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British Formula Atlantic Championship Race

Mallory Park, 31 May 1982

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Alo Lawler Ralt RT4/80 [199] - Ford BDD Smith
#1 The LEP Group of Companies
25 17m 51.2s
113.42 mph
2 Mike Catlow Ralt RT1/77 [71?] - Ford BDD
#7
25 18m 30.9s
3 Geoff Byman Lola T760 [HU1] - Ford BDD Smith
#9
24
4 Duncan Bain March 78B - Ford BDD
#8 Abdex Engineering (see note 1)
24
5 Neil Crang Tiga FA82 [200] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#3 Ivor Goodwin Racing
24
6 John Sheldon Tiga FA81/82 [164] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#2 Ivor Goodwin Racing
24
7 Masanori Sekiya Chevron B56 [56-82-01] - Ford BDD Swindon
#10 Team Sanada (see note 2)
24
R Dave Hoban March 782 [6] - Ford BDD Wadworth
#4 (see note 3)
6
DNA Tony Dunne McLaren M21 - Ford BDD
#5 (see note 4)
Did not arrive
DNA Dave Muter Barton JTB3 [Sana RD11] - Ford BDD
#6
Did not arrive
DNA David Duffield Ralt RT4/80 [185] - Ford BDD Swindon
#20 Caledon Coal
Did not arrive

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

Qualifying
1 Alo Lawler (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ralt RT4/80 [199] - Ford BDD Smith
2 Mike Catlow (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ralt RT1/77 [71?] - Ford BDD
3 Geoff Byman (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Lola T760 [HU1] - Ford BDD Smith
4 John Sheldon (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Tiga FA81/82 [164] - Ford BDD Nicholson
5 Duncan Bain (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 78B - Ford BDD
6 Neil Crang (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Tiga FA82 [200] - Ford BDD Nicholson
7 Dave Hoban (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 782 [6] - Ford BDD Wadworth
8 Masanori Sekiya (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B56 [56-82-01] - Ford BDD Swindon

Notes on the cars:

  1. 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.
  2. Chevron B56 [56-82-01] (Masanori Sekiya): New to Team Sanada for Masanori Sekiya to drive in the 1982 British Formula Atlantic series. After just a few races, he moved over the the Ehrlich RP5A instead, and Robin Smith took the B56 to Ireland for Gary Gibson, who was then using the B53 with success in the Irish series, to race at Phoenix Park in August. Gibson soon decide the B56 was unsuited to the circuit and raced his B53, with Smith himself racing the B56. Gibson then came to Scotland to race the B56 in a libre race at Ingliston in October, and then drove it at Oulton Park a week later and at the Macau GP in November. He then raced it in the Irish series in 1983, after which it was not seen again. Chevron records indicate that it was sold to Mike Gue's Essex Racing in the US. Subsequent history unknown.
  3. March 782 [6] (Dave Hoban): 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 Dowsett as a 782/79B in September 1981. To Dave Hoban (Horncastle, Lincolnshire) for libre racing and British Formula Atlantic in 1982, then retained for libre racing in 1983 and in 1984.
  4. McLaren M21 (Tony Dunne): One of two cars entered by Astor Club Racing International in British Formula Atlantic in 1975, this car was raced by Roberto Alvarez at Silverstone on 13 April, and then by Tony Trimmer later in the season. This car was next seen when acquired by Tony Dunne, who raced it in the British Formula Atlantic series in 1982. Dunne then entered Alo Lawler in Dunne's McLaren M30 in BRSCC libre in 1984 and 1985, and traded the M21 back to McLaren International in 1986 for the spare M30 monocoque. McLaren International rebuilt the car to Scheckter's F2 configuration, and the car was on display in the Donington Museum for many years. When the other two cars were restored in the late 1990s and none were found to have a chassis plate, McLaren International issued this car with a '1' chassis plate.

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.

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.

Individual sources for this event

Autosport 10 Jun 1982 p63, Programme with lap chart (DR).