Race Report: Silverstone, 28 September 1975

silverstone_28_9_75

Race Report: Silverstone, 28 September 1975

silverstone_28_9_75

Practice for round 17 of the BP Championship was a complete lottery, held on Saturday morning it started wet and only began to dry in the last five minutes so grid times were very much a case of if and when you fitted slicks. It was Gunnar Nilsson who timed his tyre change to perfection and set a time over two seconds quicker than the next man who was Graham Hamilton who had to change to slicks when he had a puncture on his wets and it turned out to be just the right time. Third fastest another two seconds slower was Belgian Pierre Dieudonné ahead of Larry Perkins and Alex Ribeiro. Patrick Neve was unusually far back as a result of a broken differential (which might have caused his Brands Hatch practice shunt) and Richard Hawkins who didn’t officially qualify as a brake pipe broke after just two laps. Sitting right at the back was the new Anson of Garry Anderson who had a 10 second and 10 yards penalty for qualifying out of session, he missed the practice proper as the car was having a 2-litre Holbay twin-cam fitted.

Fortunately it was bright and sunny for the race but it wasn’t too bright for Hamilton when a connection on his fuel pump came off on the warm up lap and it couldn’t be sorted in time to make the grid. Also in difficulties was Bob Arnott when a screw came out of his coil, this could be repaired but he started after everybody else.
Larry Perkins took full advantage of the space left by the missing Hamilton and he rocketed his Ralt through from the second row and into the lead. He wasn’t the only one as Alex Ribeiro and Terry Perkins followed him, their cause was helped by Nilsson getting away a little slowly. Nilsson had decided that tyre wear was likely to be an issue so he had set his car up with minimum downforce to be quick down the straight and he decided not to push too hard in the early laps.
At the end of a hairy first lap it was the Perkins brothers in front followed by Ribeiro, Dieudonné, Nilsson, Regout, Neve (following an amazing first lap), Danny Sullivan, Eddie Cheever, Richard Hawkins, Rupert Keegan and the rest of the field. Next lap and it was Ribeiro up to second and Neve had pushed Regout down a place. Lap 3 and Ribeiro was now up to first with Larry Perkins down to second whilst brother Terry spun off at Club slightly damaging the nosecone of his Ralt. Danny Sullivan pulled into the pits at the end of the lap with a bad misfire, his team changed the plugs and leaned off the mixture on his Toyota. For a few laps it looked as if Ribeiro might edge away from Larry Perkins but the Ralt soon reeled the March in again, next there was a slight gap back to a battling Dieudonné and Nilsson. Neve was in fifth ahead of Regout, Cheever, Keegan, Hawkins, Stephen South and Chris Barnett.
Perkins began to apply pressure to Ribeiro and within a couple of laps he was through and he began to pull away. At the same time Nilsson got past Dieudonné and he began to reel in Ribeiro and on lap 8 he was up to third as the Brazilian began to fall back as his tyres started to grain. Nilsson was battling with Ribeiro and the B&O cars of Regout and Dieudonné but he gradually left them behind and Neve moved up to challenge them. Cheever was next up and dropping away as he too suffered from graining tyres, Hawkins was chasing the Modus followed by Keegan and Barnett. Stephen South had had a quick spin at the chicane but was now closing in again on Barnett as was Arnott who had also spun at Copse.

Larry Perkins had opened out quite a big gap to Nilsson but the Swede was going well and Regout had tagged onto his tail, both Marches seeming to be very quick in a straight line. Lap 14 and 15 saw the second and third place Marches dramatically close the gap on Perkins who was the latest victim of tyre problems, Perkins tried to speed up which resulted in some very sideways motoring. Nilsson was now sitting on Perkins tail and he slipstreamed the Ralt down to Stowe, the March dived out at the last moment and took the lead, Nilsson was slow out of the corner with his low downforce and Perkins had to momentarily slow to avoid contact and as he accelerated away the Swede had opened out an immediate gap.
Perkins tried to hang onto Nilsson but the straight line speed advantage of the March gave it the edge over the Ralt. Entering the last lap Regout decided to try and improve on his third place and he tried to slipstream Perkins into Stowe but it all went wrong and the B&O March spun off and hit the barrier. Nilsson continued to hold his lead for the rest of the lap despite Perkins being right on his gearbox and the works March took the win by 0.4 seconds with Dieudonné moving up to finish third after his team mate’s demise. Neve should have been next but a stone split a brake pipe on the Safir and the Belgian had a huge moment at Becketts which destroyed the nose on his car, Neve tried to continue but he had dropped too many places to score any points so he retired. Hawkins took fourth from Ribeiro and the fast closing March of South.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 28 September 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: Brands Hatch, 21 September 1975

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Race Report: Brands Hatch, 21 September 1975

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Most of the top runners arrived at Brands Hatch for the latest round of the BP Championship, the only notable absentees were Dick Parsons and Terry Perkins.

Pole position went to Rupert Keegan who was continuing his recent run of form and showing a new found confidence. Hervé Regout was second although many felt his time might have been a little optimistic, winner of the last Brands round, Larry Perkins lined up third. Further back seventh fastest man Patrick Neve non-started after he crashed his Safir at Paddock, the Belgian was unsure what had caused the accident. In eighth Gunnar Nilsson was still running the narrower 2.5 inch track on his March 753 but was slowed by a misfire caused by a faulty battery. Of the others Danny Sullivan complained of handling difficulties as did Graham Hamilton whilst Tim Brise lost time when his gearbox stripped its ratios.

Larry Perkins Ralt led the rest of the field away at the start but entering Paddock it all went wrong as Eddie Cheever and Brise both tried to get between the Marches of Pierre Dieudonné and Richard Hawkins. Immediately there were cars all over the track and all four men were out as was Ken Silverstone whose March got caught up in the chaos. Cheever’s car was blocking the track and the marshalls posts were showing either a red flag or crossed yellow and oil flags, the errant Modus was very quickly removed as was the red flag but the yellows weren’t. There was general confusion as some drivers raised their arms and slowed whilst others travelled on at unabated speed. Those who slowed and had their races ruined included Keegan, Sullivan and Chris Barnett whilst those that sped on included Perkins, Alex Ribeiro and Gunnar Nilsson.
At 5 laps it was Perkins in front with Ribeiro and Nilsson next up, there was a big battle for fourth between Keegan, Sullivan, Bob Arnott and Ingo Hoffman. Stephen South had been with this group but a spin at Bottom Bend dropped him back to just in front of Chris Barnett, the two pulled back up the field but eventually found themselves caught behind the slowing Regout.
Sullivan eventually found a way past Keegan who then dropped another place to Arnott whilst Keegan, who had been troubled by a lack of any clutch, spun out at Clearways on lap 15 to finish off an unhappy race. Sullivan and Arnott, despite suffering from graining tyres as were most of the other runners, were flying and began to close in on Nilsson but there weren’t enough laps left and Sullivan missed out on third by 0.2 seconds. So it was that Larry Perkins took a relatively untroubled win 1.6 seconds ahead of Ribeiro who was another to suffer from no clutch.
The general competitiveness of the racing can be judged by the fact that no less than five cars (and three manufacturers) shared a new lap record.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 21 September 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: Casale, 14 September 1975

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Race Report: Casale, 14 September 1975

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An excellent entry of 40 cars arrived at Casale in Northern Italy to take part in the two heats and a final event. Conny Andersson was once again in excellent form and he took the fastest qualifying time with his March 753 from the older March of Rupert Keegan.

Unlike practice the first heat was held in wet conditions with victory going to Luciano Pavesi ahead of Piercarlo Ghinzani in the CRS, Keegan took fourth after a spin. Andersson won the second heat after getting ahead of Gaudenzio Mantova.

Andersson took the lead from the start in the final pursued by Pavesi, Mantova and the rest of the field. Mantova moved up to second and began to challenge Andersson closing to within two seconds until a spin dropped him away. Mantova quickly recovered and began once again to close on Andersson but at the finish he was still a second behind the Swede who recorded his sixth successive victory. Eddie Cheever spun out and crashed at the corner before the pits whilst Keegan had several more spins and finished down the field.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Casale, 14 September 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: Ulm-Megan, 14 September 1975

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Race Report: Ulm-Megan, 14 September 1975

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Round 11 of the German F3 Championship the “Rundstreckenrennen Ulm Mengen” was held over 20 laps of the 2.86 km track.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Ulm-Megan, 14 September 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: Brands Hatch, 7 September 1975

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Race Report: Brands Hatch, 7 September 1975

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Although this wasn’t a championship round Polydor Records had put up a £1000 prize fund which assured most of the usual front runners were in attendance. Pole position went to the works Ralt of Larry Perkins from the Swan Song Records March of Bob Arnott. The two works Marches of Gunnar Nilsson and Alex Ribeiro were languishing back on row three with handling problems.

Arnott found himself in trouble before the start with a misfire, a quick plug change failing to cure the problem. Dick Parsons made the best start chased by Perkins and by lap 5 the two of then had opened out a gap on Rupert Keegan and Danny Sullivan. Arnott was in fifth but his misfire was worsening and on lap 9 he pulled into the pits, he went out again without any change, he pitted again and the problem was discovered, a rotted fuel line.
Keegan had just been advised he had a ten second penalty for a jump start so he was trying to open out a gap to Sullivan. On lap 14 Perkins took the lead at Paddock and immediately began to edge away from Parsons, by the finish he was 4.8 seconds ahead. Keegan’s efforts to get away from Sullivan came to naught when his clutch began to fail on lap 21, he soon began to fall back through the field and on the last lap he pitted and retired. Ribeiro and Nilsson took fourth and fifth behind Sullivan with Chris Barnett next up. Barnett had been having a good battle with Pierre Dieudonné until the Belgian spun off at Clearways. Donald MacLeod did well to finish seventh in his GRD 375 after starting last on the grid.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 7 September 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: Nurburgring, 7 September 1975

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Race Report: Nurburgring, 7 September 1975

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Round 10 of the German F3 Championship was held over two heats and a final and was dominated by Swedish visitors who took the first four places. The only non-Swedish driver able to mount a challenge was Bertram Schäfer in his Ralt who led the first half of the final until he picked up a puncture. Once Schäfer was eliminated the Rotel Marches of Conny Andersson and Conny Ljungfeldt took an easy 1-2.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Nurburgring, 7 September 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