European Formula 3 1977
The European series continued to grow in importance, and was again a battle between an Italian and a Swede, Piercarlo Ghinzani edging out Anders Olofsson for the title. Ghinzani began 1977 in the high-profile AFMP Euroracing team, AFMP standing for front man and March sales director Sandro Angeleri, wealthy sports car racer Martino Finotto, March Engineering, and Italian team manager Giampaolo Pavanello. Ghinzani established a strong lead in the championship with three wins, but his season was put at risk by the collapse of AFMP mid-season, as a result of Angeleri's unorthodox approach to the team's funding coming to the attention of the police. Pavanello and Finotto salvaged the Italian end of the Euroracing operation and rescued Ghinzani's March 773, giving him the chance to hold off Olofsson to win the title. The Swede was a surprise front runner after two mediocre seasons, and running with a tiny team and no sponsorship on his Ralt RT1/77, but he won three races and also the high-profile support races at the British and Swedish Grands Prix.
For the constructors, the 1977 season was again a three-way battle between Chevron, March and Ralt. Chevron started the season in a strong position, but two of the Bolton constructor's main customers moved to Ralts during the year. March had the largest fleet and ended up with the title, but the Bicester company's season was so nearly ruined by the AFMP fiasco. Ralt ended the season in the strongest position, and the Weybridge product looked to be the car to have for 1978.
The races
20 Mar 1977 > Coupe de Printemps at Paul Ricard
27 Mar 1977 > Goodyear-ADAC-300-km-Rennen at Nürburgring
11 Apr 1977 > Easter Races at Zandvoort
24 Apr 1977 > Grote Prijs van Zolder
08 May 1977 > Preis von Knittelfeld at Österreichring
29 May 1977 > Trofeo Autosprint at Imola
12 Jun 1977 > Gran Premio di Pergusa at Enna-Pergusa
26 Jun 1977 > Gran Premio della Lotteria at Monza
24 Jul 1977 > Trophée d'Arras at Croix-en-Ternois
07 Aug 1977 > Kvällspostens Newsrace at Knutstorp
21 Aug 1977 > ADAC-Hessen-Preis at Kassel-Calden
27 Aug 1977 > Donington Park
18 Sep 1977 > Trofeo Villa de Madrid at Jarama
09 Oct 1977 > Gran Premio Campidoglio at Vallelunga
1977 European Formula 3 Championship table
| 1 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | March 773 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 58 pts | 3 wins |
| 2 | Anders Olofsson | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 46 pts | 3 wins |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet | March 773 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 33 pts | 2 wins |
| 4 | Beppe Gabbiani | Chevron B38 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 26 pts | 1 win |
| 5 | Oscar Pedersoli | Ralt RT1/75 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 24 pts | 2 wins |
| 6 | Piero Necchi | Chevron B38 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 22 pts | |
| 7 | Elio de Angelis | Chevron B38 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 18 pts | 1 win |
| 8 | David Kennedy | March 773 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor Argo JM1 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 17 pts | |
| 9= | Derek Daly | Chevron B38 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 13 pts | 1 win |
| 9= | John Nielsen | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 13 pts | |
| 11 | Bertram Schäfer | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 11 pts | |
| 12= | Brett Riley | March 773 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 9 pts | 1 win |
| 12= | Eje Elgh | Chevron B38 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 9 pts | |
| 14 | Ulf Svensson | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 8 pts | |
| 15 | Marcello Rosei | March 773 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 5 pts |
This series ran over 14 rounds and used a 9-6-4-3-2-1 points system. Points tables from Autocourse 1977/78 p233.
The three-way constructors' battle saw Ralt win eight races, to March's four and Chevron's two. Measuring podium finishes, Ralt had 19, March 12, Chevron nine, with newcomers Argo next on two. In terms of share of the grid, Ralt had 37% of the starters, March 27%, Chevron 20%, and Argo 4%. Hawke and Maco led the rest, each with 2.5%, followed by Brabham, Toj, Lola, GRD and Modus.