Race Report: Thruxton, 26 October 1975

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Race Report: Thruxton, 26 October 1975

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The final round of the BP F3 Championship and it was the two works Marches that were on top after the two 30 minute practice sessions. Gunnar Nilsson was credited wit a 1:15.6 time which was felt to be faster than he had actually gone although he was clearly very quick as was team mate Alex Ribeiro who lined up next to him. Rupert Keegan was third fastest, once again showing a great deal of potential even if his driving style was causing some raised eyebrows. Of the other runners Patrick Neve wasn’t happy with his time after suffering various niggling problems with his Safir whilst Larry Perkins was hampered by a Novamotor Toyota that just wouldn’t pull. Terry Perkins was trying M&H tyres again but an off that damaged his Ralt’s steering rack limited his track time. Ingo Hoffman only did the first session and suffered engine problems that meant he ultimately withdrew from the race.

To counteract the tyre wear problems all the teams had been suffering from for most of the season March had obtained some older, harder Goodyear G52s which they fitted to the left rear of both works cars, they also had an even older G44 for the front left of Nilsson’s car. Danny Sullivan had a similar set up to Nilsson’s fitted to his Modus.
Nilsson made another of his patented great getaways to lead the field into the Complex, Keegan also timed things right to slot in ahead of Ribeiro. Eddie Cheever overheated his clutch as he left the grid and he had to take it carefully as it cooled, while he was doing this he didn’t make life easy for those trying to get past him. As the leaders entered Campbell South was late on the brakes and he made contact with Keegan, Ribeiro dived up the inside as he was anxious not to let Nilsson get away, to everyone’s surprise they all got through without mishap. At the end of lap 1 it was Nilsson, Ribeiro, South, Keegan, Sullivan, Larry Perkins, Hervé Regout, Neve, Chris Barnett, Cheever, Pierre Dieudonné, Bob Arnott, Richard Hawkins, Terry Perkins and the rest.
Lap 2 and Nilsson lost first spot when he locked a front wheel as he entered the Complex, Ribiero took immediate advantage and swept through into the lead. Behind the two leading Marches it was South and Keegan locked in a tense battle for third with Sullivan sitting just behind them. Larry Perkins and Regout had a wheel banging moment around the back of the track which lost the Belgian back several places, a couple of laps later a big spin at the chicane dropped him right to the back of the field. Neve then moved in on Larry Perkins moving past him shortly after although he wasn’t making any ground on the leaders. Keegan was next in trouble with a huge spin across the grass at Church Corner when he lost his March after it became unstable in South’s slipstream, Keegan made it back to the pits to have a new nosecone and tyre fitted.
Sullivan began to close in on South now that Keegan had disappeared from the scene whilst South himself wasn’t too far away from the two works Marches. Nilsson had just decided to have a go at getting ahead of his team mate when he had a repeat of the Keegan accident. The Swede’s March spun as he encountered Ribeiro’s turbulent air, he slammed his brakes on as he rotated and managed to gather it all together although he had dropped to eighth. Sullivan now tried to get ahead of South and after several abortive attempts he made it on lap 9, South immediately dropped away as he began to experience the same aerodynamic problems that Keegan and Nilsson had fallen foul of.
Sullivan tried everything possible on the last lap to catch Ribeiro but the Brazilian had enough of a lead to take the win by 1.6 seconds. South took a very good third with Neve holding off Larry Perkins and Chris Barnett, the latter two sharing the same race time. Others who suffered rotational problems during the race were Eddie Cheever who spun out on lap 6, Graham Hamilton with two spins following a broken wing stay and finally Terry Perkins in the second Ralt.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 26 October 1975

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, 4 October 1975

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Race Report: Oulton Park, 4 October 1975

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Practice for this BP Championship qualifier was an incredibly close affair with the fastest 12 of the 17 starters separated by exactly one second. Pole went to the ever improving Brazilian Ingo Hoffman who set his time before Larry Perkins and Gunnar Nilsson who equalled his time but later in the session. Further back Patrick Neve was trying some M&H tyres on the Safir and Graham Hamilton’s Ecurie Ecosse March 753 was now fitted with a Novamotor Toyota.

It began to rain as the cars lined up on the grid and after two warm up laps the majority of the drivers decided wets were the best option, those brave souls that stuck to slicks were Gunnar Nilsson, Pierre Dieudonné, Hervé Regout and Terry Perkins.

Gunnar Nilsson made a great start despite his slicks and led into Old Hall ahead of Ingo Hoffman and Larry Perkins, these three immediately opening out a gap from their pursuers led by the Modus of Eddie Cheever and the Marches of Alex Ribeiro and Stephen South. Nilsson was driving brilliantly on his slicks and it took Hoffman five laps to find a way past the works car, Hoffman timed his run from Lodge and got ahead on the exit from Deer Leap. Larry Perkins now tried to find a way past Nilsson but it was Ribeiro who was looking good, on successive laps he demoted Cheever, Perkins and Nilsson and set off after Hoffman. It took Larry Perkins until lap 14 to eventually get ahead of Nilsson, the Australian finding the Ralt less than happy in the slippery conditions, especially at Lodge. Nilsson now found Cheever behind him but the American was never able to get close the two second advantage that Nilsson held.
Despite Ribeiro’s best efforts Hoffman was driving smoothly and calmly over the closing laps and the two Brazilians were 1.8 seconds apart at the flag. Larry Perkins took third some 14 seconds down with Nilsson holding onto fourth. Cheever holding onto fifth despite heavy pressure from Stephen South that saw the Marchman crossing the finishing line nearly level with the Modus with two wheels on the grass.
Those with less luck included Regout who spun out of seventh at Clay Hill, Neve had to brake hard to avoid contact and was punted up the rear by Richard Hawkins. Hawkins was out with a damaged radiator whilst Neve continued but found he had a puncture. Danny Sullivan’s hopes of a good result were doomed when he found the works Modus just wouldn’t handle on the Dunlop wets and after running no higher than eleventh he retired after several fruitless pit stops to try and sort the handling.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 4 October 1975

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