BRSCC Shell Super Oil F3 Championship Race

Snetterton, 8 Oct 1972

All cars are 1.6-litre F3 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT38C [21] (Conny Andersson): New to Conny Andersson and raced in European F3 in 1972 using Novamotor engines. Retained at the start of 1973, until Andersson's new March 733 arrived. To Mats Byström, and raced in Swedish F3 in 1973. To Rolf Johansson, and raced by him in Swedish F3 in 1974 and 1975.
2. Brabham BT38C [11] (Peter Hull): New to Peter Hull for British F3 and selected European events in 1972, using Vegantune engines and sponsored by The Motor Auctions London and Derby. Its history after 1972 is a puzzle as Hull recalls selling it to Jimmy Fuller but Fuller's car in 1973 was described as being the former Chris O'Brien car. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Brabham BT38C [18] (Damien Magee): New to Allan McCully and raced as part of the Australian International Racing Organisation (AIRO) in British F3 and some European events in 1972. Badly damaged on its debut at Silverstone in April but presumably repaired and the car driven by McCully at Monaco in mid-May. Then raced by Bill McGovern at Brands Hatch two weeks later, and crashed again, after which AIRO split up and McCully flew back to New Zealand. Irishman Damien Magee took over the drive, now entered by Tiran Auto Centre, and finished second at Brands Hatch and third at Thruxton in August. The "ex-Magee" car was advertised with Novamotor engine from a Tunbridge Wells number in January 1973. This would presumably be the "ex Magee" BT38C of Leif Spalding in Swedish F3 in 1973. Then with Thorbjörn Carlsson in 1975 and 1976. Subsequent history unknown.
4. Lotus 69 [71/69-11.F3] (Ross Ambrose): New to Rikky von Opel and raced in British F3 in 1971, using Holbay engines. Sold to Ross Ambrose for British F3 in 1972, using Vegantune engines and entered by Travisco Racing. Hired from Ambrose by Ernesto Neves for the Estoril F3 race in June. Advertised in October 1972 stating that the car had a new chassis in June 1972 and a new Vegantune engine in July. Sold to Victor Bohm and Malcolm Bohm for 1973, who used it in both F3 and Formula Atlantic specification using the Vegantune twin cam engine. Then unknown in 1974 and 1975. Reappeared with Mike Bowers for libre racing in 1976, still using its 1600cc Vegantune twin cam engine.
5. Brabham BT38C [14] (Ulf Svensson): New to Ulf Svensson for European F3 in 1972, using Holbay engines and sponsored by Team Mum for Men. According to Magnus Haggstam, this car went to Lasse Karlsson for 1973 and raced by him in F3 until at least 1975. Then to Kaal Wirgin in 1976, and raced by him Swedish Formula 3 Championship races in 1977 and 1978, before he acquired a newer Argo. The car was next seen in 2000, when it was acquired by Carsten Frimodt (Denmark). It was restored to F2 specification with an 1860cc engine and was raced by Frimodt in Sweden in 2006 and 2007. Frimodt sold it to another Dane who sold it to Dr Sami Hamid (Vienna, Austria) in 2010. It was restored for him by Marcel Biehl of Biehl Racing (Moenchengladbach, Germany) to proper F3 specification. It was sold to John Albiston (Elgin, Scotland) in 2018, who modified it to Formula Atlantic specification and used to win the Scottish Historic Hillclimb and Sprint Championship in 2019 and 2020.
6. Brabham BT28 [17] (Bob Shellard): To Frank Williams Racing Cars and entered for John Kendall in mostly British F3 in 1969. Retained for 1970 until August when Kendall moved the car to Paul Watson Racing Organisation where it was driven by Richard Scott. To Peter Hull for 1971 who advertised it as a BT28 with BT30 chassis. To Bob Shellard for hillclimbs in 1972, then to Phil Kidsley & Paul Squires who ran it in sprint and hillclimbs until at least 1989, using a Cosworth MAE at first but later with a supercharged 1100cc Ford BDA. Said to be with Tommy Reid in 2006.
7. Brabham BT38C [17] (Randy Lewis): New to American Randy Lewis for British and European F3 in 1972 with Novamotor engines and sponsored by Wrangler, but only picked up a few days before the Estoril race in mid-June. Believed to have wrecked at some point in Lewis's European travels and rebuilt on a new monocoque as its AM number indicates a very late chassis. In August 1974 and again in April 1976, Lewis advertised a BT38 with BT40 suspension and Cosworth BDA engine which had not been raced since 1972. This suggests that Lewis had taken his car back to the US and converted it to Formula B but it is also possible that this was a different car. Sold to Tom Smith (Redwood City, CA) in 1977 with a Hart twin cam, then to Greg Loscher (Kensington, CA) who fitted a Cosworth BDA and ran it for some years in FB and then SCCA Formula Atlantic, at least until the end of 1983. He eventually sold the car and it was next seen when advertised online in 2001 as BT38C-17. By 2006 it was owned by Mike Truitt in Colorado but it has not been seen since.
8. Royale RP11 [2] (Val Musetti): New for Val Musetti (Twickenham) and raced in British F3 in 1972. Retained for 1973 until "written off" in an accident the week before the race at Oulton Park 20 April 1973. Musetti then took over the Reystan Racing Royale RP11A from Andy Sutcliffe, and future references to an ex-Musetti Royale would be to that car.
9. GRD 372 [010-F3] (Mo Harness): Raced by Canadian David McConnell in the 1972 Tasman series, using 2-litre Hart BDA engines. Next seen in July, when it was taken over by Mo Harness and raced in British Formula 3 using Leabro engines. Then to Jac Nellemann for F3 I 1973. In 1974, the car went to Jan Ridell, and raced in Swedish 3, now using 2-litre Vegantuneengines. Retained by Ridell for 1975, when he used Billgren BMW engines. Retained again by Ridell for 1976. To Dick Berg for Swedish F3 in 1977 and 1978, again with the Billgren BMW engines. Next seen in 1980, when it was raced by Mats Karlsson, now using Vegantune twin cams. Retained by Karlsson for 1981.
10. Ensign LNF3/72 (Jeremy Gambs): New to Jeremy Gambs and raced in British F3 in 1972. Loaned to Alan McKechnie for Bob Evans at one race, and also raced by Gambs girlfriend Lorina Boughton, and by Reg James during that season. Sold to hillclimber Spencer Elton (Westbury, Wiltshire) for 1973 and raced in some F3 races. To David Way (Melksham, Wiltshire), fitted with a 1098cc Holbay engine and run in hillclimbs and sprints in 1974 in the 1100cc racing car class. Way bought the Cosworth FVA engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox from Gordon Brooks' wrecked Lotus 69 and fitted it to the Ensign for 1975. He raced it in this form up to 1979. Then sold to somebody in Dursley, thought to be Pete Morys, and then to Josie Tolhurst. For sale by Lenham Racing in 1986. Subsequent history unknown.
11. Brabham BT38C [19] (Chris O'Brien): New to Canadian driver Chris O'Brien and raced in British F3 in 1972 using Holbay engines. To Jimmy Fuller for 1973, again in British F3 and again using Holbay engines. Advertised by Fuller from Sunbury-on-Thames as a "BT38/41" with two rebuilt Novamotor twin-cams, a spare monocoque and bodywork for £2,250 in November 1973. Formula 3 changed to 2000cc for 1974, and the BT38C was sold to David Taylor (Formy, Lancashire, later Merseyside) for Kim Mather to race in British Formula Atlantic in 1974. When the car first appeared, it had a RES BDA engine and still used F3 wheels, Mather recalling that he "just dropped a BDA in it". By the end of May it had a Richardson BDA and wider wheels, but it was still far off the pace of the leading cars, and this turned out to be its last Atlantic race. Taylor also used the car in sprints at Longridge, and Mather won two libre races at Aintree. Taylor advertised the car in September, complete with Richardson BDA, for £2,200 and sold it to Ted Payne (Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham). Payne had raced a BT38 earlier in the season with a Vegantune engine, but it appears he had sold that car and had bought Taylor's very similar one with its Richardson engine. Payne continued to race the car in 1975, and entry lists show that it was black with a Richardson engine, and generally entered as a BT38-40. It was advertised by Payne in November 1975 as a BT38/40 with a recently rebuilt Cosworth BDA engine, and with a spare monocoque.
12. Royale RP11 [8] (Martyn Howse): New to Martyn Howse and raced in British F3 from August 1972 onwards. Retained for 1973 but crashed at Brands Hatch at the start of the season and not seen again until Castle Combe in August where he did not start. Next seen at a couple of races in August 1974 but did not finish either. Subsequent history unknown.
13. Chevron B20 [72-1] (Chris Skeaping): New to Chris Skeaping as a works Formula 3 entry for 1972. Skeaping had numerous accidents in the car and his only significant result was third place at Silverstone in mid-May. Not seen again after Skeaping's race at Thruxton in late-October 1972. Advertised by Chevron Cars as "immaculate and ready to race" in August 1973. It was acquired by Alex Lowe (Liverpool) as a rolling chassis, part of a package that included a spare monocoque and the rear end of another car. He raced the ex-Skeaping Chevron B20 in Formula 4 from 1975 to 1978, and then in Monosposto in 1979 and 1980. In September 1980, he had a major accident at Oulton Park, damaging the monocoque beyond immediate repair, so Lowe rebuilt the car on the spare monocoque. He retired from racing at the end of that season. In 1982, he moved to Wales, and sold off the B20. He cannot remember the buyer. According to Chevron Cars (then owned by Roger Andreason and Tim Colman), they bought two B20s from Lowe in 1986 and stored them. In 1994, the ex-F3 car was sold to Nick Crossley, restored to F3 spec and raced in HSCC events, winning the Classic F3 Championship in 1995. Then unknown until acquired from Jeremy Bouckley (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) by Martin Cowell (Hereford) in early 2007. He then sold it to Tom Powell (Potterton, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) in June 2007. Restored again, this time to original livery, and raced in Classic F3.
14. Brabham BT38C [12] (John MacDonald): New to Alan Jones and raced as part of the Australian International Racing Organisation in British F3 and some European events in 1972. The team often failed to arrive at races and finally vanished in June. Jones bought a GRD instead. In October, Jones' BT38C reappeared owned by Larry Sevitt and raced a couple of times by London wheeler-dealer John MacDonald. Subsequent history unknown.
15. Royale RP11 [5] (Simon Sherman): New to Simon Sherman and raced in British F3 in 1972. Retained for 1973, but did not start many races. Sherman entered the car for a few races in 1974 but only started one race. Subsequent history unknown.
16. Royale RP11 [7] (Lee Kaye): Invoiced to Basilwood Ltd but identified as the car raced by Lee Kaye in British F3 in 1972. Raced by Chris Pryer at Thruxton at the end of October but hit the bank at Village on the first lap in the rain. Not seen again.

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.

These British Formula 3 results have been compiled by Chris Townsend using the main British magazines Autosport and Motoring News but also the US magazine On Track which carried surprisingly good coverage of the British series.

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.