Goodwood Derek Bell Cup
Breaking news - Goodwood have confirmed the Derek Bell Cup for F3 screamers in their full race program for the 79th Members' Meeting on April 9th and 10th next year!
Frank Williams
Sadly, Sir Frank Williams passed away on November 28th. He started his legendary motorsport career in the sixties racing F3 screamers before moving on to F1 where his team eventually would win seven driver and nine constructor titles. The picture, copyright Bo Börjesson, demonstrates Williams' fighting spirit in car #5, ahead of Troberg #15 and Dubler #7, all three of them in a Brabham BT18, at the Knutstorp Cup in 1966 where he scored his first and only victory in F3. RIP.
Oulton Park Gold Cup
Finally, it was possible again for European competitors to travel to the UK, after what seemed to be a never ending period in the holding pattern and Leif Bosson from Sweden and Christoph Widmer from Switzerland took on the challenge to join 16 British competitors for the Oulton Park Gold Cup. They were rewarded with perfect conditions, a very warm welcome back and a fantastic meeting overall. All weekend long, Jeremy Timms in his Chevron B17 was in a class of his own after the last minute withdrawal of Ben Simms, comfortably securing pole and easily winning both races with a substantial margin, lapping the iconic circuit at least 2.5 seconds faster than the next competitor. However, it was anything but clear as to who would join Timms on the podium as spectacular fighting could be observed throughout the field, especially for second place which was hotly contested by reigning British F3 champion Bankhurst in his Alexis, former champion Armer in his March and continental visitor Widmer in his Brabham. The three changed positions lap after lap, no one managing to escape. Widmer lead the trio at the beginning of lap 9, unaware that this would be the last as the race duration was slightly shortened to make up for lost time during the day. Bankhurst managed to squeeze through going into Knickerbrook and Armer did the same at Druids, thus moving the Swiss racer to P4 as the trio crossed the finish line just 0.5 seconds apart. Specators also enjoyed another excellent battle for P5 between points leader Tart, period race Walker, Waine in the ultra-rare De Sanctis as well as Sewell and Hamilton in their beautiful screamers. Certainly, big smiles were abundent in the parc fermé after a highly entertaining race. The second race on the bank holiday Monday was pretty much repeat of the day before - Waine had the best start and was on P2 until he spun at Cascades while Bankhurst, Armer and Widmer continued their titanic battle until Armer could no longer engage gears after a small off on the approach to Hill Top. As such, Bankhurst and Widmer joined Timms on the podium while Waine, Linstone, Walker, Sewell, Hamilton, Bosson and Booth rounded out the top ten. Results, pictures and video are now online.
Dijon Historic Tour
Only a select group of five screamers plus one invitee joined their French Formula Ford Historic friends at Dijon for a combined grid of 32 cars. With a threat of heavy downpour for the race on Saturday, everybody tried hard to qualify as far in front as possible and Derossi managed this to near perfection with P4 overall despite a lack-luster engine performance. Derossi struggled to start his Chevron prior to race 1 but finally managed at the last moment. Luckily, it stayed dry for the start of the race, especially as the five screamers where unexpectedly all lined up together at the back of the grid, three rows after the slowest Formula Ford. This created quite a dangerous situation as a Derossi and Widmer tried to navigate much slower cars, passing close to half a dozen before turn 1 and some more before that ended - definitely not an experience they plan to repeat. Light drizzle started around lap 6 and made the track tricky to navigate as it was slippery in some parts but still dry in others. Delea spun on lap 8 at the double-left at the top of the hill and was unfortunate enough to be collected by an inexperienced competitor who couldn't decide whether to pass him on the left or the right! This incident prematurely ended the weekend for both and brought out the safety car for the remainder of the race as rain started to intensify. With Derossi and Delea side-lined, only three screamers took the start on Sunday, this time however all correctly lined up in the middle of the grid as usual. Slotine had a great start, drove very well and lead early on, pursued by Widmer and Pircher. However, the suprise of the weekend was when Slotine pulled over at the end of lap 4 as his steering wheel had become loose on the main straight! Unfazed by this, Slotine mended the car with some nuts and tools borrowed from a marshal, strapped himself back into the Merlyn, continued the race and finally joined Widmer and Pircher on the podium - that's the spirit! Results and pictures are now online.
Paul Ricard - Fischer is back!
Seven continental members plus an invitation pilot ventured to the South of France in order to compete in a 52 car shared grid at the Grand Prix de France Historique. Quite as expected Geoffroy Rivet was fastest amongst the screamers qualifying on a remarkable P2 overall, ahead of Widmer, Fischer, Derossi, Slotine and the Swiss duo of Delea and Pircher. Race 1 early on Saturday morning was interrupted twice by the safety car and unfortunately the second incident prematurely ended the older Widmer's race weekend. Rivet was unchallenged and claimed victory ahead of Fischer and an elated Slotine. The second race on Sunday was a much better experience for all and Rivet completed his weekend grand slam, winning ahead of a beaming Fischer who saw the checkered flag in two subsequent races for the first time in quite a while as the nagging issues with his Tecno have finally been sorted. Derossi finished third after a spin at double-right of Beausset ahead of Slotine and Pircher who narrowly edged Delea after the Swiss duo traded positions all race long. Austin Widmer drove a stunning race in the Pircher Lotus 61 in a race-long four car battle for first in the pre-74 Historic Formula Ford class, showing that he certainly deserves his seat in our junior driver program. Quite unlucky a first podium eluded him as the nose of his Lotus folded back 180 degrees after making minor contact with the rear wheel of the McNamara of seasoned veteran Prevost just three corners from the finish line while fighting for a class win rather than settling for third, showing that he is a true racer indeed! Results, pictures and video are online! In addition, you can re-watch a live broadcast of the Sunday race - our race starts at 2h:52' - enjoy!
2021 Calendar
It has been incredibly challenging to organize a viable calendar for 2021 due to the uncertainty of the progression of the pandemic in the coming months, combined with new administrative hurdles and associated cost when travelling to and from the UK. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to find suitable events, and after exploring many different options and scenarios, we have come to realize that it is essentially impossible for us to conduct the Historic F3 1000cc European Trophy this year. Instead, we will do what we do best and enjoy racing amongst friends, whereever and whenever possible. Our members will be able to race at the Grand Prix de France Historique
at Paul Ricard in June, in all the British Historic F3 races organized by HSCC 
, in particular at Brands Hatch in July and Oulton Park in late August, as well as in all Historic Tour events together with our friends from the French Historic Formula Ford association. In addition, we also plan to organize the postponed award dinner sometime in the Fall once travel and event restrictions have been lifted - a date will be announced in due time. Further details can be found on our calendar page - we hope to be seeing you on track in 2021!