1988 Cellnet Superprix

After the 18th and final round of the 1988 B.A.R.C./B.R.D.C. Lucas Formula Three British Championship, the mobile telephone company Cellnet, who were already sponsoring the Intersport Racing team, organised an invitation non championship, end of season race. This race was held at Brands Hatch, on 9 October. Although Avon Tyres still supplied the tyres, Cellnet decided to increase interest by introducing a compulsory wheel change mid-race. They requested that the changes should be visible to spectators, so Avon came up with the idea of painting the whole side of the tyres.[1]

Report

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Entry

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A total of 39 F3 cars were entered for this event. Come race weekend eights cars failed to arrive in Kent for qualifying.[2]

Qualifying

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John Alcorn took pole position for Pacific Racing Team in their Toyota-engined Reynard 883, averaging a speed of 95.862 mph.[2]

Race

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The race was held over 45 wet laps of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. With a full grid of 28 cars, the start was quite a fraught affair as various drivers, with nothing to lose, took risks not usually attempted during a championship race. This ended in tears for some. Damon Hill didn't even finish the first lap and Kenny Bräck and Jonathan Bancroft went out in the next lap. During the race, the wheel changing was full of drama as the teams finally put into practice what they had been learning, some successfully, others not! Paul Warwick in his Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard was also victim retiring after an overheated engine. Gary Brabham took the winner spoils for the Bowman Racing team, driving their Ralt-Volkswagen RT32. The Aussie won in a time of 37:10.92mins., averaging a speed of 87.436 mph. Second place went to Jason Elliott and Sweden's Rickard Rydell finishing third. The ‘fastest wheel change’ prize of £1,000 in loose £1 coins in a sack, was won by Middlebridge Racing which was a bit of a bonus a their driver, Phil Andrews, had driven a good race to finish 5th.[1][3]

Classification

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Race

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Class winners in bold

Pos. No. Class Driver Entrant Car - Engine Time, Laps Reason Out
1st 5 A   Gary Brabham Bowman Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 37:10.92
2nd 27 A   Jason Elliott Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 883 37:33.31
3rd 8 A   Rickard Rydell Picko Troberg Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 883 37:33.72
4th 4 A   Peter Kox Cellent Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing Ralt-Toyota RT32 37:38.73
5th 30 A   Phil Andrews Middlebridge Racing Reynard-Toyota 883 44
6th 15 A   Roland Ratzenberger TechSpeed Racing Reynard-Toyota 883 44
7th 59 Nat.   David Brabham Jack Brabham Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 44
8th 24 A   Philippe Favre Alan Docking Racing Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 43
9th 43 A   Dennis Vitolo Concept 3 Racing Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 43
10th 88 Nat.   Pete Boutwood Terropol Promotions Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 42
11th 14 A   Raphaël Real del Sarte TechSpeed Racing Reynard-Toyota 873 42
12th 77 Nat.   Scott Stringfellow Jim Lee Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 873 41
13th 90 A   Harry van den Berg Cellnet Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing Ralt-Toyota RT32 41
14th 85 Nat.   Robert Murphy Jim Lee Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 873 40
DNF 16 A   Ross Hockenhull Bowman Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 44 Crash
DNF 71 Nat.   Robert Amrén Alan Docking Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 873 40 Crash
DNF 33 A   Jeremy Payne Anglia Cars Racing Ralt-Toyota RT32 37 Spin
DNF 2 A   Eddie Irvine West Surrey Racing Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT32 35 Misfire
DNF 10 A   John Alcorn Pacific Racing Team Reynard-Toyota 883 34 Engine
DNF 1 A   Paul Warwick Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 883 33 Overheating
DNF 6 A   Giovanna Amati Cellent Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing Ralt-Toyota RT32 30 Engine
DNF 58 Nat.   John Penfold Jack Brabham Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 29 Crash
DNF 36 Nat.   Giles Butterfield GB Motorsport Reynard-Volkswagen 863 26 Crash
DNF 26 A   Oswaldo Negri Racefax Motorsport Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 18 Stuck throttle
DNF 89 Nat.   Tom Brown JB Race Hire Reynard-Volkswagen 873 17 Spin
DNF 3 A   Jonathan Bancroft Madgwick Motorsport Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 2 Crash
DNF 35 A   Kenny Bräck Formula Services Reynard-Toyota 883 2 Crash
DNF 29 A   Damon Hill Cellnet Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing Ralt-Toyota RT32 0 Crash
DNQ 78 Nat.   Charles Rickett Jim Lee Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 863
DNQ 63 Nat.   Ronnie Grant Ronnie Grant Ralt-Volkswagen RT30
DNQ 45 A   Guido Basile Terropol Promotions Ralt-Volkswagen RT32

[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "The British Automobile Racing Club: June / July 2010". Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Formula 3 1988 - Great Britain - Brands Hatch, 09.10". Formula2.net. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  3. ^ Darren Galpin. "1988 Miscellaneous Formula 3 Races". Teamdan.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]