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21/07/2023
Seismic Turnaround in Historic Formula 3 - so said Marcus Pye in Autosport
He went on to say that “As momentum for the 1964 - 1970 category is refocused by next year’s 60th Anniversary celebrations, a sensational field of 31 ‘screamers’ was the largest grid of the Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix weekend!”. High praise indeed, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
Sam Harrison proving uncatchable in Speedsport’s ex Peter Westbury Brabham BT21B was no surprise but, as Marcus reports, ‘the pack is closing’.
On pole by two seconds, Harrison was kept honest in Saturday’s opener by the highly skilled Andrew Hibberd (ex Chris Irwin Brabham BT18) and One-Litre F3 “newbie” Peter de la Roche in Ian Phillips’ Alexis Mk17. The Timms cousins, Jeremy (Chevron B17) and Jason (BT21) were fourth and fifth ahead of series returnee Andy Jarvis (March 703 - showing increasing speed) and the perennial front running Europeans of Francois Derossi (B17), Christoph Widmer (BT18A) and Roland Fischer (Tecno 69).
Sunday followed a similar format, although the safety car came out almost immediately following a mid Paddock Hill melee, resulting in Josh Sharp’s B17 being tagged into an airborne trip to the gravel (and thus leavingTeam ATME with a lot of work to do before the Gold Cup). Despite breaking Sam Harrison’s Verstappen-like grip on the series by qualifying on pole, Peter de la Roche was unable to maintain that position and had to accede to Sam Harrison’s trip to the podium top step again.
Jeremy and Jason Timms took 2nd and 3rd ahead of Peter de la Roche and Andrew Hibberd. Former Classic F3 Champion (Brabham BT28) Richard Trott having his first outing in the series took a perhaps unsurprising 6th ahead of Jarvis, Derossi and another series newcomer Ross Drybrough (Merlyn Mk14A) who also showed an impressive turn of speed.
The Association was honoured by the presence of the 1970 British Formula 3 Champion, Tony Trimmer, who very kindly presented the winners with their trophies.
With just two weeks to the Gold Cup at Oulton Park for the newly inaugurated Sir Jackie Stewart Trophy, some drivers face a lot of work to ensure their cars will be ready. That said, there is no doubt that battle will resume at Oulton, in what is rapidly becoming one of the most charismatic and well supported historic single seater racing series.
