A HISTORY OF FORMULA 3 on Show

Formula 3 Drivers get Together

On Friday 13th January 2012 at 11.30 in Hall 6 on stand 6700 as part of the 60 Years of Formula 3 display there was a gathering of former Formula 3 racers. From the Championship cars of the 1950s to the very latest 2012 Dallara, the HSCC brought together a collection of cars to Celebrate the history of Formula 3, which formed an impressive display

1951 Cooper Mk 5 Loaned by Mike Fowler.

Cooper Cars were created by John Cooper who later became synonymous for success in Grand Prix cars in the late 1950s and the iconic Mini Cooper. The first Cooper 500 was produced in 1946, and when the MK5 was produced Cooper cars were a full time manufacturing concern with the Mk5 scoring over 60 victories in 1951. This car is sign written with the name Bernard Ecclestone, but other drivers of the time racing one were Ken Carter, Bill Whitehouse and Eric Brandon who won the first British Formula 3 Championship with a Mk5 Cooper

1952 Kieft  Loaned by Merrick Taylor

This example of a 1952 Kieft has been sign written with the name Stirling Moss on the side. The then 21 year old was a director of the company when the car was first produced. A fine example of the early period 500cc cars, Kieft were winners of both the 1952 and 1953 Formula 3 Championship in the hands of Don Parker who accumulated a total of 52 wins for the marquee in his two Championship winnings seasons. Parker almost won the 1954 Championship but was overhauled in the last of the races on Boxing Day at Brands Hatch, by Les Leston driving a Cooper.

1966 Brabham BT21 Loaned by Steve Seaman.

The Brabham BT21 was built for the 1967 season as the successor to the Brabham BT18 which won the 1966 Championship in the hands of Harry Stiller. Harry was one of the customers for the BT21 and repeated his Championship success with the in 1967.  The BT21 had its first race win on Boxing Day at Brands Hatch in the hands of Derek Bell who went on to win Le Mans 5 times. In the 1960s Brabham were one of the most prolific and success race car builders winning seven Championships from 1965 to 1970. Aside from Stiller their other champions included Grand Prix drivers Reine Wisell and Tim Schenken.

1968 Tecno Loaned by Julian Maynard.

Brothers Luciano and Gianfranco Pederzani were the producers of World Championship winning Karts in Italy between 1963 and 1966  and branched out into producing the Tecno race cars in 1966 selling primarily in Italy and France, by 1968 half of the International races of that season were won by Tecno Chassis. They ceased producing Formula 3 cars in 1971, having launched the  careers of many  future Grand Prix drivers including Ronnie Peterson, Clay Regazzoni, Reine Wisell, Jean Pierre Jarier and Francois Cevert. The car on display is the Francois Cevert French Formula 3 Championship winner in which he finished 4th at Monaco.  Cevert graduated into Formula One where he was the team mate to Jackie Stewart at Tyrrell. Tecno  pursued further projects within Formula  2 and eventually into Formula One.

1971 Lotus 69 Loaned by Albert Clements.

On display in the distinctive Gold Leaf Team Lotus colours of the period, this car was originally raced by Harald Ertl. The Lotus 69 was the successor to the Lotus 59  and in the hands Dave Walker won both Forward Trust and Shell Britsh Formula 3 Championships in 1971. Albert Clements has raced this car for a number of years winning in 2011 the inaugural HSCC Tony Brise Trophy for 1600cc cars contesting the Classic Formula 3 Championship

1972 Royale RP11 Loaned by Derek Buckton

This car was formerly raced by Josef Kremer in the German Championship. The RP11 is best known for the performances achieved by Welshman Tom Pryce,  who won the Formula 3 support race at the Race of Champions in 1972. Beating the established names of the time including Jochen Mass, James Hunt and Roger Williamson.

1972 Brabham BT38 Loaned by Andy Jones

 The BT38 car was the penultimate production Brabham Formula 3 car with very little championship success. The company had moved into the ownership of Bernie Ecclestone at this time. The only successes for the car came in the hands of Tony Brise who finished 6th in the Shell Oils Championship and 2nd in the Lombard North Central Championship. The example on loan was raced in period by American Randy Lewis and is displayed in the period Wrangler Jeans livery.

1977 Chevron B38 Loaned by Hugh Price

In the distinctive Warwick Trailers livery, the Chevron B38 on display is the car raced in period by current BRDC President Derek Warwick. In 1977 Warwick finished 5th in the BP Championship and 3rd in the Vandervell Championship. 1977 was a good year for the Chevron marque with Derek Daly winning the BP Championship from Eje Elgh both in B38s. Elio De Angelis claimed the Italian Championship for the Bolton concern as well.

1984 Ralt RT3 Loaned by Jim Blockley

Perhaps one of the most famous Formula 3 models ever produced. The Ralt RT3 dominated the UK between 1980 and 1984, the champions including Stefan Johansson, Jonathan Palmer, Ayrton Senna, Johhny Dumfries, and the man who was second to Senna, Martin Brundle. Rarely has one make had so many famous names associated with it. The example on loan was raced originally by Russell Spence, who finished 3rd in the 1984 UK Championship. In 1987 it was sold to its current owner Jim Blockley who raced it for many years in the Monoposto Championship, claiming 4 Championship titles and over 90 race wins.

1991 Reynard 913 Loaned by Andy Wolfe

In 1986 Reynard became the successors to Ralt in the Championship, winning with Andy Wallace in 1986, Johnny Herbert in 1987, JJ Lehto in 1988, and Gil De Ferran in 1992. In Germany the Reynard make won the 1990 Championship with Michael Schumacher. The car on loan is Gil De Ferran’s 1991 car in which he finished third in the championship behind Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard, both in Ralt RT35’s.

2001 Dallara F301 Loaned by Carlin Motorsport

Dallara have been the chassis provider of choice for Formula 3 since 1993, they won their first European Championship in 1988 when Erik Comas took the French title. Many of the current era Grand Prix and Sports Endurance drivers have raced one of the Italian companies car, including, Jenson Button, Narain Karthikeyan, Pedro De La Rosa, Jarno Trulli, Anthony Davidson, Antonio Pozzonia and this car which was raced by Takumo Sato. Takumo won the British Championship, the Macau Grand Prix and the Masters Race for Carlin in 2001. Takumo after 7 years as a Formula One driver with Jordan, BAR Honda, and Aguri Suzuki, has now moved to America and has just completed his second year of Indy Car Racing.

2005 Dallara F305 Loaned by Carlin Motorsport

This 2005 Chassis was raced by Alvaro Parente to win the 2005 UK Championship. Parente went on to win the 2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Subsequently Alvaro has raced in the A1GP Series and the GP2 Championship. Having completed a partial season with Carlin in 2011.

2012 Dallara Loaned by Dallara

The Display is completed by the latest factory model from Dallara in Italy.