Forward Trust Formula Three Championship

Mallory Park, 6 May 1973

All cars are 1.6-litre F3 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 733 [13] (Leonel Friedrich): New to Brazilian driver Leonel Friedrich (Porto Alegre, Brazil) and run for him by Peter Bloore Racing in the 1973 British Formula 3 season. Friedrich had not sat in a single-seater racing car before, but was the 1972 1600cc class Brazilian Touring Car Champion. For a novice, he was impressively quick straight away, eighth fastest in practice at his first race, and finishing second four times in his first dozen F3 races. His March was fitted with Holbay engines except for a brief mid-season flirtation with Novamotors. The car was then hired to another young Brazilian Alex Dias Ribeiro, and run for him by Angeleri March Racing Brazil in two races at the very end of the season. Subsequent history unknown.
2. GRD 372 [022-F3] (Neil Ginn): Entered by GRS International for Scottish Formula Ford champion Neil Ginn and raced extensively in British F3 in 1972, using Novamotor engines. It was sponsored by Lyle & Scott's 'Y-front' underwear range. Retained for Ginn for 1973. The car had to be rebuilt on a borrowed tub after his accident in practice at Oulton Park on Good Friday. Ginn's last race was at Oulton Park at the end of May. In January 1974, Ginn advertised his "1973 GRD model" which came with "brand new tub and new bodywork" as well as a Novamotor engine and Hewland Mk 8 gearbox.
3. GRD 372 [024-F3] (Roger Craven): Entered by GRS International for Andy Sutcliffe for a few races in British F3 in April 1972, using Holbay engines. Then entered for young Portuguese driver Jorge Pinhol for the rest of the season, but he often failed to appear and may have only been at eight races, starting as few as three. Pinhol's car had been announced in early February, but he did not appear until the end of April. His last definite appearance was at Thruxon on 6 August but his entries continued until the start of October. The car was then run for Formula Ford star Johnny Gerber as an Ippokampos Racing entry but run by GRS International at Brands Hatch on 22 October 1972. The ex-Pinhol car went to Roger Craven (Lincoln) for British F3 in 1973, using RES and Vegantune engines. Also used by Craven very successfully in libre racing that season. It was advertised by Craven's entrant, L & K Racing Team (Lincoln) with a Neil Brown engine in November 1973 and from the same Lincoln telephone numbers in February 1974. Subsequent history unknown.
4. GRD 372 [025-F3] (John MacDonald): New to Reystan Racing Ltd for Masami Kuwashima to drive in British F3 in 1972, using Holbay engines. To John MacDonald for British F3 in 1973, when it was described as being the remains of Kuwashima's 1972 car built up around a new tub. Raced until October 1973, when it was said to have been sold to Ireland. Subsequent history unknown.
5. 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.
6. Royale RP11 [3] (John Sheldon): New to The Chequered Flag for Ian Ashley in British F3 in 1972. The team were a frequent non-arrival from July onwards, even when Brian McGuire replaced Ian Ashley as the nominated driver. Sold to John Sheldon (Surbiton, Surrey) for 1973 and raced in the British F3 series. Last seen at Mallory Park in August 1973. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Brabham BT35 [4] (Andy MacGregor): New to Canadian Chris O'Brien and used in British F3 in 1971, sponsored by Diner's Club. Retained by O'Brien for a couple of races early in 1972, while waiting for his Brabham BT38C to arrive, but he did not race it. Then sold to Andy McGregor but he failed to arrive for his first few races, then couldn't qualify for a few more, so did not start a race in 1972. Retained by McGregor for 1973, and used most of the season.
8. March 733 [3] (Russell Wood): New to Russell Wood and run for him in the British F3 series by Peter Bloore Racing with backing from The Chequered Flag. Wood won three early round of the championship but had a heavy accident at Zandvoort in May and did not win again. Sold to Australian Ian Douglass for 1974 and rebuilt for Australian F2, using various 742 bits. The car was involved in a fire during private testing at Oran Park after the Lakeside race in December 1974 and was completely burnt to the ground.
9. Royale RP11A [6] (Val Musetti): New factory car for Tom Pryce to drive, replacing the one wrecked at the 1972 Monaco GP F3 race. To Reystan Racing for 1973 for Andy Sutcliffe to drive, but Sutcliffe left the team in April, and his seat was taken over by Val Musetti, who had written off his own RP11 in testing. Raced by Musetti through to the end of the season. Converted to Formula Atlantic specification for 1974 and raced by Musetti in the British championship up to May. Sold later in the year to Mike Franey and raced in libre racing. Raced by Franey in a couple of British Formula Atlantic races in 1975. Subsequent history unknown.

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 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.