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Andy Wallace in the Reynard 863 in June 1986.  Copyright Alan Cox 2011.  Used with permission.

British Formula 3 1986

Although Britain's F3 champion was not assured of a F1 drive, as had seemed the case in the early 1980s, it did guarantee a place in a good team in F3000. The British series, now sponsored by Lucas, continued to add depth with fields averaging 34 cars, up from 28 in 1985, 21 in 1983 and a mere 17 in 1983.

After his disappointment in 1985, Andy Wallace moved to Madgwick but remained faithful to Reynard, one of very few drivers who did. Wallace and Maurizio Sandro Sala, in Eddie Jordan's Ralt, dueled for the title until 'Morris' inexplicably lost faith in the Ralt and Wallace was able to dominate the closing stages of the season. Martin Donnelly was Wallace's closest challenger after Sala faded. Further down the field were a few future stars, notably Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert.

Remembering how Ralt had come back so strongly against Reynard in 1985, most teams stuck with Ron Tauranac's cars but there was a move towards Reynard late in the season as Wallace's example qualified on pole 11 times in succession. Nobody tried the Dallara 386 or Martini MK49 which were completely dominant in European national series.

The races

02 Mar 1986 > Silverstone

09 Mar 1986 > Thruxton

23 Mar 1986 > Silverstone

31 Mar 1986 > Thruxton

13 Apr 1986 > Silverstone

20 Apr 1986 > Brands Hatch

05 May 1986 > Thruxton

18 May 1986 > Donington Park

26 May 1986 > Silverstone

08 Jun 1986 > Silverstone

21 Jun 1986 > Oulton Park

29 Jun 1986 > Zandvoort

13 Jul 1986 > Cellnet Trophy Formula 3 Race at Brands Hatch

20 Jul 1986 > Donington Park

03 Aug 1986 > Cellnet Trophy Formula 3 Race at Brands Hatch

11 Aug 1986 > Snetterton

25 Aug 1986 > Silverstone

31 Aug 1986 > Brands Hatch

13 Sep 1986 > Spa-Francorchamps

28 Sep 1986 > Zolder

05 Oct 1986 > Silverstone

Lucas British Formula 3 Championship events shown in bold

1986 Lucas British Formula 3 Championship table

1Andy WallaceReynard 863121 pts 
2Maurizio Sandro SalaRalt RT30/86
Reynard 863
83 pts 
3Martin DonnellyRalt RT30/8659 pts 
4Gerrit van KouwenRalt RT30/86
Ralt RT30/86
24 pts 
5Gary BrabhamRalt RT30/8622 pts 

Previous: the 1985 season

Next: the 1987 season

Points table from Autosport 4 December 1986 p31.

VW strengthened its grip on F3 even further in 1986 but Toyota introduced a new 3S-G engine to replace the ageing 2T-G design. Only Intersport used it in 1986 and it made little impact.