Calling Formula Atlantic owners.....

[delta]

I am now the proud owner of a March 79B Atlantic, the ex Howdy Holmes car.
Myself and Alan Morgan have sent out an e mail to all Atlantic owners in the UK that are registered with the HSCC. I have had talks with the club and Roger Bevan F2 coordinator with an idea to have a stand alone Atlantic race. This is much the same way we started Historic FF2000.
At the moment Graham White has said there is not space within the HSCC calendar so we thought we would try and get as many Atlantic cars along with Formula B cars to enter the Derek Bell race at the Super Prix meeting at Brands Hatch this year.
We plan to have our own race within the D B race with separate awards and trophies and make this an opportunity to kick start a revival for this what used to be a very popular class of racing back in its day.Also if anyone out there has a car for sale they could bring it along, I intend to have a display and some hospitality in the paddock.
If there is anyone out there with a car that we have missed contacting by e mail or if you know of any driver and cars who would be interested I would greatly appreciate being contacted by PM. Many thanks Iain Rowley and Alan Morgan.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by delta

I am now the proud owner of a March 79B Atlantic, the ex Howdy Holmes car.
Myself and Alan Morgan have sent out an e mail to all Atlantic owners in the UK that are registered with the HSCC. I have had talks with the club and Roger Bevan F2 coordinator with an idea to have a stand alone Atlantic race. This is much the same way we started Historic FF2000.
At the moment Graham White has said there is not space within the HSCC calendar so we thought we would try and get as many Atlantic cars along with Formula B cars to enter the Derek Bell race at the Super Prix meeting at Brands Hatch this year.
We plan to have our own race within the D B race with separate awards and trophies and make this an opportunity to kick start a revival for this what used to be a very popular class of racing back in its day.Also if anyone out there has a car for sale they could bring it along, I intend to have a display and some hospitality in the paddock.
If there is anyone out there with a car that we have missed contacting by e mail or if you know of any driver and cars who would be interested I would greatly appreciate being contacted by PM. Many thanks Iain Rowley and Alan Morgan.

Good luck with that, Iain. used to enjoy FA back in the days of Yellow Pages Championship etc - can still 'hear' the Yellow Pages jingle crackling over the airwaves at Snett!

[delta]

I have has some people contact me via e mail. My PM is not working. Please can you PM Alan Morgan.Getting some good response. Thank you.

[delta]

Many thanks for all the e mails from interested Atlantic car owners . We will send out some more information in a few weeks . Very encouraging so far . 😀

[Alan Morgan]

Iain's asked me to post a copy of the latest Formula Atlantic email here...

Good morning Atlantic owners,

First of all, can I ask if anyone has any objection to Alan and me setting up a Formula Atlantic register, using owner’s contact details and exchanging these details with other registered drivers?

Alan and I had another meeting with Grahame White at Race Retro last week. Grahame and the HSCC are very enthusiastic about this plan to have some stand-alone races in 2019 following our pilot race with the DBT at the Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix in July. Grahame has agreed that we can have a separate podium presentation for the Atlantic drivers and that we can also have space in the paddock for a display and some hospitality. We have had a fantastic response and not a week has gone by without me being contacted by owners who have cars. If you think you know of anyone with a car please let us know in case we have missed them.

I know from my own experience that racing in Derek Bell Trophy races can be frustrating but I must urge you all to enter this race at Brands Hatch if you possibly can as it will be our best chance to show the HSCC that we mean business with the plan to have our own races. There are over 15 drivers who have expressed an interest in racing at Brands and we know there are more owners out there that have not contacted us.

That’s about it for the time being - we will send out another email with an update during April.

Best regards Iain and Alan.

[peterelise]

Have sent a PM to Alan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Bell]

Wednesday 23 May 2018

HSCC plans Formula Atlantic revival

The Historic Sports Car Club is planning a revival of the Formula Atlantic category with a dedicated class for the cars in the Derek Bell Trophy races at the Legends of Brands Hatch Super Prix (June 30/July 1).

Prime movers of the idea are Iain Rowley and Alan Morgan, the originators of Historic Formula Ford 2000, and they are targeting as many as 15 cars to race alongside the Formula 5000 and Formula 2 cars in the Derek Bell Trophy double-header.

Formula Atlantic grew out of the US Formula B category of the late 1960s and started in the UK in 1971 for 1600cc single-seater racing cars powered by production-based twin-cam engines. The Cosworth BDA engine later became the most popular power unit and the class gained considerable support. It was even a support race to the British Grand Prix but faded later in the 1970s under the threat from Formula 3. After a brief return from 1979 to 1983, the category was dropped, but left a legacy of cars from a range of manufacturers.

Now, Rowley and Morgan are keen to get more Atlantic cars back to racing and have developed a database of around 40 cars. “I’ve always thought a Formula Atlantic was a proper racing car,” said Rowley, who now has the ex-Howdy Holmes March 79B previously owned by Gary Diver. “We’ve been contacting people and have had an incredible response. We’d like to get as many as 15 cars as well as a display of non-running cars in the paddock.”

“There will be a separate podium for the Atlantics and if things go well at Brands then we'd like some stand-alone races next year,” said Morgan. “But we will work with the HSCC Historic F2 series as that also has classes for Formula Atlantics. We would love to hear from any Formula Atlantic owners who haven't been contacted by us already.”

[andy97]

https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/De...-mondello-park

[delta]

I have some fantastic news. HSCC have confirmed we will get a double header at Anglesey over the weekend 13th/14th July.More details to follow but I have had very positive response from some of the Atlantic owners and drivers. That's all for now.
If anyone who is interested in racing Formula Atlantic and is not receiving our e mails please shout and I will put you on mailing list...

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by delta

I have some fantastic news. HSCC have confirmed we will get a double header at Anglesey over the weekend 13th/14th July.More details to follow but I have had very positive response from some of the Atlantic owners and drivers. That's all for now.
If anyone who is interested in racing Formula Atlantic and is not receiving our e mails please shout and I will put you on mailing list...

That's good news, Iain.

All being well, I should be at Silverstone on the Friday. I wonder........

[Mike Bell]

The HSCC Anglesey race thread has a press release from HSCC to announce that the meeting is to honour Welshman Tom Pryce, who tragically lost his life during the 1977 South African GP. However, there's more in the release, specifically regarding the Formula Atlantic races to be held.

This extract confirms that the first stand alone Historic Formula Atlantic races will be for the Tom Pryce Trophy....

"In July, the first major historic race meeting to be held in Wales will honour Tom Pryce with a programme that includes the inaugural stand-alone races for Formula Atlantic as a period category. Pryce was a star of Formula Atlantic during his rise to stardom and the pair of Formula Atlantic races will be run for the Tom Pryce Trophy."

[Mike Bell]

Latest news from the Historic Sports Car Club.....

Support grows for Formula Atlantic revival

Interest in the first Formula Atlantic races in the UK for more than 30 years is building strongly ahead of the Tom Pryce Memorial Race Meeting at the Anglesey circuit in North Wales (July 13/14).

To be run as part of the Historic Sports Car Club’s first race meeting at the spectacular track, a representative grid of Formula Atlantics is being assembled for the pair of races, which will be sponsored by Raceparts (UK) Ltd.

The first major historic race meeting to be held in Wales will honour Tom Pryce with a programme that includes the inaugural stand-alone races for Formula Atlantic as a historic category. Pryce was a star of Formula Atlantic during his rise to stardom and the pair of races will be run for the Tom Pryce Trophy.

“We’ve had such a good response,” said Iain Rowley, the man behind the initial idea to run a dedicated Formula Atlantic race. “We’re very pleasantly surprised at the people coming back out. We’re getting enquiries from drivers with cars that have not raced for some time. We’ve had interest from all over the world and we’re hoping to get some cars from Ireland to come to Anglesey.”

Among the cars already confirmed for Anglesey is the Chevron B34 of Australian racer Martin Bullock. From new in 1976, it went from the Chevron factory in Bolton to Albert Poon who raced it in Malaysia and at Macau. “I’ll definitely take it to Anglesey in July for the Formula Atlantic races,” said Bullock. “The circuit looks like a UK version of Philip Island!”

Another car pledged for Anglesey is the March 722 owned by Formula Junior racer Bob Birrell. The car came back to the UK late last year and arrived in excellent condition from North America, where it had spent all of its racing life. “I’m very excited about it,” said Birrell. “It’s never yet been raced in Europe and I’ll definitely do the Anglesey races.”

Formula Atlantic started in the UK in March 1971 for 1600cc single-seaters and enjoyed tremendous support over four seasons before faltering when bold plans to re-brand it as Indylantic hit problems. It was revived in 1979 but finally ended in 1983. It even earned a place on the supporting programme for the 1973 British Grand Prix at Silverstone when the 30-car field included Tom Pryce in a Motul Rondel.

Andy Dee-Crowne, CEO of the HSCC, said: “Interest in the Formula Atlantic races at Anglesey is coming along really well. I’m particularly pleased that we are getting interest from cars and drivers that are not currently racing.”

[delta]

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by delta

Attachment 53038

[Dan Rear]

Super day at Anglesey yesterday, mainly to see the FF2Ks and Atlantics! The former were great, as ever, as were the Atlantics. Small fields for the latter, 10 in the first race, 7 in the second, but the noise was just sublime. And the second race, when the cars were together for the first couple of laps was tremendous! Just need a few more cars to join in now, apparently there are quite a few more out there. What was also good was the variety of cars, some very are ones too!

Sorry I had to leave before the end, duty called! And listening to the cricket on the way back was almost too tense to concentrate on....

[grantp]

Happy chappies at the end of the day.

Mr. Rowley, Mr. Hayes-Harlow and Mr. Lackford.

As someone said to me trackside after the race - despite the second race have a depleted field (as is always likely with these cars) the sound, the speed and the racing throughout the field still made for a great spectacle.

I have to say that it does help that Anglesey is a little unique in that from almost anywhere spectator side around the circuit extensive sections of the track are visible and it's really quite easy to follow whatever action you wish to follow for most of a lap.

There are few 2 mile circuits I can think of that offer the same full or partial visibility from almost any spectator location.

[Peter Mallett]

Woohooo Ground effects!.

[Alan Raine]

Fabulous to see Atlantics again. Looked good, sounded good and despite the small entry was still bloody marvelous

A few piccies:

Richard Ellingworth - March 74B -2 by Alan Raine, on Flickr

Iain Rowley - March 79B -4 by Alan Raine, on Flickr

John Hayes-Harlow - Erlich RP3_4-5 by Alan Raine, on Flickr

Kieth Norris - Chevron B49 by Alan Raine, on Flickr

[delta]

Its been a while but we have been working away behind the scenes with my Historic Formula Atlantic series idea. We are now a recognized club with MSUK after many Zoom meetings with I have enjoyed and learnt from the other corners of motor sport. I guess we all get sucked into our own disciplines but its been interesting to hear from competitors who partake in trials and other speed events.
Anyway the HSCC have given us track time at their first race next year at Brands Hatch 2/3rd April. I am getting very good response from owners and drivers so very much looking forward to the event.
I have a good data base of drivers and owners but if anybody sees this post who I have missed please get in touch. Roll on 2022.

[Mike Crow]

Great to see the announcement from HSCC today. Really hope this series takes off - the cars look and sound wonderful and conjure many memories of happy days. Thanks to Delta for all his efforts in kicking this off.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Crow

Great to see the announcement from HSCC today. Really hope this series takes off - the cars look and sound wonderful and conjure many memories of happy days. Thanks to Delta for all his efforts in kicking this off.

Having just read the HSCC release myself.I can only echo everything you say - it's a great tribute to Iain's perseverance.

I too have many happy memories of Formula Atlantic, particularly at Snetterton.

I can hear the 'Yellow Pages, Yellow Pages...' jingle already!

[delta]

Thanks guys. We had so much fun at Anglesey way back in 2019. I had promised HSCC 20 cars which was doable at that time but got let down so we ended up with 14.I was told in no uncertain terms that I had had my chance of any more stand alone races . Behind the scenes we have had a few issues from various people interfering and objecting as to what I was trying to achieve.
Brands Hatch last year I had a good meeting with the HSCC and they have come back around to the idea.Lots of interest and new cars are arriving from the US and coming out of the woodwork.
Formula Atlantic is affordable " to people like me " where as F2 is just too expensive especially if you blow up one of those BMW engines.
At this point I must thank our very own Alan Morgan with his Historic FF2000 championship being so strong and successful this I am sure has helped persuade the HSCC to give me another chance.
Marcus put great article in Autosport and Paul Lawrence has been very supportive as well.
So fingers crossed we will have a decent grid at Brands.