Race Report: Silverstone, 17 March 1974

silverstone_17_3_74

Race Report: Silverstone, 17 March 1974

silverstone_17_3_74

Round two of the Lombard North Central Championship and this time 10 cars arrived at Silverstone although only eight were destined to start.
Brian Henton put his works March 743 on pole 0.2 seconds ahead of Tony Rouff who this week had a new 2-litre Vegantune engine in the back of his GRD, Jose Chateaubriand in the second works March completed the front row. The non-starters were Alex Ribeiro who suffered from fuel injection bothers in his GRD-Novamotor before he even practised and Barrie Maskell who once again had piston troubles with his Dastle, this time with the team’s 1790cc twin-cam.

Henton timed his start perfectly and into Copse he was ahead of Rouff and Chateaubriand, the latter under pressure from Moraes and Arnott. On lap 2 Chateaubriand ran wide at Woodcote causing Moraes to brake and allowing Arnott to pass both Brazilians in one go as they entered Copse. Moraes spent the rest of the lap hounding Arnott but entering Woodcote he spun wildly letting Chateaubriand up to fourth.
Back at the front Henton was under heavy pressure from Rouff but the March held on to win by 0.6 seconds with both men sharing a new lap record. Arnott was on his own in third with Chateaubriand fourth whilst Moraes outbraked Santo for fifth at Woodcote on the last lap. The only retirement was Derek Lawrence who only managed a few laps before retiring with his engine only firing on three cylinders.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 17 March 1974

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: Silverstone, 9 September 1973

silverstone_9_9_73

Race Report: Silverstone, 9 September 1973

silverstone_9_9_73

A top class British-based entry arrived at Silverstone for the latest Forward Trust round and it was Mike Wilds who took pole position in his Dempster Developments March, while on row two Brian Henton was having his first outing in the works Ensign.

Wilds led away at the start and into Copse chased by Henton, Richard Robarts and Tony Brise but at Woodcote Robarts dived through on the inside to take the lead. Robarts led for the next eight laps with Henton always right on his gearbox and on lap 9 as they entered Copse Henton took the lead with the next eight cars running nose to tail behind him. Robarts was determined to regain the lead and on lap 13 he passed Henton again as Tony Brise moved up to third ahead of Mike Wilds, these leading four then began to pull away from the rest of the field.

As the first four entered Woodcote on the final lap they came across a couple of backmarkers, Angelo Piccione (March 733) and Spencer Elton (Ensign F372). As Henton slipped past Robarts again Elton didn’t get out of the way quickly enough and was struck by Wilds putting both cars out fortunately without injury to either driver. So Henton took the flag 0.2 seconds ahead of Robarts with Brise a further 0.8 seconds down in third, Kuwashima took fourth nearly five seconds away from the leaders. Back in eighth place was Andy Sutcliffe who was filling in for the still ailing Ian Taylor in the Baty March.
There was an unfortunate incident during the race when Norman Moffett pitted his GRD following a spin, he came in far too quickly hitting two of Henton’s mechanics injuring one of them quite badly. Moffett will have to attend a RAC tribunal to explain his driving.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 9 September 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: Silverstone, 27 August 1973

silver-stone_27_8_73

Race Report: Silverstone, 27 August 1973

silver-stone_27_8_73

Due to the clashing race at Castle Combe a handful of top drivers were missing and only 20 cars arrived for practice of which 16 would start the race, non-starters were José Espirito Santo (accident), Val Musetti, Simon Sherman (both with engine problems) and Marco Tessiore who didn’t like the weather. Tony Brise had damaged his March during practice when he hit a spinning Santo damaging a corner and kinking the tub, the damage was repaired for the race. Alan Jones was finding his GRD much improved following the fitment of Bilstein dampers and new suspension brackets to cut down on excessive camber change.

It began raining as the cars took their warm up lap and Brian Henton spun into the sleepers at Woodcote slightly damaging the GRD and creating a small handling problem. As the cars lined up on the grid the rain increased and the decision was taken to delay the start so that everyone could fit wets.

Tony Brise took the lead from pole position but on lap 2 he spun at Copse allowing Alan Jones to take the lead, the Australian then proceeded to dominate the rest of the race despite the tricky conditions pulling away from the rest of the field at a second a lap to win by 26 seconds. Brise’s spin had dropped him to tenth but he promptly began to race back through the field taking tight lines and by keeping to the best drained areas he was back up to fifth by lap 8. On lap 12 Brise had caught up with the Marches of Russell Wood and Richard Robarts who were fighting over second, Robarts spun away his position and then Brise passed Woods on lap 15 to take second himself. However Brise was unable to shake off Woods and on lap 19 fuel pressure problems began and Brise quickly fell back through the field, a poor reward for an excellent drive.
With Brise’s problems Wood was now unchallenged in second and with Jones long gone he concentrated on not making any mistakes and he duly took the runner up spot. Leonel Friedrich drove well to take third ahead of a recovering Robarts who passed Masami Kuwashima on the last lap when the Japanese driver had a small problem at Becketts. Mike Tyrrell was another driver to stay out of trouble and his reward was sixth place, his best result of the season to date. Mike Wilds had been running with Wood in the early stages but two spins resulted in him falling back to seventh place at the finish. “Teleco” had been holding fourth spot until he was eliminated early on with damp electrics and Tony Rouff retired on the first lap whilst Pedro Passadore was delayed by a pit stop.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 27 August 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: Silverstone, 14 July 1973

silverstone_14_7_73

Race Report: Silverstone, 14 July 1973

silverstone_14_7_73

Sadly the clashing round of the French F3 Championship at Magny Cours on the same day meant that the entry for this John Player Championship, a supporting event to the British GP, was largely home grown. Practice, one hour for each heat, was held on the Thursday with the heats taking place on the Friday.

Heat One saw Mike Wilds taking pole position in his brand new March-Holbay 733, so new was the car that it hadn’t run before the Thursday practice but Wilds took to it immediately, setting a sub-lap record on his way to pole. Also under the lap record was Alan Jones, his GRD featuring the two extra bracing tubes between the engine and the chassis that had been introduced at Snetterton the week before. This new tweak certainly seemed to put the GRD back on the same level as the March and was being copied by several other GRD users. Jones was looking very quick in his DART entered chassis despite his practice being curtailed by a siezed gearbox.

Third fastest was former Ehrlich driver Danny Sullivan having his first outing in the ex-Bob Evans March 723 that had been updated to ’73 specification. Fourth fastest was Masami Kuwashima who wasn’t happy with his Holbay and fifth was Andy Sutcliffe who was showing that the Elden was a very competitive proposition despite loosing the last 15 minutes of practice when he ran out of petrol and was stranded on the circuit. Of the rest of the runners Tony Brise found himself right at the back when his Holbay failed after just three laps of practice, the car was immediately taken to Holbay where the engine was repaired with the car arriving back at the track only 30 minutes before the start of the heat.

Brian Henton’s GRD was also sporting the works bracing struts and Superhen used it to great effect to take pole for Heat Two as well as setting the fastest overall time on Thursday. Second quickest was lap record holder Ian Taylor from Tony Rouff, another modified GRD runner. Mo Harness took the fourth spot in his brand new March-Brown 733 sponsored by Modus, sharing the same time as Harness was the second DART GRD of Pedro Passadore another to find the modifications to his GRD beneficial. Further back Larry Perkins was getting the hang of the works Ensign after his first outing on Tuesday was curtailed by a small accident whilst Barrie Maskell was having a run in the ex-Tony Brise GRD. Right at the back Mike Catlow was not given a time due to RAC entry cock-up, his Elden had been setting some quick laps and otherwise would have started well up the grid.

Danny Sullivan was in trouble before the flag dropped for Heat 1 when his engine would not fire up and he had to sit and wait for a push start as the rest of the grid departed. It was Wilds who got away the best from pole hotly pursued by Jones, Kuwashima, “Teleco” (penalised for a jump start), Vermilio and Sutcliffe. Wilds still led at the end of the first lap with Jones sitting right on his gearbox, “Teleco” was next but falling away, then came Kuwashima, Sutcliffe, Vermilio, Gambs, Sheldon Buzaglo, Lewis, Fuller, Tyrrell, MacDonald, Santo, Sherman, Brise and Sullivan (recovering from his push start). Brise called into the pits on the next lap with his engine refusing to rev, after one more lap with no improvement he retired the March.
Jones pushed his GRD into the lead on lap 2 at Stowe and although he led all the remaining laps Wilds chased him very hard and took the lead back on a number of occasions around the back of the circuit but Jones always had the edge and took the win by 0.3 seconds. Sutcliffe took third after passing “Teleco” on lap 6, he started to close on Jones and Wilds but then dropped away to finish 5 seconds down. Unfortunately it all went wrong at the post race scrutineering when Wilds was disqualified for having a 30 thou oversized airbox aperture and Sutcliffe was also out when a loose pipe on his airbox meant it would not hold the necessary vacuum.
All of this moved Kuwashima up to second ahead of Vermilio, Lewis and Santo all of whom were well spread out by the finish. The penalised “Teleco” and Sullivan took tenth and twelfth despite a big spin by the latter at Woodcote. Buzaglo was a retirement when he went off onto the grass, also at Woodcote, the resultant moment causing some damage and retirement.

Henton made a super getaway at the start of Heat 2 (initially it was thought too well and he was penalised but this was overturned on appeal from Henton), Rouff slipped into second from Taylor and Harness. As the cars entered Woodcote at the end of lap 1 Rouff used Henton’s slipstream to take the lead he would hold, except for a few brief moments, for the rest of the race. Henton was second from Taylor, Wood, Harness, Gerber (who appeared to jump the start without penalty), Passadore, Wunderink, Friedrich, Perkins, Maskell, Musetti, Robarts, Catlow, Craven, Hilliar, Sedgley and Coen. Derek Lawrence crawled into the pits to retire with the clutch in his Ehrlich burnt out.
Lap 2 saw six cars break away at the front with Rouff leading Henton, Wood, Taylor, Harness and Gerber. Wood moved up to second on lap 3 but Henton pushed him back to third again on the following lap and Gerber left the group with a spin at Copse. Next out was Mo Harness due to a combination of a slow puncture and a non-functioning limited slip diff so by lap 9 the fight for victory was down to four cars, Rouff still led but Woods was trying both sides to get past whilst Henton and Woods were not really in the hunt as both were suffering from flat engines. Under the Daily Express Bridge Wood was trying everything he knew to demote the American but Rouff kept his cool to take the win by a second, Henton kept third despite suffering from bent valves in his Rolt engine, Taylor took fourth 0.2 seconds behind the GRD. Retirements included Barry Maskell who had been in the top ten until an ignition problem meant a pit stop and Friedrich who had been in a similar position on the first lap until he damaged his March with an off at Club.

The qualifiers for the final were the first 12 from each heat plus the next 12 fastest laps, this resulting in the following grid:

Wood
 
Rouff
 
Jones
 
Taylor
 
Henton
 
Robarts
 
Harness
 
Kuwashima
 
Wunderink
 
Passadore
 
Spitzley
 
Vermilio
 
Perkins
 
Catlow
 
Lewis
 
Gerber
 
Gambs
 
Santo
 
Sherman
 
Sheldon
 
Sullivan
 
“Teleco”
 
MacDonald
 
Maskell
 
Buzaglo
 
Sedgley
 
Crossley
 
Craven
 
Hilliar
 
Musetti
 
Friedrich
 
Fuller
 
Tyrrell
 
Lawrence
 
Coen
 

There was a considerable amount of creeping before the flag fell and several cars seemed to jump the start although only Johnny Gerber was penalised. GRD men Jones and Rouff led the rest and entering Copse Rouff dived into the lead chased by Jones, Wood, Kuwashima and Henton. Woodcote saw Wood make his move and pass the two leaders, Rouff kept second from a huge group consisting of Jones, Kuwashima, Henton, Robarts, Passadore, Taylor, Perkins, Wunderink, Harness, Gerber, Vermilio, “Teleco”, Lewis, Buzaglo, Maskell, Catlow and Sullivan, the rest followed further back. For the next five laps there were numerous place changes as positions began to settle down, Rouff moved back to the front with Jones pressuring him hard, Wood in third headed Kuwashima, Henton, Gerber, Perkins, Robarts, Vermilio and Taylor all tied together. There was a gap back to the next group, “Teleco” headed Maskell who was moving up well, next came Buzaglo, Wunderink, Harness who was recovering after a spin down the field on lap 3, Lewis, Santo, Sullivan, Spitzley and Catlow. The next bunch were further down the road, Craven led Lawrence, Musetti, Sherman, Crossley, Gambs, Passadore another spinner, down from sixth on lap 3, Sedgley, MacDonald and Hilliar.
During lap 6 Rouff, Jones and Woods pulled slightly away from Kuwashima who was beginning to go backwards and was soon passed by Gerber who then pulled himself onto the tail of the leaders. With no apparent difficulty Gerber then proceeded to pass the three cars in front of him and on lap 10 the Brabham was in the lead. Gerber soon pulled out a small gap to the others who weren’t too worried as their pits advised them of Gerber’s jump start penalty.
For the last ten laps it was a three way battle between the GRDs of Rouff and Jones and the March of Wood with the GRDs doing the leading as Wood watched and waited for a mistake to allow him to get ahead. On lap 19 Jones moved up to second and towed up to Gerber with the intention of passing the Mexican and letting the Brabham act as a buffer. Lap 20 and Jones tried for the lead at Becketts, unfortunately as he dived inside he hit a patch of oil and spun causing Rouff and Wood to take avoiding action which split them up. Gerber took the chequered flag first but dropped to seventeenth with his penalty, thus Rouff took the win from Wood with Jones recovering to third and just holding Henton off at the line who was again troubled by bent valves. Harness did well to take fifth after his spin from Kuwashima who was hampered by an engine that was loosing power.
Amongst the non-finishers were Perkins who spun at Becketts and was collected by Vermilio, both cars retiring on the spot. Robarts had been right behind Henton but he spun on the grass by the pits and stalled his engine, the subsequent push start saw him excluded from the results. Maskell retired with a faulty fuel pump on lap 19 having been sixth at one point and Lewis and Sullivan made contact at Copse on lap 9 with both cars being rendered hors de combat.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 14 July 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: Silverstone, 1 July 1973

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Race Report: Silverstone, 1 July 1973

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Despite most of the leading runners being at Paul Ricard for the John Player Championship a good entry still arrived at Silverstone for this Lombard North Central round. There was some amazement when the Silverstone timekeepers gave the same fastest time to no less than six cars! Pole position went to F3 returnee Derek Lawrence who was out in the Ehrlich formerly pedalled by Danny Sullivan, he used his experience to gain a good tow and get pole position. Other front row occupants were the Royale of John Sheldon and the March of Richard Robarts. Further down the grid Pedro Passadore was debuting a new DART run GRD.

Robarts jumped into the lead at the start with Friedrich slotting into second followed by Rouff and Passadore, entering Woodcote Passadore demoted Rouff back to third as Sheldon moved up to tag onto the back of the leaders. Robarts and Friedrich looked as if they were going to pull away but Rouff put his head down and reeled them back in. Friedrich sat on Robarts tail and on lap 5 he slipstreamed into the lead at the end of Club Straight, Robarts tried to regain the lead at Woodcote without success. Next lap Robarts tried again and this time he made it stick as Friedrich dropped another place to Rouff who was now looking very strong and on lap 8 the American made it to the front.
For the next two laps Rouff lead his first F3 race but on lap 10 Robarts went back to the front with Rouff dropping to second, third was Passadore from Sheldon, Friedrich, Santo, “Teleco” and Spitzley making up ground after a bad start. Andy Sutcliffe had been next but he had to retire his Elden with a broken throttle cable so next up came Lawrence ahead of Bernard Vermilio (Merlyn) and late entrant Damien Magee (Brabham).
Robarts continued to lead for the rest of the race although Friedrich got a second wind and moved up again from fifth and challenged hard but finished up 0.6 seconds behind the Myson March. Rouff and Passadore had a great battle for third with the two cars being given the same finishing time as were Sheldon and Santo fighting over fifth. “Teleco” had a spin at Becketts on the penultimate lap but was far enough ahead of everyone else to retain his eighth place whilst Vermilio and Magee made contact at Woodcote on the last lap with Magee spinning his car across the finish line.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 1 July 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: Silverstone, 10 June 1973

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Race Report: Silverstone, 10 June 1973

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Despite the ravages of Monaco the week before a good field of 21 runners arrived at Silverstone for the latest round of the Forward Trust Championship. Qualifying was a very close affair, the surprise package of Matt Spitzley in his updated March took pole position but the next six cars all set identical times with Brian Henton and Alan Jones, despite blowing his engine early in the practice session, joining Spitzley at the front. Interestingly long-time GRD runner Tony Brise was out in a brand new March 733 and was on the pace immediately. Brazilian Leonel Friedrich fell foul of one of the Silverstone hares, the March survived, the hare didn’t.

Jones made the best start from the front row to lead Brise and the rest, due to the newness of Brise’s car he was actually driving in bare feet as he didn’t fit into the tub too well, Henton assumed third position ahead of Kuwashima and Taylor. Mo Harness trying to make up for his lowly grid position tried an interesting new line through Becketts, backwards! He spun to the back of the field and immediately started on a great recovery drive. Poor Friedrich never even started the race as when a helpful marshall pushed his car after the Brazilian flooded the engine on the grid the rear wing broke. Brise moved his new March into the lead on lap 2 and immediately began to pull away from the rest as he hurled the car round the track in great opposite lock slides. Kuwashima further demoted Jones to third but the Japanese March was out on lap 5 when Kuwashima spun out at Copse when his gearbox siezed.

Taylor now moved up to second but he could do nothing about Brise who was setting new lap records at the front although the leading March began to slow slightly towards the end of the race as the throttle pedal began to stiffen up. Jones eventually finished third, his GRD visibly less stable than the Marches through Silverstone’s corners, Henton took fourth ahead of Robarts who recovered very well from a first lap spin that dropped him to 14th. Pole man Spitzley finished sixth ahead of the fast recovering Harness who snatched seventh from Sheldon’s Royale on the line. In post-race scrutineering Spitzley’s March was disqualified for being underweight.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 10 June 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: Silverstone, 8 April 1973

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Race Report: Silverstone, 8 April 1973

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Qualifying for Heat 1 saw Mike Wilds’ Ensign take pole position 0.4 seconds under Alan Jones lap record, unfortunately Mike’s demon Holbay failed and meant a less powerful unit would have to be installed for the race. Ian Taylor used his F Ford experience of the track to line up second although he would also require an engine change, Alan Jones in his GRD completed the front row.
French visitor Christian Ethuin Motul Martini was fastest of the Heat 2 runners with a time a full second slower than Wilds pole time from the first heat. Russell Wood placed his March next to Ethuin with another of the French runners, Alain Serpaggi third in the works Alpine-Renault. Tony Brise found himself back on the third row when his practice was hampered by a loss of compression in one cylinder of his Holbay, Brise was using his 1972 GRD in preference to the later model as he preferred the handling. Also having engine bothers were Mike Tyrrell whose Vegantune seemed down on power and Damien Magee who had his Novamotor fail during qualifying so a Holbay was installed for the race.

Mike Wilds made the best start in Heat 1 but Ian Taylor took the lead at Copse with Michele Leclere moving up to third ahead of Alan Jones. Jacques Lafitte was making good progress and soon moved his Martini up to third ahead of Masami Kuwashima’s GRD, Jones dropped back to fifth and Leclere to sixth with Larry Perkins next in seventh. There were problems at Abbey when Gunnar Nordström, Brian Henton and Johnny Gerber all went for the same piece of track at once, Henton spun and retired whilst Alain Cudini’s Alpine spun to avoid Henton and was struck by the March of Max Bonnin who seemed not to see the yellow flags. The GRD of Nordström and the Brabham of Gerber escaped the mess and were able to continue.
Lafitte took second at Becketts on the second lap with Taylor still just in the lead, next up it was Jones, Kuwashima, Perkins and Leclere. Wilds made his move on lap 3 taking the lead on the exit from Stowe only to find Lafitte passing him at Club, Wilds having no further chance to reply as his engine ran its bearings at Abbey. Alan Jones now moved up to second but Kuwashima was flying and took the lead on lap 5 whilst Jones found himself on the way to the pits with a stuck throttle spring, the Australian loosing a lap whilst it was fixed.
Kuwashima still lead from Perkins with Lafitte third despite a grassy moment at Copse on the sixth lap and Taylor in fourth. On the penultimate lap Perkins passed Kuwashima at Woodcote and on the last lap he pulled away through Club and Woodcote to take the win by 0.6 seconds from Lafitte who took second from Kuwashima by overtaking the Japanese on the grass at Woodcote! Taylor took fourth right behind Kuwashima the March slowed by poor handling from a slow puncture, Leclere’s Alpine was fifth hampered by fuel starvation. Nordström took sixth despite his earlier problems at Abbey, the Swede just holding off an impressive Danny Sullivan having his first F3 race in the Ehrlich.

It was all Russell Wood in Heat 2, his March took the lead at Copse on the first lap and then proceeded to draw away from the rest of the field to win by an easy eight seconds despite a sideways moment at Stowe on the second lap. Alain Serpaggi held second for the first three laps until Christian Ethuin demoted him at Woodcote, Tony Brise was fourth for two laps before his engine blew elevating Mo Harness up a place. All of these leading runners were well spaced out and all eyes were on the battle for fifth spot. Hakan Dahlqvist had his Merlyn just in front of Jean-Pierre Paoli’s Martini, Richard Robart’s GRD and Lionel Friedrich’s March. Brazilian saloon car champion Friedrich was going very well in his first F3 race, in fact his first experience of F3 was in practice for the meeting as his car wasn’t completed until then. Paoli tried to get ahead of Dahlqvist at Stowe on lap 8 but the Frenchman lost control of his Martini spinning out and retiring. Dahlqvist managed to hold his fifth place to the flag just ahead of Friedrich and Robarts although the Swede managed to miss seeing the chequered flag and hit another car on what should have been his slowing down lap, fortunately damage to both cars was slight.

For Sunday’s final the runners from the faster Heat 2 were to the fore of the grid and the leading positions were:

    
Pole
Serpaggi
 
Ethuin
 
Wood
 
Dahlqvist
 
Harness
 
Lafitte
 
Friedrich
 
Perkins
 
Taylor
 
Kuwashima

Quick runners at the back who had heat problems but who had qualified through fast race laps included Mike Wilds, Alan Jones and Jean-Pierre Paoli.

As the flag fell Danny Sullivan was an immediate retirement with his Ehrlich gearless and Leclere made a huge jump start from the sixth row, he was up with the second row by the time the race officially got underway. Serpaggi lead into Copse from Ethuin, Wood, Taylor, Harness, Lafitte and Dahlqvist whilst Wilds and Paoli in trying to make up for their lowly grid positions both hit the bank at Becketts after making contact with each other. Wood took advantage of the slipstream of the two leaders to push his March into the lead by Stowe and at the end of the first lap it was Wood from a smoking Ethuin, Taylor, Harness, Serpaggi, Dahlqvist, Lafitte, Kuwashima, Friedrich, Perkins and Magee.
Wood increased his lead on lap 2 as Taylor took second at Stowe from Harness and Ethuin who was shortly to pit with his engine blown. Lafitte moved into fourth on Ethuin’s retirement and behind the Martini a huge battle was developing for fifth between Kuwashima, Serpaggi, Dahlqvist, Friedrich and Max, Perkins had been with the group until he spun at Abbey on lap 4 and out on the same lap was Magee with a jammed relief valve. By half distance the front four cars were all well spaced out and Kuwashima and Max had pulled away from Friedrich who had also moved clear of Dahlqvist and Serpaggi. Friedrich was the next to retire when on lap 12 he had to pit when his rear wing came loose.
Alan Jones had been driving well from his back of the grid start and by half distance he had moved his GRD up to a solid ninth place and behind him there was a scrap between Conny Andersson’s Brabham, Bernard Beguin’s Martini and Richard Robarts’ GRD but all three were soon out. First Beguin spun at Stowe and then retired with a broken fuel pump, Andersson was out with a puncture and Robarts engine cried enough. As Robarts toured in from Abbey he was narrowly missed by the Royale of Val Musetti and in going off line Musetti had a huge accident from which he was lucky to escape injury.
Wood’s lead came under threat following a sideways moment at Stowe on lap 11 and by lap 14 Taylor was right behind Wood and began to put him under heavy pressure. Taylor set a new lap record in his chase and on lap 16 he took the lead into Stowe but Wood retaliated around the outside of Taylor as the cars went under the Express bridge and as the two cars entered Woodcote side by side Wood dived across on the inside to regain the lead. Wood stayed in front for lap 17 but on lap 18 Wood had a grassy moment at Stowe which allowed Taylor back in front, Wood however stayed right behind Taylor and was notably quicker from Club to Abbey. Lap 19 and Wood continued to sit on Taylor’s gearbox and then on the final lap as Taylor left his braking as late as possible into Becketts his wheels locked and the white March ran wide. Instantly Wood was back in front and although Taylor lost little ground Wood’s extra speed through Club allowed him to stay ahead and take the win. Harness and Lafitte finished in third and fourth unable to catch each other or the two leaders. Kuwashima took fifth just beating Dahlqvist to the line, the Swede passing Jean Max on the final lap, Serpaggi was close behind in eighth with Alan Jones a couple of seconds back in ninth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 8 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: Silverstone, 18 March 1973

silver-stone_18_3_73

Race Report: Silverstone, 18 March 1973

silver-stone_18_3_73

19 cars arrived for the second round of the Lombard North Central Championship and it was Alan Jones who took pole position in his 1972 GRD after shunting his 1973 chassis at Snetterton in testing during the week. Second fastest was a surprise in the form of Mike Tyrrell in his Ensign with Russell Wood completing the front row. Expected front runners Tony Brise and Ian Taylor were both well down the grid, Brise due to an underpowered engine and Taylor at the very back after a seized metering unit stopped his qualifying on his second lap.

Jones made the best start as the flag dropped and he led away from Wilds, Woods and Damien Magee who had made a great getaway from the third row. Any hopes Brise had of improving his lowly grid position soon evaporated when the GRD of Larry Perkins made contact with him at Becketts, Brise was out with a damaged oil radiator and Perkins lost several laps. Jones was beginning to pull away at the front whilst second place man Wood was trying to fend off Wilds and Tyrrell who had passed Magee, the Irishman was now fighting with Mo Harness. Next up was the March of Richard Robarts with a gap back to Matt Spitzley in his elderly March 713M until he had a spin at Becketts.

Wood had briefly eased away from the Ensigns of Wilds and Tyrrell but some determined work from both men saw them catch up again with the Chequered Flag March. Wilds passed Wood on lap 12 and Tyrrell also got ahead briefly but Wood fought back to regain the place and at the flag it was Jones by four seconds from Wood and Wilds. The battle between Magee and Harness was increased by two when the GRDs of Masami Kuwashima and Brian Henton joined in, Robarts had to drop out when his metering unit rod broke. Kuwashima spun at Copse on lap 18 causing Henton to spin as well Brian then retired as his oil pressure was low, Magee was delayed by the spinning duo allowing Harness to take fifth behind Tyrrell. Magee now found himself under pressure from the GRD of Neil Ginn and the two cars made contact at Woodcote causing Magee to loose several places, Ginn was able to continue and take sixth. Ian Taylor moved up from his back of the grid start to take seventh despite a spin at Woodcote, Andy Sutcliffe might have expected to be up amongst the front runners but a broken gear lever on his Royale RP11a meant retirement.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 18 March 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: Silverstone, 28 August 1972

silver-stone_28_8_72

Race Report: Silverstone, 28 August 1972

silver-stone_28_8_72

It was two heats and a final again for the latest round of the Lombank North Central Championship the third F3 race in three days, despite this there was an excellent entry with all the top runners present.

Japan’s Masami Kuwashima in his GRD made the best start of the first heat runners and passed the front row occupants to grab the lead, he was pursued by Mike Walker, Tony Brise, Mike Wilds, Andy Sutcliffe and Tom Pryce. Kuwashima led for the next four laps but Mike Walker was determined to get the lead and on lap 6 he slotted his Ensign past the GRD, Kuwashima tried to regain the lead but a slight mistake at Beckett’s allowed Walker to win by 1.2 seconds. Kuwashima took second by a similar distance from Mike Wilds and Tony Brise with Andy Sutcliffe and Tom Pryce next up.

Heat two was all Roger Williamson, he took the lead from pole position, led every lap and won by four seconds. Second place wasn’t so straightforward, Stan Matthews was next up in his new Ensign F372 ahead of Bob Evans (March), Damien Magee (Brabham), Russell Wood (March) and Neil Ginn (GRD). Places were changing all the time with Matthews weaving all over the track in an attempt to break the tow, his efforts were in vain but he still held on to claim second at the flag. Evans came third followed by Wood, Magee and Ginn all within a few tenths of each other.

The fastest 25 from both heats made the final which put Williamson, Matthews and Evans on the front row with Walker and Wood on the second.
Yet again it was Williamson who got away best whilst Walker got his start all wrong and at the end of the first lap the GRD led from Bob Evans, Russell Wood, Tony Brise, Masami Kuwashima, Damien Magee, Mike Wilds, Andy Sutcliffe, Mike Walker and Rikki von Opel. On a couple of occasions Williamson made a small break but the rest were soon with him again, Matthews held second for three laps then it was Evans, next Wood and then Evans again. By lap 7 it seemed as if the only realistic challengers to Williamson were Evans, Wood and Kuwashima but by lap 9 Sutcliffe and von Opel had joined in the fun.
It was all change on lap 13 when Williamson had a moment at Maggotts and in a flash Kuwashima and Evans were ahead with Williamson having to fight off Sutcliffe. On the final lap as they entered Woodcote Williamson decided to go for broke and he left his braking as late as possible, too late in fact and the GRD spun its way down to ninth. It was Kuwashima who led across the line to score his first F3 race win, Evans and Sutcliffe took second and third a few tenths behind the Japanese with Wood fourth and von Opel fifth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 28 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: Silverstone, 11 June 1972

silverstone_11_6_72

Race Report: Silverstone, 11 June 1972

silverstone_11_6_72

A full grid of runners came to Silverstone for this Forward Trust Championship round only to be greeted by very wet conditions which was good news for those who had the use of the Firestone wet but bad news for everyone else.

As the field left the grid Bev Bond who had been fastest in qualifying in his Ehrlich quickly slipped down the field whilst the two works Iberia Ensigns with their Firestone wets slithered into the lead. Von Opel and Walker then proceeded to dominate the race until Walker spun at Woodcote falling from second to fifth. It was then the turn of Roger Williamson, who had made a brilliant start from the fourth row to to be third at the end of the opening lap, and was making the most of his Dunlops to challenge the von Opel Ensign with his GRD. Williamson then moved up to second when Walker spun but dropped back to third when the recovering Walker took the place back again, the GRD driver’s cause wasn’t being helped by a misfiring engine that a change of plugs on the grid hadn’t cured.

Bernard Vermilio finished a good fourth with his Lotus trying the wider front suspension that Tony Trimmer had used at Mallory, team-mate Trimmer finishing in sixth despite a puncture. Tony Brise should have been up at the pointed end with his Firestone wets but a half spin at Copse on lap 5 meant he spent most of the race regaining lost ground to finish fifth. Russell Wood went off at Woodcote backwards doing his works March 723 no good at all, debutante Mike Wilds in his ex-James Hunt 713S was involved in the incident retiring with minor damage. James Hunt himself was having his first outing in the Dastle Mk9 but he was out within 100 yards when he hit the pit wall in the spray that was thrown up at the start, Barrie Maskell (Lotus 69) and Matt Spitzley (March 713M) also fell victim of the spray and joined Hunt.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Silverstone, 11 June 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