Forward Trust Formula Three Championship

Thruxton, 27 Oct 1974

All cars are 2-litre F3 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT41 (Patrick Neve): Robert Joubert had a yellow-and-black Brabham BT41 that he and Patrick Neve drove in British F3 in the latter half of the 1974 season, entered by JNM Racing.
2. Elden Mk16 [155/16001/73] (Jorge Koechlin): Completed for Gordon Smiley to drive in the 1974 British Formula Atlantic series, using Hart BDA engines and entered by Elden International Racing. After missing two races in June, Smiley made his debut in the car at Thruxton on 7 July, qualifying ninth and finishing fifth. He was described by Autosport as "unbelievably hairy" at the Brands Hatch race two weeks later, and then crashed at Silverstone the following weekend. The car was next seen at Brands Hatch in September, when it had been fitted with a Ford twin cam engine and converted to Formula 3 specification for Peruvian driver Jorge Koechlin to drive, with backing from the Bondurant Racing School. Koechlin had been driving a Elden-Scholar Mk10C in Formula Ford with some success until a massive accident at Brands Hatch in May. He competed in four F3 races in September and October. It was then converted back to Formula Atlantic specification and sold to Bruce Kramer (Rockford, Illinois). Describing the car as an "Elden PH75-B", he raced it in SCCA Nationals in 1975 but failed to qualify from his heat in his only Pro race, at Trois-Rivières. It was retained by Kramer for 1976 and 1977, again appearing in SCCA Nationals but without notable success. He was 11th in Central Division in 1976 but failed to score a point in 1977. Subsequent history unknown, but in January 2009 'capri' on 10 Tenths said he had the Mk16 in the Chicago area, his father having "purchased it in the early 1980s in pieces".
3. GRD 374 [089-F3?] (Marcos Moraes): New to Team Brasil for Marcos Moraes to race in British F3 in 1974. Also raced by his elder brother Luis Correira Moraes after Marcos Moraes was injured while testing. The car was identified as 089-F3 during 1974. Sold for 1975 to Doug Bassett and continued in British F3, but identified now as 090-F3. Bassett reappeared briefly at the start of 1976 in this car. Subsequent history unknown.
4. Royale RP11A [RP11-5] (John Chubb): New to Simon Sherman (London) and raced in British F3 in 1972. Retained for 1973, but did not start many races. At Mallory Park in April 1974, Sherman entered the car again in the now 2000cc F3 in 1974 but still with its 1600cc engine. He was slowest of all in practice and his race ended with engine failure. Four months later, Sherman and his friend and mechanic John Chubb, a London garage owner, were both entered in the car at Silverstone, Sherman in the F3 race and Chubb in a libre race. Neither appears to have taken part. The engine in the car for Chubb's race was given as 1600cc, suggesting they were still using the original Vegantune engines. Chubb was entered for two more races later in 1974, both at Thruxton, but it is unclear whether he took part. Sherman advertised the car in Autosport in November 1974 from an 01-629 number as a RP11A with Vegantune engine and ready to race. Subsequent history unknown.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

These British Formula 3 results have been compiled by Chris Townsend using the main British magazines Autosport and Motoring News but also the US magazine On Track which carried surprisingly good coverage of the British series.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.