The Formula Juniors excelled themselves again with far and away the largest grid amongst the International fields , and a five car battle at the front in each race. Two great wins came from Urs Eberhardt (Lotus 27) in Race 1, and Pierre Tonnetti (BT 6) in race 2, with young Christoph Burkhardt (Lotus 22), second on both occasions, and claiming overall victory on aggregate. But star performance came from Scotsman and veteran racer, John Fyda (ex Leo Geoghegan Lotus 22), who had, perforce, driven all the way from Dundee via Dover, as the volcanic clouds spread South, to arrive just in time for qualifying practice, and take pole position on the grid. John then drove a great race amongst the leaders , and was justly rewarded with third place overall, behind Urs, who had spun, but recovered, at the last corner of Race 2

With a few last minute non-starters, the capacity field was reduced to 32, and with British drivers (mostly Scots!) representing only one third of the field, such is the International flavour of FJ, but also reflecting the unfavourable £/Euro exchange. A few brave souls ventured out in the mixed “free” practices, but most were swiftly frightened off by the BOSS, Formula BMW and F3 young blood, who were taking no FJ prisoners : Phillipp Buhofer (Lola Mk 5A – now run by Bruno Schaffner ) was lucky to escape into the gravel , without damage. Qualifiing saw Fyda put in a stunning penultimate lap, whilst the consistent Eberhardt was only a fraction behind lap after lap, and Burkhardt third , again with one stunning qualifier, followed by Tonetti and Muller, then Buhoffer, Walford ( 22), Amez-Droz ( BT6) and Mussa( BT2) , all within 2 ½ secs of pole. Chilcott(20) led the drum brakes, and Dietrich Merkel ( Lola Mk 2 ) the front engined brigade

Race 1 , and Urs got away to a great start, with a remarkable Urs Muller ( 20/22) behind , from Burkhardt  and Fyda, The first three held sway throughout the race, but no more than feet apart, with Fyda dropping slightly, from Tonetti, and Walford just keeping Buhofer at bay. Urs demonstrated his skills to take the flag by 2 s, with Muller and Burkhardt  almost together, to give a Swiss 1-2-3 on the podium. It was good to see Alessandro Ripamonti back after a year’s retirement, in the shark nosed Wainer, while Richard Smeaton was also impressive in the ex Mark Gillies Lotus 20/22 of Alan Baillie – perhaps too impressive , as he coasted into the pits to take the flag with a blown Richardson motor !Mussa expired within yards of the start with stripped gears, and Chris Chilcott was delayed by a spin on lap two, involving Ivo Goeckmann in the Jolus , so returnee, John Delane , driving a usually consistent race , and many lbs lighter – driver , not car ! – headed the drum brakes , with good performances by oil man, Steve Futter in his original Renault gearboxed 20, and HSCC Treasurer, and Isle of Wight brewer and sherriff, Anthony Goddard  thoroughly enjoying his Lurani debut in the ex Bob Woodward Tojeiro. Merkel, and Daniele Salodini( Taraschi) headed the front engined classes, while the “father” of FJ racing , Heinz Stege (Elva 100) had engine problems, and Comte Michel de Graves ( alias, London solicitor, Michael Ashley-Brown ) ran the big ends in the Volpini

Race 2 and it was Eberhardt again at the start, but this time followed by Tonetti, Burkhardt and Fyda, all keeping close station throughout the race, with Muller and Buhofer already behind. The great battle at the front saw Tonetti ahead on lap 3, which he maintained , but Urs made a last ditch effort  on the last corner , only to spin, but recover for 5th. Meantime Buhofer had disposed of Muller on lap 6, and was on the tail of the leaders, catching them , and passing Fyda for 4th on the last lap, and staying out of Urs’ way to take a well deserved 3rd place , and the first podium for Schaffner racing as entrant. Marcus Mussa was back , repaired, with a good 6th spot in the BT2

Further back, Chilcott and Goeckmann were again fighting for Class D, with the Jolus really close by lap 6, and passed two laps later, only to stop dead with an electrical fault shortly thereafter. Delane again drove a steady class win in the 18, this time from Peter Knoefel ( ex Mike Spence Emeryson), while Goddard, whose father had sponsored Mike Spence , gradually fell back, while Peter caught and eventually passed David Brown’s BT6. The “Italians” had a ding dong, with Salodini and Biekens ( Stanguellini) swapping places more than once , after battling with Sjoberg in the Swebe Cooper, which spun out on lap 3. Merkel had a lonely race, as, at the last minute, Duncan found his self imposed damage to the Alexis in race 1 more serious than first appeared, and was a prudent non starter

Aggregate results for the Lurani Championship gave Burckhardt overall victory from Eberhardt, Fyda and Tonetti, and class wins for Chilcott, Delane, Merkel , Salodini, and Dick van Amsterdam in the sole “ guest” F3 1000, the one-off Belgica , ex Teddy Pilette

DCPR