Race Report: Thruxton, 30 July 1972

thruxton_30_7_72

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 July 1972

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A large entry of 76 cars was received for this round of the Lombard North Central Championship including many of the top French teams, regrettably industrial action at the docks meant that several of the foreign cars never made it to the track. Due to the number of cars the entry was split into two 10 lap qualifying heats for the 20 lap final.

Roger Williamson made a superb start from pole position in heat one and by the end of the first lap he was a second to the good over the rest of the pack, he continued to pull away at a few tenths per lap to win by four seconds. Initially Rikki von Opel had slotted into second place but at the end of lap 1 Mike Wilds outbraked the Ensign into the chicane to take second, Jochen Mass also tried to get past but couldn’t quite make it. The works March of Mass was wearing a new nosecone, based on the old bulbous design it now had a slot added for the newly relocated front radiator. Wilds began to pull away from the battling von Opel and Mass on lap 3 but almost immediately he was struck by fuel surge problems and von Opel and Mass towed themselves back onto the Ensign’s tail.

Lap 6 saw von Opel make it ahead of Wilds into second place which he held to the flag despite concerted efforts from both Wilds and Mass to get ahead especially under braking into the chicane. Alain Serpaggi closed right up to the battling trio in front but was 0.2 seconds down at the finish, Tony Trimmer had been next until a spin at Segrave on lap 6 left the Lotus well down the field. Peter Hull finished in sixth, the Brabham had been right with Serpaggi but the spinning Trimmer caused the New Zealander to loose the tow and fall away.
Mike Walker had taken pole for heat two with his Ensign sporting a raised roll centre, revised pick-up points and a longer wheelbase. Chris Skeaping should have been next but a hub failed in practice sending the works Chevron heavily into the bank at the chicane, the car was hastily repaired for the race but on the warm-up the cockpit bodywork flew off, with no spare the Chevron was out.

Japanese driver Masami Kuwashima took advantage of the empty space resulting from Skeaping’s withdrawal to put his GRD into the lead ahead of Jacques Coulon at the start, however over-enthusiasm saw a kerb clipping moment at Church causing Kuwashima to spin off into the infield loosing a couple of laps before he regained the track. This left Coulon in the lead but Walker was soon ahead and despite several good efforts from the Frenchman Walker eventually pulled away to a 3.2 second victory. Sutcliffe and Leclere had a tremendous battle for third with Sutcliffe being hampered with wrong gearing, at the end they crossed the line almost together and were credited with the same time. Neil Ginn, Alan Jones and Jean-Pierre Jarier had a great dustup for fifth with Ginn coming out on top, the three cars being separated by 0.4 seconds at the finish. Next up was Damien Magee having his first run in the ex-Alan McCully Brabham BT38, the Irishman dead-heating on time with the similar car of Tony Brise.

A few drops of rain had fallen at the end of the second heat so the grid for the final was made up from the first fifteen in each heat in alternating grid slots with Williamson in pole. There was some doubt about the engine in Williamson’s car has it had been emitting rattling noises during the first heat but it was decided not to change it for the final.
Once again it was Williamson who made the best start and at the end of lap 1 he led from Walker, von Opel, Mass, Sutcliffe, Leclere, Serpaggi, Wilds, Jarier, Coulon, Jones, Hull, the Brise brothers, Vermilio, Magee, Harness, MacDonald, Tyrrell, Trimmer and the rest. von Opel locked up at the chicane on lap 2 and dropped a couple of places which allowed Walker to break away from the rest of the pack. Mike Wilds was soon out with bad fuel surge after a float chamber had been adjusted to try and cure the surge he had suffered in his heat.
Now clear of the other cars Walker began to home in on Williamson and on lap 4 he took the lead at the chicane, Williamson stayed on the tail of the Ensign for a lap but then Walker began to edge away and at half distance he was leading by a couple of seconds. However Williamson wasn’t beaten and he gradually began to close the gap again, the GRD was quicker under braking and through the corners whilst the Ensign had the advantage down the straights. On lap 14 Williamson was right with the Ensign and he made a couple of efforts to get by on the straight only to drop back again, the GRD lost ground again on lap 16 and it seemed as if Walker had the measure of his fellow competitor. Williamson put his head down again and on lap 19 he put the GRD back into the lead albeit briefly but then a moment at the complex at the last lap seemed to be the end of his chances. At Church Williamson began to close up again on Walker and as they went into the chicane the Ensign moved wide to block the outside line and Williamson immediately dived to the inside and as the two cars braked it was Williamson on the absolute limit that took the lead and as they crossed the finish line the GRD was 0.2 seconds ahead of the Ensign.
Behind the first two finishers third had initially been a fight between Leclere, Serpaggi, Coulon, Sutcliffe, von Opel, Mass, Hull, Jarier, Tony Brise, Jones and Tim Brise. von Opel’s problem at the chicane broke the group a little and left Mass leading Leclere, Sutcliffe and Serpaggi. Tony Brise went straight on at the hairpin on lap 7 which delayed both Alan Jones and his brother. Mass had dropped to the back of the third placed group by lap 11 along with Sutcliffe as both were suffering from down on power engines whilst von Opel had moved up to challenge the three Frenchmen. Leclere and Serpaggi worked together to pull ahead of von Opel and Coulon and by the finish they had a four second gap over Sutcliffe who lead Coulon by 0.4 seconds.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 July 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: Thruxton, 18 June 1972

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Race Report: Thruxton, 18 June 1972

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Another wet race for the Forward Trust Championship runners, the outcome of which would very much depend again on whether you car was fitted with the Firestone B33 wet tyre or not.

Once again it was Rikki von Opel revelling in the wet conditions who put his Iberia Ensign into the lead from the start, hot on his heels after a great start from the second row following a stripped third gear in practice was Brian McGuire in his Brabham BT38. Needless to say both of the two leaders were wearing the required Firestones. There was a big battle for third place between Tony Brise (Brabham BT38), Bev Bond (Ehrlich ES1), Chris Skeaping (Chevron B20), Mike Wilds (March 713S), James Hunt (Dastle Mk9), Russell Wood (March 723) and the GRD 723s of Masami Kuwashima and Andy Sutcliffe. It was Brise and Wilds with their B33 wets that began to pull away from the others with Brise holding third until lap 10 when a spin at the chicane allowed Wilds to take the place and hold it to the flag, an excellent result in only his second F3 race in the ex-Hunt March. Brise soon began to recover from his mistake but found Andy Sutcliffe in combative mood and it was several laps before the Brabham passed the GRD into fourth place.

Chris Skeaping lost his Chevron B20 at Campbell on lap 7 and Bond spun out at the chicane on lap 8 although he was able to continue. Interestingly the 8th placed U2 of Ray Mallock was equipped with F Ford Firestone Torinos and went very well in the conditions.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 18 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

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 April 1972

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Race Report: Thruxton, 30 April 1972

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A good field of 26 cars made it to Thruxton for this Lombard North Central round despite there having been a race for the same championship at Oulton Park the day before and a clashing round on the same day at Zandvoort for the Shell Championship. The only non-starter was Oulton runner-up Damien Magee who blew the engine in his Palliser during practice.

It was Sutcliffe away first as team-mate Neil Ginn muffed his start and at the end of the first lap it was the Sutcliffe (GRD 372) from Alan Jones (Brabham BT38), Mo Harness (Brabham BT28), Brian McGuire (Brabham BT38), Rikki von Opel (Ensign F372), Neil Ginn (GRD 372), Pierre-François Rousselot (GRD 372) and Ray Mallock (U2 Mk12). Harness moved up to second place and began challenging Sutcliffe for the lead and these two seemed to be pulling away from the others. A few places back Brian McGuire was giving team-mate Alan Jones a hard time until McGuire spun on lap 3 with locking front brakes, he retired for the same reason a few laps later. Rousselot then moved up to harry Jones together with Ginn, von Opel and Tony Brise who had moved his Brabham BT38 up well after stating from the sixth row.

Eight laps down and it was still Sutcliffe and Harness fighting for the lead with the GRD usually in front, Jones was beginning to fall away with third gear problems and Rousselot moved his GRD up to third position. Next it was to move up to third was Rikki Von Opel on lap 9 followed by Tony Brise, these two then concentrated on towing themselves onto the back of the leaders which they achieved by lap 12, further back Rousselot began to pull away from Jones and Ginn.
Lap 15 and the the final tour, it was still Sutcliffe with von Opel second and Brise third, Harness had fallen away behind Rousselot. As the three leaders came through Brooklands and Club von Opel slipstreamed past Sutcliffe into the lead, the GRD driver made a desperate attempt to regain the lead bouncing across the second half of the chicane but in rejoining the track Sutcliffe spun and the car entered Pit Straight backwards and careered off onto the grass and Sutcliffe was out. So it was von Opel first with Brise just a second behind, Rousselot just managed to hold off Harness for third, Ginn took Jones for fifth on the last lap when the Aussie’s gearbox wouldn’t engage third at the chicane. Notable retirements were Chris Skeaping who sun off at Club and Richard Mallock in the second U2 Mk12 who was out on lap 10 when he and Ross Ambrose (Lotus 69) went off together at Goodwood.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 30 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: Thruxton, 16 October 1971

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Less than half of the original entry of 29 cars made it to Thruxton for this Forward Trust round, amongst the more notable absentees were Dave Walker, who had already clinched the series, Roger Williamson, whose March wasn’t ready, Barrie Maskell, Andy Sutcliffe, Bev Bond and Brian McGuire.

Tyre choice was a problem for practice with a wet track that was drying out quickly, ultimately those who opted for slicks or intermediates came out best. Fastest was James Hunt who was in the car usually driven by Brendan McInerney as his own still wasn’t ready after its various escapades, Hunt was having trouble with changing gear as his shoulder was still sore after his Snetterton accident, he was on intermediates. Next came the slick shod Palliser of Peter Lamplough and David Purley’s Ensign 

who was having problems with his top gear. The second row consisted of two drivers on intermediates, Rikki von Opel (Lotus 69) and Steve Thompson in his Ensign using a Novamotor borrowed from Conny Andersson, Thompson had an inoperative third gear. Slicks were the order of the day for third row runners Ray Mallock (U2) and Tim Goss (March 713) whilst final occupant Chris O’Brien (Brabham BT35) used intermediates. Wet shod Mike Walker was disappointed to be so far down in the works Ensign, he shared row four with David Purley who found his Brabham handling very well on Firestones slicks (instead of his normal Dunlops) following some advice from Ron Tauranac, unfortunately he only managed four laps in practice as a cracked wrist, another Snetterton injury, was hampering his gear changing. Chris Skeaping also found wets the wrong choice for his Chevron B17, Matt Spitzley’s March 713M should have been next but engine problems forced Spitzley to withdraw from the race. Jorge Pinhol (Brabham BT28) and John Finch (Chevron B17) completed the field.

There were a few starters that might have anticipated the flag but he whole field got away without incident, it was Hunt in the lead at the end of the first lap from Purley, Lamplough and Thompson, there was a slight gap back to O’Brien with another space back to Jones (with a one minute penalty for his over enthusiastic getaway), Mallock, Walker, von Opel, Skeaping, Goss, Pinhol and Finch. Lap 3 saw Purley in the lead as Thompson had to retire his Ensign at Church with low oil pressure. Walker and Jones were third and fourth and catching up on the two leaders, Purley and Hunt, who were swopping the lead on most laps. By lap 8 Walker had not only closed the gap but he also took the lead ahead of the other three front runners, further back von Opel and Mallock were having a good battle but out were the Chevrons of Finch with a slipping clutch and Skeaping with some serious vibrations, a missing gear lever and fuel starvation!
Once out in front Walker did most of the leading with the others content to sit back and watch, Hunt was mostly in second place with Purley and Jones close behind. Further retirements were Lamplough who braked too late at Club and ended up in a ditch with minor damage and O’Brien who spun off at Cobb. Walker held his lead to the finish as Hunt’s challenge was thwarted by bad handling caused by a nearly flat tyre, Jones had moved up to second on lap 13 but gearbox problems dropped him to fourth behind Purley at the finish. His one minute penalty dropped him to last place, Mallock had passed von Opel on lap 11 but the Lotus driver got back ahead on the last lap.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 16 October 1971

Qualifying

1 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 1:22.4

2 Peter Lamplough

Palliser-Holbay WDF3 1:23.2

3 David Purley

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 1:23.2

4 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:23.4

5 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Novamotor LN1 1:23.4

6 Ray Mallock

U2-Holbay Mk11B 1:23.4

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:23.4

8 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:21.8

9 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:24.0

10 Mike Walker

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 1:24.2

11 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:25.4

12 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:26.0

13 Matt Spitzley

March-Vegantune 713M 1:26.4

14 Jorge Pinhol

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:28.0

15 John Finch

Chevron-Holbay B17 1:29.8

Race

1 Mike Walker

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 20:31.0 15 103.35

2 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 20:31.0 15

3 David Purley

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 20:32.4 15

4 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 20:51.2 15

5 Ray Mallock

U2-Holbay Mk11B 20:51.6 15

6 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 21:12.6 15

7 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 15

8 Jorge Pinhol

Brabham-Holbay BT35 15

9 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 + 60 secs 15

Fastest lap

Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:20.4 105.49

Race Report: Thruxton, 19 September 1971, Iberia Cup

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Race Report: Thruxton, 19 September 1971, Iberia Cup

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The Iberia Trophy was a non-championship race held in conjunction with the European Cup, many drivers took part in both events although a number used qualifying as a way of getting additional track time for the European Cup and subsequently scratched from the race. Due to the number of runners the entry was split into two ten lap heats to qualify for the 10 lap final.

Pole position for heat one went to Jody Scheckter in his newly painted Lucky Strike Merlyn from surprise second fastest John Bisignano (March 713M), completing the front row was Roger Williamson in another 713M. Conny Anderson’s BT35 was ahead of Richard Longman’s Lotus whose Novamotor was running a standard cam after engine problems. Of the other drivers not competing in the European Cup Peter Lamplough was suffering low fuel pressure in his Palliser whilst Mike Walker was

having his first F3 outing for three years in the works Ensign that was now using a Vegantune mill in place of the previous Holbay. Right at the very back John MacDonald was in dire trouble with a very badly misfiring BRM engine in his March 713M.

Qualifying for heat two was largely undramatic, Alan Jones was going very well to get pole position in his Brabham BT28 from the March 713M of James Hunt and the Alpine-Renault of Depailler who withdrew from the race. Best of those not running in the European Cup was Tim Goss who was running a Middleton rebuilt Holbay and was going far better than of late, his times being 2 seconds a lap better than he had done before. Also going well was Ray Mallock in the U2 which was running a Palliser type nosecone although he broke his special 5-speed gearbox.

It was Scheckter who jumped straight into the lead from Williamson, Bisignano, Longman and Purley, as the cars arrived at the complex Andersson punted McGuire off the track and the Aussie resumed almost last. Most of the field made it through the chicane at the end of the lap but Lee Kaye braked impossibly late, tried to take the escape road, missed and hit the straw bales injuring two photographers and a marshal who were, perhaps unwisely, standing behind them. It was almost total chaos then with ambulances and Land Rovers emerging on the track and yellow and white flags being waved everywhere, the leaders came on the scene apparently totally unaware of what was happening. Inevitably some slowed quicker than others and much “overtaking” ensued. When the music stopped it was Scheckter from Bisignano, Longman, Purley, Williamson, Lamplough and Lafosse. Most of the rest of the race was run under the yellow although that didn’t prevent some place changing, during this period Williamson retired with piston failure and Lamplough dropped a lap when he lost a split-pin from his metering unit. The yellow flags were lifted on the penultimate lap and at the finish it was Purley from Scheckter, Longman and Bisignano with a gap to Andersson, Lafosse and Walker. Once the observers had reported Purley, Lafosse, Andersson and McGuire were disqualified for passing under the yellows.

Heat two and it was Jones in the lead from the flag but Hunt was soon past at the chicane whilst behind the two leaders it was Maskell, Rousselot, Coulon and Mallock. By lap 2 Thompson, Bond, Lawrence and Goss had caught up with the leading six. Hunt’s lead was short lived, on lap three yet another piston failed in his Holbay and it was Frenchman Rousselot who took over at the front for the next six laps with Maskell, Jones, Thompson and Coulon looking for a way past. It was Jones who took the lead again at Club on lap 9 and immediately tried to break away from his pursuers, Maskell was having none of this and stayed glued to the Brabham’s gearbox. Into the chicane on the last lap and Maskell forced the Chevron ahead of Jones to take a narrow win with Thompson in third ruing his too-low top gear with Coulon and Rousselot ahead of Lawrence who just beat Mallock as the U2 blew its head gasket.

The final was made up of the top ten from each heat plus the next best ten lap times although a few were unable to take their places due to various problems. The grid lined up as follows:

As the cars left the grid in was Steve Thompson in his Ensign who grabbed the lead but by Church it was Longman from Goss, Scheckter, Thompson, Walker and Purley, Williamson and Lawrence both had to take to the grass loosing several places in the process. As everybody settled down it was a seven car train at the front with Jones, who was doing most of the leading, heading Scheckter, Thompson, Walker, Purley, Williamson and Lamplough this group having pulled away from the rest of the field. Every lap there was furious activity going into the chicane as everyone sought to find an advantage however small on the others. Further down the field both Maskell and Mallock had to retire when their engines cried enough at the furious pace. For the entire race the front runners were changing place all round the track and it all came down to the chicane on the final lap, Jones had eked out a small gap of about 20 yards but all round the back section Scheckter was using the Brabham’s slipstream to pull himself closer and the South African braked very late into the chicane, the Merlyn went sideways forcing Jones wide and onto the concrete. Jones managed to regain the track as Scheckter exited the chicane and they raced side-by-side to the finish line with Scheckter just getting the verdict as the nosecone fell off Jones’ car. Purley took third from Walker, Thompson and Williamson whilst Coulon lost a good finish with a trip into the straw bales at the chicane.

Race Report: Thruxton, 19 September 1971, European Cup

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Race Report: Thruxton, 19 September 1971, European Cup

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The purpose of this European Cup race was to bring together the cream of the European F3 drivers together in one race. Each country would have a team of three drivers, the better represented countries could have an “A” team and a “B” team. Twelve teams were entered but the tragic events at the Avus meeting on the weekend before meant the Brazilian team which would have included Ferreira and Rossi had to withdraw.

The two Alpines representing France “A” had arrived at Thruxton during the week and indulged in a lot of testing, in addition both of the drivers had raced previously at Thruxton in F2 so it wasn’t a major surprise when Patrick Depailler set the fastest time from team-mate Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Joining the Frenchmen at the front was England “A” driver Roger Williamson

who was hampered by a blown engine and his Dunlops splitting. The second of the three England “A” representatives was James Hunt, he too had engine problems requiring two engine changes and he also had a split oil tank to worry about, Hunt lead row 2. Next to the Briton was the Brabham BT35 of Pierre-François Rousselot for France “B”. Row three saw Conny Andersson for Sweden “A”, his Brabham BT35 running a “low frontal area” nosecone ahead of Barrie Maskell (Chevron B18) for England “B” and Brian McGuire (Brabham BT28) for Australia. The third France “A” driver headed row 4, François Migault in his Martini MW7 with German “A” driver Manfred Möhr with his Lotus 69. France “B” driver Jacques Coulon lead the fifth row, Coulon’s Martini MW7 was sporting a bluff Tyrrell-like nosecone. The second Australian, Alan Jones (Brabham BT28) was next from the similar car of New Zealand’s Peter Hull. Jochen Mass in only his second F3 race was on row 6 for Germany “A” with David Purley (England “A” reserve) who was running a Vegantune for the first time in his Ensign LN1, David had some tyre problems and a huge spin in the complex during his qualifying efforts.
Row 7 saw Jean-Louis Lafosse (Brabham BT35) for France “B” heading England “B” representative Andy Sutcliffe (Lotus 69) who had a broken clutch, a broken engine and a broken fuel metering unit on his new engine! Also on this row was German “B” driver Willi Somner in his March 713S. American driver John Bisignano (March 713M) and third England “A” driver Steve Thompson were the row 8 occupants. Thompson had a handling imbalance in his Ensign that defied all attempts to correct it as well as a too low top gear. Next were a pair of Swedes, Jorgen Jonsson for the “B” team and Torsten for the “A” team, both were in Brabham BT35s, alongside them was New Zealander Alan McCully in his “new” ex-Purley Brabham BT28. Hannelore Werner (March 713M) for Germany “A” and Ingvar Peterson (Brabham BT35) for Sweden “B” were on row 10. Two very disappointed drivers were to be found on row 11, Ulf Svensson (Brabham BT35) for Sweden “A” and Bev Bond (March 713M) for England “B”. Bond was in dire handling problems until a faulty wishbone and incorrect castor angles were diagnosed. Final occupant was Australian Bob Muir who was getting the Lee Kaye 713S running much faster than it normally went.
The grid was completed by Matt Spitzley (March 713M) completing the USA team, Wolfgang Bülow (March 713S) for Germany “B”, Jan Persson (Brabham BT35) for Sweden “B” and Cavan Riley as the third New Zealander in his March 713M. Chris Skeaping and Randy Lewis also practised but Skeaping as England “B” reserve blew an engine in his Chevron B17 and a 1460cc replacement proved too gutless for the job. Randy Lewis (Brabham BT35) should have been the third USA representative but he was unlucky enough to be the first driver to discover the oil from James Hunt’s broken tank and the Brabham slid off into a marshals’ post. The rear of the BT35 was too badly damaged to be fixed for the race, luckily Lewis was uninjured.

A number of drivers had also entered the Iberia Trophy race and took part in the qualifying heats and probably wished they hadn’t. Disaster befell James Hunt who blew up his third engine of the meeting and with no more spares he had to withdraw from the race, David Purley took his place. Roger Williamson broke a piston but a frantic engine change saw him ready for the race. Torsten Palm blew his clutch and there was insufficient time to replace it, Alan McCully was in trouble with his engine cutting out, it could only be cured by running his Brabham with full tanks.

The obvious plan for the two Alpines was to try and work together and pull away from the rest unfortunately any such plan went out of the window at the chicane on lap 1 when Jabouille in fourth place tried to outbrake everyone. The Alpine ended up in the escape road and by the time Jabouille had regained the track he was last. This left Depailler, who had outbraked Williamson into the chicane, in first place from the March with Lafosse in third, next came Andersson from Maskell, McGuire, Migault, Coulon, Purley, Rousselot, Jones, Bisignano, Mass, Möhr, Hull, Thompson and Bond. Out almost immediately was German “B” runner Somner who holed the radiator on his March after a spin at Village.
By lap 3 it was Depailler from Williamson, Lafosse and Maskell then a small gap to Andersson, McGuire, Migault, Purley, Coulon, Rousselot, Mass, Jones, Bisignano and Hull. The latter two were out soon after when Bisignano spun at the chicane and Hull couldn’t avoid him, Hull retired with a broken upright and Bisignano a lap later with a holed radiator. Behind the leading runners it was Thompson, Möhr, Jonsson, McCully, Bond and Muir, then there was a big gap to Werner, Deutsch and Sutcliffe followed by a fast recovering Jabouille. The rest were now some distance back.

On lap 4 Williamson and Rousselot got themselves in a bit of a tangle at the chicane which allowed Depailler to get a lead which he gradually increased as the others lost his tow. Next retirement was McCully with several problems and Mass lost a lap after having a flat tyre replaced on lap 6. Depailler continued to increase his lead and by lap 10 it was out to 6 seconds but behind him there was a nine car fight for second between Purley, Lafosse, Rousselot, Andersson, Maskell, Williamson, McGuire, Coulon and Migault. Further back Sutcliffe and Jabouille had got together and were towing each other forward at a great rate, Purley inadvertently joined them when a huge spin at Church dropped him back from the leaders.
Up at the front Depailler’s lead was shrinking, partly due to the Frenchman being delayed by lapping backmarkers but also because the group behind were beginning to concentrate more on catching up than fighting amongst themselves. Lap 20 and Depailler’s lead was down to three seconds and he was being hotly pursued by Rousselot, Coulon, Maskell, Migault and Andersson. Williamson was beginning to fall away with a down on power engine, McGuire was just behind the March, next up were Jabouille, Purley and Lafosse. Möhr was a retirement at this point with a very smoky engine.

Depailler was getting more and more delayed by the backmarkers and on lap 27 Rousselot outbraked Depailler into the chicane whilst Coulon and Maskell tried to get by as well. Behind them Andersson, Williamson, McGuire and Migault were fighting just as hard but then McGuire lost it at Church and was out on lap 30 as was Purley with engine problems. Unfortunately the lapped Mass got involved with the leaders allowing Rousselot and Depailler to get away from Coulon and Maskell. Rousselot seemed to have the edge over Depailler in the braking department and he held on through the chicane on the last lap to beat the Martini by 0.2 seconds, Maskell outbraked Migault into Club and took third place to stop a French clean sweep. Fifth was an almighty battle between four cars, Andersson lead into the chicane but went sideways pushing Williamson out onto the concrete and grass, nothing daunted the Brit kept his foot hard down and came out ahead of Migault, Andersson managed to recover to finish seventh whilst Jabouille trying to get past everyone launched the Alpine over the kerbs and into the air, after touching down again he finished eighth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 19 September 1971, European Cup

Qualifying

1 Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360 1:19.2

2 Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Alpine-Renault A360 1:19.4

3 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:19.8

4 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713 M 1:19.8 DNS

5 Pierre-François Rousselot

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:19.8

6 Conny Anderson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:19.8

7 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:19.8

8 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:19.8

9 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor MW7 1:20.0

10 Manfred Möhr

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:20.0

11 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Novamotor MW7 1:20.2

12 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:20.2

13 Peter Hull

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:20.2

14 Jochen Mass

Brabham-Novamotor BT35 1:20.2

15 David Purley

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 1:20.4

16 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:20.4

17 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:20.4

18 Willi Somner

March-Novamotor 713S 1:20.6

19 John Bisignano

March-Holbay 713M 1:20.6

20 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 1:21.2

21 Jorgen Jonsson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:21.4

22 Torsten Palm

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:21.6

23 Alan McCully

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:21.6

24 Hannelore Werner

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:35.2

25 Ingvar Peterson

Brabham-Novamotor BT35 1:22.0

26 Ulf Svensson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:22.0

27 Bev Bond

March-Holbay 713M 1:22.2

28 Bob Muir

March-Rowland/Bloore 713S 1:22.2

29 Matt Spitzley

March-Vegantune 713M 1:22.8

30 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 1:23.8

31 Jan Persson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:24.6

32 Cavan Riley

March-Novamotor 713M 1:25.4

Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Skeaping B17 ? DNS

Randy Lewis

Brabham-Holbay BT35 ? DNS

Race

1 Pierre-François Rousselot

Brabham-Holbay BT35 53:47.2 40 105.13

2 Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360 53:47.4 40

3 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 53:58.0 40

4 Jacques Coulon

Martini-Novamotor MW7 53:59.4 40

5 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 54:11.6 40

6 François Migault

Martini-Novamotor MW7 54:11.6 40

7 Conny Andersson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 54:11.8 40

8 Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Alpine-Renault A360 54:12.8 40

9 Jean-Louis Lafosse

Brabham-Holbay BT35 54:31.6 40

10 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Vegantune LN1 54:32.0 40

11 Jorgen Jonsson

Brabham-Novamotor BT35 54:46.2 40

12 Bev Bond

March-Holbay 713M 39

13 Jochen Mass

Brabham-Holbay BT35 39

14 Hannelore Werner

March-Holbay 713M 39

15 Willi Deutsch

March-Novamotor 713S 39

16 Matt Spitzley

March-Vegantune 713M 38

17 Wolfgang Bülow

March-Novamotor 713S 38

18 Jan Persson

Brabham-Holbay BT35 38

19 Cavan Riley

March-Novamotor 713M 38

Fastest Lap

Pierre-François Rousselot

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:19.2 107.09

Patrick Depailler

Alpine-Renault A360 1:19.2 107.09

Race Report: Thruxton, 29 August 1971

thruxton_29_8_71

Race Report: Thruxton, 29 August 1971

thruxton_29_8_71

The day after the Lombank round at Oulton many of the same drivers headed south for this Forward Trust event at Thruxton.

The front row consisted of Dave Walker’s Lotus 69, Brian McGuire’s Brabham BT28 and Barrie Maskell’s Chevron B18 and just before the start two drivers found themselves in trouble, James Hunt whose engine wouldn’t start due to oiled plugs and Jody Scheckter who had to start from the back row when he arrived at the grid late. Walker led from the start with a gap already developing to McGuire, Maskell and Andy Sutcliffe who made a great start from the fourth row in his Lotus 69 after he had fuel pressure problems in practice.

Richard Longman came next in his Lotus 69 ahead of Roger Williamson’s March 713M that was in dire handling difficulties. As Walker continued to dominate at the front the next group that now numbered six with the addition of Chris Skeaping’s Chevron B18 were swopping places all round the circuit and behind them David Purley (Ensign LN1), Peter Hull (Brabham BT28) and Ray Mallock’s U2 were battling hard.
Scheckter was catching up with the latter group when on the third lap Purley spun between Goodwood and Church causing Hull to spin in avoidance, Scheckter and Mallock arrived to find the circuit blocked and both took to the grass, Mallock hit the back damaging the rear end of the U2 and Scheckter stalled his engine and couldn’t restart it. Also out was Purley with front end damage while Hull was able to continue after a delay. Walker continued on his merry way to an 8 second victory, behind him Williamson took over second place six laps from the finish and held the position to the flag despite the best efforts of Maskell and Sutcliffe. The Chevron driver took third place from the Lotus driver with some contact going on between the two on the last lap, Longman followed them home and after Skeaping spun at Church McGuire took sixth. Hunt was never in the hunt (sorry!) after a push start and a pit stop to change his oiled plugs, he finished three laps down.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 29 August 1971

Race

1 Dave Walker

Lotus-Novamotor 69 13:38.6 15 103.61

2 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 13:46.2 15

3 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 13:46.4 15

4 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 13:46.4 15

5 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor/Longman 69 13:48.0 15

6 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 13:54.8 15

Fastest Lap

Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:20.8 104.97

Race Report: Thruxton, 22 August 1971

thruxton_22_8_71

Race Report: Thruxton, 22 August 1971

thruxton_22_8_71

With a race at Oulton Park the day before and this being a non-championship race not surprisingly only 15 cars made it to Thruxton. After practice pole position went to James Hunt although there was some scepticism as to the time he set, his March had a new Holbay fitted in an effort to cure the misfire that blighted his race at Oulton. After only a few laps the misfire returned and still suspecting the injectors a spare set were borrowed from Andy Sutcliffe. Second quickest was Roger Williamson from Chris Skeaping, next up was the 

unusual sight of a front engined machine, Ray Mallock in his U2-Holbay Mk11B, basically it was a Clubman’s chassis fitted with bag tanks and a rear wing. The chassis had only had a brief shakedown at Silverstone so this was the first run it had had in anger.

Brian McGuire headed Peter Lamplough whose Palliser was running well now it was Holbay powered, Alan Jones was next followed by Richard Longman who was happier now that he had a new head on his Novamotor engine. David Purley was in dire handling problems in what he hoped was his last outing in his BT28 and Tom Walkinshaw, returning to F3, had engine problems but at least he was better off than Alan Sutcliffe who blew his Holbay mill, luckily he was able to borrowed a spare from Holbay’s for the race. Chris O’Brien had a soft tyre, Tim Goss a misfire and Alan Joy had gearbox problems. Last was series newcomer John MacDonald who only managed two laps before his gearbox failed in the ex-Walkinshaw March 713M.

Hunt led away followed by Williamson and Skeaping with Lamplough, Jones and McGuire close behind, the two Marches and the Palliser gradually pulling away from the other three. Then on lap 5 McGuire tried Campbell, Cobb and Seagrave faster than his Brabham wanted and immediately spun, Skeaping couldn’t avoid him and he went off hitting a marshalls post wiping off a corner at the rear. McGuire continued for a couple of laps until he decided that the handling of the Brabham had become too bad to continue. Lap 8 saw Williamson with a lead of about 75 yards until he arrived at the chicane where he locked the brakes heavily immediately dropping to eighth place allowing Lamplough to lead the race.
Lap 13 saw Longman, who had shaken off the attentions of Mallock, and Jones catch up with the leaders and on the next lap Jones took the lead. Meanwhile Williamson had passed O’Brien and was catching Mallock fast while up front Hunt took the lead on lap 14 just in time for his dreaded misfire to start again soon dropping him to the tail of the field. Lap 18 saw the impossible, Williamson had caught up with the leaders again and Mallock had come with him. On the following lap Jones and Lamplough both tried to share the same piece of track at the chicane which resulted in some light contact with each other and the Armco, this put Longman into first place. Williamson made his move on lap 20 and took the lead and in the remaining five laps increased his advantage to 4 seconds, a delighted Longman was second in by far and away his best F3 race with Jones third and Mallock in the amazing U2 coming home fourth.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 22 August 1971

Qualifying

1 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 1:20.2

2 Brendan McInerney

March-Holbay 713M 1:20.6

3 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:21.6

4 Ray Mallock

U2-Holbay Mk11B 1:21.6

5 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:21.6

6 Peter Lamplough

Palliser-Holbay WDF3 1:21.6

7 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:21.8

8 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:21.8

9 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 1:22.8

10 Tom Walkinshaw

March-Holbay 713M 1:23.0

11 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:23.2

12 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:23.2

13 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 1:25.6

14 Chris Joy

Brabham-Felday BT28 1:25.8

15 John McDonald

March-Holbay 713M NT

16 John Bisignano

March 713M 1:23.2

Fastest Lap

Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:20

James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 1:20.2 105.76

Race

1 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 34:17.8 25 103.04

2 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 25

3 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 25

4 Steve Thompson

4 Ray Mallock U2-Holbay Mk11B 25

5 Peter Lamplough

Palliser-Holbay WDF3 25

6 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 25

7 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M 25

8 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 25

9 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35

10 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69

11 Tim Goss

March-Holbay 713M

12 Chris Joy

Brabham-Felday BT28

Race Report: Thruxton, 1 Aug 1971

thruxton_1_8_71

Race Report: Thruxton, 1 Aug 1971

thruxton_1_8_71

This Forward Trust round would be the first race to be run to the new engine regulations with the air restrictor opened out to 21.5mm from 20.0mm, it was generally reckoned that power would increase from around 100-108 bhp to the 120-125 bhp range. Pole position was occupied as usual, by Dave Walker who set a 1:20.5 some 3.5 seconds under the lap record showing the bigger restrictors were certainly making a difference. Joining Walker on the front roe and setting an identical time was James Hunt in his March 713M followed by Steve Thompson’s Ensign and Chris Skeaping who was going very well despite a painful eye infection.

Alan Jones was next, complaining of a juddering front wheel followed by Roger Williamson who had engine problems and drove 171 miles to the Holbay factory to get a new engine on Saturday night, he arrived back at 3:30am on Sunday. Barrie Maskell was still not using slicks on his Chevron but it didn’t seem to hamper him too much as he out qualified von Opel (lotus), Scheckter (EMC) and McInerney in the works March who, like the other Vegantune users, was suffering from his engine cutting out on the corners due to incorrect settings on the float chamber. A new convert to the Vegantune camp this weekend was Colin Vandervell who had forsaken his usual Rowland mill. The rest of the grid lined up mostly as expected with the exception of a disappointed David Purley who found himself at the back after his clutch failed after just two laps.

Thompson, Williamson and Walker led away from Hunt with the unfortunate Skeaping stuck on the grid with a stripped first gear, before anything could be done he was struck by the similar Chevron of john Finch accelerating hard from the back row. Peter Hull was also in troubled requiring a push start with an added 10 second penalty. Meanwhile at the front Williamson was leading from Hunt, Walker and Thompson while further back Jones, Maskell and Vandervell were involved in a close battle. Positions at the front were changing all the time as the four leaders slipstreamed each other through Thruxton’s fast sweeping curves. Drivers in trouble included Peter Hull who was out with a broken throttle cable, von Opel who hit the Armco at Club, Scheckter who wrecked the EMC at Seagrave on lap 3 and Pinhol who did the same to his Brabham at Kimpton on lap 5.
Meanwhile up at the front Hunt made a desperate attempt to break free of the rest and it almost seemed as if he had done it but Walker dived inside the March at Club and the two cars raced for the line with Walker getting the verdict although both cars were given the same time. Similarly close was the fight for third with Williamson making a grassy excursion at Club but getting third from Thompson although once again both were given the same time. The next three, Maskell, Jones and Vandervell (who was plagued with his engine cutting out intermittently) had a relatively unexciting finish, separated by 0.6 seconds! The rest were a little more widely detached, Bisignano finishing with a heavily smoking engine and Sutcliife spinning on the last lap and being collected by Lee Kaye’s March.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 1 Aug 1971

Qualifying

1 Dave Walker

2 James Hunt March-Holbay 713M 1:20.5

2 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 34:40.2 30

3 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 1:20.7

4 Chris Skeaping

Chevron-Rowland B17 1:21.2

5 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:21.4

6 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:21.4

7 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 1:21.6

8 Rikki von Opel

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:21.6

9 Jody Scheckter

EMC 606 1:22.0

10 Brendan McInerney

March-Vegantune 713M 1:22.2

11 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 1:22.2

12 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Vegantune BT35 1:22.2

13 Alan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 1:22.2

14 Peter Lamplough

Palliser-Holbay WDF3 1:22.4

15 Peter Hull

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 1:22.6

16 John Bisignano

March 713M 1:23.2

17 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 1:23.2

18 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 1:24.0

19 Jorge Pinhol

Brabham-Holbay BT35 ?

20 Cavan Riley

March-Novamotor 713M ?

21 Lee Kaye

March-Bloore 713S ?

22 John Finch

Chevron-Holbay B17 ?

23 David Purley

Brabham-Holbay BT28 ?

Race

1 Dave Walke

Lotus-Novamotor 69 20:26.4 15 103.74

2 James Hunt

March-Holbay 713M 20:26.4 15

3 Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 20:27.2 15

4 Steve Thompson

Ensign-Holbay LN1 20:27.2 15

5 Barrie Maskell

Chevron-Holbay B18 20:45.4 15

6 Alan Jones

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 20:45.6 15

7 Colin Vandervell

Brabham-Vegantune BT35 20:46.0 15

8 Richard Longman

Lotus-Novamotor 69 15

9 Brendan McInerney

March-Vegantune 713M 15

10 Peter Lamplough

Palliser-Holbay WDF3 15

11 John Bisignano

March 713M 15

12 Andy Sutcliffe

Lotus-Holbay 69 14

13 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 14

14 Cavan Riley

March-Novamotor 713M 14

15 Lee Kaye

March-Bloore 713S 14

Race Final

Roger Williamson

March-Holbay 713M 1:20.2

Race Report: Thruxton, 13 June 1971

thruxton_13_6_71

Race Report: Thruxton, 13 June 1971

thruxton_13_6_71

An unusual face was in pole position for this Forward Trust round with Dave Morgan standing in for Dave Walker in the GLTL Lotus 69 and he took an immediate lead from pole position at the start from the AIRO cars of Alan McCully and Alan Jones. Other front row starter Roger Williamson was in immediate trouble when his throttle cable broke and he lost four laps in the pits. Also suffering was Randy Lewis who had a huge spin at Hanger on lap one when he lost control of his Brabham BT35 when in sixth place. Fourth place was an on form Jody Scheckter (EMC) leading David Purley’s Brabham BT28, Scheckter wasn’t content with fourth and he overtook Jones going into Club on the second lap and he did the same thing to McCully on the third lap.

Within two laps the EMC was on the tail of Morgan’s leading Lotus but Scheckter had to be careful when found the two cars of Jones and McCully had followed when he had passed them. David Purley found himself in difficulties at Village on the fourth lap when he spun off and removed his nosecone, he made it back to the track but continued a long way down.
On lap 5 Jones went ahead of Scheckter but the EMC soon regained the place but the battling between the two cars allowed Morgan to eke his lead out to five seconds. Scheckter had a slight moment at Club allowing McCully to overtake the EMC and the Lotus driver was able to draw away when Scheckter got involved with the several laps behind Williamson. Alan Jones squeezed past Scheckter at Brooklands on the last lap and as Jody tried to outbrake the Brabham into Club, the EMC locked its brakes and spun off into the barriers.
At the end of the 10 laps Morgan took the victory form Alan McCully and Brian McGuire who started from the back row with a ten second penalty.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 13 June 1971

Race

1 David Morgan

Lotus-Novamotor 69 14:11.4 10 99.62

2 Alan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 14:17.6 10

3 Brian McGuire

Brabham-Vegantune BT28 14:26.2 10

4 Derek Lawrence

Palliser-BRM WDF3 14:33.2 10

5 Alan Joy

Brabham-Rowland BT28 14:34.2 10

6 Chris O'Brien

Brabham-Holbay BT35 14:34.6 10

Fastest Lap

Jody Scheckter

EMC 1:24.0 100.97

Alan McCully

Lotus-Vegantune 69 1:24.0 100.97