The 1985 British Formula Three Championship was the 35th season of the British Formula Three Championship. Maurício Gugelmin took the BARC/BRDC Marlboro British Formula 3 Championship.

Formula Three witnessed three major changes in 1985; in an attempt to eliminate ground effects, flat-bottomed cars became mandatory; the cancellation of the FIA European Formula Three Championship; and the arrival of Reynard Motorsport, giving Ralt the real rival for the first time since March Engineering stop building F3 cars after the 1981 season. Using a revolutionary carbon-fibre monocoque, a first for F3, Reynard manufacturer cars at the same pace as Ralt, but Adrian Reynard had a knack of producing cars that won on their race debut. The Reynard 853 kept that record going, when Andy Wallace won the opening race of the season. With no European series, the national series across Europe were greatly strengthen, notably the British, French and Italian.

Reynard driver, Russell Spence led at the mid-season break with 55 pts., from Andy Wallace on 50, Maurício Gugelmin, the first Ralt on 41 and Tim Davies with another Reynard on 34.

Ralt drivers later took over: Gerrit van Kouwan won three races after the break and notched up 40 pts.; Dave Scott won twice, scoring 36 pts. Gugelmin’s Ralt was sorted by West Surrey Racing’s Dick Bennetts and with two races remaining, he held a narrow two points lead in the title race on 66 pts., from both Spence and Wallace, tied on 64pts. All the momentum was with the man from Joinville, Brazil, and Gugelmin won both these easily to win the Championship.

The scoring system was 9-6-4-3-2-1 points for the first six positions, with 1 (one) extra point added to the driver who set the fastest lap of the race.

BARC/BRDC Marlboro British F3 Championship Champion: Maurício Gugelmin

Runner Up: Andy Wallace

Class B Champion: Carlton Tingling

Results

Marlboro British Formula 3 Championship

Date Round Circuit Winning driver Winning team Winning car 03/03/1985 Rd.1 Silverstone (National) Andy Wallace Swallow Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 10/03/1985 Rd.2 Thruxton Russell Spence PMC Warmastyle Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 24/03/1985 Rd.3 Silverstone Russell Spence PMC Warmastyle Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 08/04/1985 Rd.4 Thruxton Russell Spence PMC Warmastyle Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 14/04/1985 Rd.5 Donington Park Andy Wallace Swallow Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 21/04/1985 Rd.6 Zolder Russell Spence PMC Warmastyle Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 06/05/1985 Rd.7 Thruxton Gary Evans Murray Taylor Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 27/05/1985 Rd.8 Thruxton Andy Wallace Swallow Racing Reynard-Volkswagen 853 09/06/1985 Rd.9 Silverstone Maurício Gugelmin West Surrey Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 23/06/1985 Rd.10 Brands Hatch (Indy) Ross Cheever Valour Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 21/07/1985 Rd.11 Silverstone Gerrit van Kouwen Pegasus Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 28/07/1985 Rd.12 Donington Park Dave Scott Mint Engineering Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 11/08/2985 Rd.13 Snetterton Gerrit van Kouwen Pegasus Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 17/08/2985 Rd.14 Oulton Park Gerrit van Kouwen Pegasus Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 26/08/1985 Rd.15 Silvertone (National) Dave Scott Mint Engineering Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 01/09/1985 Rd.16 Spa-Francorchamps Ross Cheever Valour Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 15/09/1985 Rd.17 Zandvoort Maurício Gugelmin West Surrey Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 13/10/1985 Rd.18 Silverstone Circuit Maurício Gugelmin West Surrey Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT30

Championship Tables

Class A Place Driver Entrant Total 1 Maurício Gugelmin West Surrey Racing 85 2 Andy Wallace Swallow Racing 76 3 Russell Spence PMC Warmastyle Racing 64 4 Dave Scott Ruchard Dutton RacingMint Engineering 52 5 Gerrit van Kouwen Pegasus Racing 46 6 Tim Davies Swallow RacingRichard Dutton Racing 39 7 Ross Cheever Valour Racing 28 8 Gary Evans Murray Taylor Racing 26 9= Harald Huysman Eddie Jordan Racing 10 Cathy Muller David Price Racing 10 11 Andrew Gilbert-Scott Chuck McCarthy Racing 7 12 Anthony Reid Scan Sport RacingDavid Price Racing 5 13 Cor Euser Team Magnum 3 14 Rob Wilson Valour RacingCW RacingTarry Racing 2 15= Dave Coyne David Price Racing 1 Keith Fine Mike Rowe RacingIntersport Racing 1

Class B

Place Driver Entrant Total 1 Carlton Tingling Carlton Tingling 71 2 Giles Butterfield Alan Docking Racing 64 3 Mark Goddard Solar Racing 63 4 Ray Stover Richard Dutton Racing 45 5 Mike Wright Jupiter Racing 37 6 Steve Kempton Worldwide Dryer Group 35 7 Richard Parsons Solar Racing 25 8 Ross Hockenhull Richard Dutton Racing 23 9 Godfrey Hall Godfrey Hall 17 10= Hendrik ten Cate Van Amersfoort Racing 15 Sean Walker Richard Dutton Racing 15 12 Bill Coombes Shape Machine Motor Racing 13 13 Paul Stott Richard Dutton Racing 10 14= Kevin Jones H.A.R.T. 5 Terry Pudwell Jupiter Racing 5 16= Ronnie Grant Ronnie Grant 4 ”Anton Sobriquet” Jupiter RacingCW Racing 4 18= Ian Khan Mike Rowe Racing 2 Rodolphe Koentges Rodolphe Koentges 2 James Tolerton James Tolerton 2 21st Wayne Earnshaw Solar Racing 1 http://driversdb.com/standings/36-1985

References