F3 History

At the start Williamson took the lead from Jones, Hunt, Vandervell, Bond and Scheckter. On lap 5 Hunt passed Jones and set off after Williamson whilst further back Scheckter had passed Bond and was closing in on Vandervell. On lap 7 Jones tried to take the lead at Kidney and had a grassy moment dropping to sixth, the handling of his Brabham not being improved by having to use intermediates after puncturing a slick in practice. Hunt passed Williamson to take the lead on lap 9 and for the remaining six laps the two continually swopped position although Hunt seemed to be doing most of the leading. Scheckter had passed Vandervell and had started to pull away when his engine cutting out reared its head again, the Merlyn fell back into the clutches of the Brabham and the two fought it out for third place to the flag.
As the two leaders approached the finishing line it was anybody’s race but as the flag fell it was Hunt by a matter of inches, the battle for third was just as tight with Scheckter and Vandervell running side-by-side through Paddock and Druids, Scheckter took the lead along Bottom Bend and then his engine faltered again and Vandervell grabbed the lead and just managed to keep it to the flag. Alan Jones took fifth when Bond spun but continued to finish sixth. The only retirement was David Purley who spun his Brabham into the bank at Clearways.