Italian Formula 3 1974

After the late surge of interest in the March 733 at the end of the previous season, it was no surprise to see seven Italian-owned March 743s on the grid for the opening race of Italy's first 2-litre F3 season. Three had Novamotor's new Toyota engine, and three had Holbay's Ford ohc engine, but it was the good old-fashioned Novamotor twin cam that was working best at the start of the season, and Sandro Cinotto took pole position in his 743-twin cam. Three of the next five qualifiers were GRD 374s, also with Nova twin cams, and Uruguayan Pedro Passadore's example won that opening race, with Cinotto right behind. The success of the GRD-twin cams continued at the next race, with Alberto Colombo fastest in practice, and Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi winning the race, and then Luciano Pavesi won at Casale, also with a Nova twin cam in his old Brabham BT41.

In other parts of Europe however, the Toyota engine was now coming to the fore; in particular in Sweden where Conny Andersson and Gunnar Nilsson were showing the speed of the March 743-Toyota combination. In Germany, 743-Toyotas finished 1-2-3 in the opening round of that series, and Giorgio Francia led another 743-Toyota 1-2-3 at the big International at the Nurburgring in mid-June. In Italy, Pesenti-Rossi reasserted the GRD 374-twin cam combination with a win in the Lotteria at Monza two weeks later, but then Colombo decided to try out his teammate's 743-Toyota at Casale in mid-July. He was fastest in practice, left the GRDs in his wake in his heat, and won the race by a comfortable margin. The GRD bubble had burst. Pesenti-Rossi was quick to change from GRD to March 743, and his second place at Magione, where Colombo did not finish, put him back in the lead of the Italian championship. Fortunately for Colombo, March waved a F2 car under Pesenti-Rossi's nose, and he could not resist the temptation, the distraction being enough to stop him scoring any further points in F3. Colombo won the Coppa Agip at Monza in his 743-Toyota, and secured the title.

The races

31 Mar 1974 > Coppa Autodromo Casale

07 Apr 1974 > Coppa AC Bologna at Monza

21 Apr 1974 > Trofeo Gruppo Tirrena Assicurazioni at Vallelunga

28 Apr 1974 > Coppa Autodromo Casale

25 May 1974 > Monaco Grand Prix Formula 3 Race at Monte Carlo

16 Jun 1974 > ADAC-300-km-Rennen um den "Good Year-Pokal" at Nürburgring

30 Jun 1974 > Gran Premio della Lotteria at Monza

14 Jul 1974 > Coppa Autodromo Casale

01 Sep 1974 > Coppa la Secura Assicurazioni at Magione

22 Sep 1974 > Coppa Agip at Monza

06 Oct 1974 > Mugello

1974 Campionato Italiano Formula 3 table

Points table from Autosprint 1974/41 page 29.