A rather belated Newsletter, I’m afraid. It having been some 6 weeks since the Thruxton meeting took place at Easter.

Thruxton

It was a disappointing entry from Classic Formula 3, there being only 9 cars supplementing the 13 from URS FF2000, which fortunately made up a good grid of 22. We were pleased to welcome back Paul Smith, giving his Martini MK31 an outing and we welcomed newcomer Gauis Ghinn in his Ralt RT3. Paul Dibden was the Classic Formula 3 pacesetter in qualifying and followed that up with a 2nd place overall and 1st in CF3 in race 1. In Race 2 Gauis Ghinn got the better of Paul when he missed a gear, Gauis is definitely one to watch! Unfortunately, Paul Smith was caught up in an incident at the start of race 2 and with damage, was unable to take the re-start. Some good championship points for Paul Dibden and Gauis going into the next round this coming weekend at Silverstone.

Dijon, French Formula 3

The grid at Thruxton could have been supplemented by myself, my brother Jonathan and Simon Jackson. We all decided to partake in the first round of the European series, which was the first round of the French F3 series at Dijon, also over the Easter weekend. Unfortunately, the wish of possibly having better weather in Dijon than at Thruxton was turned totally on its head, when the whole weekend was wet. I unfortunately had a blow out in the run flat tyre on my BMW tow car, just north of Reims on the way down and after hanging around for 24 hours to get a replacement tyre, was too late for practise or qualifying, so both Jonathan and I turned around and came home!

Simon Jackson, nevertheless, made it, but suffered clutch problems in qualifying, which meant he had to start from the back of the grid and then a misfire saw him finish in 21st place in race 1. Nonetheless, all was well for race 2 and he worked his way up to finish 9th overall. I should also mention that Ian Jacobs, who used to run with us in the UK, but now does the French series, finished a fine 3rd in race 2.

Simon went back to Paul Ricard for the 2nd round of the French series, at the beginning of May, where he did exceptionally well. He won race 1 outright and came 2nd in race 2, which now leaves him 3rd overall in the French Championship. He is doing Pau this weekend, but we then look forward to seeing him back in the UK Championship.

Silverstone

A formidable 40 car entry for the Derek Bell Trophy, this weekend at Silverstone, includes 14 Classic Formula 3 runners. David Shaw, last year’s champion, makes his first appearance in his March 803 and Anthony Hancock is out in the Lola T670 with which he finished 3rd at Monte Carlo last year. Newcomers Gauis Ghinn and Timothy Lyons join the rest of the regulars and we look forward to not only fine weather, but a fine race!

Silverstone International BRDC Dinner

The HSCC is hosting a 3-course summer dinner party in the BRDC Club House for competitors and their guests on Saturday 16th May, starting at between 6:30 – 7:00 pm, tickets priced at £35 each. A booking form was sent to all competitors with the race entry forms, but probably at this late stage, if you want to go you probably need to ring the HSCC office and check for availability.

HTP papers and the new VIF (Vehicle Identity Form)

We hope that many people from Classic Formula 3 might want to do the Classic Formula 3 race at the Nurburgring at the Old Timer meeting on 9th August. Currently the race organisers will only accept cars that have HTP papers, but we are working on this and will keep you posted. It brings me on to the fact that we also require all cars running in the Classic F3 series to have HTP papers or the latest VIF form. To apply for an HSCC Vehicle Identity Form, please follow the link highlighted on the HSCC website page htt://hscc.org.uk/championships, this is a word document which you can download and complete on your computer, then e-mail the completed form (in word format, not PDF) to the HSCC office. When a completed form is received at the office it will be forwarded to our registrar (Richard Ranson) who will inspect your car at the first available meeting. Providing the car conforms to the regulations and paperwork presented, upon receipt of the £50 registration fee, the completed paperwork will be returned to you.

I must warn all competitors that the scrutineer’s will be requesting papers when your car is scrutinised this year, so it may be worth taking what you’ve got to Silverstone and then getting on with producing a new VIF form.

Scrutineering and Testing

Richard will be at Silverstone with the air vacuum tester, which is available for people to check their cars at any time. We would much rather cars were tested prior to the race, to avoid any “embarrassment” at post-race scrutineering.

Donington, May 30th

This is a 1-day (Saturday) meeting, where we have qualifying and a single race, solely for Classic Formula 3 cars. Entry forms have been sent out, so if you haven’t yet returned it, then I would urge you to do so.

It has been some years since Classic Formula 3 was last at Donington, so let’s make it a special event. We haven’t seen entries yet from some of the people who acquired cars during the winter, such as Andy Smith and Mike Simpson or the Andy and Ian Jones Dellara. Maybe at Donington?

Look forward to seeing you all at Silverstone

Hugh Price
CF3 Chairman