The 1979 Hitachi Trophy was a non-championship race open to Formula Two and Formula Atlantic cars. The race was held at Brands Hatch on 15 April 1979 as a support race for the 1979 Race of Champions. It was won by British driver Norman Dickson in the Dickson's of Perth's March-Hart 792. The Formula Atlantic class win went to Ray Mallock, who finished in fourth place in the overall standings.[1]

Brands Hatch (1976-1987)

Report

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Entry

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Only nine F2 cars were entered for the event, however of those, only seven took part in qualifying and race compared with the maximum grid of 26 starters which took part in the European Formula 2 race at Thruxton the next day. An additional 16 Formula Atlantic cars were entered, of which five of these did not arrive.[2][3]

Qualifying

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Norman Dickson took pole position, with a lap time of 1:26.2. This time would have placed Dickson 19th on the grid for the Race of Champions race being run the same day. John Cooper was only one tenth of a second behind in his March-Hart 792, with Divina Galica took an encouraging third place. Next up was Ray Mallock's Ralt-Ford RT1 who was the top Formula Atlantic qualifier in fourth place.[4][5][6]

Race

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After 25 laps of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, Dickson took the chequered flag after 35:16.1 mins. of racing, averaging a speed of 111.16 mph. Second place went to Galica, who was the only other driver on the lead lap. She was too eager at the start, however and incurred a 60sec penalty for a false start. Brian Robinson rounded out the podium for the F2 brigade.[7][8]

Classification

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Race

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Pos. Class Pos. Driver Entrant Car - Engine Time, Laps Reason Out
1 F2 - 1   Norman Dickson Dickson's of Perth March-Hart 792 35:16.1
2 F2 - 2   Divina Galica Divina Galica March-Hart 792 37:21.8 incl 60sec pen. for false start
3 F2 - 3   Brian Robinson Grange Performance Cars Chevron-Hart B42 24
4 FA - 1   Ray Mallock Mario Deliotti Racing Ralt-Ford RT1 35:31.6, 24
5 FA - 2   Bernard Hunter Ralt-Ford RT1 24
6 FA - 3   Phil Dowsett Wilding Office Equipment/Glaister Card Shops March-Ford 79B 24
7 F2 - 4   Germain Garon Germain Garon Chevron-Hart B42 23
8 FA - 4   Martin Mansell Lola-Ford T360 23
9 FA - 5   Roger Andreason Druid-Ford 79A 23
10 FA - 6   Geoff Byman March-Ford 75B 23
DNF FA   Alo Lawler L&B Excavations Racing Lola-Ford T760 15 Collision with Jeffrey
DNF FA   Andrew Jeffrey The Hope Scott Garage Chevron-Ford B49 15 Collision with Lawler
DNF F2   John Cooper JC Racing March-Hart 792 11 Clutch
DNF F2   Lucien Lampach Allomo Racing Lampach 7 Engine
DNF F2   Tony Dean AG Dean Racing Chevron-Hart B42 5 Gear selectors
DNF FA   Jim Crawford SDC Racing Chevron-Ford B45 1 Accident
DNF FA   Rick Gorne Barratt Developments Racing with Anglia Cars Argo-Ford JM1X 0 Accident
DNS FA   Dave Allen Savon Team Uniroyal Surtees-Ford TS10

References

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  1. ^ "Formula 2 1979 - Hitachi Trophy, Brands Hatch". Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  2. ^ "Formula 2 1979 - Hitachi Trophy, Brands Hatch". Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  3. ^ Allen Brown. "Brands Hatch, 15 Apr 1979 « British Formula Atlantic « OldRacingCars.com". Archived from the original on 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  4. ^ "Formula 2 1979 - Hitachi Trophy, Brands Hatch". Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  5. ^ Allen Brown. "Brands Hatch, 15 Apr 1979 « British Formula Atlantic « OldRacingCars.com". Archived from the original on 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  6. ^ "1979 Race of Champions - ChicaneF1.com". Archived from the original on 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  7. ^ "Formula 2 1979 - Hitachi Trophy, Brands Hatch". Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  8. ^ Allen Brown. "Brands Hatch, 15 Apr 1979 « British Formula Atlantic « OldRacingCars.com". Archived from the original on 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2013-06-27.