on lap 4 he was passed by Ribeiro, von Preussen and Chateaubriand, the Swede now began a battle with Tyrrell and the recovering Rouff. Lap 5 saw Chateaubriand pass von Preussen and on the following lap von Preussen spun at Esso resuming in seventh.
Chateaubriand demoted Ribeiro on lap 7 and eased out a small gap although he seemed unable to do anything about Henton in the lead. Tyrrell finally got past Andersson but promptly went off and hit the sleepers at Old Hall, Andersson and Rouff then began to close in on Ribeiro but there wasn’t enough time to do anything about the GRD in third. So at the finish it was Henton who took the win and also secured the Lombard North Central Championship, team mate Chateaubriand in second closed a little on Henton at the finish but Superhen had it all in hand.
Of the other runners Ivor Goodwin spun his Modus off at Lodge on lap 1, unfortunately Peter Dugdale did the same thing on the last lap in his March hitting the abandoned Modus, neither driver was injured.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 September 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, 22 September 1974

thruxton_22_9_74

Race Report: Thruxton, 22 September 1974

thruxton_22_9_74

It was 12 cars for the Lombard North Central round and Danny Sullivan was quickest in practice to secure pole position in his ex-Bob Evans March.

It began to rain just before the start but luckily it stopped again before the track had become too wet. Danny Sullivan’s pole came to naught when his car began misfiring badly from the start causing his early retirement. Thus it was Tony Rouff in his GRD who took the lead from the start chased by the Marches of Nick von Preussen and Mike Tyrrell. Before too long Tyrrell moved up to second and by lap 7 he was challenging Rouff for the lead but fell back on the last lap and Rouff took the win by a second.
Of the others Alex Ribeiro led Dick Parsons home for fourth and fifth, Chateaubriand had been fifth but had to retire from the race. Brian Henton’s usual March was driven by Brazilian Jan Bouder but it was hampered by an awful misfire and ran slowly at the back. Jorge Koechlin was having an outing in the Bob Bondurant backed Elden PRH15 and he finished seventh despite a spin.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 22 September 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: Mantorp Park, 15 September 1974

mantorp park_15_9_74

Race Report: Mantorp Park, 15 September 1974

mantorp park_15_9_74

A good field arrived to take part in this Swedish F3 race and it was Gunnar Nilsson who set a sub-lap record time to take pole position in his March-Toyota 743.

The first four on the grid immediately pulled away from the rest of the field and began a classic F3 slipstreaming battle. It was Nordström who took the lead initially and into the last lap and the last corner Nilsson outbraked Andersson to take second but Nordström held onto take the win by a thousandth of a second. Nilsson broke the lap record no less than four times on his way to the runner up spot.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mantorp Park, 15 September 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: Ulm-Megan, 15 September 1974

ulm-megan_15_9_74

Race Report: Ulm-Megan, 15 September 1974

ulm-megan_15_9_74
A non-championship German F3 race, the “Rundstreckenrennen Ulm-Mengen” was held over 20 laps of the 2.88 km circuit.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Ulm-Megan, 15 September 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, 15 September 1974

brands-hatch_15_9_74

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 15 September 1974

brands-hatch_15_9_74

It was 12 cars in the latest round of the Forward Trust Championship, it was supposed to be 13 but Mike Tyrrell broke a camshaft in his March in qualifying and was out of the race. Brian Henton arrived to find his car had been handed over to a Brazilian rent-a-driver for the next three races but at the last minute an ex-Buzz Buzaglo 723 updated to 733 spec and fitted with a 1.9 Neil Brown engine was prepared for Superhen.

It was pouring with rain as the cars came out and the track was very slippery as would be seen by the number of spins in the race. Tony Rouff made a great start from the second row and led for the first two and a half laps until spinning out of contention at Bottom Bend. After that it was Henton for the rest of the race and he came home an easy winner by 26 seconds from team mate Jose Chateaubriand who was driving Henton’s usual car. Chateaubriand drove very well in the tricky conditions moving up from seventh on the first lap. Alex Ribeiro started third and moved up to second when Rouff fell back but a spin and a damaged nose cone saw him out of the race. José Espirito Santo moved up to take Ribeiro’s place but he spun down to fourth. Of the rest Danny Sullivan was plagued with a misfire whilst finishing fifth, Nicholas von Preussen spun to the rear of the field on lap 1 and Patrick Neve spun with a flat tyre in his Brabham BT41.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 15 September 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: Nurburgring, 8 September 1974

nurburgring_8_9_74

Race Report: Nurburgring, 8 September 1974

nurburgring_8_9_74

Round 10 of the German F3 championship, the Polifac Trophy, was once again supporting a Interserie round. Held on the South circuit of the Nurburgring the “Redlefsen Super Sprint” was decided over two 15 lap heats followed by a 25 lap final.

Conny Andersson found himself in trouble at the start of the final when his clutch failed and he lost a lot of time until with 10 laps remaining his clutch returned and he began to catch the leaders. It was Hans Binder who had taken advantage of Andersson’s problem to lead the race and entering the final corner he was still ahead but the recovering Andersson went for the lead. The two Marches made contact breaking a water rail on Binder’s car, both were able to keep running and Andersson snatched the win by half a second. Gunnar Nilsson took the fastest lap and might well have been in the battle for the lead but plug problems on the grid lost him two laps.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Nurburgring, 8 September 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: Silverstone, 8 September 1974

silverstone_8_9_74

Race Report: Silverstone, 8 September 1974

silverstone_8_9_74

No less than 15 cars arrived at Silverstone for the latest round of the Forward Trust Championship, one of the largest UK fields this year.

There were problems at the start when Nicholas von Preussen and Brian Henton made contact, Henton scraped his March along the pit wall whilst von Preussen’s March was catapulted across the track where it was rammed by the Ehrlich of Chris Smith who had nowhere to go, both cars were badly damaged although the drivers were unhurt.

It was Mike Tyrrell who had made the best start and he proceeded to lead every lap, gradually pulling away from the rest of the field to win by nearly six seconds. Tony Rouff had moved up well and was battling with fellow American Danny Sullivan with both men chasing Alex Ribeiro. They both passed the Brazilian and pulled away a little and continued their battle all the way to the line with Rouff getting the second spot by 0.2 seconds. Ribeiro had fallen behind Henton who was complaining of a down on power engine but the Hollywood GRD managed to get the place back and Ribeiro, Henton and Santo crossed the line less than a second apart. Dick Parsons had been running with the front runners but he made contact with Jose Chateaubriand and picked up a slow puncture that dropped him back, the Brazilian spinning and retiring.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 8 September 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: Knutstorp, 1 September 1974

Race Report: Knutstorp, 1 September 1974

27 cars arrived at Knutstorp for this round of the Swedish F3 championship and it was UK visitor Brian Henton who took pole for the first of the two heats. Heat 1 was held on Saturday with the second heat on Sunday, the results would be decided on the aggregate times of the two races.

Brian Henton took the lead of Heat 1 from the flag chased by the GRD of Gunnar Nordström and stayed in front to half distance when he ran wide allowing Conny Andersson into first place. Henton found himself struggling in second and two laps from the end he went off at the corner before the pits allowing Giorgio Francia to take the runner-up spot.

Henton was allowed to race in Heat 2 as the organisers used a time calculation provided eight or more laps were completed which placed the works March on row two. Shortly before the race started a cracked adaptor plate was found on Henton’s car but there wasn’t enough time to repair or replace it. Following on from Heat 1 Andersson was uncatchable in Heat 2, leading from flag to flag, Francia once again taking second place. Henton held fifth for a while unable to catch those ahead but he then lost a place to team mate Jose Chateaubriand to finish sixth. Gunnar Nilsson sat fastest lap after starting from the back of the grid following a lap one shunt with Ulf Svensson in the first heat. Nilsson was up to eighth by lap 8 but a broken gearbox saw his race over.

Overall victory of course went to Andersson from Francia and Nordström.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Knutstorp, 1 September 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: Mainz, 1 September 1974

mainz_1_9_74

Race Report: Mainz, 1 September 1974

mainz_1_9_74

The “Rheinhessisches Flugplatzrennen” round 9 of the Polifac Trophy, the German F3 championship, was held over 40 laps of the 2.15 km circuit.

From the start Hans Binder and José Santo diced for the lead until the Brazilian was held up by backmarkers and he gradually fell back to finish fourth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mainz, 1 September 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