British Formula 3 1974
The new 2000cc Formula 3 did not start well. At the opening race, just five F3 cars started and only one of those had a full 2-litre engine, the works March 743 of Brian Henton. Although the Holbay-built ohc Ford 'Pinto' engines in the works Marchs were expected to be the best option, the good old twin cam outperformed expectations, especially the Novamotor versions. Alex Dias Ribeiro had one of these in his GRD 374 and proved Henton's closest competitor in the opening months. Tony Rouff also proved to be quick in his older GRD and both José Espírito Santo and José Chateaubriand picked up good results in their March 743s. Dick Parsons in his ex-works Ensign and Danny Sullivan in a two-year-old March also impressed, Sullivan picking up a works Modus drive towards the end of the year.
Novamotor comprehensively solved the problem of engines in the autumn when they introduced their version of the twin-cam Toyota 2T-G engine, a powerplant that would dominate Formula 3 for many years to come.
With 15 victories, Henton personally dominated 1974, his tally making up the bulk of March's 18 British F3 wins. GRD, through Rouff and Ribeiro, took seven wins and Modus took one: Sullivan's win at Thruxton in October. Counting all podiums gives March a score of 43, GRD 25, Modus four, Ehrlich three, Brabham and Dastle two each and Ensign just one.
The races
09 Mar 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 1)
17 Mar 1974 > Silverstone (Lombard Round 2)
24 Mar 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 1)
12 Apr 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 3)
28 Apr 1974 > Mallory Park (Lombard Round 4)
05 May 1974 > Silverstone (Forward Trust Round 2)
12 May 1974 > Snetterton (Forward Trust Round 3)
19 May 1974 > Brands Hatch (Forward Trust Round 4)
26 May 1974 > Brands Hatch (Lombard Round 5)
02 Jun 1974 > Cadwell Park (Forward Trust Round 5)
09 Jun 1974 > Silverstone (Forward Trust Round 6)
30 Jun 1974 > Snetterton (Lombard Round 6)
21 Jul 1974 > Cadwell Park (Forward Trust Round 7)
27 Jul 1974 > Oulton Park (Forward Trust Round 8)
28 Jul 1974 > Snetterton (Lombard Round 7)
10 Aug 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 8)
11 Aug 1974 > Brands Hatch (Lombard Round 9)
18 Aug 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 9)
25 Aug 1974 > Mallory Park (Lombard Round 10)
26 Aug 1974 > Silverstone (Lombard Round 11)
08 Sep 1974 > Silverstone (Forward Trust Round 10)
15 Sep 1974 > Brands Hatch (Forward Trust Round 11)
22 Sep 1974 > Thruxton (Lombard Round 12)
28 Sep 1974 > Oulton Park (Lombard Round 13)
06 Oct 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 12)
13 Oct 1974 > Brands Hatch (Lombard Round 14)
27 Oct 1974 > Thruxton (Forward Trust Round 13)
1974 BARC Forward Trust F3 Championship table
| 1 | Brian Henton | March 743 - Ford ohc Holbay March 743 - Toyota Novamotor | 81 pts | 8 wins |
| 2 | Tony Rouff | GRD 373 - Ford twin cam Vegantune | 54 pts | 1 win |
| 3 | José Espírito Santo | March 733 - Ford twin cam March 743 - Ford twin cam | 36 pts | 1 win |
| 4 | Danny Sullivan | March 723 - Ford twin cam Vegantune Modus M1 - Ford ohc Holbay | 28 pts | 1 win |
| 5= | Alex Dias Ribeiro | GRD 374 - Ford twin cam Novamotor GRD 374 - Ford Pinto ohc Holbay | 27 pts | 1 win |
| 5= | José Chateaubriand | March 743 - Ford ohc Holbay March 743 - Toyota Novamotor | 27 pts | |
| 7 | Mike Tyrrell | March 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown | 15 pts | 1 win |
| 8 | Nicholas von Preussen | March 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown | 13 pts | |
| 9 | Conny Andersson | March 743 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 10 pts | |
| 10 | Barrie Maskell | Dastle Mk10B - Ford twin cam | 8 pts |
The BARC Forward Trust series ran over 13 rounds and used a 9-6-4-3-2-1 points system. Unfortunately, Autosport made a mistake in their "final" points table published 17 Oct 1974 p8. It appears they mistook the final round of the MCD Lombard North Central series on the preceding weekend for the final round of the BARC Forward Trust series and gave Ribeiro 9 points and Chateaubriand 6 points. When the final round of the FT series actually took place at Thruxton on 27 Oct 1974, no updated table was published. The table above has been reconstructed from results.
1974 MCD Lombard North Central F3 Championship table
| 1 | Brian Henton | March 743 - Ford ohc Holbay March 743 - Toyota Novamotor | 78 pts | 7 wins |
| 2 | Alex Dias Ribeiro | GRD 374 - Ford twin cam Novamotor GRD 374 - Ford Pinto ohc Holbay | 60 pts | 2 wins |
| 3 | Tony Rouff | GRD 373 - Ford twin cam Vegantune | 54 pts | 3 wins |
| 4 | José Chateaubriand | March 743 - Ford ohc Holbay March 743 - Toyota Novamotor | 32 pts | |
| 5 | Nicholas von Preussen | March 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown | 29 pts | 1 win |
| 6 | Derek Lawrence | Ehrlich ES2 - Ford twin cam Ehrlich | 17 pts | |
| 7 | Danny Sullivan | March 723 - Ford twin cam Vegantune Modus M1 - Ford ohc Holbay | 16 pts | |
| 8 | Conny Andersson | March 743 - Toyota 2T-G Novamotor | 11 pts | |
| 9 | Mike Tyrrell | March 733 - Ford twin cam Neil Brown | 8 pts | |
| 10= | Barrie Maskell | Dastle Mk10B - Ford twin cam | 7 pts |
The MCD Lombard North Central series ran over 14 rounds and used a 9-6-4-3-2-1 points system with double points at the last race. It should be noted that Jos? Chateaubriand was initially disqualified from second place in that last race but later reinstated. The points table shown here includes his later reinstatement.
Just 13 winners are listed above; the 14th race was a curious affair at Brands Hatch on 26 May 1974 where prize money was not what it should have been and the handful of F3s that turned up were lumped together with a bunch of libre cars. Marcos Moraes' clutch burnt out on the start line so Nicholas van Preussen - also known as Prince Friedrich Nikolaus of Prussia - had an easy win.