News

After the first few rounds of the 1985 ETC Championship, it seemed that nothing could stop the TWR Rover team and that this series, which last year provided some of the most interesting racing in Europe, would degenerate into an ARG walkover. At Bmo, however, the Volvo 240Ts came into their own with the car of Anders Olafsson / Ulf Granberg leading that of Gianfranco Brancatelli / Thomas Lindstrom to score an impressive 1-2.

A week later at the Osterreichring, Brancatelli / Lindstrom led home Eggenberger team-mates Sigi Muller / Pierre Dieudonne to record a second Volvo 1-2. The championship is opening up and even better things are in store for we may expect to see the present runners joined by a new BMW, the 16-valve 2.3 litre Mercedes-Benz 190, the 2.3 litre turbocharged Sierra, the Ford Escort RS Turbo and, possibly, the return later of the TWR Jaguar XJSs.

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This year’s Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship has been a little thin on entries, and no wonder given some of the shenanigans of the recent past. Andy Rouse currently leads the series in his Sierra XR4Ti, the engineering of which he has undertaken himself, and with four outright wins (at the time of going to press) leads the Championship and seems on target to take what would be his fourth title and the completion of a has trick.

At Silverstone on July 9th, Rouse broke the Group A lap record set by Tom Walkinshaw’s Jaguar XJS during last year’s Tourist Trophy. This suggests that the Sierra could be on the pace in ETC. Ford’s Escort RS Turbo is now homologated for Group A and at Silverstone, Richard Longman took Class B on the car’s racing debut. Since Longman also broke the class lap record, one wonders whether the days of the domination of the Alfa Romeo GTV 6 in Class B are numbered.

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It has been confirmed that Brands Hatch will host an additional race, the Grand Prix d’Europe, on September 29th. Sponsoring the meeting will be Shell Oils and, as usual, there will be a full supporting programme which includes Thundersports, Group A Saloons, Formula Ford and Historic single-seaters.

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The opening rounds of the British F3 Championship suggested that nothing could touch the new Reynard 853F, especially when fitted with a VW engine. Those teams committed to the Ralt RT30 have found some of the speed which they were lacking in the opening rounds and Gary Evans scored a fine maiden win at Thruxton while Mauricio Gugehnin won a deserved, and over-due, victory at Silverstone. In the latter race, in fact, Ralts finished first, third (Dave Scott), fourth (Gary Evans) and fifth (Herald Huysman). At the time of writing, however, Russell Spence and Andy Wallace, both using Reynards, are first and second in the series with 55 and 50 points respectively to the 37 points of Gugelmin in third place.

Sean Walker won Class B (pre-March 1984) at Silverstone in his first attempt at F3. He was watched by his understandably proud father, Ian Walker, whom many readers will remember for his exploits in various Lotuses in the late Fifties and early Sixties.

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Pre-season reports suggested that the new Nicholson-developed Saab engines would have a clear power advantage. Unfortunately, events have proved otherwise with the drivers still having to struggle with a much more narrow power band than the opposition, combined with a fair measure of temperament from the electronic engine management system.

Just to show that the true amateur is not completely excluded from F3, Jim Yardley has appeared with his latest special, the Beagle Mk5. This beautifully constructed machine is unusual in that it has a beam front tude and de Dion rear, in the manner of some of Yardley’s earlier specials which, despite being unorthodox, have generally been extremely effective. Time alone will tell if Yardley’s latest creation will come good, but we say full marks for effort.

If the British Championship is now a twomake category (for various reasons, both Anson and Magnum cars have failed to make a mark) then at least it is an improvement over the Ralt domination which marked the period 1981-84. On the Continent, however, things are even more varied with Martini and Dallara both making winning cars giving the grids, which include a lot of Ralts and a sprinkling of Reynards, an enviable degree of variety.