31st December 2015 - Season Review
Historic F3 Championship final points and Season Review
This review should be about the HSCC Championship, however it would be remiss of me to not mention probably the most significant races since Monaco 2010; the 73rd Members meeting at Goodwood. The Goodwood invitation saw for the first time since the early summer of 1966, 1-litre F3 cars racing at Goodwood in the second Members’ Meeting of the modern era, and delivered a fabulous spectacle. The unfortunate consequence with Goodwood is that there are not enough spaces for everyone who should be there to race. A capacity 30-car field of immaculately presented cars gathered at the Sussex track and a thrilling race late on Sunday morning delighted the sell-out crowd of 16,000. This non-Championship race saw Simon Armer make good his pole and he soon broke the tow to the following pack. However a safety car bunched the field up into a seven car group with Armer seemingly in control however a small mistake into the chicane on the final lap lost him some momentum and it was James King who got the verdict by just under 2-hundredths of a second, with Peter Thompson third, followed by Robs Lamplough, Ian Bankhurst and Thierry Gallo. Whilst it is regrettable that many of our regulars failed to get an invite, it gave HF3 the biggest boost since Monaco.
The 2015 Champion was long-term Swedish supporter, Leif Bosson. Leif who, with his superbly presented and reliable ex Conny Andersson Brabham BT 28, has competed in every race with a class for Historic F3 cars both in UK and in Europe since 2010. This season saw him more competitive achieving several good finishes through the year and leading the Championship since Cadwell Park in June. With the Championship un-decided Leif chose to miss out on a trip to Imola in favour of the Championship finals at Castle Combe where two really strong races saw him claim a very well deserved title.
Simon Armer joined HF3 from Formula Junior and is now in his third HF3 season, with the ex Tom Walkinshaw March 703. Now fitted with a demon engine from the late Greg Margetts (Competition Engine Services) who unfortunately died just after the engines first, nearly successful, outing at Goodwood. Simon has always been very quick and in the leading group and finished this year with five wins. He was unlucky not to take the championship, but his driveshaft problem at Croft cost him too many points.
In third place was Devonian Mike Scott with his ex Erik Salminen Brabham BT28. Mike, now with the car and engine well sorted, has been another one to be challenging that leading group and took his first win in the second Croft race. Having missed the first rounds, doing the Mille Miglia, his win and consistent top three finishes during the second half of the season saw him pip Mark Linstone to third place at the Championship finals.
Mark Linstone and his Brabham BT21 had a challenging season, but managed to take part in all of the championship rounds; the low point must have been at the Dijon meeting in June where a minor mechanical issue prevented him from starting race one. This put him at the back of the grid where he was the innocent victim of the start line incident; the damage was major, and it is credit to Mark’s determination that the car was re-built and out again at the next round.
Jim Blockley’s, (our 2014 Champion) season continued where last years finished with an elusive misfire still un-resolved in his ex Ove Niklasson Brabham BT21B. This, together with the handling not giving him that ultimate confidence, Jim only took one top three finish. However for the Championship finals he debuted the ex David Pullen Chevron B17, recently acquired from John Pearson, and was instantly on the leading packs’ pace. Next year should be a good one for Jim who has loaned his BT21B to Ewen Sergison of ‘Avit’ fame.
Peter Thompson, another of our leading pack of five, with his Brabham BT21 was always on the pace claiming one win and five seconds, finishing the season in sixth. Peter was determined to do the Gold Cup meeting and had to forego practice, flying back from South Africa landing post qualifying, which left him with too much to do in the race. With a full season Peter is a real championship contender.
Other race winners were Christoph Widmer who won the second race at Dijon in his ex Wal Donelly Braham BT18; whilst James Denty driving Klaus Bergs’ immaculate ex Mo Nunn Lotus 41 won the first race at Cadwell Park. James King followed on from his Goodwood victory with a win in the second Cadwell race, and Dave Methley appeared once and won once in his single outing at Croft.
We have seen a number of newcomers this year; Goodwood winner James King has taken over the driving of Tony Mantle’s, ex Chris Skeaping, Chevron B17, Andy Jarvis March 703, Marcus Mussa with the ex Lionel Noghes Tecno, Sam Wilson driving Hans Ciers Mallock and Michael Hibberd, in the ex Chris Irwin Brabham BT18 recently acquired from John Counsell.
2015 has again seen some superb grids, with fantastic racing from some very talented drivers and some beautiful new cars to add to the wonderful HF3 scene at the circuits. Whilst only a handful of our 48 starters may have received a mention, without their support none of the superb racing we have seen could have occurred and I would like to pass on my personal thanks for all their efforts and wish all of you a fantastic 2016.
I would like to thank all at the HSCC for their help and support, as well as the Marshals and our sponsor, Andrew Thorpe’s company, ‘The Cubicle Centre’.
View Results and Timings (as a PDF document) [PDF]
