Grote Prijs van Zolder

Zolder, 24 Apr 1977

All cars are 2-litre F3 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 773 [7?] (Piercarlo Ghinzani): Piercarlo Ghinzani used at least two March 773s in Formula 3 in 1977. He used 773-15 in the latter part of the season, but that car was not delivered until early June, so was presumably acquired to replace the car Ghinzani wrecked at Croix-en-Ternois in July. March records show 773-7 being delivered new to Angeleri for Forti with orange bodywork, and as Ghinzani's was the only orange 773 based in Italy and was run by Forti, hus early-season car is likely to have been that car.
2. Chevron B38 [38.77.14] (Piero Necchi): New to Piero Necchi for 1977, and run for him by Trivellato Racing Team in European F3. Crashed and rolled at Monaco, after which Necchi bought a new Ralt RT1/77. The Chevron was evidently repaired, as it was raced by Paolo Squillace at Monza in June, in place of his usual slow B34.
3. Chevron B38 [38.77.10] (Eje Elgh): Chevron build record says the 1977 works car of Eje Elgh. Sold to Derek Lawrence and fitted with a Chevrolet Vega engine for the 1978 F3 season. To Lynn Whitehead for hillclimbs? David Waterhouse [‘ex Lawrence’] by 1986 and chassis number noted by Jeremy Jackson in 1988.
4. Chevron B38 [38.77.05] (Derek Warwick): Chassis number given by source with access to Chevron build records for the 1977 Warwick Trailers car entered for Derek Warwick. Rented to Toleman in late 1977 for Rad Dougall after Derek Daly wrecked Toleman’s original car in testing. Autosport 9 Mar 1978 p41 describes the car of Ken Silverstone as ‘ex Warwick’. However, by this time Ken Silverstone also owned a Ralt and there are a number of occasions in 1978 when one car is given in the entry list and the other one appeared. As Silverstone was running near the back of the field which car he used is not always mentioned.
5. March 763 [13] (Stephen South): March build records show sold to John Stokes, 19 May 1976. Run by Stokes for Stephen South from mid 1976, until wrecked in an accident with Derek Daly in the 1977 British GP support race and scrapped. Some parts used in the construction of 773-T1, South's replacement car.
6. Hawke DL18 [1] (Jan Lammers): The Hawke DL18 was designed by Adrian Reynard for David Lazenby's Hawke company, based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Hawke had been successful in Formula Ford, but this was the firm's first F3 car. Rupert Keegan was signed to drive the car, with sposorship from British Air Ferries. Reynard's design was advanced, with inboard rising-rate front suspension and delta-shaped rear wing, but testing did not go well and Keegan only raced it once. It remained with Hawke, and was revamped for the 1977 season, when Jan Lammers drove it.
7. Chevron B38 [38.77.01] (Elio de Angelis): Chassis number given by source with access to Chevron build records for the 1977 Trivellato car entered for Elio de Angelis. De Angelis was specially reunited with the car for the 1978 Monaco F3 race. Autosport 11 May 1978 p32 describes his car at Monaco as 'the first 38 built'. For sale Autosprint 17 Oct 1978 p70, B38, Monaco winner 1978, de Angelis, by Valtellina Racing. Sold to Maurelio Scarabelli [‘the Chevron with which de Angelis won Monaco’ Autosprint 10 Apr 1979 p54] for 1979.
8. March 773 [3] (Ian Taylor): March build records show sold to Unipart, 23 December 1976. Only one 773 is consigned to Unipart in the build records. Assumed that Taylor as senior driver would take the new car, a fact borne out by occasional references in 1977 to Needell being in a 763, the team's original car.
9. Chevron B38 [38.77.07] (Derek Daly): The 1977 Derek McMahon car entered for Derek Daly. Used throughout 1977, with a number of rebuilds, including one new tub at least. Motoring News 9 Mar 1978 p8 says that the car used by Steve Malins at Silverstone 5 March 1978 is ex Daly. Wrecked by Malins in testing and replaced with a new B43 . According to Autosport 2 Nov 1978 p23, rebuilt and sold to Rob Moores who ran it later in the season. Moores was still using this car in F4 in 1982.
10. March 773 [U1] (Mario Ferraris): March works records show this as Mario Ferraris' works car for 1977 built on tub AM773-14 and rebuilt after Ferraris' Monaco accident on tub AM773-65. Sold in March 1978 to Neasrader Film Production for Richard Morgan according to the works records. Motoring News 30 Mar 1978 p11 says that Morgan's car is ex King, but we know from reports and the works records that King's main car was 773-U2. However, that car was damaged in the 1977 season and it is possible that King used 773-U1 after its rebuild as Ferraris' damaged wrist took longer to recover than the car did. Sold to John Bright in 1979 to replace his wrecked 773-13 and its identity eventually perhaps blurred with that car in a rebuild after a heavy accident.
11. March 773 [10] (Brett Riley): According to March records delivered in March 1977 to AFMP Euroracing, and subsequently given to Brett Riley in lieu of his contractual payments when the Euroracing set-up was dissolved. (This does not mean the car was Riley’s early season car in 1977; he used at least two before the team collapsed, neither of which were necessarily this car.) Run by David Price for Riley in the second half of 1977 and used to win the European round at Donington. Chassis number given in Autosport advert late in 1977 by Price. Sold to Roy Kennedy [Motoring News 2 Mar 1978 p15] although Autosport 9 Mar 1978 p41 says the car is ‘ex James King’. (King used a works car - 773-U2 - for most of 1977 but it is possible he had a race in this car early in the season, however his principal car went in 1978 to Ian Flux.) Run by Kennedy for Saed Ali Hodzic until Hodzic was injured in practice at the International Trophy support race; then became a rental car but did very few races. For sale by Kennedy in early 1979, Autosport 22 Feb 1979 p57, but retained and rented to Serge Saulnier for the 1979 race at Monaco.
12. Chevron B38 [38.77.04] (Beppe Gabbiani): New to Trivellato Racing Team for 1977 and raced by Beppe Gabbiani in European F3. Gabbiani received a new car for the Monza Lotteria in June, and 77-04 was next seen when raced by Siegfried Stohr for Trivellato at Vallelunga in October.
13. Ralt RT1/77 [56] (Anders Olofsson): New to Anders Olofsson for 1977 according to Ralt records, and raced by him in European and Swedish F3 with backing from Puss o Kram Jeans. Retained by Olofsson for 1978, now as Strike Up Racing Team. To Pomeroy Racing Team for 1979, when it was raced by Olofsson and by Björn Ohlsson. Raced by Hans Edvinsson in 1980.
14. Ralt RT1/77 [51] (John Nielsen): New to VB Racing (Vojens Boligcenter) for 1977 and raced by Dane John Nielsen in F3 across Europe.
15. Ralt RT1/76 [29] (Geoff Brabham): Ralt records show as sold to Geoff Brabham in 1976, probably being delivered in early June. Used by him until the end of 1978 then sold to Ken Thorogood's Hub of the Universe Racing for Osamu Hatagawa to use in British races.
16. March 773 [13] (Aryon Cornelsen Filho): Shown in March records as a works car finished February 1977, on tub AM773-28 for Ayron Cornelson Filho. Also used by David Kennedy in 1977. Sold to John Bright in March 1978 to cover for his damaged Wheatcroft. Damaged badly by Bright and rebuilt on new tub in August. Retained by Bright in 1979 until wrecked at Snetterton.
17. Chevron B38 [38.77.19] (Ian Grob): Chevron build records show as a 1977 Docking Racing car entered for KVG Racing (Ian Grob). Retained in 1978. As Bullman and latterly Colonna use Colonna’s 1977 car in 1978, it is presumed that this was the car rented to Huub Rothengatter at the end of the season when Colonna also appears.
18. March 773 [U2] (James King): March works records show this as James King's works car for 1977 built on a lightweight tub AM773-41 with parts from 763-U2. This would be the "ex-King" car sold to Ian Flux early in 1978, and raced by him in the 1978 British F3 series.
19. Ralt RT1/76 [25] (Helmut Bross): Shown in Ralt build records as sold via Schäfer with a Toyota engine. Schafer uses BMW engined car throughout 1976, suggesting this is the new car debuted by Bross in mid season and retained 1977.
20. Ralt RT1/77 [45] (Walter Schöch): Shown in Ralt build records as sold to Schoch; presumed that he, as team boss, took the new car, with the older 76 model being passed over to Muller.
21. March 773 [763-9] (Tiff Needell): Shown in March records as sold to Tony Dron 12.1.76. This was the solitary Unipart car in 1976. Although Unipart ran two cars in 1977, they only bought one new car, converting the older car for Needell, the junior driver in the team. Some results credit Needell's car as being a 763.
22. Chevron B38 [38.77.18] (Thorkild Thyrring): Chevron build records show as a 1977 works car entered for Thorkild Thyrring, and used by Divina Galica at the end of the season. Race reports for Jim Crawford's car debuting at Silverstone 19 March 1978 describe it as 'ex Thyrring and Galica'. Wrecked by Crawford in a spectacular roll at Thruxton at the end of March and replaced by a Chevron B43 which used some parts from the wreck.

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.

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