At both Snetterton and Cadwell Park we had disappointing entries, at one stage there was the possibility that we might have to cancel our round at Cadwell Park, but with Grahame White’s backing we decided to go ahead as we received some late entries.  The first race was combined with the classic racing cars due to time restrictions.

At the Snetterton meeting there were just ten entries, which was a great pity as personally I think the Snetterton 300 track is wonderful for our cars.  We were given qualifying and two races on the Sunday and the sun shone for us all day.  Fortunately for me some of our regular front runners didn’t turn up and I was able to win both races, something I had not previously achieved in Classic Formula 3! 

Marcus Mussa and Jonathan Price made up the podium positions in both races and we were pleased to be presented our prizes by Jo Marquart’s wife.  Jo having been the originator of the Modus and Argo Formula 3 cars.  A great battle was had between Leif Bosson, Bruce Bartell and Mark Hulme in both races with Leif securing the honours.  Unfortunately this is the third year running where entries at the Snetterton race have not been great, so we will have to review this event in our calendar in 2015. 

CF3 then moved on to Cadwell Park, which should have been a great event, but unfortunately only 8 entries made qualifying.  Simon Hadfield brought out his March 743 and Callum Grant was given the opportunity to run one of Mark Hulme’s Modus’.  They headed the practise times and then duly came 1st and 2nd in both races.  Because of time constraints, race 1 was combined with the classic racing cars, but race 2 was a stand-alone affair and Paul Dibden in the Argo JM6 got the better of Callum’s Modus, demoting him to the last podium spot.  This was another wonderful sunny weekend, with the Formula Ford 2000 cricket match being the highlight, but once again, lack of entries will force us to review our participation in this event next year.

We then moved on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit for the Superprix meeting when 22 entries went out to qualify.  In a damp qualifying session, David Shaw, having acquired the ex-Mike White 803B from Hugh Price whilst his RT1 is repaired, secured pole position from newcomer Nick Padmore in the ex-Frank Sytner 783.  Jamie Brashaw and Richard Trott had joined the grid having not been seen since the opening round at Thruxton and Simon Jackson made his first appearance in the series after podiums at Pau.  Richard Piper, who had thoroughly enjoyed his outing in Chris Drake’s March at Monaco, had acquired Chris Remer’s Chevron B43 and joined the field for the first time, so we had an excellent field of quality cars and drivers. 

Nick Padmore made a slow start from 2nd place on the grid dropping to 6th, but worked his way back to the front and won the race comfortably by 8 seconds from David Shaw.  Unfortunately the race, held in dry conditions, turned out to be a bit processional, but it was incident free and we all enjoyed ourselves in sunny conditions.  How nice it would be in 2015 if we could get the French to join us again at the Superprix round and try and get the HSCC to give us 2 races.  Always a popular event it just goes to show that we can get 20+ cars on to the grid at the right meetings. 

After Brands, we headed for the Silverstone Classic.  My wish of trying to get 45-50 formula 3 cars on the grid was almost met when we closed off with 41 entries, though at one stage, we had 43.  Unfortunately 3 of the 41 withdrew before the meeting, there were 2 no shows and 3 who were unable to make qualifying after problems in Thursday’s test sessions.  Ultimately 33 went out to qualify and 33 went to the grid on race 1.  Two more did not make it from race  1, so 31 started in race 2, which was still a pretty healthy grid, when all things are considered.  Of the 33 that made qualifying, 10 were from the French F3, so we had 20+ from the UK.  The French that did come were ecstatic about the whole meeting and want to try and make one of their Championship rounds in 2015, so that they can bring their full grid of 25-30 cars, that is, if we are given the opportunity to do the race again in 2015.  If they were able to do that and we were able to get our 20-25 out, we may achieve the targeted number of 50 F3 starters.

Nevertheless, it was a great weekend held in glorious sunshine.  Nick Padmore, the winner from Brands Hatch, won both races, followed by Martin Stretton and David Shaw.  Behind them Simon Jackson, Jamie Brashaw and Richard Trott fought it out for 4th place.  Richard Trott ran wide in race 1 and broke a splitter, demoting him to 6th place, though he made up for this in race 2 and finished 4th ahead of Simon and Jamie.  Well done to Paul Dibden in the ex-Coombs Argo, who has been getting faster all season and finished a good 7th in race 2.

Race 2 was marred by Mark Hulme’s unfortunately roll at the loop, avoiding a spinning Laurent Valery Mason.  The roll was caused by a raised manhole cover, which should definitely not have been there.  A very damaged Modus was the result, but Mark indefatigable as ever has already started the massive rebuild.

Other than that, hopefully everybody thoroughly enjoyed the meeting.  On a personal note, I did and if we get the opportunity to go back in 2015, will probably be able to put on an even better show then we did this year.

We now look forward to the Anglo-French race at Brands on the Indy circuit.  Entry forms are out and hopefully we will be able to put together a super grid for a super event!  The format is that there will be qualifying and a race for the UK Championship and the same for the French Championship, with the first 10 from each going in to a combined final on the Sunday.  Those who don’t make that final will have another race of their own. 

There are several new cars and drivers such as Mike Jones, Dallara 382 due to appear at Brands, and recent acquisitions include Andrew Thorpe’s March 813 so roll on CF3!

Regards

Hugh