The 1989 British Formula Three season was the 39th season of the British Formula Three Championship, starting at Thruxton on 27 March and concluding there on 15 October after 16 races.

The title battle was largely fought between two sportscar racing stars of the future - West Surrey Racing's Allan McNish and Bowman Racing's David Brabham, both driving Ralt chassis. The former was initially declared champion at the end of the season as a result of Brabham being disqualified from his second-place finish the ninth round of the season at Silverstone and being penalised a further 18 points due to an irregularity with his Volkswagen engine. However, Brabham's points was reinstated following a court hearing in early 1990, giving him the title by a margin of 10 points over McNish.[1]

Other notable drivers in the field included future BTCC champions Rickard Rydell (who would contest the championship again two years later) and Alain Menu, and future Formula One stars Mika Häkkinen and Mika Salo, who would go on to be the title protagonists in 1990.

1989 proved a high-water mark for the series in terms of entry numbers, which regularly exceeded 40 cars. The result of this was the creation of qualifying heats at certain rounds in order to slim the field down prior to the main race. It was also the first year for the Neil Brown Engineering-tuned Mugen-Honda engine, used by McNish among others, which would power all but one British F3 champion from 1990 to 2006. Class B was won by Fernando Plata in a year-old VW-powered Ralt.

Race calendar and results

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team Class B Winner
1 Thruxton 27 March Sweden Rickard Rydell Switzerland Alain Menu Sweden Rickard Rydell Republic of Ireland Eddie Jordan Racing United Kingdom Eddie Kimbell
2 Silverstone 9 April Australia David Brabham Switzerland Alain Menu Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Bowman Racing New Zealand Craig Simmiss
31 Brands Hatch 23 April Finland Mika Häkkinen Finland Mika Häkkinen Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Bowman Racing United Kingdom Ken Bowes
4 Silverstone 1 May United Kingdom Steve Robertson Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
5 Brands Hatch 21 May Finland Mika Häkkinen Germany Otto Rensing Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Bowman Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
6 Thruxton 29 May Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
7 Silverstone 4 June United Kingdom Allan McNish Sweden Rickard Rydell United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
8 Donington Park 2 July Sweden Rickard Rydell United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Australia Warwick Rooklyn
9 Silverstone 15 July Australia David Brabham Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
101 Snetterton 6 August Australia David Brabham Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Paul Stewart United Kingdom Paul Stewart Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
11 Oulton Park 13 August Australia David Brabham Australia David Brabham Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Bowman Racing Mexico Fernando Plata
12 Silverstone 28 August Australia David Brabham Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Bowman Racing Australia Warwick Rooklyn
13 Brands Hatch 3 September Belgium Philippe Adams United Kingdom Allan McNish Belgium Philippe Adams United Kingdom Bowman Racing Australia Warwick Rooklyn
14 Donington Park 17 September Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Steve Robertson United Kingdom Steve Robertson United Kingdom Bowman Racing United Kingdom Scott Stringfellow
15 Silverstone 7 October United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom Allan McNish Australia David Brabham United Kingdom Bowman Racing Australia Warwick Rooklyn
16 Thruxton 15 October United Kingdom Allan McNish Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins United Kingdom Allan McNish United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Australia Warwick Rooklyn

^1 These races were shortened due to accidents.

Championship Standings

Class A

Pos. Driver Team Points
1 Australia David Brabham Bowman Racing 80
2 United Kingdom Allan McNish West Surrey Racing 70
3 Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins West Surrey Racing 46
4 Sweden Rickard Rydell Eddie Jordan Racing 35
5 United Kingdom Steve Robertson Bowman Racing 27
6 Belgium Philippe Adams Bowman Racing 23
7 Finland Mika Häkkinen Dragon Motorsport 18
8 Switzerland Alain Menu Racefax Motorsport 16
9 Germany Otto Rensing Paul Stewart Racing 15
10 United Kingdom Paul Stewart Paul Stewart Racing 13
11 United Kingdom John Alcorn Becsport 12
12 United Kingdom Gary Ayles Jack Brabham Racing 11
13 United Kingdom Jason Elliott Paul Stewart Racing
Swallow Racing
11
14 Finland Mika Salo Alan Docking Racing 10
15 Sweden Niclas Schönström Swallow Racing 9
16 United Kingdom Gary Ward RGS Motorsport 6
17 United Kingdom Julian Westwood Racefax Motorsport 5
18 United Kingdom Paul Warwick Intersport 3
19 Colombia John Estupiñan Bowman Racing 3
20 Portugal António Simões Dawson Auto Developments 3

Class B

Pos. Driver Team Points
1 Mexico Fernando Plata Bowman Racing 89
2 Australia Warwick Rooklyn Bowman Racing 68
3 United Kingdom Scott Stringfellow Jim Lee Racing 68
4 United Kingdom Eddie Kimbell Peter Lea Racing 32
5 New Zealand Craig Simmiss CS Engineering 27
6 United Kingdom Stephen Hepworth Driver 25
7 United Kingdom Ken Bowes Hi-Tech Motor Sports Development 24
8 United Kingdom Chad Wentzel Hubbard Racing 15
9 Brazil Lindoro da Silva START Racing
Hi-Tech Motor Sports Development
10
10 United Kingdom Dominic Chappell Long Ridge Racing 10
11 United Kingdom Charles Rickett Jim Lee Racing 10
12 Hong Kong Darren Shaw MacDonald Race Engineering 7
13 Italy Guido Basile Terropol Promotions 6
14 United Kingdom Paul Smith Tech-Speed Motorsport 5
15 United Kingdom Gary Thomas CS Engineering 4
16 United Kingdom Rob Mears Cram Motorsport 4
17 United Kingdom Chris Needham Hi-Tech Motor Sport Developments 3
18 Spain Juan Serda Roger Cowman Racing 2
19 United Kingdom Alan Tulloch Peter Lea Racing 1
20 United Kingdom Chris Perkins Royal Air Force MSA 1

References

  1. "Lunch with... David Brabham".
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