Hitachi Formula Atlantic Series Race

Mallory Park, 10 Aug 1980

All cars are 1.6-litre F/Atl unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 79B [782-6] (Phil Dowsett): Alex Ribeiro's Hart-engined car at Thruxton 27 Mar 1978 and presumably all season. Hired by Wolfgang Locher for Hockenheim 26 Sep. To Phil Dowsett (Maldon, Essex) for British Formula Atlantic in 1979, converted to 79B specification and supported by Pinch Plant and Martin the Newsagent. Retained by Dowsett for 1980, then unraced in 1981. Advertised by Dowset as a 782/79B in September 1981. To Dave Hoban (Horncastle, Lincolnshire) for British Formula Atlantic in 1982, then retained for libre racing in 1983 and in 1984.
2. March 78B (Tony Westwood): Tony Westwood (Cardiff/Caerphilly/Eaton Hastings) raced a March "78B" or March "79B" with Swindon engines in British Formula Atlantic in 1980 and early 1981. He was sponsored by Datamatic Limited ("Pacemakers in Continuous Print") and entered as #6 in 1980 and #2 in 1981. He was last seen in April 1981. Subsequent history unknown
3. March 77B [Bowtell] (John Bowtell): In September 1978, John Bright (Leicester) advertised a March "77P" which he described as being a F2 rolling chassis and "same as Giacomelli's". He also advertised his 773 Formula 3 car which had been rebuilt on a new monocoque in August 1978. It is therefore possible that the "77P" had been built using the 773's repaired original monocoque. The car was sold to John Bowtell (Witney, Oxfordshire), who fitted it with a 2-litre BDX bought from Ray Mallock and ran it in libre in 1979. He then fitted it with a 1600cc Swindon BDA and raced it in the British Formula Atlantic series in 1980. He then retired from racing, and advertised the car in January 1981. Subsequent history unknown.

Sources

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' original results.

The British race results have been compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Autosport and Motoring News reports in the UK plus the information supplied by a wide range of contributors.

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.