# 1978 British Formula Three season

The 1978 British Formula Three season was the 28th season of the British Formula Three racing. There was once again two major championships contested throughout the year: the British Automobile Racing Club organised BP Super Visco British Formula 3 Championship, and the British Racing Drivers' Club backed Vandervell British Formula 3 Championship. This would be the final year with multiple British championship, with the BARC and BRDC unifying for the following season.
The BARC championship was won by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet ahead of British driver Derek Warwick, whilst in the BRDC championship, Warwick triumphed over Piquet. Piquet subsequently moved up into Formula One during the same year, driving for the Brabham team in the final Formula 1 race of the season as well as two other teams earlier.

## BP Super Visco British F3 Championship

The BARC championship was run over 17 rounds, held at ten different circuits across England and in Monaco and France. The champion was Brazilian Nelson Piquet, ahead of BRDC series champion Derek Warwick

### Calendar and results

| Round | Date | Circuit | Winning driver | Winning team | Winning car |
| R1 | 12 March | Thruxton Circuit | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R2 | 27 March | Thruxton Circuit | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R3 | 16 April | Brands Hatch | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R4 | 22 April | Oulton Park | Chico Serra | Sadia Racing with Project Four | March 783 - Toyota |
| R5 | 30 April | Donington Park | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R6 | 6 May | Circuit de Monaco | Elio de Angelis | Everest Racing Team | Chevron B38 - Toyota |
| R7 | 14 May | Mallory Park | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R8 | 29 May | Thruxton Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R9 | 11 June | Brands Hatch | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R10 | 25 June | Cadwell Park | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R11 | 2 July | Circuit Paul Ricard | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R12 | 9 July | Silverstone Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R13 | 15 July | Brands Hatch | Chico Serra | Sadia Racing with Project Four | March 783 - Toyota |
| R14 | 23 July | Donington Park | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R15 | 24 September | Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R16 | 15 October | Mallory Park | Rob Wilson | International Computers Limited - Royal Grafton China | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R17 | 29 October | Thruxton Circuit | Chico Serra | Sadia Racing with Project Four | March 783 - Toyota |

### Final championship standings

Points were awarded to the top six drivers in each race as follows:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | Fastest Lap |
| 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Pos. | Driver | Entrant | Car-Engine | Points |
| 1 | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp / Arno Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota | 101 |
| 2 | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota | 72 |
| 3 | Chico Serra | Sadia Racing with Project Four | March 783 - Toyota | 72 |
| 4 | Philip Bullmann | Alan Docking Racing Unipart Racing Team | Chevron B38 - Toyota March 783 - Triumph Dolomite/Swindon | 22 |
| 4 | Tiff Needell | Unipart Racing Team | March 783 - Triumph Dolomite/Swindon | 22 |
| 6 | Rob Wilson | International Computers Limited - Royal Grafton China | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota | 20 |
| 7 | Andrea de Cesaris | Marlboro Team Tiga | Ralt RT1/76 - Toyota | 19 |
| 8 | Stefan Johansson | Anglia Cars Ltd | Argo JM1 - Toyota | 15 |
| 9 | Huub Rothengatter | Racing Team Holland Alan Docking Racing | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota Chevron B38 - Toyota | 11 |
| 9 | Thorkild Thyrring | Marlboro | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota | 11 |
| 11 | Jacques Coulon | Martini Moutl - Jacques Coulon | Martini Mk 21 - Toyota | 10 |
| 11 | Elio de Angelis | Scuderia Everest | Chevron B38 - Toyota | 10 |
| 13 | Alain Prost | Écurie Elf | Martini Mk 21 - Renault Gordini/Dudot | 7 |
| 13 | Ian Taylor | Unipart Racing Team | March 783 - Triumph Dolomite/Swindon | 7 |
| 15 | John Bright | Rugby Finance (Midlands) Ltd Twinsocks with McRitchie of Edinburgh | Wheatcroft R18 - Toyota March 773 - Toyota | 6 |
| 15 | Jim Crawford | Toyota Switzerland | Chevron B43 - Toyota | 6 |
| 15 | Siegfried Stohr | Trivellato Racing Team | Chevron B43 - Toyota | 6 |
| 18 | Daniele Albertin | Scuderia Del Lario | Ralt RT1 - Toyota | 4 |
| 19 | Ian Flux | Cloud Engineering | Ralt RT1 - Toyota March 773 - Toyota | 3 |
| 19 | Nigel Mansell | March Racing Team | March 783 - Toyota | 3 |
| 19 | Pedro Nogues | Rushen Green Racing | March 783 - Toyota | 3 |
| 19 | Trevor van Rooyen | Unipart Racing Team SDC Builders | March 783 - Triumph Dolomite/Swindon March 783 - Toyota | 3 |
| 23 | Geoff Brabham | Brabham Racing Organisation / Esso | Ralt RT1 - Toyota | 2 |
| 23 | Jan Lammers | Racing Team Holland | Ralt RT1 - Toyota | 2 |
| 23 | Brett Riley | Dr. Joseph Ehrlich Unipart Racing Team | Ehrlich RP4 - Toyota March 783 - Triumph Dolomite/Swindon | 2 |
| 26 | Patrick Bardinon | Écurie Elf | Martini Mk 21 - Toyota | 1 |
| 26 | Philippe Colonna | Alan Docking Racing | Chevron B43 - Toyota | 1 |
| 26 | Derek Lawrence | Derek Lawrence | Chevron B38 - Chevrolet Vega/Titan | 1 |
| 26 | Jean-Louis Schlesser | Jean-Louis Schlesser | Chevron B38 - Toyota | 1 |
| Source |||||

## Vandervell British F3 Championship

The BRDC championship was run over ten rounds, held at five different circuits across England. The champion was Englishman Derek Warwick, ahead of BARC series champion Nelson Piquet

### Calendar and results

| Round | Date | Circuit | Winning driver | Winning team | Winning car |
| R1 | 5 March | Silverstone Circuit | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R2 | 19 March | Silverstone Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R3 | 1 May | Silverstone Circuit | Chico Serra | Sadia Racing with Project Four | March 783 - Toyota |
| R4 | 20 May | Oulton Park | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R5 | 13 August | Mallory Park | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R6 | 26 August | Donington Park | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |
| R7 | 28 August | Silverstone Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R8 | 23 September | Silverstone Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R9 | 30 September | Silverstone Circuit | Nelson Piquet | Brastemp/Armo/Hobby | Ralt RT1/78 - Toyota |
| R10 | 28 August | Brands Hatch | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota |

## Non-championship races

| Race | Date | Circuit | Winning driver | Winning team | Winning car | Ref. |
| World Cup International F3 Race | 9 April | Donington Park | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota | |
| Plastic Padding Formula 3 Trophy | 11 November | Thruxton Circuit | Derek Warwick | Warwick Trailers | Ralt RT1/77 - Toyota | |