Race Report: Jyllandsring, 26 August 1973

jylandsring_26_8_73

Race Report: Jyllandsring, 26 August 1973

jylandsring_26_8_73

This was the second F3 race to be held at the Jyllandsring circuit in three weeks and victory once again went to Randy Lewis with his Wranglers Brabham BT41. The event was based on the aggregate of three six lap heats, Conny Andersson would have been in with a chance of victory but a jumped start in the second heat resulted in a seventh place.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Jyllandsring, 26 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: Mallory Park, 26 August 1973

mallory-park_26_8_73

Race Report: Mallory Park, 26 August 1973

mallory-park_26_8_73

Everyone appeared to get away cleanly at the start of the latest Lombank North Central round but to general surprise Alan Jones was deemed to have jumped the start and was given the customary one minute penalty. Unaware of his penalty Jones took an immediate lead in his GRD 373 from Tony Brise (March 733), Matt Spitzley (March 713M/733), Richard Robarts (March 733), Pedro Passadore (GRD 373) and Tony Rouff (GRD 373). The first four positions remained static for the entire race despite Brise’s best efforts to get ahead of Jones with Spitzley a few lengths back in third. Robarts held onto fourth despite Mike Wilds making a great effort in the closings laps to get on terms with the Myson March. Wilds had had a difficult practice and started from the fifth row so his drive was especially noteworthy. Brian Henton had also gone very well after starting from row six following gearbox problems in practice, he was lying eighth on lap 5 only to throw it all away with a big spin at the Esses. Leonel Friedrich had started his March from row two but first gear stripped on the line making him very slow away, luckily no one made contact with him and he pulled up to finish ninth on the road, one place behind Tony Rouff (GRD 373).

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Mallory Park, 26 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: Zolder, 26 August 1973

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Race Report: Zolder, 26 August 1973

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The “Westfalen Pokal” was held over 24 laps of the 4.184 Km circuit. The small field consisted of German national teams.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Zolder, 26 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: Brands Hatch, 19 August 1973

brands-hatch_19_8_73

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 19 August 1973

brands-hatch_19_8_73

This was the latest round in the Forward Trust Championship and most of the usual runners were present at Brands Hatch.

Mike Wilds jumped in amongst the front row from the second when the flag fell, as Ian Taylor and Tony Brise moved across to cover Wilds pole sitter Mo Harness led into Paddock, unluckily for Wilds he had anticipated the starter and was awarded the usual one minute penalty. Behind Harness it was Taylor from Wilds and Brise with Taylor in a determined mood and making all possible efforts to take the lead and entering Paddock both cars touched, fortunately without causing any problems. Finally on lap 5 by taking a novel line across the grass at Clearways Taylor somehow forced his way past a surprised Harness. Wilds took advantage of Harness loosing concentration to move up to second as Harness now found himself under attack from Brise. Next up was Richard Robarts in his ex-Nick Crossley March from Alan Jones GRD and Buzz Buzaglo’s March, the last four all running nose to tail. With the leaders unaware of Wilds penalty Taylor was under increasing pressure from the Dempster March, on lap 14 Wilds feinted around the outside at Paddock, as Taylor moved across to cover Wilds dived to the inside and took the lead. Brise also managed to get ahead of Harness at Kidney and closed in on the leaders.

There were no further changes amongst the leaders and Wilds took the chequered flag only to find that with his penalty he had dropped to fifteenth. A surprised Ian Taylor thus found himself declared the winner from Brise in second and Harness in third. Robarts had been right with Harness but fuel surge was causing his engine to cut out dropping him to seventh at the flag. Leonel Friedrich moved up to challenge Harness having moved up from tenth at the start passing Alan Jones on lap 12 but couldn’t find a way past. Jones found himself embroiled in a tense battle with Buzz Buzaglo until Jones managed to open out a gap, Buzaglo then battled with “Teleco” until the pair of them came across the slowing Robarts and “Teleco” got ahead in the confusion. Pedro Passadore had been running with “Teleco” until he had a spin at Druids, a pit stop showed a damper had failed, Johnny Gerber had also been with them but a slipping clutch saw him retire.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 19 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: Kassel Calden, 19 August 1973

kassel-calden_19_8_73

Race Report: Kassel Calden, 19 August 1973

kassel-calden_19_8_73

The “Hessenpreis” was held over 40 laps of the 2.646 Km circuit. The runners were, for the most part, German national teams.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Kassel Calden, 19 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: Croft, 12 August 1973

croft_12_8_73

Race Report: Croft, 12 August 1973

croft_12_8_73

Only eight cars started this Forward Trust round after Richard Robarts crashed his Myson March at Oxo during practice. Mo Harness took pole position just ahead of Tony Brise and Mike Wilds for an all March front row.

Ian Taylor made the best start to lead from the second row followed by Wilds, Brise, Harness, Tony Rouff and Derek Lawrence. Brise and Harness swopped places a couple of times and by the fourth lap the four leaders had pulled away from the rest. Wilds was putting Taylor under increasing pressure and nearly made it at Tower on lap 5 and then on lap 6 he did the job properly. Taylor spent the remaining nine laps trying to regain the lead but Wilds kept him at bay to win by a second. Brise passed Harness for third on lap 9 and although Harness crossed the line level with Brise and was given the same time Brise took the third place. Derek Lawrence also had a great battle with Tony Rouff with the American coming through to take fifth by a second.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Croft, 12 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: Oulton Park, 11 August 1973

oulton-park_11_8_73

Race Report: Oulton Park, 11 August 1973

oulton-park_11_8_73

Oulton Park was the latest venue for the Lombard North Central Championship and at the end of practice it was Richard Robarts sitting on pole but not in his usual GRD, Robarts had joined the switch to March and was obviously delighted with his new Myson sponsored 733. Sharing the front row with Robarts was the GRD of Alan Jones and Matt Spitzley’s updated March.

Mo Harness made the best start from the second row hotly pursued by Jones and Robarts and it was three abreast into Cascades, unfortunately for Jones one of the Marches made gentle contact with his GRD removing a front tyre valve. Jones was out on the spot followed almost immediately by Mike Wilds whose throttle cable snapped on his Dempster March, at least these two got further than Ian Taylor who was left on the grid when a low tension lead came off his Holbay.
It was now a battle between the two Marches with Harness leading Robarts although Larry Perkins wasn’t far behind in his works-supported Brabham BT41. Robarts began to suffer from increasing oversteer as part of his rear wing broke away and although he was able to close in on Harness especially on the entry to Knickerbrook he was unable to pass. In the closing laps the battery came adrift on Robarts car and an awful misfire developed on his Novamotor as its pistons were failing so Robarts was relieved to hold on to finish second. Perkins held third until, unhappy with the handling of his car, he had an off at Knickerbrook damaging a wheel and the rear wing. On Perkins departure Brise moved up to third, he was running a new monocoque on his March and he wasn’t fitting properly so had had an uncomfortable time in practice and the race. Realising Robarts was in trouble Brise hurled the March round in the closing stages of the race but had to settle for third. Johnny Gerber took fourth after Leonel Friedrich had to retire when his car blew out all its water, Pedro Passadore was next ahead of Matt Spitzley and Russell Wood. Tony Rouff had been with the last three but his front suspension collapsed at Druids after contact with someone on the opening lap and the GRD slid into the barriers without too much damage.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Oulton Park, 11 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: Jyllandsring, 5 August 1973

jyllandsring_5_8_73

Race Report: Jyllandsring, 5 August 1973

jyllandsring_5_8_73

This race was held at the Danish circuit of Jyllandsring on the same day as the Forward Trust round at Thruxton so entries were mostly limited to Scandinavian drivers with one notable exception, Randy Lewis in his Wranglers Brabham BT41, this was probably because the race was the Wrangler Grand Prix of Denmark. The event was held over two races with aggregate times deciding the final result.

Hakan Dahlqvist took pole position in his Merlyn from the March of Conny Andersson and Lewis’ Brabham. Lewis won the first heat by 1.2 seconds from Andersson with Ulf Svensson in third after a great drive from the back of the grid. Andersson jumped the lights twice at the start of heat 2 causing both starts to be aborted but third time lucky and this time Andersson got it right and took the lead he would hold for the rest of the race. Lewis tailed the Swede for the whole of the race finishing 0.7 seconds down at the finish to take the overall win by 0.5 seconds with Svensson again in third.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Jyllandsring, 5 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: Thruxton, 5 August 1973

thruxton_5_8_73

Race Report: Thruxton, 5 August 1973

thruxton_5_8_73

A good entry arrived at Thruxton for the latest round of the Forward Trust Championship and qualifying was dominated by the works Alpine-Renaults with Michel Leclere and Alain Serpaggi setting the fastest times in their respective heats. For this meeting both of the Alpines were running in narrow track form to suit the high speed Thruxton sweeps. Of the other drivers neither of the works Martinis of Lafitte and Paoli went too well, Paoli loosing time with a broken gear lever. Brian Henton had borrowed Pedro Passadore’s DART GRD to replace his accident damaged version and spent much of practice pointing the wrong way.
At the end of practice there were three non-starters, Buzz Buzaglo and Carlo Giorgio blew their Novamotors and Mike Tyrrell had fuel system bothers with the MRE.

It was raining at the start of Heat 1 and pole sitter Michel Leclere was slow away allowing Christian Ethuin and Mike Wilds to get the jump on him, Kuwashima initially slotted into fourth but spun at the Chicane dropping to eleventh. Leclere moved up onto Wilds gearbox but it was his turn to spin at the Chicane but without any loss of position and within a lap the three leaders were all together. Due to the slippery conditions the positions didn’t change until the final lap when Ethuin went wide exiting Seagrave allowing Wilds to close up through Brooklands and take the lead at the Chicane. Ethuin held onto second spot with Leclere keeping a watching brief in third. Jean-Pierre Paoli held fourth spot for thirteen laps but as the Martini encountered backmarkers Leonel Friedrich was able to slip through and grab the place. Ian Taylor took sixth the engine in his March suffering from water in the electrics with Johnny Gerber finishing in seventh after getting the better of Bernard Beguin who fell behind the recovering Kuwashima.

It was raining much harder when the cars lined up for the second heat and conditions were treacherous. Tony Brise slithered into the lead from Russell Wood, Alain Serpaggi and Jean Ragnotti. Brise began to open a large lead on the opening lap but as he began the second lap his engine began to sound dreadful as it became waterlogged, however he still lead Woods and Serpaggi but Ragnotti had fallen away with a spin at Cobb. Serpaggi was the next victim of Cobb with a spin on the third lap and Brise joined him one lap later, unfortunately Brise stalled his engine and it took him some time to restart it. Wood now led and with the conditions worsening he was shown the chequered flag at the end of the seventh lap, behind him Rousselot had moved up to second as those ahead of him had spun off. Brise had recovered to third passing Serpaggi and Ragnotti into the Chicane on lap 6 but another spin at Cobb on lap 7 saw him drop to an eventual fifth. Serpaggi spun again, this time at Allard on the last lap loosing a place to Ragnotti and dropping to fourth. A battling group consisting of Mo Harness, Brian Henton and Richard Robarts were squabbling over sixth, Harness took the place but decided against racing in the final, Robarts took seventh on the last lap as Henton spun at the Chicane dropping to tenth.

So to the final, despite it being 2 hours since the last of the heats it was still raining and the decision was taken to reduce the race from 20 to 10 laps. As the flag fell Christian Ethuin made the best start from the front row as the other two occupants, Mike Wilds and Russell Wood were slower away. Entering Campbell Serpaggi tried to pass Ethuin but the Alpine brushed wheels with the Martini loosing ground to the leader and allowing team-mate Leclere to get past. Leclere now challenged Ethuin through Church and as the two cars entered the Chicane side by side Leclere left his braking later and he slid through into first. Leclere immediately began to pull away with a clear track ahead of him, Ethuin holding second from Serpaggi, Wood and Friedrich. Further back Mike Wilds gearbox siezed as he entered the Chicane on the first lap and with nowhere to go Brise hit the March in the rear, John MacDonald also had to spin his GRD in avoidance putting all three cars out. Richard Robarts was another to rotate but was able to continue after a precautionary pitstop.
Leclere continued to lead for the remainder of the race seemingly in a different class from the rest of the field as he slid his Alpine around the track. Ethuin took second despite the very close attentions of Serpaggi for the whole of the race, the Alpine driver nearly loosing third with a spin at the Chicane on the final lap as he tried a last ditch effort to pass the Martini. Wood held off a closely pursuing Friedrich for fourth with a gap back to Paoli in sixth. Next up was Rousselot who had had a fight with Ian Taylor and Masami Kuwashima, the Japanese driver passing Taylor into the chicane on the final tour. Retirements included Rouff with an off at Seagrave on lap 6 that also took out Robarts, Johnny Gerber whose Brabham refused to fire up on the grid and Larry Perkins who was out early on with a sick engine.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Thruxton, 5 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: Brands Hatch, 29 July 1973

brands-hatch_29_7_73

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 29 July 1973

brands-hatch_29_7_73

An excellent entry of 51 cars arrived at Brands Hatch for the latest round of the John Player Championship and with no clashing French round most of the top runners from France arrived to take on the best of the English. The drivers were split into three heats with 45 minutes of practice per heat on Sunday morning, Heat 1 was delayed when the unfortunate Rudolf Dötsch had a heavy shunt with his GRD at Kidney when he missed a gear and he was taken to hospital with a broken leg.

Heat 1 was dominated by the French visitors with four of the first five places on the grid, Bernard Beguin’s Ecurie Volant Shell Martini taking pole position by 0.1 seconds from the Kent Messenger GRD of Tony Brise, completing the front row was the BP France Martini of Jacques Lafitte.

Heat 2 saw surprise package Hakan Dahlqvist take fastest time in his Merlyn from the March of Mo Harness which equalled Dahlqvist’s time, Alan Jones was third fastest his GRD 0.2 seconds further back. Brian Henton was a non-starter when he wrote his GRD off with a big shunt at Paddock.
It was the French again who dominated Heat 3 with Alain Serpaggi setting the quickest time of all three heats to plant his Alpine on pole ahead of the Motul La Defense Mondial Martini of Christian Ethuin and the Ecurie ELF March of Alain Cudini. Johnny Gerber non-started when he slid off at Druids and damaged a front corner of his Brabham beyond immediate repair.

Tony Brise launched his March into an immediate lead as pole-sitter Beguin was slowed by a sticking throttle pedal that refused to free itself until the second lap. Leclere’s Alpine moved into second ahead of Lafitte’s Martini with Friedrich assuming fourth spot. Leclere’s second spot only lasted to Clearways on the third lap when fuel pressure problems intervened dropping the Alpine to ninth by the flag. Despite Lafitte’s best efforts Brise held on to the lead to beat the Martini by exactly one second after the ten laps, Friedrich took third after a tense race-long battle with Rousselot beating the Frenchman to the line by 0.2 seconds. Beguin took sixth behind Albera’s Antar March after getting ahead of Spitzley on the eighth lap.

Mo Harness repeated Brise’s flag to flag victory in Heat 2, Lella Lombardi initially holding second spot in her Brabham until she was passed by Alan Jones at Paddock on lap 3. Jones then set off after Harness catching the March on lap 7, the GRD tried hard to pass the March making a last big effort at Clearways on the final lap, but Harness refused to be rattled and won the heat by 0.4 seconds. The next three cars finished almost together with Lombardi just holding off Dahlqvist and Ragnotti with Jean Max only half a second further back. Masami Kuwashima had been holding fourth when his March and the Martini of Jean-Pierre Paoli made contact at Druids putting both cars out of the race.

Russell Wood elected to start from the back of the grid for Heat 3 when he found his March minus first and second gears on the warm up lap. Christian Ethuin made the best start to take the lead in his Martini hotly pursued by the similar car of Alain Cudini and Alain Serpaggi’s Alpine. Serpaggi hounded Cudini for eight laps until he finally found a way past and he immediately closed in on Ethuin but in the remaining two laps was unable to do anything about the flying Martini. Conny Andersson kept the three leading Frenchmen in sight and took fourth just ahead of Pedro Passadore in fifth and Mike Wilds (who had been delayed at the start behind Serpaggi) in sixth. Randy Lewis would have qualified for the final in eighth but a one minute penalty for a jumped start saw him relegated down the final order. Retirements included Danny Sullivan on lap 1 with no gears and Russell Wood with a puncture, Buzz Buzaglo had to pit on lap 3 with a broken spark plug when well placed.

The final consisted of the fastest 20 cars overall and the grid lined up as follows:

Serpaggi
 
Ethuin
 
Brise
 
Cudini
 
Lafitte
 
Jones
 
Harness
 
Andersson
 
Wilds
 
Passadore
 
Lombardi
 
Rousselot
 
Friedrich
 
Ragnotti
 
Dahlqvist
 
Beguin
 
Max
 
Albera
 
Robarts
 
Taylor
 

Brise and Ethuin had recorded identical race times in their respective heats but as Brise had set his time first he was given pole position. As the flag fell Andersson made an unbelievable start from row three and as the cars entered Paddock the Swede took the lead and at the end of the first lap it was Andersson from Brise, Lafitte, Ethuin, Serpaggi, Harness, Passadore, Jones and Friedrich. Andersson’s lead only lasted as far as Druids on lap 2 when Brise outbraked Andersson to take first place. Almost immediately Brise began to pull away from a four car group of Andersson, Lafitte, Ethuin and Serpaggi, all of whom had eyes on second. Mo Harness had dropped a couple of seconds behind this bunch with Alan Jones next up after having just passed Pedro Passadore.
Dahlqvist was out on lap 4 when his Merlyn hit the Paddock banking very hard removing a wheel. Passadore found himself going backwards when he was passed by Cudini on lap 4 and then Wilds on lap 6.
At 10 laps it was Brise then Andersson, Ethuin, Lafitte, Serpaggi, Harness, Cudini, Jones, Wilds, Rousselot and Passadore. Andersson was beginning to pull clear of the French trio behind and Harness was doing his level best to catch them. Lap 15 and Rousselot’s oil tank split covering the track with oil which allowed the French to temporarily recatch Andersson but he then pulled away again. Cudini caught Harness and was trying for sixth when a moment around the back of the circuit dropped him behind the battling Jones and Wilds. Wilds demoted Jones on lap 25, the Australian finding his GRD suffering from a lack of traction.
Entering Clearway’s on the last lap Ethuin’s Martini shed a wheel which flew into the spectator enclosure smashing a car windscreen and narrowly missing a couple of spectators. Meanwhile at the front Brise took the chequered flag 3.6 seconds ahead of Andersson whilst Serpaggi pulled up alongside Lafitte at the line, they were given the same time but Lafitte took the third place. Harness finished just over half a second down in fifth with Mike Wilds taking the sixth place.

f3 HISTORY

RACES

Race Report: Brands Hatch, 29 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