1979 British Formula One Championship Explained

The 1979 British Formula One Championship (formally the 1979 Aurora AFX F1 Championship) was the second season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 1 April 1979 and ended on 7 October after fifteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Englishman Rupert Keegan who drove an Arrows A1 entered by Charles Clowes.^[1]

Teams and drivers

Entry List^[2]
Team		Driver	Chassis	Engine	Rounds
Formula 1
Melchester Racing		Desiré Wilson	Tyrrell 008	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	All
		Gordon Smiley			1-4
		Neil Bettridge			8-13
		Gordon Smiley	McLaren M23		5-7
		Neil Bettridge	Arrows A1		14-15
Madom F1 Team		Emilio de Villota	Lotus 78	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	All
Mopar Ultramar Racing Team		Guy Edwards	Fittipaldi F5A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	All
		Bernard de Dryver			All
Graham Eden Racing		Tiff Needell	Chevron B41	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1-4, 7, 11, 15
		Ray Mallock			5
		David Leslie			8-9, 11-12
		Kim Mather			13-14
Valentino Musetti		Valentino Musetti	March 752/771	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1
			March 781		2-5
John Cooper	8	John Cooper	Ensign N177	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	5-8
		Tiff Needell			10
Team Agostini Marlboro		Giacomo Agostini	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	All
	10	Gimax			4, 6, 10-11
		Marco Micangeli			12, 14
		Guido Pardini			13
	44	Lella Lombardi			4
Theodore Racing with Hi-Line		David Kennedy	Wolf WR4	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1-11
			Wolf WR6		12-15
	7	Valentino Musetti	Wolf WR3		8-9
			Wolf WR4		12
	12	Geoff Lees			15
Frank Williams Racing	14	Giorgio Pianta	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	10
C. W. Clowes Racing		Rupert Keegan	Arrows A1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	2-9, 11-15
	17	Ricardo Zunino			8-14
BS Fabrications	17	Ricardo Zunino	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	6
			Arrows A1		7
Team Surtees		Philip Bullman	Surtees TS20	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1-3
		Gordon Smiley			9-10, 12
			Surtees TS20+		13-15
	23	Claude Bourgoignie	Surtees TS20		1
		Jean-Pierre Jaussaud			10
Dennis Leech	24	Dennis Leech	McLaren M23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	13
LEC Refrigeration Racing	27	David Purley	LEC CRP1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	12-13
			Shadow DN9		14-15
Smith & Jones		Robin Smith	Ensign N174	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1, 3
		Richard Jones			2, 5
		Robin Smith	Surtees TS19		7, 9, 12, 14
		Richard Jones			8, 11, 15
Willi Kauhsen	39	Gianfranco Brancatelli	Kauhsen WK	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1
Walz Toj Racing		Gerd Biechteler	March 781	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	1-3
Iain McLaren	88	Iain McLaren	McLaren M26	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	2, 4, 8
Formula 2
Cooper Industries	8	John Cooper	March 792	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	1-2, 4, 13
Divina Galica	13	Divina Galica	March 792	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	2, 8
Pontin Racing	15	Kim Mather	March 772P	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	1
				BMW M12 2.0 L4	2, 4-9
			March 772P/782	Ford BDG Eden 2.0 L4	11
		Mike Wilds			13
		Kim Mather		Ford BDG Richardson 2.0 L4	15
	18	Tony Dean	Chevron B42	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	1-2, 4-5, 8-10
	19	Brian Robinson			1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 11-14
			Chevron B48		15
Adrian Russell	20	Adrian Russell	March 782	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	1, 4-8, 10
RAM Racing	25	Germain Garon	Chevron B42	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	1-2, 10
		Hervé Regout			4-9, 11-15
Onyx Race Engineering	26	Patrick Nève	Pilbeam MP42	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	5-6
		Neil Bettridge			7
Kenneth Brill	28	Kenneth Brill	Chevron B35D	Ford BDG 2.0 L4	2, 4, 6-8, 11
Warren Booth	29	Warren Booth	Chevron B42	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	2, 4, 6, 8-9
	30	Norman Dickson	March 792	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	1-2, 4-9, 11-13, 15
	31	Gianfranco Brancatelli	March 772P		5
	34	Pascal Witmeur			1
Ecurie Motul Nogaro	34	Alain Couderc	AGS JH15	BMW M12 2.0 L4	10
Walz Toj Racing	65	Klaus Walz	March 782	BMW M12 2.0 L4	1-2
Theodore Racing	77	Derek Warwick	March 792	Hart 420R 2.0 L4	4, 13-14

Results and standings

Races

Rnd	Track	Date	Laps	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Race Winner	Constructor
1	Zolder	1 April	40	David Kennedy	Desiré Wilson	David Kennedy	Wolf
2	Oulton Park	13 April	65	Guy Edwards	David Kennedy	David Kennedy	Wolf
3	Brands Hatch	15 April	39	Rupert Keegan	Rupert Keegan	Guy Edwards	Fittipaldi
4	Mallory Park	7 May	75	Bernard de Dryver	Guy Edwards	Rupert Keegan	Arrows
5	Snetterton	20 May	53	Guy Edwards	Rupert Keegan	Rupert Keegan	Arrows
6	Thruxton	28 May	50	Guy Edwards	David Kennedy	Emilio de Villota	Lotus
7	Zandvoort	4 June	40	Guy Edwards	Emilio de Villota	Emilio de Villota	Lotus
8	Donington Park	24 June	52	Rupert Keegan	Ricardo Zunino	Rupert Keegan	Arrows
9	Oulton Park	30 June	65	Guy Edwards	Emilio de Villota	Emilio de Villota	Lotus
10	Nogaro	8 July	50	Ricardo Zunino	Ricardo Zunino	Emilio de Villota	Lotus
11	Mallory Park	29 July	75	Emilio de Villota	Ricardo Zunino	David Kennedy	Wolf
12	Brands Hatch	27 August	40	Rupert Keegan	Guy Edwards	Ricardo Zunino	Arrows
13	Thruxton	9 September	50	Ricardo Zunino	Emilio de Villota	Rupert Keegan	Arrows
14	Snetterton	23 September	55	Rupert Keegan	Rupert Keegan	Rupert Keegan	Arrows
15	Silverstone	7 October	35	Rupert Keegan	Rupert Keegan	Gordon Smiley	Surtees

Drivers' standings

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers using the following structure:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Points	9	6	4	3	2	1	2	1

Driver ZOL OUL BRH MAL SNE THR ZAN DON OUL NOG MAL BRH THR SNE SIL Pts 1 Rupert Keegan 11 Ret 1 1 Ret NC 1 Ret Ret DNS 1 1 2 65 2 David Kennedy 1 1 DNS 3 NC 2 2 10 Ret 3 1 3 3 3 Ret 63 3 Emilio de Villota Ret 7 Ret 4 3 1 1 2 1 1 6 Ret Ret 8 Ret 55 4 Bernard de Dryver 5 Ret 2 Ret 4 DNS 6 3 2 2 Ret 4 4 5 4 41 5 Guy Edwards DSQ 2 1 5 Ret Ret 7 6 Ret Ret 3 2 Ret Ret 8 40 6 Ricardo Zunino 5 Ret 4 Ret 7 2 1 2 2 39 7 Desiré Wilson 3 3 3 11 Ret 3 4 Ret 5 4 Ret 7 7 6 5 28 8 Giacomo Agostini 9 6 5 Ret 2 6 3 9 3 Ret Ret Ret 6 7 7 19 9 Gordon Smiley DNS 9 4 Ret 7 4 5 10 DNS 6 Ret Ret 1 18 10 Tiff Needell 2 10 Ret 7 8 Ret Ret 6 7 11 Norman Dickson 6 4 6 6 DNS 10 7 Ret NC Ret 14 10 6 = Derek Warwick 2 13 Ret 6 13 Philip Bullman 4 5 Ret 5 14 Kim Mather 7 8 Ret 10 8 NC 8 6 4 DNS Ret Ret 4 = Neil Bettridge Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 5 5 Ret 12 4 = Geoff Lees 3 4 17 David Leslie 14 4 DNS Ret 3 = David Purley Ret 10 4 9 3 19 John Cooper DNS Ret 10 5 7 9 DSQ 11 2 = Divina Galica Ret 5 2 = Gimax Ret 9 Ret 5 2 = Giorgio Pianta 5 2 23 Tony Dean 12 NC 9 11 Ret 6 1 = Valentino Musetti Ret Ret 6 NC Ret 13 DNS NC 1 — Robin Smith 11 7 11 8 8 Ret 0 — Brian Robinson 13 12 12 9 13 Ret 7 NC 9 Ret 9 11 0 — Richard Jones Ret DNS Ret 7 13 0 — Hervé Regout 8 DNS Ret 12 Ret 11 NC Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 — Adrian Russell Ret DNQ 8 Ret 14 Ret Ret 0 — Germain Garon 14 Ret 8 0 — Klaus Walz 8 NC 0 — Guido Pardini 8 0 — Warren Booth 13 13 10 15 9 0 — Dennis Leech 9 0 — Gerd Biechteler 10 DNS DNQ 0 — Mike Wilds 12 0 — Lella Lombardi 14 0 — Kenneth Brill DNQ DNQ NC Ret DNS DNS 0 — Patrick Nève Ret NC 0 — Gianfranco Brancatelli Ret Ret 0 — Marco Micangeli Ret Ret 0 — Pascal Witmeur Ret 0 — Claude Bourgoignie Ret 0 — Ray Mallock Ret 0 — Alain Couderc Ret 0 — Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Ret 0 — Iain McLaren DNS DNQ DNS 0 Driver ZOL OUL BRH MAL SNE THR ZAN DON OUL NOG MAL BRH THR SNE SIL Pts

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1979 AURORA AFX BRITISH F1 CHAMPIONSHIP. motorsportmagazine.com. July 18, 2018.
2. Web site: Formula 1 - 3-litre Formula 1 (1966 - 1985). oldracingcars.com. July 17, 2018.