OldRacingCars.com

Hitachi Formula Atlantic Series Race

Thruxton, 28 Sep 1980

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 David Leslie Ralt RT4/80 [185] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#8 Hope Scott Garage Ltd/Nixon Vehicle Wash
15 18m 29.5s
115.04 mph
2 Phil Dowsett March 79B [782-6] - Ford BDA Racing Fabrications
#5 Pinch Plant/Martin the Newsagent
(see note 1)
15 18m 31.9s
3 Roger Orgee March 782/79B - Ford BDA Richardson
#4 Baric Computing Services (Modern Engineers)
15 19m 42.2s
4 John Bowtell March 77B [Bowtell] - Ford BDA Swindon
#50 (see note 2)
14
5 Tony Westwood March 79B - Ford BDA Swindon
#6 Datamatic Ltd (see note 3)
14
6 Geoff Byman Lola T760 [HU1] - Ford BDA Smith
#9
14
7 Nick Adams Argo JM5 [036-FA] - Ford BDA Smith
#11 Colin Bennett Racing/Maclean Hunter Business Publications
(see note 4)
14
8 Mike Catlow Ralt RT1/77 [71?] - Ford BDA Hart
#16
14
9 David Duffield Ralt RT1/78 [145] - Ford BDA Swindon
#20 Caledon Coal (see note 5)
13
R Alo Lawler Ralt RT4/80 [199] - Ford BDA Smith
#3 L&B Excavations Ltd
7 Spun
R Ian Flux Ehrlich RP5 [1] - Ford BDA Ehrlich
#15 Dr. J. Ehrlich
2 Suspension

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

Qualifying
1 Phil Dowsett (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 79B [782-6] - Ford BDA Racing Fabrications
2 David Leslie (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ralt RT4/80 [185] - Ford BDA Nicholson
3 Ian Flux (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ehrlich RP5 [1] - Ford BDA Ehrlich
4 Alo Lawler (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ralt RT4/80 [199] - Ford BDA Smith
5 Roger Orgee (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 782/79B - Ford BDA Richardson
6 John Bowtell (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 77B [Bowtell] - Ford BDA Swindon
7 Tony Westwood (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 79B - Ford BDA Swindon
8 Mike Catlow (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ralt RT1/77 [71?] - Ford BDA Hart
9 Nick Adams (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Argo JM5 [036-FA] - Ford BDA Smith
10 Geoff Byman (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Lola T760 [HU1] - Ford BDA Smith
11 David Duffield (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Ralt RT1/78 [145] - Ford BDA Swindon

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 79B [782-6] (Phil Dowsett): 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.
  2. March 77B [Bowtell] (John Bowtell): In September 1978, John Bright (Leicester) advertised a March "77P" which he described as being a F2 rolling chassis and "same as Giacomelli's". He also advertised his 773 Formula 3 car which had been rebuilt on a new monocoque in August 1978. It is therefore possible that the "77P" had been built using the 773's repaired original monocoque. The car was sold to John Bowtell (Witney, Oxfordshire), who fitted it with a 2-litre BDX bought from Ray Mallock and ran it in libre in 1979. He then fitted it with a 1600cc Swindon BDA and raced it in the British Formula Atlantic series in 1980. He then retired from racing, and advertised the car in January 1981. Subsequent history unknown.
  3. March 79B (Tony Westwood): Tony Westwood (Cardiff/Caerphilly/Eaton Hastings) raced a March "78B" or March "79B" with Swindon engines in British Formula Atlantic in 1980 and early 1981. He was sponsored by Datamatic Limited ("Pacemakers in Continuous Print") and entered as #6 in 1980 and #2 in 1981. He was last seen in April 1981. Subsequent history unknown
  4. Argo JM5 [036-FA] (Nick Adams): Built late in the 1979 season and invoiced to Nick May, who drove it in the Brands Hatch Formula Atlantic race in October 1979. Then to Dave Rackham and tested by him, but remained unused until Rackham advertised it in August 1980. It was finally raced by Nick Adams, and run for him by Colin Bennett Racing, in two races in September and October 1980. Sold to Jim Blackwell (Seattle, WA) and raced by him in ICSCC events in 1981, then advertised in June 1982. Raced once more by Blackwell in 1985 after his newer Argo JM9 was damaged at Portland. Also raced by Larry Dunn (Lake Stevens, WA) in local WCAR events in 1987.
  5. Ralt RT1/78 [145] (David Duffield): New to Bernard Hunter (Edinburgh, Scotland) in December 1978, and raced in the 1979 British Formula Atlantic series. Also used extensively in libre racing in the north of England in Scotland. Sold to David Duffield for 1980 British Atlantic races and for libre at Ingliston. Then sold to Australian Charlie O’Brien and raced by him in the New Zealand Formula Pacific series in December 1980 and January 1981. Then raced by O'Brien in the National Panasonic Formula Pacific series in Australia later that year. To Ron Barnacle for the Australian Grand Prix in November 1981 and the Australian National F1 Championship in 1982. Subsequent history unknown. In 2011, Grant Martin (Auckland, New Zealand) advertised the ex-O'Brien RT1 No 145.

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.