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Alex Dias Ribeiro in the Hollywood GRD 374 is pursued at Oulton Park 28 Sep 1974 by the works SPI March 743 of José Chateaubriand and Nick von Preussen's March 733.  Copyright Alan Cox 2012.  Used with permission.

British Formula 3 1974

The new 2000cc Formula 3 did not start well. At the opening race, just five F3 cars started and only one of those had a full 2-litre engine, the works March 743 of Brian Henton. Although the Holbay-built ohc Ford 'Pinto' engines in the works Marchs were expected to be the best option, the good old twin cam outperformed expectations, especially the Novamotor versions. Alex Dias Ribeiro had one of these in his GRD 374 and proved Henton's closest competitor in the opening months. Tony Rouff also proved to be quick in his older GRD and both José Espírito Santo and José Chateaubriand picked up good results in their March 743s. Dick Parsons in his ex-works Ensign and Danny Sullivan in a two-year-old March also impressed, Sullivan picking up a works Modus drive towards the end of the year.

Novamotor comprehensively solved the problem of engines in the autumn when they introduced their version of the twin-cam Toyota 2T-G engine, a powerplant that would dominate Formula 3 for many years to come.

With 15 victories, Henton personally dominated 1974, his tally making up the bulk of March's 18 British F3 wins. GRD, through Rouff and Ribeiro, took seven wins and Modus took one: Sullivan's win at Thruxton in October. Counting all podiums gives March a score of 43, GRD 25, Modus four, Ehrlich three, Brabham and Dastle two each and Ensign just one.

The races

09 Mar 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 1)

17 Mar 1974 > Silverstone (Lombard Round 2)

24 Mar 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 1)

12 Apr 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 3)

28 Apr 1974 > Mallory Park (Lombard Round 4)

05 May 1974 > Silverstone (Forward Trust Round 2)

12 May 1974 > Snetterton (Forward Trust Round 3)

19 May 1974 > Brands Hatch (Forward Trust Round 4)

26 May 1974 > Brands Hatch (Lombard Round 5)

02 Jun 1974 > Cadwell Park (Forward Trust Round 5)

09 Jun 1974 > Silverstone (Forward Trust Round 6)

30 Jun 1974 > Snetterton (Lombard Round 6)

21 Jul 1974 > Cadwell Park (Forward Trust Round 7)

27 Jul 1974 > Oulton Park (Forward Trust Round 8)

28 Jul 1974 > Snetterton (Lombard Round 7)

10 Aug 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 8)

11 Aug 1974 > Brands Hatch (Lombard Round 9)

18 Aug 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 9)

25 Aug 1974 > Mallory Park (Lombard Round 10)

26 Aug 1974 > Silverstone (Lombard Round 11)

08 Sep 1974 > Silverstone (Forward Trust Round 10)

15 Sep 1974 > Brands Hatch (Forward Trust Round 11)

22 Sep 1974 > Thruxton (Lombard Round 12)

28 Sep 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 13)

06 Oct 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 12)

13 Oct 1974 > Brands Hatch (Lombard Round 14)

27 Oct 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 13)

1974 BARC Forward Trust F3 Championship table

1Brian HentonMarch 743 - Ford ohc Holbay
March 743 - Toyota Novamotor
81 pts8 wins
2Tony RouffGRD 373 - Ford twin cam Vegantune54 pts1 win
3José Espírito SantoMarch 733 - Ford twin cam
March 743 - Ford twin cam
36 pts1 win
4Danny SullivanMarch 723 - Ford twin cam Vegantune
Modus M1 - Ford ohc Holbay
28 pts1 win
5=Alex Dias RibeiroGRD 374 - Ford twin cam Novamotor
GRD 374 - Ford Pinto ohc Holbay
27 pts1 win
5=José ChateaubriandMarch 743 - Ford ohc Holbay
March 743 - Toyota Novamotor
27 pts 
7Mike TyrrellMarch 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown15 pts1 win
8Nicholas von PreussenMarch 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown13 pts 
9Conny AnderssonMarch 743 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor10 pts 
10Barrie MaskellDastle Mk10B - Ford twin cam8 pts 

Previous: the 1973 season

Next: the 1975 season

The BARC Forward Trust series ran over 13 rounds and used a 9-6-4-3-2-1 points system. Unfortunately, Autosport made a mistake in their "final" points table published 17 Oct 1974 p8. It appears they mistook the final round of the MCD Lombard North Central series on the preceding weekend for the final round of the BARC Forward Trust series and gave Ribeiro 9 points and Chateaubriand 6 points. When the final round of the FT series actually took place at Thruxton on 27 Oct 1974, no updated table was published. The table above has been reconstructed from results.

1974 MCD Lombard North Central F3 Championship table

1Brian HentonMarch 743 - Ford ohc Holbay
March 743 - Toyota Novamotor
78 pts7 wins
2Alex Dias RibeiroGRD 374 - Ford twin cam Novamotor
GRD 374 - Ford Pinto ohc Holbay
60 pts2 wins
3Tony RouffGRD 373 - Ford twin cam Vegantune54 pts3 wins
4José ChateaubriandMarch 743 - Ford ohc Holbay
March 743 - Toyota Novamotor
32 pts 
5Nicholas von PreussenMarch 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown29 pts1 win
6Derek LawrenceEhrlich ES2 - Ford twin cam Ehrlich17 pts 
7Danny SullivanMarch 723 - Ford twin cam Vegantune
Modus M1 - Ford ohc Holbay
16 pts 
8Conny AnderssonMarch 743 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor11 pts 
9Mike TyrrellMarch 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown8 pts 
10=Barrie MaskellDastle Mk10B - Ford twin cam7 pts 

Previous: the 1973 season

Next: the 1975 season

The MCD Lombard North Central series ran over 14 rounds and used a 9-6-4-3-2-1 points system with double points at the last race. It should be noted that Jos? Chateaubriand was initially disqualified from second place in that last race but later reinstated. The points table shown here includes his later reinstatement.

Just 13 winners are listed above; the 14th race was a curious affair at Brands Hatch on 26 May 1974 where prize money was not what it should have been and the handful of F3s that turned up were lumped together with a bunch of libre cars. Marcos Moraes' clutch burnt out on the start line so Nicholas van Preussen - also known as Prince Friedrich Nikolaus of Prussia - had an easy win.