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 109.608 mph.[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 108.967 mph. 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. (109.874 mph)