1989 British Formula Three Championship

1989 British Formula 3 International Series 1988 1990 thumb|right|1989 champion, David Brabham 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.http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-2012/85/david-brabham Lunch with... David Brabham 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. The scoring system was 9-6-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first six classified finishers, with one extra point added to the driver who set the fastest lap of the race. All results counted to the final tally. Race calendar and results Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Class B winner 1 Thruxton 27 March SWE Rickard Rydell SWI Alain Menu SWE Rickard Rydell IRL Eddie Jordan Racing GBR Eddie Kimbell 2 Silverstone 9 April AUS David Brabham SWI Alain Menu AUS David Brabham GBR Bowman Racing NZL Craig Simmiss 31 1 Brands Hatch 23 April FIN Mika Häkkinen FIN Mika Häkkinen AUS David Brabham GBR Bowman Racing GBR Ken Bowes 4 Silverstone 1 May GBR Steve Robertson IRL Derek Higgins IRL Derek Higgins GBR West Surrey Racing MEX Fernando Plata 5 Brands Hatch 21 May FIN Mika Häkkinen DEU Otto Rensing AUS David Brabham GBR Bowman Racing MEX Fernando Plata 6 Thruxton 29 May IRL Derek Higgins IRL Derek Higgins GBR Allan McNish GBR West Surrey Racing MEX Fernando Plata 7 Silverstone 4 June GBR Allan McNish SWE Rickard Rydell GBR Allan McNish GBR West Surrey Racing MEX Fernando Plata 8 Donington Park 2 July SWE Rickard Rydell GBR Allan McNish GBR Allan McNish GBR West Surrey Racing AUS Warwick Rooklyn 9 Silverstone 15 July AUS David Brabham FIN Mika Häkkinen GBR Allan McNish GBR West Surrey Racing MEX Fernando Plata 101 1 Snetterton 6 August AUS David Brabham AUS David Brabham GBR Paul Stewart GBR Paul Stewart Racing MEX Fernando Plata 11 Oulton Park 13 August AUS David Brabham AUS David Brabham AUS David Brabham GBR Bowman Racing MEX Fernando Plata 12 Silverstone 28 August AUS David Brabham IRL Derek Higgins AUS David Brabham GBR Bowman Racing AUS Warwick Rooklyn 13 Brands Hatch 3 September BEL Philippe Adams GBR Allan McNish BEL Philippe Adams GBR Bowman Racing AUS Warwick Rooklyn 14 Donington Park 17 September AUS David Brabham GBR Steve Robertson GBR Steve Robertson GBR Bowman Racing GBR Scott Stringfellow 15 Silverstone 7 October GBR Allan McNish GBR Allan McNish AUS David Brabham GBR Bowman Racing AUS Warwick Rooklyn 16 Thruxton 15 October GBR Allan McNish IRL Derek Higgins GBR Allan McNish GBR West Surrey Racing AUS Warwick Rooklyn 1 1 These races were shortened due to accidents. Championship Standings Class A Pos. Driver Team Points 1 AUS David Brabham Bowman Racing 80 2 GBR Allan McNish West Surrey Racing 70 3 IRL Derek Higgins West Surrey Racing 46 4 SWE Rickard Rydell Eddie Jordan Racing 35 5 GBR Steve Robertson Bowman Racing 27 6 BEL Philippe Adams Bowman Racing 23 7 FIN Mika Häkkinen Dragon Motorsport 18 8 SWI Alain Menu Racefax Motorsport 16 9 DEU Otto Rensing Paul Stewart Racing 15 10 GBR Paul Stewart Paul Stewart Racing 13 11 GBR John Alcorn Becsport 12 12 GBR Gary Ayles Jack Brabham Racing 11 13 GBR Jason Elliott Paul Stewart RacingSwallow Racing 11 14 FIN Mika Salo Alan Docking Racing 10 15 SWE Niclas Schönström Swallow Racing 9 16 GBR Gary Ward RGS Motorsport 6 17 GBR Julian Westwood Racefax Motorsport 5 18 GBR Paul Warwick Intersport 3 19 COL John Estupiñan Bowman Racing 3 20 POR António Simões Dawson Auto Developments 3 Class B Pos. Driver Team Points 1 MEX Fernando Plata Bowman Racing 89 2 AUS Warwick Rooklyn Bowman Racing 68 3 GBR Scott Stringfellow Jim Lee Racing 68 4 GBR Eddie Kimbell Peter Lea Racing 32 5 NZL Craig Simmiss CS Engineering 27 6 GBR Stephen Hepworth Driver 25 7 GBR Ken Bowes Hi-Tech Motor Sports Development 24 8 GBR Chad Wentzel Hubbard Racing 15 9 BRA Lindoro da Silva START RacingHi-Tech Motor Sports Development 10 10 GBR Dominic Chappell Long Ridge Racing 10 11 GBR Charles Rickett Jim Lee Racing 10 12 Hong Kong 1959 Darren Shaw MacDonald Race Engineering 7 13 ITA Guido Basile Terropol Promotions 6 14 GBR Paul Smith Tech-Speed Motorsport 5 15 GBR Gary Thomas CS Engineering 4 16 GBR Rob Mears Cram Motorsport 4 17 GBR Chris Needham Hi-Tech Motor Sport Developments 3 18 ESP Juan Serda Roger Cowman Racing 2 19 GBR Alan Tulloch Peter Lea Racing 1 20 GBR Chris Perkins Royal Air Force MSA 1 References Category:1989 in British motorsport Category:British Formula Three Championship seasons