OldRacingCars.com

Aurora AFX British F1 Championship Round

Thruxton, 28 May 1979

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Emilio de Villota Lotus 78 [1 JPS15] - Cosworth DFV V8
#3 Madom F1 Team
50 1h 06m 46.84s
105.84 mph
2 David Kennedy Wolf [WR4] - Cosworth DFV V8
#11 Theodore Racing
50 1h 06m 48.65s
3 Desiré Wilson Tyrrell 008 [3] - Cosworth DFV V8
#1 Melchester Racing
50 1h 08m 05.11s
4 Gordon Smiley McLaren M23 [14] - Cosworth DFV V8
#2 Melchester Racing
49
5 Ricardo Zunino McLaren M23 [11] - Cosworth DFV V8
#17 BS Fabrications
49
6 Giacomo Agostini Williams FW06 [002] - Cosworth DFV V8
#9 Team Agostini
48
7 John Cooper Ensign N177 [MN09] - Cosworth DFV V8
#8 John Cooper
48
8 Kim Mather (F2) 2-litre March 772P [U2] - BMW M12/7
#15 Pontin Racing (see note 1)
48
9 Carlo Franchi ("Gimax") Williams FW06 [001] - Cosworth DFV V8
#10 Team Agostini
47
10 Warren Booth (F2) 2-litre Chevron B42 [42-78-16] - Hart 420R
#29 Warren Booth
46
R Kenneth Brill (F2) 2-litre Chevron B35D - Ford BDG
#28 Kenneth Brill (see note 2)
40 Running, not classified
R Patrick Neve (F2) 2-litre Pilbeam MP42 [1] - Hart 420R
#26 Onyx race Engineering
39 Running, not classified
R Guy Edwards Fittipaldi F5A [2] - Cosworth DFV V8
#4 RAM Racing
4 Accident
R Hervé Regout (F2) 2-litre Chevron B42 [42-78-09] - Hart 420R
#25 RAM Racing
3 Engine
R Adrian Russell (F2) 2-litre March 782 [26] - Hart 420R
#20 Adrian Russell (see note 3)
1 Accident
R Rupert Keegan Arrows A1 [2] - Cosworth DFV V8
#16 C. W. Clowes Racing
0 Accident
DNS Bernard de Dryver Fittipaldi F5A [2] - Cosworth DFV V8
#5 RAM Racing
Did not start
(DNS: Car raced by Edwards)
DNS Norman Dickson (F2) 2-litre March 792 [20] - Hart 420R
#30 Dicksons of Perth (see note 4)
Did not start
(DNS: Accident in practice)
T Guy Edwards Fittipaldi F5A [3] - Cosworth DFV V8
#4 RAM Racing
(Only used in practice)

All cars are 3-litre F1 unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Guy Edwards (F1) 3-litre Fittipaldi F5A [2] - Cosworth DFV V8 (1:17.34)
2 Emilio de Villota (F1) 3-litre Lotus 78 [1 JPS15] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:17.89
3 Desiré Wilson (F1) 3-litre Tyrrell 008 [3] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:18.09
4 Rupert Keegan (F1) 3-litre Arrows A1 [2] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:18.34
5 Bernard de Dryver * (F1) 3-litre Fittipaldi F5A [2] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:18.60
6 David Kennedy (F1) 3-litre Wolf [WR4] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:18.62
7 Ricardo Zunino (F1) 3-litre McLaren M23 [11] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:19.19
8 John Cooper (F1) 3-litre Ensign N177 [MN09] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:19.25
9 Gordon Smiley (F1) 3-litre McLaren M23 [14] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:19.37
10 Patrick Neve (F2) 2-litre Pilbeam MP42 [1] - Hart 420R 1:19.58
11 Kim Mather (F2) 2-litre March 772P [U2] - BMW M12/7 1:19.99
12 Carlo Franchi ("Gimax") (F1) 3-litre Williams FW06 [001] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:21.69
13 Giacomo Agostini (F1) 3-litre Williams FW06 [002] - Cosworth DFV V8 1:22.71
14 Hervé Regout (F2) 2-litre Chevron B42 [42-78-09] - Hart 420R 1:23.45
15 Warren Booth (F2) 2-litre Chevron B42 [42-78-16] - Hart 420R 1:23.58
16 Adrian Russell (F2) 2-litre March 782 [26] - Hart 420R 1:26.85
17 Kenneth Brill (F2) 2-litre Chevron B35D - Ford BDG 1:32.40
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 772P [U2] (Kim Mather): New for Marc Surer to race in the final F2 race of the 1977 season, at Donington Park in October 1977. Then to Patsy McGarrity (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for Irish Formula Atlantic in 1978, using a Fred Smith BDA engine. To Kim Mather (St Helens, Lancashire) for 1979 and raced in F2 and Aurora British F1 that year. Also raced by sponsor David Ward (Hesketh Bank, Lancashire) in libre racing. Crashed heavily by Ward at Aintree in July, and rapidly rebuilt on a 782 or 783 tub for Mather to use for the rest of the season. Mather recalls that the 783 was sold to Jim Evans, but Evans has no recollection of this. The damaged 772P tub is claimed to have been sold to the Seattle area and rebuilt into a car that was later owned in Canada. Neither of these stories has yet been confirmed.
  2. Chevron B35D (Kenneth Brill): In early 1977, Gilles Villeneuve raced a Chevron B39 in South African Formula Atlantic which was crashed during testing before the series started, then rebuilt on a new monocoque because of handling problems, before being damaged again in an accident with Ian Scheckter at Killarney on 19 February. The car was rebuilt, possibly on a further new chassis, and sold on but another car also emerged from this and was sold to Kim Mather (Haydock, St Helens, Lancashire) in the summer. It was described as an "ex-works development Chevron B35D" that had been "used by Villeneuve in South Africa". Mather built it up using B35 suspension and a 2-litre Richardson BDA engine and called it a "B35D" or "B35D". He raced this in Shellsport G8 libre racing in 1977, and competed in the Donington Park F2 race at the end of the season. Retained for 1978 when Mather used it in the Aurora BF1 series and in libre. Then sold to Ken Brill who raced in the Aurora series in 1979 before crashing it heavily into the wall at Redgate Lodge at Donington Park in June. Brill had to be cut from the mangled footwell of the car, and it was not seen again.
  3. March 782 [26] (Adrian Russell): To Stephen South for F2 mid-1978 and fitted with a Hart 420R, but South was under-financed and only appeared occasionally. Took pole position at the Brands Hatch Aurora race in late-August. Sold to Adrian Russell (Thornton Heath, Surrey) for 1979 and used in F2, libre and Aurora until August when sold to Scot Jim Stevenson who ran it in libre, mainly at Ingliston, in late 1979 and early 1980. Then to Roger Philpott for hillclimbs in 1981, now with a 2.3-litre Hart engine, but again sold mid-season when Roy Lane pursuaded Philpott in August 1981 to exchange the 782 for Lane's new but underperforming March 802/812. Raced by Lane for the rest of the season, finished second in the Doune hillclimb in October. Sold to Norrie Galbraith for 1982 and upgraded to 79B specification but heavily damaged in Galbraith's fatal accident while filming for Scottish TV at Doune in September. The tub was scrapped but the remains of 782-26 went via Bobby Howlings to Willy Widar in Belgium and were at some point rebuilt on the tub from 792-20, which Galbraith had acquired shortly before the crash. This 782/792 went to Leo Schildkamp (Heerlen, Netherlands) in 1993, then to Per-Owe Soderberg (Laxå, Sweden) in 1994 and then Thomas Fridlund (Arvika, Sweden) in 2001. Then to John Bladon December 2005, and sold by him to Matthew Slinn December 2006. Slinn had plans to rebuild the car to 782 specification using a 78B tub.
  4. March 792 [20] (Norman Dickson): New to Norman Dickson (Perth, Scotland) and raced in the F2 section of the 1979 British F1 series, prepared by Colin Bennett. Due to be raced by Angelo Piccione at the Misano in August but he was too slow in testing. Sold to Paul Gibson in October 1979 and used mainly in libre racing at Croft but also appeared in rounds of the British series at Thruxton and Monza. Sold to Bob Leckie (Aberdeen, Scotland) for libre racing in 1981 but sold on in mid-season to John Bothamley who used it in the last few races of the Ingliston season. Taken to John Maguire in Coventry that winter who used the engine, gearbox, suspension, uprights, brakes and other components in the construction of a GT car for 1982, with Maguire's space frame chassis and Lotus Esprit bodywork. The tub, nose, rear wing, sidepods and rear bodywork were returned to Scotland and sold to Norrie Galbraith who planned to fit the running gear off his March 782 and put it in the 792 tub. Unfortunately Galbraith was killed in the 782 just weeks later. The 782 tub was scrapped but 792 tub and the remains of the 782 were sold to Bobby Howlings who eventually sold them to Willy Widar in Belgium. The 782 parts and 792 tub were evidently then built into a car which took the identity of 782-26. With its components scattered, the 792 has effectively ceased to exist.

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 results were compiled primarily from the race reports in Autosport during the season, with some additional information from the results section of Autocourse, and some details compiled by Jeremy Jackson from a variety of sources, including Autosport, Motoring News and the Formula One Register books. All the chassis identities were taken from research elsewhere on this site.

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.