Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 May 1973

oulton-park_28_5_73

Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 May 1973

oulton-park_28_5_73

Despite practice for Monaco being only three days away a good field arrived at Oulton Park to contest the latest round of the prestigious John Player Championship.

Practice for Heat 1 saw Brian Henton grab pole position in his GRD from the March of Ian Taylor, both drivers setting the same time, Taylor’s March was running properly now that the misfire that had dogged him at Zandvoort had been cured. Completing the front row was Russell Wood who had to have a new monocoque for his March following his Zandvoort accident with Conny Andersson. Row 2 saw Damien Magee, suffering rear wing problems with his Brabham, leading surprise package John Sheldon and his Royale. Australian Richard Knight should have headed row 3 but he damaged a corner on his GRD with an off at Druids that couldn’t be repaired in time for the race. Further down the grid the experienced Barrie Maskell was debuting the new MRE Mk2 and Roelof Wunderink was in the rebuilt ex-Steve Thompson/Ken Sedgley Ensign F371.

Neil Ginn’s year old GRD was really flying and took fastest time to lead the other Heat 2 runners, he was chased by Alan Jones who equalled the pole time from the first heat and Mo Harness who was another 0.4 seconds back. Row two comprised of the GRD of Tony Brise and the March of Masami Kuwashima, next up row three man Conny Anderson found his March much improved after carrying out simple modifications to his rear dampers. Further back experienced F3 man Bernard Vermilio was out in a new Merlyn Mk21 whilst Antiguan Jimmy Fuller had the ex-Chris O’Brien Brabham BT38 and hillclimber Spencer Elton was running his ex-Jeremy Gambs Ensign F372. Brazilian pseudonym “Teleco” shunted his March-Novamotor 733 at Old Hall and was rendered a non-starter.

It rained heavily just before the Heat 1 runners lined up on the grid and everyone fitted wets, pole man Henton enjoyed a spin at Old Hall on one of his warm up laps! When the flag fell it was Ian Taylor who led away from the similar March 733 of Russell Wood, Taylor was head and shoulders faster than the rest of the field and he romped away at the front to win by 13 seconds. Wood took the runner up spot by 4.6 seconds from Damien Magee who had to fight off the attentions of John Sheldon who got ahead briefly on lap 5 along Top Straight. For the next couple of laps Sheldon continued to harry Magee until a moment at Lodge dropped him too far back to challenge again. Maskell just qualified for the final despite retiring after 5 laps with a broken throttle cable and Musetti was also out with a broken clutch.

There was chaos at the beginning of the second heat, the track was drying out but everyone except Friedrich opted for wets. On the grid Brise and Anderson tried to switch to slicks but were prevented by the marshalls after both had changed a pair on each of their respective cars! The team mechanics were physically prevented from tightening wheel nuts and it was decided to hang out the “Start Delayed” board, Alan Jones decided he would go for slicks and switched off his engine but everybody was prevented from making any changes. At the end of the race Andersson was reprimanded by the officials for running both wets and slicks, an odd decision since it appeared to be their fault.
When the cars eventually got under way it was Kuwashima who took an immediate lead by driving round the outside of Neil Ginn at Old Hall, Jones and Harness were next up with Friedrich in fifth and looking to pass those ahead. Vermilio was soon out, he crashed his new Merlyn at Cascades on lap 2 when lying sixth and Wilds dropped down to tenth when he spun at Island. Friedrich was really flying on his slicks whilst those around were finding their cars very twitchy on their wets as the track dried more and more. It only took until lap 4 for Friedrich to carve his way past those ahead of him and take the lead which he immediately extended at several seconds a lap to win by 24 seconds. Kuwashima held on to take second from Andersson who found his March with slicks on the front and wets on the rear better than an all wet setup. Fourth was Ginn from Brise who was less happy with his GRD on wet fronts and slick rears, Wilds did well to recover to sixth after his earlier spin, he was helped by his rare Firestone intermediates. Other than Vermilio the other retirements were Richard Robarts whose engine overheated and lost power due to the start delay and Andy MacGregor who suffered a puncture on lap 2.

Friedrich and Taylor required push starts for the final but Taylor was able to restart on the button so escaped penalty unlike the unfortunate Brazilian. Friedrich was in pole position due to his faster heat time and he led away at the flag from Taylor, Andersson (a great start), Magee, Kuwashima, Wood and Brise. There were problems further down the grid and Harness, Tyrrell, Henton, von Preussen and Maskell all made contact with each other and had to retire with varying amounts of damage to their cars but luckily not to themselves. John Littler spun his Ensign and retired although there was no apparent damage to the car, also in trouble was Damien Magee with gearbox problems and he was soon forced to retire his Brabham from the leading group.
Back at the front Friedrich was coming under increasing pressure from Taylor with Andersson keeping a watching brief in third, Kuwashima and Brise were next not too far behind the three leaders. Mike Wilds running sixth from Wood, Ginn, Sheldon and a rapidly closing Alan Jones.
Taylor took the lead at Deer Leap on lap 3 but Friedrich immediately fought back and resumed first spot at Old Hall but Taylor wasn’t giving up and two laps later it was Taylor in front again. Friedrich continued to attack the Baty March and it was the Brazilian ahead on lap 6 with Andersson demoting Taylor to third. Brise briefly passed Kuwashima for fourth but was back down to fifth on lap 8 and the GRD driver was beginning to come under attack from Wood, Ginn and Jones who had dropped the Ensign of Wilds.
Conny Andersson wasn’t content with second and on lap 11 the Swede took the lead at Knickerbrook from Friedrich who promptly lost another place to Taylor. There was now an eight car train fighting for the lead but Kuwashima soon left them at Knickerbrook when he spun his March out of fourth and into retirement. This effectively broke the group up with the three leading Marches gaining a breather over Wood, Ginn and Jones. Friedrich now began to fall away at the front so it was all down to the experienced Andersson against the relative newcomer Taylor.
Starting the last lap it was Andersson in front and by dint of making sure his March was in the right place at every point on the track (and a bit of judicious weaving) he held on to win by 0.6 seconds from a disappointed Taylor. Friedrich took third on the road but his push start penalty dropped him to seventh, this promoted Brise and Jones to third and fourth, the two GRD men had a fraught battle with a fair amount of contact and they shared the same race time although Brise was given the verdict for third. Ginn forced Wood wide at Druids on the last lap and was able to pass the March and take fifth at the flag.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 May 1973

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, 20 April 1973

oulton-park_20_4_73

Race Report: Oulton Park, 20 April 1973

oulton-park_20_4_73

Round two of the John Player Championship suffered from several non-starters but there were still enough to mean that two heats were required to decide who would take part in the final.

Tony Brise and Russell Wood both set the same time to head the grid for the first heat, their time of 1:36.2 equalling the lap record held jointly by Jody Scheckter and Jacques Coulon. The GRD of Japan’s Masami Kuwashima completed the front row ahead of Hakan Dahlqvist in the Merlyn and the Ensign of Mo Harness.
The GRD of Alan Jones set the quickest time in Heat 2 ahead of Ian Taylor and fellow Australian Larry Perkins. Brian Henton headed row two despite an off at Cascades that removed a corner from his GRD, alongside him was Sweden’s Gunnar Nordström. Less fortunate runners were Mike Wilds whose engine broke a jackshaft in the first session, a replacement Holbay not arriving until qualifying was over, Mike Tyrrell with a slipping clutch and Danny Sullivan who also suffered an engine failure after only a few laps of practice.

Tony Brise lead Heat 1 from start to finish with Russell Wood trying everything to catch the flying GRD but missing out by 0.2 seconds at the flag. Damien Magee made a great start and clung onto the back of Woods on the opening laps until a moment at Cascades on lap 4 saw the Irishman lose the tow from the March and his engine lacked enough grunt to allow him to close up again. Masami Kuwashima nearly caught the Brabham of Magee on the last lap, the two cars crossed the finish line side by side with Magee getting the verdict. Of the retirements Per-Olof Zetterström hit the sleepers at Lodge on lap 1 with his BT41 as did the similar car of Johnny Gerber a few laps later when his throttle stuck open, John Sheldon retired his Royale with bent valves in his Vegantune.

Alan Jones dominated Heat 2 in the same fashion as Brise in the first although his cause was helped by Brian Henton and Ian Taylor colliding at the entry to Old Hall, Henton continued while Taylor pitted and then continued a couple of laps down in order to qualify for the final. Larry Perkins held second spot behind Jones although he came under pressure from a recovering Henton in the closing laps, a half spin by Henton at Esso saw Perkins safely home. Retirements were Ken Sedgley with an off at Cascades on lap 4, Svensson with a blown head gasket and poor Mike Wilds who retired on the warm up lap with a big end failure.

It was raining for the final although there was still some doubt about whether wets were necessary, in the end all the field opted for grooved tyres except for Pedro Passadore who retired after one very fraught lap. Barrie Maskell non started when his engine failed in the paddock whilst Nick von Preussen and Tom Hilliar did not come to the grid for reasons unknown. Neil Ginn only managed the warm up lap when his GRD left the track at Old Hall and hit the sleepers.
Brise made the best start in the slippery conditions and led from Wood, Magee and Jones who promptly lost a place to Perkins when he touched the Armco at Deer Leap but regained it immediately when Perkins left the track at the next corner. First lap retirements included Jeremy Gambs and Ingvar Carlsson, both out at Esso and Mike Tyrrell with drowned electrics, Jose Santo was also out within a few laps.
Meanwhile back at the front Brise had opened a bit of a gap to Wood although the March was closing up again and the pair of them had moved well away from third place man Alan Jones. Brise began to find his visor misting up and when he lifted it a little to let some air in the slipstream ripped it off and Brise now had no protection from the spray. As the leaders came up to lap Friedrich and Musetti (the latter for the second time) along Top Straight Brise missed the Royale with his limited vision as he concentrated on the March and in a second Brise hit Musetti. The leader was out on the spot with suspension damage and Musetti had to stop to replace a punctured tyre. This left Wood with a comfortable half lap lead over Jones although since he hadn’t seen Brise’s accident Wood he was a little surprised to receive the chequered flag as the winner. Second man Jones also lost his visor during the race and had a battle in the closing laps with a fast closing Masami Kuwashima. Magee took fourth from Friedrich despite having dropped behind the Brazilian for a while, Ian Taylor took sixth from his back of the grid start despite a couple of spins. Mo Harness had been running well in fifth but his Ensign aquaplaned off at Old Hall and hit the Armco.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 20 April 1973

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, 16 September 1972

oulton-park_16_9_72

Race Report: Oulton Park, 16 September 1972

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A very large number of cars arrived to contest this round of the Shell Motor Oils F3 Championship and with only 30 starters allowed and no heats there were a lot of disappointed drivers after practice.

After the two sessions on Friday afternoon it was Frenchman Jacques Coulon who surprised many by grabbing pole position 0.6 seconds under the lap record and 0.8 seconds quicker than current F3 king Roger Williamson who was second quickest, Peter Hull had his Motor Auctions Brabham BT38 going well to be the final front row occupant. Row two had the works Ensign of Mike Walker sharing the same time as the works Alpine of Alain Serpaggi. Mike Tyrrell caused a stir by heading the third row after getting a good tow from Jochen Mass and he led the second works Ensign of Rikki von Opel and the second works Alpine of Michel Leclere.
Of the other runners Chris Skeaping planted his Chevron B20 in the barriers rendering the car a non-starter, Colin Vandervell only managed two laps before his clutch failed and Tom Pryce was in engine difficulties with his Royale RP11. Peter Lamplough’s Merlyn Mk21 was allowed in at the back of the grid to replace the missing Skeaping. F Ford front-runner Ian Taylor in a GRD was disappointed not to qualify in his first F3 race.

As the flag dropped Hull missed second gear, Williamson was forced to slow and was nudged by Walker, in the general confusion there was more contact and Mass found himself eliminated whilst Rousselot had to retire after a few laps with bent suspension and Lamplough damaged the nose of his Merlyn. Coulon took advantage of the melee and jumped into the lead from Serpaggi, Hull, von Opel, Leclere and Williamson. Coulon edged further away on lap 2 as Hull moved past Serpaggi into second but one lap later he was back to third as Williamson, making up for the startline incident, took second at Knickerbrook. A few positions further back Walker found himself in trouble when his Ensign understeered off the road ripping off a couple of wheels.
The field was now beginning to split up with Coulon, Williamson, Hull, von Opel, Leclere, Serpaggi, Evans, Tyrrell and Brise pulling away from Magee, Kuwashima, Jones and Vandervell who was hampered by a lump of the Mass bodywork lodged in his suspension and restricting his steering lock. Lap 5 saw Hull passed by von Opel and Leclere whilst at the front Williamson was gradually reeling Coulon in and on the next lap at Lodge the GRD was ahead of the Martini although Coulon had no intention of giving up the fight. Leclere got ahead of von Opel on lap 8 whilst Maskell found himself understeering off at Knickerbrook hitting the Armco with his Lotus, also out were Jarier and Pryce both with no oil pressure.
By 10 laps Williamson and Coulon were comfortably ahead of the rest led by Leclere who had opened up a gap from the fourth place battle between von Opel, Hull, Evans, and Serpaggi, next up were Magee, Tyrrell, Vandervell, Kuwashima and a recovering Brise who had spun at Esso. Coulon was still trying to pass Williamson and on lap 12 he was level with the GRD along Top Straight but Williamson had the better line and stayed in front, Hull lost places to Evans and Serpaggi when he ran wide at Lodge and Alan Jones was out with no oil pressure. Rikki von Opel began to drop back as he found the brakes disappearing on his Ensign moving Serpaggi back to fourth and Hull took Evans for fifth. Vandervell had moved his Ensign up to fifth but with only two laps remaining a piston failed dropping Colin to sixteenth at the finish, also out was Brise with front suspension damage after contact with Kuwashima.
There were no further incidents over the remaining laps and Williamson led Coulon across the line by 0.6 seconds with the two Alpines in third and fourth with Hull, Evans and von Opel filling the next few places

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 16 September 1972

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, 26 August 1972

oulton-park_26_8_72

Race Report: Oulton Park, 26 August 1972

oulton-park_26_8_72
A good field of 26 cars arrived at Oulton Park for this Lombard North Central round despite there being a Forward Trust race at Thruxton the following day. Jochen Mass took pole position in his works STP-March on his first visit to the circuit, Roger Williamson should have been next after equalling the German’s time but a crash at Druids after six laps of practice wrote off the tub of his GRD. Fortunately the works team had a fully plumbed spare in their transporter and in only 3 hours a new car was built up for Williamson who was forced to start from the back of the grid. The works GRD of Andy Sutcliffe made the best start but Mass was in front by Knickerbrook but then had a hairy old moment that dropped him to fourth, luckily the other closely following cars managed to avoid the errant March. A group of eight cars soon pulled away at the front of the field with Walker who had taken over from Sutcliffe on lap 2 in front followed by the GRD then came Mass back up to third, von Opel, Bob Evans, Damien Magee, Masami Kuwashima and Tony Brise. Mass had another grassy moment on lap 6 at Lodge which allowed Evans and von Opel past but Evans was out a lap later when contact with Magee split a front wheel on the March. Sutcliffe was out on lap 9 when he span at Esso and hit the barrier bending a front wishbone,

he tried to continue at the back but was forced to retire with the wheel about to part company from the car. Walker lost the lead to von Opel on lap 10 and then had to watch his teammate disappear into the distance as he had to drop back with increasing understeer. Mass was out on lap 10 with overheating from a damaged radiator caused by one of his incidents, Magee joined him on lap 15 with a spin at Esso, the Irishman finding a stone had punctured his radiator.
So it was that von Opel took the chequered flag from his teammate although Walker was fortunate to hold second after he had been caught by Kuwashima and Brise, the GRD then ran over the Brabham’s rear wheel slightly delaying them both. Walker then took advantage of of the slow Royale of Lee Kaye to ensure his runner-up spot, Kuwashima managing to get ahead of Brise for third. Neil Ginn crossed the line in fifth, the GRD driver having taken the spot from Russell Wood’s March on the last lap. Notable retirements included Williamson who had made it up to ninth before a waterpipe came off the hastily assembled GRD, Peter Hull who bent a corner on his Brabham at Druids on lap 14 when in sixth and Mike Wilds (Ensign) and John Bisignano (Martini) who took each other off early on in the race at Esso.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 26 August 1972

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, 29 April 1972

oulton - 1

Race Report: Oulton Park, 29 April 1972

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With another race at Thruxton on the following day and the lure of Shell Super Oil points on offer at Zandvoort only 14 cars made it to Oulton Park for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship. This was further reduced when during the very wet practice session second fastest Masami Kuwashima found a cracked cylinder in the Holbay of his GRD 372, Brian McGuire didn’t even make it this far when a cracked wheel was discovered on his Brabham BT38.

The track was drier for the race although still requiring wets to be fitted, Damien Magee needed a push start on the grid which resulted in a 10 second penalty. Rikki von Opel was slow away at the start and Tony Brise drove his Brabham BT38 past the Ensign to take the lead at Old Hall, next up were Damien Magee in his Palliser from the GRD of Andy Sutcliffe. Brise extended his lead at the front as Magee found himself trapped behind von Opel until lap 4 when the Ensign took to the grass at Knickerbrook, Magee shot past and began to whittle down Brise’s lead moving into first place at Lodge on lap 11. Magee held

on despite his Novamotor making worrying noises to take the chequered flag first but his penalty dropped him to second, Sutcliffe took third after outbraking von Opel into Old Hall on the last lap, the GRD driver being a little lucky as his engine cut out on the slowing down lap.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 29 April 1972

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, 31 March 1972

oulton

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 March 1972

oulton

A good entry arrived at Oulton Park for this round of the Shell F3 Championship which was a support race for the European F2 round, the race taking place on Good Friday.

The F3 cars were greeted with pouring rain for their Thursday morning practice session and to many it seemed as if the rain had got into the timekeepers watches as several odd times were issued. The session did dry out a little towards the end and this was when the fastest times were set. Tom Pryce put his Royale RP11 on pole by an amazing 1.6 seconds which was perhaps a little generous although most felt he was the fastest man on the track. Second fastest was Andy Sutcliffe in the works GRD who put in a lot of laps, setting the same time was Tony Trimmer’s Lotus 73 which is waiting for a revised rear suspension, nevertheless Trimmer was pleased with the car’s progress. Roger Williamson headed row two disappointed that his March had run out of petrol during the drier period, next up setting identical times were the Ensigns of Colin Vandervell and Rikki von Opel and Peter Hull’s Brabham BT38. The New Zealander was another who missed the end of the session when he spun off at Druids when a radius rod on his Brabham broke.

Mike Walker was one driver who most felt had gone several seconds quicker than the time he was credited with, he was complaining of bad front wheel patter in his Ensign, observers around the track supported his comments. James Hunt also felt he had been hard-done-by as regards his time whilst Andy Sutcliffe lost time from experimenting with wings and having a faulty master switch dealt with. Others suffering sundry problems were Tony Brise who had bump steer and erratic braking on his Brabham and Chris Skeaping who hit the Armco at the Esses, the Chevron being taken back to the works at Bolton for a precautionary check. Barrie Maskell was also less than happy when after going very quickly in the wettest period, despite a lack of brakes, he had to give his car up to Geddes Yeates whose own car had been delayed after the Travisco transporter broke down. The JPS Lotus team missed a trick when they left early unaware that there was an untimed session later in the day which was dry which meant they had no chance to set up the 73s for the better weather.

Come the start of the race the track had virtually dried out except for the odd damp patch and the entire field started on slicks. Williamson made a demon start and tried to dive between Sutcliffe and Pryce who were ahead of him on the grid, realising the gap was closing on him Williamson backed off but not before the rear wheels of the GRD and Royale had hit the front wheels of the March. After the race it was found Williamson had cracked a rim and was perhaps fortunate the tyre stayed on during the race. Through Old Hall it was Pryce from Williamson, and onto Cascades where there seemed to be some midfield contact although everyone kept going. Coming into Esso however it all went wrong; Hunt, Trimmer and Sutcliffe all contrived to hit each other, the March and the GRD were instant retirements with damaged suspension, Trimmer and the innocent Hull were both delayed, especially the Brabham and Williamson also lost a little time.

All this meant that at the end of lap 1 Pryce had a big lead over Williamson, Vandervell, Ashley, Evans, von Opel, Matthews and Walker. Trimmer, after his delay, was next just ahead of Maskell who still had no brakes to speak of. Poor Peter Hull was down in 23rd place which was at least better than Gambs and Harness who were both out, oddly for the same reason, broken gear linkages. Lap 2 saw Evans pass Ashley and Matthews fall back behind Walker, Trimmer and Maskell whilst on the following lap Kuwashima spun at Knicker Brook and continued last.
By lap 4 out at the front Pryce continued to extend his lead and Williamson was comfortable in second, not going so well was Vandervell who hit the barrier at Esso after a tire deflated and on the next lap Sutcliffe ran wide at Cascades also striking the Armco. Walker was now third from von Opel, Evans and Maskell who were starting a battle that would last the rest of the race. Pryce’s easy run all came to nothing on lap 10 at Knicker Brook when he spun the Royale resuming in 17th spot, this left Williamson in a secure lead despite the best efforts of Walker to narrow the gap.

For the last few laps Williamson took it easy and crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of Walker. Third was another matter, von Opel taking the place on lap 12, Maskell then passed the Ensign round the outside at Knicker Brook on lap 19, then on the last lap it was von Opel ahead along Top Straight until he ran wide at Lodge knocking the nosecone off Maskell’s car in the process. This left Maskell to take third while von Opel and Evans virtually dead heated for fourth, the Ensign driver getting the verdict. Peter Hull made it back up to an excellent 6th despite not having a top gear, next up came Tony Trimmer who just managed to hold off Tony Brise who was suffering from an engine that was loosing power. Pryce’s unhappy race finished at Cascades on the last lap when he tore the suspension off one side of the Royale.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 March 1972

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, 28 August 1971

oulton_28_8_71

Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 August 1971

oulton_28_8_71

The second F3 at Oulton Park with in a week saw a good entry arrive for this Lombank Championship round. A shower of rain just before the start saw several runners changing tyres although it looked as if it would be brief and indeed as the flag fell the rain had stopped. Colin Vandervell, his Brabham fitted with intermediates took the lead from a slick shod Andy Sutcliffe who had made a storming start from the fourth row. First time at Lodge saw some synchronised spinning from the two AIRO Brabham BT28s of Brian McGuire and Alan Jones loosing fourth and fifth places respectively. This left Vandervell leading

from Sutcliffe and Williamson who had started from the third row following an engine blow up in practice, fourth was Scheckter his Merlyn wearing slicks. The next lap at Lodge saw even more action when Sutcliffe tried to outbrake Vandervell, unfortunately he made contact with the Brabham and Williamson found himself involved with Scheckter running over the nose of the March as he passed all three cars and took the lead. Vandervell got himself moving again and set off after the Merlyn. Williamson dropped to sixth but some determined driving saw him back up with the Merlyn and the Brabham. Scheckter continued in the lead with Vandervell’s efforts to keep Williamson at bay ensured that the Merlyn driver was able to cross the line first to score his maiden F3 victory. Vandervell took second by inches from Williamson with Ferreira fourth ahead of David Purley in his new Ensign LN1. Barrie Maskell retired his Chevron B18 after one lap with low fuel pressure and Peter Lamplough non-started his Palliser with its new Vegantune when a pulley came off.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 28 August 1971

Race

1 Jody Scheckter

Merlyn-Holbay Mk21 17:15.8 10 95.96

2 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Vegantune BT35 10

3 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 10

4 Jose Ferreira

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 10

5 David Purley

Ensign-Holbay LN1 10

6 Peter Hull

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 10

7 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M 10

8 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 10

9 Derek Lawrence

Palliser-Ford WDF3

Fastest Lap

Jody Scheckter

Merlyn-Holbay Mk21 1:39.8 99.60

Race Report: Oulton Park, 21 August 1971

oulton_21_8_71

Race Report: Oulton Park, 21 August 1971

oulton_21_8_71

Supporting the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting for F1/F5000 cars this race was not only a round of the Shell Super Oils Championship but rather oddly it also counted for the French F3 Championship all of which meant a good entry arrived to do battle on the Saturday with qualifying being spread over two sessions on Friday.

At the end of the two sessions it was a March one-two at the front with James Hunt just having the edge over Roger Williamson, third fastest and probably unaccustomed to being so far down the grid was Dave Walker in his usual GLTL 69. Another Lotus led the second row with Claude Bourgoignie 

going well in his 69, alongside the Belgian was Colin Vandervell’s Brabham BT35. Row three consisted of Barrie Maskell who was pleased with his Chevron B18 after some revisions to the front suspension design, Jean-Pierre Rousselot (Brabham BT35) and Jody Scheckter who had a spin at Knickerbrook damaging a rear radius rod which required an overnight trip back to Colchester for repairs. Peter Hull should have been next his Brabham BT28 benefiting from a good sorting by Tony Trimmer at Brands Hatch but a misunderstanding with Bev Bond ended with Hull hitting the Old Hall sleepers removing the suspension from one side of the car and causing Hull to non-start. Peter Lamplough’s Palliser, going better now it was running a Holbay was next from Rikki von Opel who had a restricted practice after going off at Lodge and damaging the nose and radiator of his Lotus 69.
John Bisignano was getting the hang of his March 713M and led Alan Jones (Brabham BT28) and Bev Bond (March 713M). David Purley was out in his usual Brabham as although his new Ensign was ready he hadn’t had any time to test it, he led the similar car of Jose Ferreira. Steve Thompson should have been next but a big off at Old Hall meant that his rebuilt Ensign would have to be rebuilt yet again. Chris Skeaping was upset to loose a lot of his practise after spinning his Chevron B17 and being unable to restart the engine, he still managed to beat the second of the French visitors Patrice Compain in his Martini-Novamotor MW7. Another non-starter followed when Brendan McInerney was another to discover at first hand just how unyielding the Old Hall sleepers are. A surprise late entry was Giancarlo Naddeo who had forsaken his Tecno for the ex-Gerry Birrell Lotus 69, Naddeo only took delivery of the car the night before so unsurprisingly was taking things very easy. Derek Lawrence was next, his Palliser still persevering with a BRM engine and Brian McGuire followed (Brabham BT28) ahead of two more French visitors, José Dolhem and Jean-Louis Lafosse both in Martini MW7s.
F3 returnee Tom Walkinshaw was disappointed to be so far down the grid but he had only managed 5 laps when his high pressure fuel-pump broke. Alan Joy put his Brabham BT28 between Walkinshaw and John Finch’s Chevron B17, next up was Naddeo’s old Tecno now in the hands of Roberto Marazzi who was having his first F3 race after racing in Italian Formula Fords. Various niggling problems explained why both the Martinis of Guy Dhotel and Jacques Coulon were so far back but at least they were better off than Cavan Riley who removed the front suspension of his March 713M after only two practice laps. Last two runners who both qualified out of session were Ronald Rossi (Brabham BT28) and Lucien Guitteny (Martini MW7).

For reasons unknown Alan Joy and John Finch joined the list of non-starters on race day and sadly Barrie Maskell was also out when on the warm up lap his Chevron’s fuel pressure disappeared despite fitting a new Holbay unit overnight.
At the start Williamson led into Old Hall from Bourgoignie, Hunt and Walker, whilst behind a fast starting Skeaping touched Scheckter causing the Merlyn to wiggle which in turn led to contact between Lamplough, who continued sans nosecone and Coulon and Dolhem who both had to retire. Up at the front the four leaders were pulling away from Vandervell who was falling back into the clutches of Rousselot, Bond, Purley, Jones, Lamplough, Bisignano and Scheckter after his earlier moment. Williamson led for three laps until Hunt got past at Knickerbrook but it was only for one lap and then Williamson got back again but only briefly as Walker took a turn at the front. Man on the move was Scheckter who was gaining a position every lap and by lap 8 he was up to sixth his progress helped by Bond spinning his March at Cascades. Alan Jones had been moving up with Scheckter until a seat belt mounting broke and the Aussie found himself moving about too much in his Brabham’s cockpit. Drivers in difficulty were Purley who spun at Esso and beached his car, Bisignano who had to pit with a loose engine cover, Lawrence who was another Esso spinner and Guitteny who had to spin to avoid the Palliser.
Bourgoignie felt it was time he had a look at the front and on lap 10 he moved into first place with Williamson, Walker and Hunt close behind. Bev Bond did his championship chase no good at all when a split tyre caused the March to spin off at Knickerbrook doing quite a lot of damage. Williamson retook the lead from Bourgoignie after the Belgian had led for two laps and after a further two laps it was clear the Lotus driver was in trouble when he missed a gear going past the pits delaying himself and Hunt and on the following lap Bourgoignie pulled into the pits with his gearbox almost seized solid. The delayed Hunt was unable to close the gap on Williamson and Walker and it seemed that the winner would have be one of these two drivers.
Scheckter got past Vandervell on lap 19, aided by setting a new lap record, and began to pull away in fourth, while behind Vandervell Jones led Lamplough and Rousselot. Up front Walker and Williamson continued to take it in turns to lead and starting the last lap it was the Lotus driver with the advantage along the Top Straight and through Knickerbrook, trying to hold Williamson back Walker took a tight entry into Lodge which in turn meant he exited on a wide line, Williamson pushed his March up on the inside and accelerated hard through Deer Leap just getting to the finishing line first. Hunt finished third despite a broken injector nozzle causing a misfire, poor Scheckter fell to seventh in the last 5 laps with suspected broken valve springs allowing Vandervell to take fourth from Jones and Lamplough after an excellent race by the Palliser driver.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 21 August 1971

Qualifying

1 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 1:37.4

2 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:37.6

3 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:38.0

4 Claude Bourgoignie

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:38.0

5 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Vegantune BT35 1:38.0

6 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:38.2

7 Pierre-Francis Rousselot

Brabham-Holbay BT 35 1:38.4

8 Jody Scheckter

Merlyn-Holbay Mk21 1:39.0

9 Peter Hull

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:39.2 (DNS)

10 Peter Lamplough

Martini-Renault MW7 1:34.0 Palliser-Holbay WDF3 1:39.4

11 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:39.6

12 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M 1:39.6

13 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:39.8

14 Bev Bond

March-Holbay 713M 1:39.8

15 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:40.0

16 Jose Ferreira

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:40.2

17 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:40.4

18 Patrice Compain

Martini-Novamotor MW7 1:41.2

19 Brendan McInerney

March-Vegantune 713M 1:41.4 (DNS)

20 Giancarlo Naddeo

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:41.6

21 Derek Lawrence

Palliser-BRM WDF3 1:41.8

22 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:42.2

23 José Dolhem

Martini-BRM MW7 1:43.2

24 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Martini-BRM MW7 1:43.2

25 Tom Walkinshaw

March-Holbay 713M 1:44.2

26 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:45.8 (DNS)

27 John Finch

Chevron Holbay B17 1:46.2 (DNS)

28 Roberto Marazzi

Tecno-Novamotor 69 1:51.6

29 Guy Dhotel

Martini-BRM MW7 ?

30 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Novamotor MW7 ?

31 Cavan Riley

March-Novamotor 713M ? (DNS)

32 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Novamotor BT28 NT

33 Lucien Guitteny

Martini-BRM MW7 NT

Race

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 49:08.6 30 101.13

2 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 49:08.8 30

3 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 49:20.4 30

4 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Vegantune BT35 49:40.4 30

5 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 49:58.6 30

6 Peter Lamplough

Palliser-Holbay WDF3 50:07.0 30

7 Jody Scheckter

Merlyn-Holbay Mk21 30

8 Pierre-Francis Rousselot

Brabham-Holbay BT 35 30

9 Patrice Compain

Martini-Novamotor MW7 29

10 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 29

11 Tom Walkinshaw

March-Holbay 713M 29

12 Derek Lawrence

Palliser-BRM WDF3 29

13 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M 29

14 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Martini-BRM MW7 29

15 Lucien Guitteny

Martini-BRM MW7 28

16 Roberto Marazzi

Tecno-Novamotor 69

17 Jose Ferreira

Brabham-Holbay BT28 27

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 May 1971

oulton_31_5_71

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 May 1971

oulton_31_5_71

23 drivers arrived to contest the British Empire Trophy at Oulton Park from an original entry of 45, it was a two heat and a final format with the cars divided unevenly between the two heats due to the non-starters.

Dave Walker duly took pole position for the first heat by two tenths from Steve Thompson’s Ensign which had been repaired after its Montlhery accident. Final front row starter was Colin Vandervell in his Brabham BT35 on its new Firestones, ahead of the similar car of Brendan McInerney. Fifth fastest was series newcomer Alan McCully in an ex-works Lotus 69, this was part of the three car Australian 

International Racing Organisation which was an odd title since McCully is a New Zealander! The other two members of the team were Alan Jones and Brian McGuire with their Brabham BT28s, all three cars were using Vegantune engines running on Weber carbs. Leading the next row of the grid was Ronald Rossi in his usual Brabham BT28 ahead of Tim Goss (March), Ulf Svensson, Rikki von Opel, Pierre-Francis Rousselot and Torsten Palm. Next up was Alan Jones who had only managed two laps before an oil pipe broke causing the Aussie to spin off at Island. Final runners were Richard Longman, Bernard Lagier and another new face, Keith St John in the ex Peter Hanson Chevron B17.

There were only eight cars in the second heat and fastest for this race was Bev Bond in the works Ensign, this week trying Dunlops. Setting the same time as Bond was the March of Roger Williamson and completing the front row was a very tender (after his Monaco practice accident) Barrie Maskell. The second row was headed by Chris Skeaping’s Chevron and Brian McGuire’s ex Tony Trimmer BT28. Bringing up the rear were Alan Joy, Chris O’Brien and final débutante Bengt Radmyr in a Lotus 59/69.

With a few minutes to go before the start of the first heat panic set in when a sudden heavy rain shower soaked the track, Thompson, Vandervell, McInerney, Svensson, Goss, Palm, Longman and St John switching to wets. With five minutes to go and the track beginning to dry Thompson put the Ensign back onto dry tyres. As the flag fell Walker took an immediate lead from Vandervell and Thompson, McCully, Svensson, McInerney and Goss. On a fast drying track Walker quickly pulled away whilst Vandervell was forced to hunt for wet patches to try an cool his tyres as Thompson passed him for second place. Vandervell was able to hold onto third place ahead of a hard charging von Opel who had dropped to ninth at the start but clawed his way back to fourth. Alan Jones spun on lap one at Lodge removing his nosecone and dropping to last but got up to twelfth by the finish.

The track had dried completely by the start of heat two, not that it helped Maskell who had to be pushed off the grid when his starter motor came unattached. Bond took an immediate lead from Williamson and and Skeaping. The Ensign led to the finish but it wasn’t easy as Williamson was attacking him all round the track bur especially at Knickerbrook were he often got ahead only to drop back again at Lodge. Skeaping actually made it up to second for a few laps until fuel starvation caused his engine to cut out intermittently and he fell back again. So it was that Bond took the chequered flag only to find he had been penalised 1 minute for jumping the start which dropped him to fifth. Williamson inherited the win from Skeaping, Joy, O’Brien and Radmyr. Maskell managed to get out and do five laps to qualify for the final.

 

Williamson took pole position for the final due to the dry second heat being quicker than the damp first one but Walker who was beside him made no mistakes as the flag fell and jumped into an immediate lead. Walker was determined to try and build up as much of a lead as possible to avoid the potential threat of Bev Bond back on the fourth row and at the end of the first lap he was ahead of Williamson, Thompson, Skeaping and a fast starting Bond. Vandervell was already dropping back but was still ahead of McCully, McInerney, Rousselot, Rossi and Radmyr. Trailing well back were Maskell and Jones who had required push starts and Goss who had started a lap behind due to a fuel pump problem. On lap 2 Thompson got past Williamson who was now being threatened by Skeaping but it was Bond who was really flying and in the next three laps he dealt with all three cars and he was just 4 seconds behind Walker.
However having got up to second Bond seemed unable to close in on Walker and dropped further behind as he met backmarkers, he was also having to watch the sister Ensign of Thompson who was trying to get second place back. Thompson did get ahead briefly on lap 22 at Knickerbrook but it was all academic anyway as two laps later Bond retired with steam coming from the engine due to a blown head gasket.
Behind the leaders there was a battle royal going on between Vandervell, Rossi, McInerney, McCully, Radmyr, Rousselot, Svensson and von Opel who had made an awful start. Quickly joining this group was Barrie Maskell who carved his way through in great style, his only problem being Rossi who solved the problem by having a huge accident at Knickerbrook (without personal injury). Maskell concentrated on trying to close the gap to Skeaping whilst von Opel and Rousselot were having a great battle, behind them Vandervell was trying to get away from McInerney and Svensson.
Walker was finding it easy at the front extending his lead from a tiring Thompson, Williamson and a closing Skeaping. Sadly Maskell’s great drive came to an end 10 laps from the finish when he had to stop for a new battery which dropped him to the tail of the field. At the finish Walker won by nearly 40 seconds from Thompson, Williamson, and Skeaping. von Opel just beat Rousselot to fifth ahead of a lapped Vandervell, Svensson, McCully and McInerney.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 31 May 1971

Qualifying Heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:42.6

2 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.8

3 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:43.2

4 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:44.0

5 Allan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 1:44.4

6 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:45.0

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:45.4

8 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:45.6

9 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:45.6

10 Pierre-François

Rousselot Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:46.2

11 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:47.0

12 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:47.6

13 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:47.8

14 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:50.2

15 Keith St John

Chevron-Piper B17 1:54.2

Qualifying Heat 2

1 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.0

2 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:42.0

3 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:42.8

4 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:44.6

5 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:45.8

6 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:47.6

7 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:48.0

8 Bengt Radmyr

Lotus-Holbay 59/69 1:48.2

Race Heat 1

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:42.6

2 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.8

3 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Rowland BT35 1:43.2

4 Brendan McInerney

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:44.0

5 Allan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 1:44.4

6 Ronald Rossi

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:45.0

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:45.4

8 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:45.6

9 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:45.6

10 Pierre-François

Rousselot Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:46.2

11 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:47.0

12 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:47.6

13 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:47.8

14 Bernard Lagier

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:50.2

15 Keith St John

Chevron-Piper B17 1:54.2

Race Heat 2

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:42.0

2 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:44.6

3 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 1:47.6

4 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:45.8

5 Bev Bond

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:42.0

6 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:48.0

7 Bengt Radmyr

Lotus-Holbay 59/69 1:48.2

8 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:42.8

Race Report: Oulton Park, 15 May 1971

oulton_15_5_71

Race Report: Oulton Park, 15 May 1971

oulton_15_5_71
In an instance of amazing stupidity no less than 3 championship races were scheduled over a two day period, a Lombank round here at Oulton on the Saturday and a Shell Sport round at Zandvoort together with a Forward Trust round at Silverstone on the Sunday. It was hardly surprising at least one circuit would suffer and Oulton Park was the one with just three cars arriving. Embarrassingly three became two when John Bisignano’s March-Holbay 713M couldn’t produce enough fuel pressure to start. To add insult to injury the two remaining cars were put at the back of the Sports Car grid. Chris O’Brien “led” the race with his Brabham BT35 until the throttle cable snapped handing a very dubious victory to Sonny Eade in his Brabham-Scholar BT28.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 15 May 1971

Race

1 Sonny Eade

Brabham-Scholar BT28 | 18:20.0 | 9 81.32

Fastest Lap

Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 | 1:57.2 | 84.81