After the 18th and final round of the 1988 B.A.R.C./B.R.D.C. Lucas Formula Three British Championship, the mobile telephone company Cellnet, who were already sponsoring the Intersport Racing team, organised an invitation non championship, end of season race. This race was held at Brands Hatch, on 9 October. Although Avon Tyres still supplied the tyres, Cellnet decided to increase interest by introducing a compulsory wheel change mid-race. They requested that the changes should be visible to spectators, so Avon came up with the idea of painting the whole side of the tyres.[1]
A total of 39 F3 cars were entered for this event. Come race weekend eights cars failed to arrive in Kent for qualifying.[2]
John Alcorn took pole position for Pacific Racing Team in their Toyota-engined Reynard 883, averaging a speed of 95.862 mph.[2]
The race was held over 45 wet laps of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. With a full grid of 28 cars, the start was quite a fraught affair as various drivers, with nothing to lose, took risks not usually attempted during a championship race. This ended in tears for some. Damon Hill didn’t even finish the first lap and Kenny Bräck and Jonathan Bancroft went out in the next lap. During the race, the wheel changing was full of drama as the teams finally put into practice what they had been learning, some successfully, others not! Paul Warwick in his Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard was also victim retiring after an overheated engine. Gary Brabham took the winner spoils for the Bowman Racing team, driving their Ralt-Volkswagen RT32. The Aussie won in a time of 37:10.92mins., averaging a speed of 87.436 mph. Second place went to Jason Elliott and Sweden’s Rickard Rydell finishing third. The ‘fastest wheel change’ prize of £1,000 in loose £1 coins in a sack, was won by Middlebridge Racing which was a bit of a bonus a their driver, Phil Andrews, had driven a good race to finish 5th.[1] [3]
Class winners in bold
| Pos. | No. | Class | Driver | Entrant | Car - Engine | Time, Laps | Reason Out | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 5 | A |  Gary Brabham | Bowman Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 | 37:10.92 | ||
| 2nd | 27 | A | Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 883 | 37:33.31 | |||
| 3rd | 8 | A |  Rickard Rydell | Picko Troberg Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 883 | 37:33.72 | ||
| 4th | 4 | A |  Peter Kox | Cellent Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT32 | 37:38.73 | ||
| 5th | 30 | A |  Phil Andrews | Middlebridge Racing | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 44 | ||
| 6th | 15 | A | TechSpeed Racing | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 44 | |||
| 7th | 59 | Nat. | David Brabham | Jack Brabham Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 | 44 | ||
| 8th | 24 | A |  Philippe Favre | Alan Docking Racing | Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 | 43 | ||
| 9th | 43 | A |  Dennis Vitolo | Concept 3 Racing | Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 | 43 | ||
| 10th | 88 | Nat. | Pete Boutwood | Terropol Promotions | Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 | 42 | ||
| 11th | 14 | A | Raphaël Real del Sarte | TechSpeed Racing | Reynard-Toyota 873 | 42 | ||
| 12th | 77 | Nat. | Jim Lee Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 41 | |||
| 13th | 90 | A | Cellnet Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT32 | 41 | |||
| 14th | 85 | Nat. | Jim Lee Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 40 | |||
| DNF | 16 | A | Ross Hockenhull | Bowman Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 | 44 | Crash | |
| DNF | 71 | Nat. | Alan Docking Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 40 | Crash | ||
| DNF | 33 | A | Anglia Cars Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT32 | 37 | Spin | ||
| DNF | 2 | A | West Surrey Racing | Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT32 | 35 | Misfire | ||
| DNF | 10 | A | Pacific Racing Team | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 34 | Engine | ||
| DNF | 1 | A | Paul Warwick | Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 883 | 33 | Overheating | |
| DNF | 6 | A |  Giovanna Amati | Cellent Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT32 | 30 | Engine | |
| DNF | 58 | Nat. | John Penfold | Jack Brabham Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 | 29 | Crash | |
| DNF | 36 | Nat. | Giles Butterfield | GB Motorsport | Reynard-Volkswagen 863 | 26 | Crash | |
| DNF | 26 | A | Racefax Motorsport | Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 | 18 | Stuck throttle | ||
| DNF | 89 | Nat. | Tom Brown | JB Race Hire | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 17 | Spin | |
| DNF | 3 | A | Jonathan Bancroft | Madgwick Motorsport | Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 | 2 | Crash | |
| DNF | 35 | A | Kenny Bräck | Formula Services | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 2 | Crash | |
| DNF | 29 | A | Damon Hill | Cellnet Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT32 | 0 | Crash | |
| DNQ | 78 | Nat. | Charles Rickett | Jim Lee Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 863 | |||
| DNQ | 63 | Nat. | Ronnie Grant | Ronnie Grant | Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 | |||
| DNQ | 45 | A | Terropol Promotions | Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 |