31st December 2017 - Season Review
Historic F3 Championship final points and Season Review
With 46 contenders across a 13-race programme, with six double-headers including Zandvoort, it was another excellent season for the Historic Formula 3 Championship. Despite some late-season engine dramas, Jon Milicevic was a convincing champion and was joined by Jim Blockley and Mike Scott on the final overall podium.
A great atmosphere on and off the track, sporting camaraderie and excellent racing were all part of the Historic F3 package in 2017. In the final reckoning, Milicevic was a clear champion but there were a couple of times during the season when the Towcester garage owner was up against it.
When leaving Croft in early August, it almost seemed job done for the Brabham BT21B racer as he had just made it seven wins and a second from the first eight races. But he wasn’t home and dry as engine dramas struck at Zandvoort next time out and he failed to finish the opening race. Paul Waine generously loaned his De Sanctis for the second race and Milicevic salvaged some vital points.
Then, at Snetterton less than a month later it got worse for Milicevic when the engine developed terminal problems on the first lap of qualifying. Suddenly, the chasing pack was able to close in. However, normal service was resumed for the single race at the Silverstone Finals meeting and second place to Andrew Hibberd was enough to secure the title for the under-stated Milicevic.
Peter Thompson won the season opener at Castle Combe and Zandvoort wins were shared by Francois Derossi and Steve Smith. However, back out for Snetterton was Hibberd who had been lobbied to race by Milicevic. Sadly, their hoped for battle at Snetterton never materialised but a fine contest at Silverstone showed what might have been had Hibberd’s other racing commitments allowed him to come out more often in his father’s ex-Chris Irwin Brabham.
Blockley and Scott had exemplary campaigns and were regular podium visitors on their way to second and third in the final standings, with Blockley racing both his Brabham and Chevron while Scott concentrated on his familiar Brabham BT28 for the long hauls up country from Exeter.
Hibberd did enough with three wins and three seconds from seven starts to end the year fourth and just pipped out-going champion Leif Bosson at season’s end. The Swedish commuter was another to have troubled weekends at Zandvoort and Snetterton but was seldom far away from a smile.
Six in the overall points was Keith Messer, who does so much work behind the scenes of the category. His Vesey was always in the top 10 and often higher, but engine dramas in qualifying at Snetterton ended his season three races early. Mark Linstone, Gregan Thruston, Marcus Mussa and Derossi rounded out a quality top 10, while others to make a mark in selected outings included Peter Needham (March 703), Thompson, Christophe Widmer and Andrew Tart who finally completed a stunning
Paul Lawrence
View Results and Timings (as a PDF document) [PDF]
Andrew Hibberd won the final three races
