1988 International Gold Cup
The 13th round of the 1988 B.A.R.C./B.R.D.C. Lucas Formula Three British Championship, saw the series visit Oulton Park for the 23rd International Gold Cup, on 21 August. [1]
Report
Entry
A total of 33 F3 cars were entered for this round of the British F3 Championship. Come race weekend only 27 arrived in Cheshire for qualifying. [2]
Qualifying
JJ Lehto took pole position for Pacific Racing Team in their Toyota-engined Reynard 883, averaging a speed of 109.608mph. [3]
Race
The race was held over 20 laps of the Oulton Park circuit. Gary Brabham took the winner spoils for the Bowman Racing team, driving their Ralt-Volkswagen RT32. The Aussie won in a time of 30:29.17mins., averaging a speed of 108.967mph. Brabham’s victory will 21 years after his father, Sir Jack Brabham, last won the Gold Cup. Second place went to JJ Lehto in Pacific Racing Team’s Reynard-Toyota 883, who was only 1.4 of a second behind. Another son of a famous racer, Damon Hill completed the podium for the Cellnet Ricoh Racing/Intersport Racing Team in his Toyota engined Ralt RT32. Completing the Brabham family domination of the race, Gary’s younger brother, David won the National Class, also in a Jack Brabham Racing prepared Ralt-Volkswagen. [4]
Classification
Race
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 | 30:29.17 | |
| 2nd | 9 | A |  JJ Lehto |
Pacific Racing Team | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 30:30.57 | |
| 3rd | 29 | A |  Damon Hill |
Cellnet Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT32 | 30:44.36 | |
| 4th | 2 | A |  Eddie Irvine |
West Surrey Racing | Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT32 | 30:48.54 | |
| 5th | 24 | A |  Philippe Favre |
Alan Docking Racing | Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 | 30:52.68 | |
| 6th | 27 | A | Jason Elliott |
Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 883 | 30:55.10 | |
| 7th | 11 | A |  Antonio Simoes |
West Surrey Racing | Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT32 | 31:09.10 | |
| 8th | 30 | A | Phil Andrews |
Middlebridge Racing | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 31:11.81 | |
| 9th | 4 | A |  Peter Kox |
Cellnet Ricoh Racing / Intersport Racing | Ralt-Toyota RT31 | 31:12.37 | |
| 10th | 28 | A | Perry McCarthy |
Madgwick Motorsport | Reynard-Alfa Romeo 883 | 31:12.79 | |
| 11th | 59 | Nat. | David Brabham |
Jack Brabham Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 | 31:23.72 | |
| 12th | 61 | Nat. |  Rowan Dewhurst |
Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 31:24.82 | |
| 13th | 14 | A |  Raphaël Real del Sarte |
TechSpeed Racing | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 31:25.37 | |
| 14th | 51 | Nat. | Alistair Lyall |
Swallow Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 31:34.84 | |
| 15th | 15 | A |  John Hotchkiss |
TechSpeed Racing | Reynard-Toyota 883 | 31:44.38 | |
| 16th | 77 | Nat. | Scott Stringfellow |
Jim Lee Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 31:44.72 | |
| 17th | 68 | Nat. | Don Hardman |
Industrial Process | Reynard-Volkswagen 853/863 | 19 | |
| 18th | 86 | Nat. | Geoffrey Janes |
Autospeed Tyres | Reynard-Volkswagen 863 | 19 | |
| DNF | 58 | Nat. | John Penfold |
Jack Brabham Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 | 18 | Suspension |
| DNF | 54 | Nat. | Gary Ward |
RGS Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT31 | 13 | Suspension |
| DNF | 26 | A | Alain Menu |
Harvey Office Furniture | Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 | 7 | Crash |
| DNF | 1 | A | Paul Warwick |
Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 883 | 7 | Crash |
| DNF | 16 | A | Ross Hockenhull |
Bowman Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen RT32 | 3 | Crash |
| DNF | 71 | Nat. |  Robert Amrén |
Alan Docking Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 3 | Crash |
| DNF | 85 | Nat. | Robert Murphy |
Jim Lee Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | 0 | Spin |
| DNS | 18 | A | John Alcorn |
Middlebridge Racing | Reynard-Toyota 883 | ||
| DNS | 52 | Nat. | Tomas Mezera |
Peter Lea Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen 873 | ||
- Fastest lap: JJ Lehto, 1:30.68ecs. (109.874mph)