1985 British Formula Three Championship

1985 British Formula Three

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The 1985 British Formula Three season was the 35th season of the British Formula Three Championship. Maurício Gugelmin took the BARC/BRDC Marlboro British Formula Three Championship.

Formula Three witnessed three major changes in 1985; in an attempt to eliminate ground effects, flat-bottomed cars became mandatory; the cancellation of the FIA European Formula Three Championship; and the arrival of Reynard Motorsport, giving Ralt the real rival for the first time since March Engineering stop building F3 cars after the 1981 season. Using a revolutionary carbon-fibre monocoque, a first for F3, Reynard manufacturer cars at the same pace as Ralt, but Adrian Reynard had a knack of producing cars that won on their race debut. The Reynard 853 kept that record going, when Andy Wallace won the opening race of the season. With no European series, the national series across Europe were greatly strengthen, notably the British, French and Italian.

Reynard driver, Russell Spence led at the mid-season break with 55 pts., from Andy Wallace on 50, Maurício Gugelmin, the first Ralt on 41 and Tim Davies with another Reynard on 34. As Ralt developed a new front suspension for their RT30, Reynard’s early season advantage evaporated. Spence suffered a major setback, when his team, PMC Motorsport folded, leaving him to quickly build another team. This and a move to Ralt compounded his problems, but Wallace was also suffering, his Reynard having lost its spark. Ralt drivers took over: Gerrit van Kouwan won three races after the break and notched up 40 pts.; Dave Scott won twice, scoring 36 pts. Gugelmin’s Ralt was sorted by West Surrey Racing’s Dick Bennetts and with two races remaining, he held narrow two points lead in the title race on 66 pts., from both Spence and Wallace, tied on 64pts. All the momentum was with the man from Joinville, Brazil, and Gugelmin won both these easily to win the Championship.

BARC/BRDC Marlboro British F3 Championship

Champion: Maurício Gugelmin

Runner Up: Andy Wallace

Class B Champion: Carlton Tingling

Results

Marlboro British Formula Three Championship

Date	Round	Circuit	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning car
03/03/85	Rd.1	Silverstone (National)	Andy Wallace	Swallow Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
10/03/85	Rd.2	Thruxton	Russell Spence	PMC Warmastyle Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
24/06/85	Rd.3	Silverstone	Russell Spence	PMC Warmastyle Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
08/04/85	Rd.4	Thruxton	Russell Spence	PMC Warmastyle Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
14/04/85	Rd.5	Donington Park	Andy Wallace	Swallow Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
21/04/85	Rd.6	Zolder	Russell Spence	PMC Warmastyle Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
06/05/85	Rd.7	Thrixton	Gary Evans	Murray Taylor Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
27/5/85	Rd.8	Thrixton	Andy Wallace	Swallow Racing	Reynard-Volkswagen 853
09/06/85	Rd.9	Silverstone	Maurício Gugelmin	West Surrey Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
23/06/85	Rd.10	Brand Hatch (Indy)	Ross Cheever	Valour Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
21/07/85	Rd.11	Silverstone	Gerrit van Kouwen	Pagasus Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
28/07/85	Rd.12	Donington Park	Dave Scott	Mint Engineering	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
11/08/85	Rd.13	Snetterton	Gerrit van Kouwen	Pagasus Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
17/08/85	Rd.14	Oulton Park	Gerrit van Kouwen	Pagasus Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
26/08/85	Rd.15	Silvertone (National)	Dave Scott	Mint Engineering	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
01/09/85	Rd.16	Spa-Francorchamps	Ross Cheever	Valour Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
15/09/95	Rd.17	Zandvoort	Maurício Gugelmin	West Surrey Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
13/10/85	Rd.18	Silverstone Circuit	Maurício Gugelmin	West Surrey Racing	Ralt-Volkswagen RT30

Championship Tables

Class A

Place	Driver	Entrant	Total
1	Maurício Gugelmin	West Surrey Racing	84
2	Andy Wallace	Swallow Racing	76
3	Russell Spence	PMC Warmastyle Racing	64
4	Dave Scott	Ruchard Dutton Racing Mint Engineering	52
5	Gerrit van Kouwan	Pegasus Racing	46
6	Tim Davies	Swallow Racing Richard Dutton Racing	39
7	Ross Cheever	Valour Racing	28
8	Gary Evans	Murray Taylor Racing	26
9=	Harald Huysman	Eddie Jordan Racing	10
	Cathy Muller	David Price Racing	10
11	Andrew Gilbert-Scott	Chuck McCarthy Racing	7
12	Anthony Reid	Scan Sport Racing David Price Racing	5
13	Cor Euser	Team Magnum	3
14	Rob Wilson	Valour Racing CW Racing Tarry Racing	2
15=	Dave Coyne	David Price Racing	1
	Keith Fine	Mike Rowe Racing Intersport Racing	1

Class B

Place	Driver	Entrant	Total
1	Carlton Tingling	Carlton Tingling	71
2	Giles Butterfield	Alan Docking Racing	64
3	Mark Goddard	Solar Racing	63
4	Ray Stover	Richard Dutton Racing	45
5	Mike Wright	Jupiter Racing	37
6	Steve Kempton	Worldwide Dryer Group	35
7	Richard Parsons	Solar Racing	25
8	Ross Hockenhull	Richard Dutton Racing	23
9	Godfrey Hall	Godfrey Hall	17
10=	Hendrik ten Cate	Van Amersfoort Racing	15
	Sean Walker	Richard Dutton Racing	15
12	Bill Coombes	Shape Machine Motor Racing	13
13	Paul Stott	Richard Dutton Racing	10
14=	Kevin James	H.A.R.T.	5
	Terry Pudwell	Jupiter Racing	5
16=	Ronnie Grant	Ronnie Grant	4
	”Anton Sobriquet”	Jupiter Racing CW Racing	4
18=	Ian Khan	Mike Rowe Racing	2
	Rodolphe Koentges	Rodolphe Koentges	2
	James Tolerton	James Tolerton	2
21st	Wayne Earnshaw	Solar Racing	1