One-Litre F3 Historic Racing Association

22nd-23rd June 2024 - Thruxton

New circuit to the calendar for 60th Anniversary

Chris Moore Memorial Trophy - Thruxton Historic Race Meeting 22nd – 23rd June 2024

Thruxton_Historic_Race_Meeting_Results.pdf [PDF]

In this the celebration year for the HSCC Historic Formula 3 Championship, Rounds 3 & 4 took place at Thruxton Circuit as part of The Thruxton Historic Weekend. This event has been growing in popularity as the lure of the Challenge of this high-speed track continues to attract competitors from across the spectrum of Historic Racing. 

For the One-Litre cars it was a particularly poignant event, the cars last having raced at Thruxton in 1970. To add to the nostalgia, Robs Lamplough, a driver who competed in every season of the Screamers from 1964 – 1970 had negotiated that the Chris Moore Memorial Trophy would be presented to the aggregate winner of the race. Joining Robs at the weekend would be representatives of the Moore family, along with Nick Gethin, the son of Peter Gethin, who went on to have a successful career in Formula 5000 and later Formula One; winning the 1971 Italian Grand Prix for BRM.

To add to the celebration, not only did summer finally arrive with some glorious sunshine, but after a long wait the Championship has been granted a noise waiver. This meant that at Thruxton the single seaters could scream again for the first time since 1970 to demonstrate why they these one-litre cars earned their name. 

It was a 20-car entry that assembled at the circuit, with Glenn Loxton finally getting to race his Merlyn Mk14 after he had to withdraw from Cadwell Park. Ian Bankhurst had his first outing for the year, not in his Alexis, but the Brabham BT21 of Gil Duffy. Peter De La Roche was kindly offered a drive in the Cooper T72 of Nigel Haigh.

Joining the entry for the first time this year would be Simon Armer in his March 703, Simon Haughton in his Chevron B15 and Mark Linstone - who persuaded his Brabham BT21 that it was ready to race for another year. 

Andrew Hibberd was entered in the Chequered Flag Racing Brabham BT18. Coincidentally - or perhaps courtesy of a little research by Andrew - the poster for the Chris Moore Trophy in 1969 featured a Chequered Flag car leading, with that race being won by the late Alan Rollinson.

Nick Pearce had his U2 repaired following the mechanical-induced off at Cadwell Park, the car running competitively. Simon Etherington was driving the eye-catching ex-Pico Troberg Brabham seen last year driven by the Dan Eagling of Lifetime Racing.

As cars continue to appear from hibernation, the stage is set for some very exciting racing for the remainder of the season. This was certainly to be the case at Thruxton……...

Qualifying

Unfortunately, we did not get to see Peter De La Roche performing in the Cooper T72. Peter took the car out in the morning practice session, establishing an early lap time close to that of Nick Pearce. However, he felt the engine tightening and wisely withdrew the car before qualifying to minimise any damage. 

Ultimately, the session was defined by a three-way battle for Pole Position. Andrew Hibberd in the BT18 intended to keep the Chequered Flag car at the forefront. However, Jon Milicevic and Ross Drybrough were not going to let him get away. Ross managed to get to within one tenth of a second of Andrew before he dialled in an even faster lap, taking pole by 0.646 seconds, and was the only driver to record a lap time within the 1min 24sec bracket. Ross’ best effort got him down to 1m 25.02secs distancing himself from Jon Milicevic in 3rd place who had Mark Carter in the Chevron B15 close to him just 7 tenths apart at 1min 26.1 to 1m 26.8 for Mark. 

Jason Timms following his gearbox woes at Cadwell Park was just 3 tenths down on Mark, with Simon Armer on his return completing the top 6 - although Simon would subsequently withdraw and not take part in any of the racing. This gave 6th spot on the grid to Steve Seaman who had been very close to the former Champion. 

Next row in 7th spot would be Steve Nichols, with Mike Pangbourne alongside. Ian Bankhurst on his return on row 5 would have Andrew Tart alongside him. Nick Pearce in the lone side-draught entry with his U2 would start from row 7. 

Naturally, some great racing was anticipated…….. 

Race 1

It would be 18 cars that lined up on Saturday for the first of the two races that would determine the aggregate winner of the Chris Moore Memorial Trophy. Each of the races also being points-scoring rounds within the Historic Formula 3 Championship.

At the start of the race it would be Ross Drybrough who made a demon start to lead Jon Milicevic into the Complex. Further down the order, Steve Seaman tangled with Steve Nichols at the Complex. Seaman was left stranded with a broken front suspension requiring the race to be halted. Steve Seaman later apologising to Steve Nichols and the Clerk for the error that penalised him the most – the damage unfortunately ending his participation in both two races. 

After the removal of the stranded Brabham, the race would recommence for the full 20 minutes plus a green flag lap as the cars had been sat with their tyres cooling. Jason Timms failed to get away on the sighting lap, being cleared to start from the pit lane. 

Ross Dryborough could not repeat his earlier start, and it was Jon Milicevic that would lead with Andrew Hibberd 2nd with Ross Drybrough 3rd and Mark Carter 4th. Steve Nichols would come through in 5th place, Ian Bankhurst 6th , Glen Loxton 7th , Andrew Tart 8th, Mark Linstone 9th and Nick Pearce in the U2 10th. Mark Pangbourne had to retire to the pits with electrical problems. 

At the end of the 1st lap Andrew Hibberd in the Chequered Flag Brabham would lead, by 0.742 seconds from Jon Milicevic and Ross Dryborough. By lap 3, the top 4 had extended a 16 second advantage back to Steve Nichols. Jason Timms following his pit lane start was 7th - and scything through the field as he battled to get closer to the leading pack.

By lap 4, Andrew Hibberd had created a comfortable lead with Milicevic and Dryborough having extended their advantage over Mark Carter who now had an 18 second advantage over Jason Timms who had climbed up to 5th place. On this lap, Mark Linstone would retire out on circuit with a head gasket failure. 

Jon Milicevic after his great start was starting to lap slower than Ross Dryborough who was looking to keep Andrew Hibberd in his sights. A lap later, Ross moved into second place as Jon had lost his earlier pace.

Mark Carter, who had been following the leading trio, was starting to reel in Jon Milicevic. Behind Mark there was a great 3-way dice taking place between Steve Nichol, Ian Bankhurst and Andrew Tart. 

On lap 6, Jason Timms’ fine charge through the field came to an end when the gear lever snapped as he was changing up. With a box full of neutrals, Jason pulled off to a safe spot without interruption to the race. 

On lap 7, Ian Bankhurst’s Brabham finally passed Steve Nichols Chevron. Andrew Tart in his Merlyn briefly followed through a lap later, only for Steve to repass him on the next lap.

Simon Haughton ended his season return on lap 8 pulling into the pits. At the front, the lead Andrew Hibberd had built was being reduced. He reported afterwards that the engine was losing power with a full 500rpm down on the straights. 

By lap 9, the gap had reduced to just over a second between the front two, with Mark Carter closing within 3 seconds of Jon Milicevic. Consequently, the closing laps of the race became quite dramatic. 

Steve Nichols passed Ian Bankhurst, regaining the place Ian had taken from him. The trio continuing to battle until the fall of the flag. In his pursuit of Andrew Hibberd, Ross Dryborough set the fastest lap of the race. Jon Milicevic retired to the pits, declaring he felt the engine tightening; which placed the very determined Mark Carter firmly into third place.

Entering the last lap – and despite his best efforts - Ross found the gap to Andrew had extended from just over a second to two seconds. It looked like a straightforward win for the Chequered Flag car. However, owing to the extra laps given because of the Red flag stoppage, fuel levels were getting a little lower than predicted, and on the last lap Andrew Hibberd’s car started to have pick-up problems enabling him to take the flag by 0.8 seconds from Ross Dryborough; who was by now probably lamenting the Red flag in the first start. 

Mark Carter finished 3rd, Steve Nichols 4th after his race long tussle from Ian Bankhurst and Andrew Tart. Glenn Loxton got his first points on the board finishing 7th, Leif Bosson in his Brabham BT28 8th Nick Pearce in the U2 9th and 10th overall would be Martin Whitlock.  

Race 2

 The second race grid was formed from the drivers fastest lap times in Race 1, placing Ross Drybrough on pole position with Andrew Hibberd alongside. There was a gap on the grid where 3rd fastest Jon Milicevic would have been. Jason Timms - benefitting from his great drive in the early part of Race 1 - lined up 4th fastest. Mark Carter would be 5th, Ian Bankhurst 6th with Andrew Tart 7th Steve Nichols 8th Glenn Loxton 9th and completing the top ten would be Leif Bosson. 

Simon Haughton and Steve Seaman did not take part in Race 2 and Mark Pangbourne would start from the pit lane as he tried to remedy the electrical issue that had led to his retirement from Race one. 

Ross Dryborough repeated his start from Race one to lead the race, with Andrew Hibberd in second place and Jason Timms in 3rd. Ian Bankhurst would be 4th whilst Mark Carter dropped down the order following a second lap spin placing Glenn Loxton into 5th place with Steve Nichol 6th. 

On lap 2 Andrew Tart would retire to the pits. As the top three pulled away, they became embroiled in a tight tussle that would last the entire race. On lap 5 Andrew Hibberd would be pushed down into 3rd place as Jason Timms made his way forward to challenge for the lead. This was a Formula 3 race so like those of the period with a slipstreaming fight that drew them clear of the pack behind. 

Steve Nichols had a spin out on circuit dropping from 6th to 12th, promoting lap two spinner Mark Carter into the 6th position. This put Steve behind the group of cars headed by Martin Whitlock and Simon Etherington in their Brabhams, who had Nick Pearce in the U2 giving chase. At the front it was Jason Timms who took the lead for two laps, only for Ross Dryborough to snatch it back for a lap before Jason took the lead again. 

Aside from watching the race on track, everyone in the timing box was looking at the time interval between the three. Who was going to be the aggregate winner? Was Andrew going to be close enough to Ross Dryborough to take the Chris Moore Memorial Trophy? Ultimately, the battle for the aggregate win was decided on lap 14 when Ross had a long lap, with Andrew moving into 2nd place creating a 3 second gap back to Ross in 3rd. Andrew had also lost time to Jason who looked to have the second race win in hand with an advantage of 0.971seconds - the largest gap in their race long duel!

On this lap Glenn Loxton would retire from the race. Steve Nichol had not managed to shake off Simon Etherington who he had passed on lap 8 on his drive back through the field. Simon stuck with him to repass on lap 12 for 8th place - the position he would retain to the flag. 

As the Chequered flag was being readied on the final lap, Andrew Hibberd put in the fastest lap of the race (and the weekend) for the Historic Formula 3s; thus making it a double win for the Chequered Flag car, and removing any need for mathematics to determine who would be the aggregate winner of the Chris Moore Memorial Trophy. 

The race 2 result was therefore a win for Andrew Hibberd in the Brabham BT18; 2nd would be Jason Timms in the Brabham BT21; 3rd Ross Dryborough in the Merlyn Mk14a; 4th Ian Bankhurst in the Gil Duffy Brabham BT21; 5th Mark Carter in the SpeedSport Chevron B15; 6th place would be Mark Linstone in his Brabham BT21; 7th for Leif Bosson in the Brabham BT28, 8th Simon Etherington in the Brabham BT18; 9th Steve Nichols in his Chevron B17, and completing the top 10 Martin Whitlock in his Brabham BT21. 

On the podium the Race Awards were presented by Robs Lamplough and Nick Gethin, with William Moore and his young daughters presenting the Chris Moore Memorial Trophy to Andrew Hibberd. Whilst holding the trophy, Andrew looked at the names of the previous winners. His name would be added to an illustrious roll-call of predecessors; which included from the period Alan Rollinson, and Mike Beuttler. Subsequently, the trophy had been won by such luminaries as James Hunt and Ayrton Senna. 

The Championship now moves to Brands Hatch for two races on the Grand Prix circuit. After the Thruxton slipstreaming thriller we can hardly wait for the next contest.