1990 British Formula Three Championship
1990 British Formula Three Championship | |||
Previous: | 1989 | Next: | 1991 |
The 1990 British Formula Three season was the 40th season of the British Formula Three Championship, starting on 1 April at Donington Park and ending on 7 October at Silverstone following 17 races.
The season was notable for its domination by future Formula One champion Mika Häkkinen and fellow Finn and future F1 driver Mika Salo; both drove Mugen-Honda-powered Ralt chassis, prepared by West Surrey Racing and Alan Docking Racing respectively. Häkkinen started the year strongly with three wins from the first four races, but Salo responded with four victories in the next six events to establish an 11-point advantage over his rival. The 11th round of the series at Snetterton proved a turning point, however, as Salo spun out while leading, allowing Häkkinen to begin a sequence of six wins from the final seven rounds which would allow him to seal the title with two rounds to spare.
Häkkinen's reward would be a deal to race with the Lotus F1 team in 1991, although Salo's career momentum was ruined by a drunk-driving charge that forced him to move to Japan to further his career.[1] Other drivers in the field that went on to enjoy success in international motorsport included Christian Fittipaldi, who went on to win the International Formula 3000 championship the following year before enjoying stints in F1 and CART, and future touring car and sportscar driver Peter Kox.
1990 also marked the start of a dominant period for Mugen-Honda engines, which would power each British F3 champion until 2005 with only one exception. Charles Rickett won the Class B title in a year-old Volkswagen-powered Ralt.
Drivers and Teams
Team | No | Driver | Class | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bowman Racing | 1 | Steve Robertson | A | Ralt RT33 | Volkswagen-Spiess | All |
4 | Philippe Adams | A | Ralt RT33 | Volkswagen-Spiess | All | |
12 | Fernando Plata | A | Ralt RT33 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–7 | |
Stephen Hepworth | 10–17 | |||||
14 | Peter Kox | A | Ralt RT33 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–10, 12–17 | |
54 | Charles Rickett | B | Ralt RT33 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–13 | |
Darren Shaw | 14, 16 | |||||
Dana Brewer | 15, 17 | |||||
West Surrey Racing | 2 | Mika Häkkinen | A | Ralt RT34 | Mugen-Honda | All |
3 | Christian Fittipaldi | A | Ralt RT34 | Mugen-Honda | All | |
16 | Minoru Tanaka | A | Ralt RT34 | Mugen-Honda | All | |
Paul Stewart Racing | 5 | Paul Stewart | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 1–3 |
Ralt RT34 | 4–17 | |||||
6 | Derek Higgins | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 1–4 | |
Ralt RT34 | 5–17 | |||||
Alan Docking Racing | 7 | Mika Salo | A | Ralt RT34 | Mugen-Honda | All |
8 | Hideki Noda | A | Ralt RT34 | Mugen-Honda | All | |
Swallow Racing | 10 | Julian Westwood | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 1–4 |
Ralt RT34 | 5–17 | |||||
11 | Jonathan McGall | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 1–3 | |
Ralt RT34 | 4–17 | |||||
Formula Services | 18 | Jose Cordova | A | Reynard 903 | Alfa Romeo | 1–4 |
Adrián Fernández | 5 | |||||
Hubbard Racing | 20 | Hilton Cowie | A | Reynard 903 | Opel | 5–9, 13–15, 17 |
94 | Ralt RT33 | 3 | ||||
21 | Niko Palhares | A | Ralt RT33 | Opel | 3–4 | |
Ralt RT34 | 5–9 | |||||
64 | Pekka Herva | B | Reynard 893 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 14–15, 17 | |
91 | Flurin Zegg | B | Ralt RT33 | Opel | 4 | |
Racefax Motorsport | 23 | Alain Menu | A | Ralt RT32 | Mazda | 1–2, 4 |
61 | Dominic Chappell | B | Ralt RT32 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–3 | |
Ralt RT33 | 4–17 | |||||
Dawson Auto Developments | 25 | António Simões | A | Reynard 903 | Alfa Romeo | 2–3, 5, 10–11, 13, 17 |
Tech-Speed Motorsport | 27 | Gary Ayles | A | Reynard 903 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–4, 6–9 |
Scott Stringfellow | 13 | |||||
28 | Jordi Gené | A | Reynard 903 | Volkswagen-Spiess | All | |
58 | Paul Smith | B | Reynard 873 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 10 | |
Hepworth Racing | 30 | Stephen Hepworth | A | Reynard 903 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–6 |
Jason Elliott | 9–10 | |||||
Henrik Larsen | 11–14 | |||||
Ross Hockenhull | 16 | |||||
Superpower Engineering | 33 | Paul Warwick | A | Reynard 903 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1 |
Ralt RT34 | Mugen-Honda | 2–9 | ||||
Bernard Dolan | 10 | |||||
Gary Ayles | 11–17 | |||||
Team Itchi-Ban | 37 | Nic Jönsson | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 15–16 |
38 | Mikael Gustavsson | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 15 | |
39 | Linus Lundberg | A | Reynard 903 | Mugen-Honda | 15 | |
G-Son Racing | 40 | Fredrik Ekblom | A | Reynard 903 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1 |
60 | Monica Stråth | B | Reynard 883 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1 | |
Diamond Racing | 44 | César Tiberio Jiménez | A | Reynard 903 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 4 |
70 | B | Reynard 893 | Toyota | 3 | ||
Reynard R&D | 50 | Jason Elliott | A | Reynard 903B | Mugen-Honda | 11, 13, 15–17 |
Peter Lea Racing | 51 | Eddie Kimbell | B | Reynard 873 | Alfa Romeo | 1–13 |
Sandy Brody | 14–17 | |||||
56 | Alan Tulloch | B | Reynard 883 | Alfa Romeo | 1–10, 13–17 | |
Stronghold Racing | 52 | Steve Bradley | B | Ralt RT32 | Toyota | 1–4, 6, 8–11, 14 |
Ralt RT33 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 15, 17 | ||||
Steve Deeks | 53 | Steve Deeks | B | Reynard 883 | Alfa Romeo | 5–8, 10, 17 |
Tollbar Racing | 55 | Juan Serda | B | Ralt RT32 | Volkswagen-Spiess | All |
Davies Racing | 57 | Tony Davies | B | Ralt RT31 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1, 4–6, 10, 17 |
Zeus Motorsport | 66 | Peter Sneller | B | Reynard 883 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 1–2, 4–8, 10–12, 15–17 |
Petroglobe International | 67 | Dana Brewer | B | Reynard 893 | Alfa Romeo | 13 |
Cram Motorsport | 71 | Rob Mears | B | Ralt RT33 | Toyota | All |
JWD Motorsport | 83 | Jack Dickenson | B | Ralt RT31 | Toyota | 4, 9 |
Carlton Tingling | 85 | Carlton Tingling | B | Reynard 883 | Volkswagen-Spiess | 15 |
Race calendar and results
^1 Häkkinen and Salo set identical fastest lap times and were subsequently both awarded an additional point.
Championship Standings
Class A
Points in brackets include dropped scores – only the best 14 of 17 scores count towards the championship
Pos. | Driver | DON | SIL | THR | BRH | SIL | BRH | THR | SIL | DON | SIL | SNE | OUL | SIL | BRH | DON | THR | SIL | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mika Häkkinen | 1 | (3) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ret | (6) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 121 (126) |
2 | Mika Salo | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | (7) | 2 | 2 | Ret | 3 | 1 | Ret | 98 (99) |
3 | Steve Robertson | 3 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 3 | Ret | 1 | Ret | 3 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 3 | Ret | 9 | 3 | 49 |
4 | Christian Fittipaldi | 4 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 3 | Ret | DSQ | 5 | Ret | 4 | 2 | 36 |
5 | Peter Kox | Ret | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | Ret | 6 | 5 | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 4 | 28 | |
6 | Philippe Adams | 11 | Ret | 6 | 10 | 4 | 20 | Ret | 9 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 11 | 25 |
7 | Paul Stewart | 6 | 23 | Ret | 11 | 9 | Ret | 13 | 4 | 4 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | Ret | 3 | 13 | 21 |
8 | Jonathan McGall | Ret | 5 | Ret | 12 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 13 |
9 | Derek Higgins | Ret | 7 | Ret | 5 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 3 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 12 |
10 | Paul Warwick | 17 | Ret | 4 | 3 | Ret | 5 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||
11 | Minoru Tanaka | 5 | 8 | Ret | 8 | 13 | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | 5 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 12 | Ret | 5 | 8 | 10 |
12 | Hideki Noda | 7 | 6 | Ret | DNS | 6 | 9 | 11 | 16 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 10 | Ret | 8 |
13 | Jason Elliott | Ret | 8 | DNS | 20 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||
14 | Julian Westwood | Ret | 12 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
15 | Jordi Gené | 10 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 12 | Ret | DSQ | 10 | Ret | 11 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 7 | Ret | 9 | 1 |
16 | Fernando Plata | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 0 | ||||||||||
17 | Gary Ayles | 20 | Ret | 11 | 14 | Ret | 8 | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 8 | 19 | 12 | 0 | ||
18 | Henrik Larsen | 8 | Ret | 11 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||||
19 | Stephen Hepworth | 13 | 16 | 15 | Ret | 15 | 12 | Ret | 9 | 9 | Ret | 14 | 15 | 20 | Ret | 0 | |||
20 | Alain Menu | 9 | Ret | DNS | 0 | ||||||||||||||
21 | Bernard Dolan | 9 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
22 | Niko Palhares | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | NC | 11 | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||
23 | Jose Cordova | DNS | 11 | 10 | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||
24 | António Simões | 13 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||
25 | Hilton Cowie | 12 | Ret | Ret | DSQ | 12 | 11 | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 0 | |||||||
26 | Ross Hockenhull | 11 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
27 | Nic Jönsson | Ret | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
28 | Scott Stringfellow | 15 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Fredrik Ekblom | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Adrián Fernández | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Linus Lundberg | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
César T. Jiménez | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Mikael Gustavsson | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Class B
Pos. | Driver | DON | SIL | THR | BRH | SIL | BRH | THR | SIL | DON | SIL | SNE | OUL | SIL | BRH | DON | THR | SIL | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Charles Rickett | Ret | 15 | 13 | 15 | Ret | 21 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 101 | ||||
2 | Dominic Chappell | 12 | 19 | DNS | Ret | Ret | 13 | 15 | 15 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 11 | 14 | 16 | 9 | 14 | Ret | 72 |
3 | Eddie Kimbell | Ret | 18 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 15 | Ret | 12 | DNS | 16 | 43 | ||||
4 | Rob Mears | 18 | Ret | 16 | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | 18 | 13 | 16 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 17 | 10 | 15 | DSQ | 42 |
5 | Peter Sneller | Ret | 17 | DNS | Ret | 15 | 16 | Ret | 14 | 15 | 12 | DSQ | 16 | 14 | 39 | ||||
6 | Juan Serda | 16 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 18 | 20 | DSQ | 18 | 18 | 33 |
7 | Steve Bradley | DSQ | 21 | 18 | Ret | 17 | 20 | 14 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 12 | 16 | 23 | |||||
8 | Darren Shaw | 15 | 12 | 20 | |||||||||||||||
9 | Alan Tulloch | 15 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | Ret | Ret | 21 | 17 | 21 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 20 | ||
10 | Sandy Brody | Ret | Ret | 17 | 15 | 8 | |||||||||||||
11 | Steve Deeks | Ret | DNS | DNS | 17 | 18 | 17 | 8 | |||||||||||
12 | Monica Stråth | 14 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
13 | Tony Davies | 19 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 22 | DNS | 6 | |||||||||||
14 | Pekka Herva | 18 | Ret | Ret | 4 | ||||||||||||||
15 | César T. Jiménez | 17 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
16 | Dana Brewer | 19 | 14 | 19 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
17 | Paul Smith | 17 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
18 | Carlton Tingling | 13 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
19 | Jack Dickenson | DNS | 17 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Flurin Zegg | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||||||