British Formula 3 1986
Although Britain's F3 champion was not assured of a F1 drive, as had seemed the case in the early 1980s, it did guarantee a place in a good team in F3000. The British series, now sponsored by Lucas, continued to add depth with fields averaging 34 cars, up from 28 in 1985, 21 in 1983 and a mere 17 in 1983.
After his disappointment in 1985, Andy Wallace moved to Madgwick but remained faithful to Reynard, one of very few drivers who did. Wallace and Maurizio Sandro Sala, in Eddie Jordan's Ralt, dueled for the title until 'Morris' inexplicably lost faith in the Ralt and Wallace was able to dominate the closing stages of the season. Martin Donnelly was Wallace's closest challenger after Sala faded. Further down the field were a few future stars, notably Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert.
Remembering how Ralt had come back so strongly against Reynard in 1985, most teams stuck with Ron Tauranac's cars but there was a move towards Reynard late in the season as Wallace's example qualified on pole 11 times in succession. Nobody tried the Dallara 386 or Martini MK49 which were completely dominant in European national series.
The races
02 Mar 1986 > Silverstone
09 Mar 1986 > Thruxton
23 Mar 1986 > Silverstone
31 Mar 1986 > Thruxton
13 Apr 1986 > Silverstone
20 Apr 1986 > Brands Hatch
05 May 1986 > Thruxton
18 May 1986 > Donington Park
26 May 1986 > Silverstone
08 Jun 1986 > Silverstone
21 Jun 1986 > Oulton Park
29 Jun 1986 > Zandvoort
13 Jul 1986 > Cellnet Trophy Formula 3 Race at Brands Hatch
20 Jul 1986 > Donington Park
03 Aug 1986 > Cellnet Trophy Formula 3 Race at Brands Hatch
11 Aug 1986 > Snetterton
25 Aug 1986 > Silverstone
31 Aug 1986 > Brands Hatch
13 Sep 1986 > Spa-Francorchamps
28 Sep 1986 > Zolder
05 Oct 1986 > Silverstone
Lucas British Formula 3 Championship events shown in bold
1986 Lucas British Formula 3 Championship table
| 1 | Andy Wallace | Reynard 863 | 121 pts | |
| 2 | Maurizio Sandro Sala | Ralt RT30/86 Reynard 863 | 83 pts | |
| 3 | Martin Donnelly | Ralt RT30/86 | 59 pts | |
| 4 | Gerrit van Kouwen | Ralt RT30/86 Ralt RT30/86 | 24 pts | |
| 5 | Gary Brabham | Ralt RT30/86 | 22 pts |
Points table from Autosport 4 December 1986 p31.
VW strengthened its grip on F3 even further in 1986 but Toyota introduced a new 3S-G engine to replace the ageing 2T-G design. Only Intersport used it in 1986 and it made little impact.