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Tony Rouff in the Boxer PRA76, in which he finished a close second in the Indylantic championship.  Copyright Alan Cox 2009.  Used with permission.

British Formula Atlantic 1976 (Indylantic)

MCD decided to drop Formula Atlantic after 1975 and it was taken over by a group of drivers led by Peter Wardle. The new series, named Indylantic, was not widely welcomed by the motor racing press who pointedly reviewed it under the heading of Club Racing at the end of the season.

The main contenders for the title were Americans Ted Wentz (Lola T460) and Tony Rouff (Boxer PRA76) and some needle entered this battle before it was resolved, by a mere five points, in favour of Wentz. Trimmer only entered five races in his Lola T460, winning three and finishing second and third in the other two. He had led the championship before his car was sold and it was too late by the time he was able to acquire a replacement.

Among the many compexities of Indylantic was the qualifying system which changed after the first four rounds from the traditional concept of seeing who recorded the fastest in practice to a points system based on three seven-lap qualifying races.

Many Formula Atlantic cars entered the Group 8 series instead. Not a single March scored a point in the Indylantic series where a hypothetical constructors title would - on the basis of the results known so far - have been won by just one point by Chevron over Lola with Boxer, Modus, Surtees and Sana next.

The races

04 Apr 1976 > Brands Hatch

09 May 1976 > Brands Hatch

31 May 1976 > Croft

06 Jun 1976 > Brands Hatch

11 Jul 1976 > Mallory Park

01 Aug 1976 > Knockhill

08 Aug 1976 > Thruxton

05 Sep 1976 > Silverstone

26 Sep 1976 > Brands Hatch

03 Oct 1976 > Brands Hatch

16 Oct 1976 > Oulton Park

1976 Indylantic Championship table

1Ted WentzLola T460 - Ford BDA Swindon227 pts4 wins
2Tony RouffBoxer PR276 - Ford BDA Swindon
Boxer PRA76 - Ford BDA Swindon
222 pts2 wins
3Alo LawlerChevron B29 - Ford BDA Swindon169 pts 
4Tony TrimmerLola T362 - Ford BDA Swindon
Lola T460 - Ford BDA Swindon
137 pts3 wins
5Steve CarvillSurtees TS15 - Ford BDA Swindon126 pts 
6Phil DowsettChevron B29 - Ford BDA Swindon118 pts1 win
7Adrian RussellGRD 372 - Ford BDA Swindon
Lola T450 - Ford BDA Swindon
82 pts 
8Richard ScottModus M3 - Ford BDA Nicholson
Modus M3 - Ford BDA Swindon
Sana RD9 - Ford BDA Eden
80 pts1 win
9=Mike KingLola T362 - Ford BDA70 pts 
9=Jeremy RossiterChevron B29 - Ford BDA Cook
Chevron B29 - Ford BDA Swindon
70 pts 

Previous: the 1975 season

This series ran over 12 races and used a particularly bizarre points system. The table above has been constructed using the points theoretically awarded at each race and decyphered by Chris Townsend. See Chris's full points table.