British Formula Atlantic Championship Race

Brands Hatch, 19 Apr 1981

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

Notes on the cars:

1. March 81A [15] (Phil Dowsett): New to Phil Dowsett (Chelmsford, Essex) and raced in the British Formula Atlantic championshipmin 1981, with sponsorship from Pinch Plant and Industrial Control Services. Dowsett won two races and finished third in the championship. Sold to Theodore Racing and raced by Vern Schuppan at the Macau GP in November. Then sold to Graham Brown in Western Australia in April 1982 and raced in Australian Formula Pacific. To Michael Moylan in March 1985, then to Jeremy Kenyon (NSW) in January 1991. Sold to Clive Osborne (NSW) in August 1996 and raced by him in 2000, then to Robert Foster (NSW) by 2007 and raced by him from 2007 to 2019. To Barry Wise (QLD) in 2020, and raced by him in 2021 and 2022.
2. Argo JM9 [057-FA] (Colin Lees): New to Colin Lees (Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) and raced in the British Formula Atlantic series, run by Ivor Goodwin's Goodwin Racing with backing from Carcover. After Lees left the team, it was raced later in the season by Desiré Wilson and John Lewis. It was next seen in sprints and hillclimbs, driven by Neil White in 1987 and 1988, when it used a 2-litre BD-series engine. Then to Barry Goode (Malvern, Worcestershire) for 1989 and 1990, and sold by him to Simon Frost (Brechin), who raced it in 1994 and 1995 with a Vauxhall engine and with the sidepods removed. Then run by Mick Lancashire (Jersey) between 1996 and 1998 in the 1600cc class. Then hillclimbed by Laurie Ritchie (Studley, Warwickshire) between 2000 and 2013 using a QED-built 2-litre Vauxhall engine. Advertised by Ritchie in December 2013 and January 2014.
3. March 78B [782-14] (Charlie Kirby): Eddie Cheever's car at Thruxton 27 Mar 1978 and presumably all season. To Dick Bennetts Racing and converted to Formula Atlantic for Eje Elgh to race in New Zealand in January 1979. Then to Charlie Kirby as a 78B and raced in Atlantic from 1979 to 1981. Offered for sale in On Track in 1981 by Kirby's Transatlantic Racing Services (Norcross, GA). Next seen with Andy Falbo (Detroit, MI) who raced it in US Formula Atlantic in 1983, and again in 1986 and 1988. Retained by Falbo and still owned by him in 2015.
4. March 79B (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
5. March 78B (Duncan Bain): Martin Mansell (Middlesex) acquired a large number of March 782 parts including a monocoque from a West Midlands hillclimber, and had these built up by an ex-March employee. It seems likely that these parts came from Godfrey Crompton (Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire) of Douglas & Gavin (Stourport, Worcestershire), who had acquired two March 782s from Bob Salisbury Racing for himself and Chris Cramer in 1979 and 1980. Duncan Bain (Luton, Bedfordshire) bought into Mansell's project, and the pair ran the car in British Formula Atlantic in 1981, usually entered as a 78B. Bain bought Mansell out at the end of 1981, and ran the car through 1982 with Abdex Engineering Ltd sponsorship. Sold to David Newall (Slough, Berkshire) for 1983, when it was sponsored by Staggers Jeans and run by McDonald Engineering. When the series was cancelled, Newall sold the car to a Frenchman who was planning to use it for hillclimbs. Newall recalls the car being collected by engine builder Geoff Richardson, who was going to rebuild the BDA engine before it went to France, but cannot remember the Frenchman's name. 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.