British Formula 3 1983
A clash of two future stars, Ayrton Senna da Silva and Martin Brundle, dominated the 1983 season. Senna had won the Thruxton race at the end of 1982 and extended that to a run of ten consecutive victories. Brundle never gave up and his moment finally came in the European Championship race at Silverstone where the Englishman romped to a morale-boosting victory and Senna crashed trying to keep up. Senna was rattled and crashed in practice at Cadwell Park and then crashed three times in the next few six races - each time when he was trying to take the lead from Brundle.
Brundle then beat Senna comprehensively at the penultimate round and took the championship lead by a single point. But at the last round, Senna's Dick Bennetts-prepared Ralt was untouchable, dominating practice and the race to clinch the title. Both drivers were snapped up by F1 teams for 1984, Brundle by Tyrrell and Senna by Toleman.
The races
06 Mar 1983 > Silverstone
13 Mar 1983 > Thruxton
20 Mar 1983 > Silverstone
27 Mar 1983 > Donington Park
04 Apr 1983 > Thruxton
24 Apr 1983 > Silverstone
02 May 1983 > Thruxton
08 May 1983 > Brands Hatch
30 May 1983 > Silverstone
12 Jun 1983 > Silverstone
19 Jun 1983 > Cadwell Park
03 Jul 1983 > Snetterton
16 Jul 1983 > Silverstone
24 Jul 1983 > Donington Park
06 Aug 1983 > Oulton Park
29 Aug 1983 > Silverstone
11 Sep 1983 > Oulton Park
18 Sep 1983 > Thruxton
02 Oct 1983 > Silverstone
23 Oct 1983 > Thruxton
12 Nov 1983 > Thruxton
Championship events shown in bold
Championship table
| 1. | Ayton Senna | West Surrey Racing Ralt RT3/83 | 132 pts | 12 wins |
| 2. | Martin Brundle | Eddie Jordan Racing Ralt RT3/83 | 123 pts | 6 wins |
| 3. | Davy Jones | Murray Taylor Racing Ralt RT3/83 | 77 pts | |
| 4. | Calvin Fish | Team BP Ralt RT3/83 | 67 pts | 1 win |
| 5. | Allen Berg | Neil Trundle Ralt RT3/82, Eddie Jordan Racing Ralt RT3/83 |
32 pts | 1 win |
Points table from Autosport 10 November 1983 p34.
Allen Berg's 'win' came in the European Championship race at Silverstone where the British runners had to use regulation Avon rubber to be eligible for British championship points. Brundle decided to challenge Senna for overall victory on Yokahama tyres. Berg only finished tenth. Fish's win only came after Senna and Brundle collided at Oulton Park.
Almost everyone used a Ralt RT3. The RT3/83 had been updated with reprofiled sidepods and altered suspension geometry and Ron Tauranac's cars had won 54 consecutive rounds of the British series by the end of 1983. Only David Leslie's unique Magnum 833 and Mario Hytten's unique Sparton SE420 managed top-5 finishes. The engine battle swung back in favour of the Toyota as both Brundle and Senna used the Japanese engine and Jones and Fish the lighter VW.