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13th-14th July 2019 - Anglesey
HSCC Historic Formula 3 Championship
Rounds 4 and 5, Anglesey
July 13/14
Simon Armer dominated rounds four and five of the Historic Formula 3 Championship as the 1-litre F3 cars made their debut at the spectacular Anglesey circuit in North Wales (13/14 July).
The first Tom Pryce Memorial Meeting celebrated the life of Welsh racing driver Tom Pryce, who rose through F3 into Formula 1 but died in a tragic accident in the 1977 South African Grand Prix.
For many drivers, this was a first visit to the three-dimensional track, which boasts sea views and a backdrop of the mountains of Snowdonia. As well as racing, many competitors took time out to enjoy the beaches of Anglesey and the whole weekend ran in a holiday atmosphere.
Some drivers tested on Friday in a bid to learn the track and among them was Armer, who was quietly optimistic about his March 703. “I think we’ve got to the bottom of our engine problems,” he said. Come qualifying on Saturday afternoon and the March was flying, with only a last lap effort from championship leader Jon Milicevic (Brabham BT21B) knocking Armer off pole by a third of a second.
Mike Scott (Brabham BT28) was well in touch in third while Leif Bosson made the long trek from Sweden to post fourth best time in his BT28. “I’ve had three days in the van because we came via Jeremy Bennett’s place in Gloucestershire,” said Leif. “It’s a really nice track!”
Steve Seaman (Brabham BT21) and Barry Sewell (Lotus 41) were next up before returnee Andrew Tart (Merlyn Mk9), Simon Haughton (Chevron B15), Mark Linstone (Brabham BT21) and Keith Messer (Vesey). Messer arrived at Anglesey at the conclusion of a three-week road trip that had taken in Magny Cours and Knutstorp!
In the opening race on Sunday morning, Armer was chasing Milicevic when the leader’s Brabham suffered a wishbone failure that ended his weekend. Jon pulled off immediately at Rocket to avoid any further damage and elected not to try an interim repair for the second race.
Instead, Armer raced ahead to win but could never relax too much as Scott was an ever-present chaser as they went well clear of the rest. “I wasn’t absolutely convinced I could run with Jon and I was a bit surprised to keep up with him. So a win is a bit of a bonus,” said Armer. Scott was pleased to take second: “These are phenomenal cars on a track like this,” he said.
Bosson just beat Sewell, by a fifth of a second after 22 minutes of racing, after a wonderful battle to take third. “It was great fun,” said Bosson after a truly entertaining contest.Tart headed Messer to take fifth, while Haughton got the better of Linstone for seventh as Gil Duffy (Brabham BT12B) moved up into the top 10.
With Milicevic absent, Armer had a clear run to victory in the second race on Sunday afternoon. However, once more, Scott gave valiant chase and pushed Armer along in the opening laps. “Mike made me work very hard early on but then I was lucky with a backmarker,” admitted Armer. Scott took his second runner-up slot of the day. “I tried very hard to get back but congratulations to Steve: he’s driven two really good races.”
Up to third from the back of the grid after retiring from the first race came Seaman for a well-deserved podium visit. “That’s better fortune,” he said. “That’s the first race I’ve finished for quite a while.”Sewell and Bosson had another glorious race-long contest and this time Sewell finished ahead by a small margin to take fourth and level the score in their lengthy contest. Tart chased them home and was right on Bosson’s gearbox at the flag.
Paul Lawrence
Full-results192856hf3.pdf [PDF]
