Race Report: Brands Hatch, 30 May 1971

brands_30_5_71

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 30 May 1971

brands_30_5_71
Only 11 starters made it to this Lombank round due to the clashing Shell Super Oil meeting the next day at Oulton Park. As the flag dropped pole-sitter Roger Williamson’s March 713M took the lead on what was a very wet track from the Brabham BT35s of Colin Vandervell and Brendan McInerney, after 5 laps McInerney started to close in on Vandervell but then started to drop away again. After 10 laps Vandervell, who had been carrying out a lot of testing on the BT35, closed in on Williamson and for the rest of the race he harried the March unmercifully but although the Brabham was all over the March in the corners the Rowland was loosing out to the Holbay on the straights. At the finish Williamson held on to win by 0.6 seconds. McInerney finished an untroubled third ahead of Ronald Rossi’s Brabham BT28 and Jose Ferreira in a similar car, Ferreira was still wearing a plaster cast as a result of his Silverstone shunt and had the additional handicap of a 10 second penalty.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 30 May 1971

Fastest Lap

Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 |58.0 | 76.97

Race

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M | 19:44.2 | 20 | 75.40

2 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 19:44.8 20

3 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 |19:56.6 | 20

4 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 |20:07.6| 20

5 Jose Ferreira

March-Holbay 713M 20:23.2 | 20

6 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69| 20:25.6 | 20

7 Geoff Bremner

Chevron-Ford| B17 | ?

8 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Ford| BT35 | 19

9 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Novamotor |BT35 | 16

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 2 May 1971

brands_2_5_71

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 2 May 1971

brands_2_5_71

As the season began to develop the number of starters was beginning to increase and for this Shell Sport Oil round 22 cars came to do battle on the Brands Hatch Club circuit. The race format was two 10 lap heats with the top 10 from each heat moving on to the 40 lap final.

Pole position for the first heat fell to Claude Bourgoignie ahead of Colin Vandervell, Dave Walker and James Hunt. Interesting newcomers were Steve Thompson in his new Ensign, German driver Harald Ertl who was giving the British debut to the Alfa Romeo engine in his Lotus 69 and Richard Longman’s new Lotus-Novamotor 69. Poor James Hunt found himself being wheeled off the grid as the 2 minute signal was shown, his car was leaking oil due to a broken pipe.
Vandervell and Walker made the best starts and the Brabham led as far as Bottom Bend when Walker eased the Lotus past into a lead he would hold to the finish. Vandervell maintained second place despite a rear end instability that left the Brabham driver feeling far from happy. Bourgoignie, Ertl and Lawrence (Palliser-BRM) had an early battle for third until Bourgoignie pulled away and Thompson joined in with the other two. Ertl lost his nosecone but held onto fourth at the flag helped by Lawrence spinning and hampering Thompson.

 

Roger Williamson took pole for the second heat with another newcomer, Freddy Kottulinsky in his Lotus 69 with its sohc BMW unit. Jose Ferreira’s updated Brabham BT28 completed the front row ahead of another débutante Sandy Shepard also in an updated BT28. Further back than normal were Bev Bond’s Ensign that was throwing out oil and Bob Evans in his Puma who suffered an oil pump failure. James Hunt was allowed to join this heat after repairs to his 713S in order that he could qualify for the final.
Williamson made the best start and at the end of lap 1 it was the March 713M ahead of Shepard and Sutcliffe (Lotus 69) with Bond and Kottulinsky right behind, Hunt must have wondered if his day could get worse after a flat battery meant a push start and a one minute penalty. Gradually Williamson eked out a small lead while Kottulinsky and Bond moved up to battle for second as Shepard and Sutcliffe fought over fourth. Bond and Kottulinsky caught right up with Williamson by lap 8 but the March driver held on for a narrow 0.1 second victory. Hunt was fourth on the road but his penalty dropped him back to tenth allowing Shepard to take the place after an promising F3 debut. Alan Joy would have qualified for the final but he spun his Brabham BT28 at Bottom Bend and a push start and a 1 minute penalty ruined his chances.

Williamson again got a good start with Walker, Vandervell, Bond and Kottulinsky close behind, Walker quickly pushed the Lotus past the March and was in the lead at the end of the first lap with a small gap back to Vandervell, Bond, Kottulinsky, Bourgoignie, Sutcliffe and the rest. As Walker pulled out a lead at the front Bond began to make a move taking third on the second lap and second on the fifth. Kottulinsky also passed Vandervell and began a huge battle with Williamson and Bond whilst Hunt was also making good progress up to sixth although a long way behind Vandervell. At the back of the field Bob Evans was in trouble with a failing clutch and an engine that was fast loosing all its oil.
The order remained static until lap 12 when Lawrence crashed the Palliser at Paddock, then on lap 15 Kottulinsky passed Williamson. Purley was going well and dicing with Rossi, Thompson, Ertl and Ferreira until Purley put a wheel of his Brabham in the dirt causing Ferreira to spin, unfortunately taking his team mate Rossi with him. Williamson began to slow as his handling deteriorated due, it was subsequently discovered, to loose lower rear wishbone mountings. Hunt had caught up with Vandervell and got past him although the Brabham held onto the March and the pair of them got ahead of the luckless Williamson, Vandervell got past Hunt again on a couple of occasions but in the end Hunt held the place at the flag. At the front the long battle between Bond and Kottulinsky resolved itself in the Lotus driver’s favour and Kottulinsky took second at the flag behind Walker and his victorious Lotus. David Purley’s good drive came to naught when the battery went flat towards the end of the race and he dropped back to last place.
This was not the end of the story as after the race the scrutineers checked the BMW engine in Kottulinsky’s car and on finding a leak the unfortunate Freddy was disqualified.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 2 May 1971

Qualifying Heat 1

1 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 52.1

2 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 52.4

3 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 52.4

4 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713S 52.4

5 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 52.6

6 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 53.0

7 Derek Lawrence

Palliser-BRM WDF3 53.1

8 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 53.4

9 Harald Ertl

Lotus-Alfa Romeo 69 53.7

10 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 54.5

11 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 54.7

12 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 58.9

Race Heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 8:46.4 10 84.81

2 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 8:50.3 10

3 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 8:53.0 10

4 Harald Ertl

Lotus-Alfa Romeo 69 8:56.3 10

5 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 8:59.0 10

6 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 10

7 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 10

8 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 10

9 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 10

10 Derek Lawrence

Palliser-BRM WDF3 10

11 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 10

Qualifying Heat 2

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 52.6

2 Freddy Kottulinsky

Lotus-BMW 69 52.6

3 Jose Ferreira

Brabham-Holbay BT28 53.1

4 Sandy Shepard

Brabham-Holbay BT28 53.7

5 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 53.7

6 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 54.2

7 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 54.5

8 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 55.2

9 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 55.3

10 Bob Evans

Puma-BRM 56.2

Race Heat 2

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 8:50.5 10 81.15

2 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 8:50.6 10

3 Freddy Kottulinsky

Lotus-BMW 69 8:51.6 10

4 Sandy Shepard

Brabham-Holbay BT28 8:59.0 10

5 Jose Ferreira

Brabham-Holbay BT28 8:59.0 10

6 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 8:59.2 10

7 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 9:15.3 10

8 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 9:16.4 10

9 Bob Evans

Puma-BRM 9:18.0 10

10 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713S + 60 secs

11 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 + 60 secs

Final Race

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 34:33.0 40 86.13

2 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 34:38.4 40

3 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713S 34:42.5 40

4 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 34:42.9 40

5 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 34:45.4 40

6 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 35:17.4 40

7 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 35:17.9 40

8 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 35:18.4 40

9 Harald Ertl

Lotus-Alfa Romeo 69 35:25.7 40

10 Sandy Shepard

Brabham-Holbay BT28 39

11 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 39

12 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 39

13 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 39

14 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 39

15 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 39

16 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 36

Fastest Lap

Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 51.1
87.36

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 3 April 1971

BH_3_4_71

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 3 April 1971

BH_3_4_71

Fifteen cars from an entry of 36 actually arrived at Brands Hatch for this round of the Shell/Motor Sport Championship. Most numerous chassis was Brabham with six cars, Colin Vandervell in his usual Rowland powered BT35, Holbay versions were on hand for Brendan McInerney, Chris O’Brien and from France Jean-Louis Lafosse and Bernard Lagier. Alan Joy was in his updated BT28 Rowland. Five Lotus 69s, three of them new models were the next numerous type, previously seen were the Holbay powered cars of Andy Sutcliffe and Claude Bourgoignie. New chassis were in the hands of Dave Walker in the works Gold Leaf car, although it was only new in the sense it hadn’t been seen this year, it was in fact a Lotus 59 updated to 69

spec,  it was fitted with a Novamotor engine. A similar power unit was to be found in the Ian Ashley car that was likewise an updated 59, whilst Richard Longman relied on a Holbay for his “proper” 69. Three Marches came next, all Holbay powered, James Hunt had his usual spaceframe model with Roger Williamson and Tim Goss in the monocoque version. Final entry was the singleton Ensign-Holbay for Bev Bond.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 3 April 1971

Qualifying

1 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:38.4

2 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:38.6

3 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:39.0

4 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:40.6

5 Ian Ashley

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:41.2

6 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:41.8

7 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:41.8

8 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:42.2

9 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:42.2

10 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:42.2

11 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:42.6

12 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713S 1:43.8

13 Richard Longman

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:44.2

14 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:48.6

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:50.2

Lotus-Novamotor 69 NT

Race

1 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1-07:03.0 40 94.85

2 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1-07:04.8 40

3 Ian Ashley

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1-07:44.4 40

4 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 1-08:05.6 40

5 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69

6 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 39

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 39

8 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 36

9 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 36

10 Richard Longman

Lotus-Holbay 69 31

11 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 31

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 21 March 1971

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 21 March 1971

Brands Hatch
An improved entry of 16 cars arrived for this first round of the Shell Super Oil Championship, there were Brabham BT35s for Colin Vandervell, Brendan McInerney and Chris O’Brien and a BT28 for Alan Joy. Marches appeared for James Hunt with a spaceframe 713S, whilst Tim Goss, Roger Williamson and Tom Walkinshaw had the monocoque 713M variants. There were also four Lotus 69s with Gerry Birrell in the ex-works test hack, and Andy Sutcliffe, Claude Bourgoignie and Fabrizio Noe in their production versions. Two Martini MW7s were on hand for Patrice Compain and Jacques Coulon whilst there were singleton entries for Bev Bond (Ensign LN1) and Bob Evans (Puma).

Both of the qualifying sessions were held in wet conditions and there was a certain amount of indecision as to what tyres to use but most of the quickest times were set on Dunlops, at the end of the day Gerry Birrell was fastest in both sessions to take pole from Colin Vandervell, Brendan McInerney and a surprised Bob Evans, Bev Bond’s Ensign only did a limited number of laps due to a faulty high pressure fuel pump. Neither Noe or O’Brien managed to set qualifying times after accidents, O’Brien’s damaging the chassis too badly to continue with the meeting.

The race started on a nearly dry track although there were plenty of black clouds overhead, Hunt made an excellent start from the second row to take the lead from Birrell, Vandervell and Williamson, these four together with McInerney, Bond and Walkinshaw soon pulling away from the rest of the pack. Bob Evans was an early pit visitor with timing problems to his engine after mistakenly advancing the camshaft timing. Bond soon began to make his move, passing Birrell, Vandervell and Hunt on successive laps to take the lead on lap 6. Hunt stayed with Bond for several laps until a sticking throttle and a broken fuel pipe ended his race. Bond slowly stretched his lead over Vandervell to 4 seconds by lap 15 whilst Birrell held third despite a damaged nosecone. Vandervell began to close again on Bond until he was sitting on his tail by lap 26. On lap 29 Bond spun at Stirlings following gear selection problems and a recalcitrant 2nd gear and fell to fourth behind Vandervell, Birrell and Walkinshaw.

Bond quickly reeled in Walkinshaw and Birrell and set off after Vandervell who was having to drive cautiously with sagging oil pressure. Going into the final lap Bond was just over a second behind Vandervell, he closed up all round the track and dived inside the Brabham at Clearways. However Vandervell had the better line and took the chequered flag inches ahead of the fast finishing Ensign. The two drivers were so close at the finish that they were given the same finishing time. Birrell was a second behind the battling duo in third place ahead of Walkinshaw who was having a petrol bath due to a broken fuel line and Williamson. All the other finishers were a lap or more behind these first four.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 21 March 1971

Qualifying

1 Gerry Birrell

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:54.1

2 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:54.9

3 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:56.0

4 Bob Evans

Puma-Piper 1:56.1

5 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 1:56.6

6 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Rowland MW7 1:57.4

7 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:57.8

8 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:58.0

9 Tom Walkinshaw

March-Lloyd 713M 1:58.5

10 Patrice Compain

Martini-Rowland MW7 ?

11 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 2:03.3

12 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 2:03.5

13 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 2:30.2

14 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 2:42.1

15 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Novamotor 69 NT

16 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 NT

Race

1 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1-07:38.1 40 94.03

2 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1-07:38.1 40

3 Gerry Birrell

Lotus-Holbay 69 1-07:39.3 40

4 Tom Walkinshaw

March-Lloyd 713M 1-08:34.1 40

5 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1-08:43.2 40

6 Patrice Compain

Martini-Rowland MW7 39

7 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Rowland MW7 39

8 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 39

9 Fabrizio Noe

Lotus-Novamotor 69 35