Race of Champions
10 april 1983
Brands Hatch
1. Rosberg – Williams
2. Sullivan – Tyrrell
3. Jones – Arrows
4. Henton – Theodore
5. Boesel – Ligier
6. Schlesser – RAM March

Who have more info of the ( L A S T ) Non World championship GP

Race of Champions
10 April 1983, Brands Hatch, England, 40 laps
Lap Distance=2.614 miles. Race Distance=104.544 miles.

1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Cosworth FW08C '6' 53m15.253, 117.886mph
2 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Cosworth 011 '2' 53m15.743
3 Alan Jones Arrows-Cosworth A6 '3' 40 laps
4 Brian Henton Theodore-Cosworth N183 '18' 40 laps
5 Raul Boesel Ligier-Cosworth JS21 '03' 40 laps
6 Jean-Louis Schlesser March-RAM Cosworth 01 '02' 39 laps

Fastest Lap: René Arnoux (Ferrari 126C2B '063'), 1:17.826, 120.897mph
Pole Position: Keke Rosberg (Williams-Cosworth FW08C), 1:17.826

I believe that race also marked the last appearance by Hector Rebaque in an F1 car, driving a Brabham BT52.

Entry list:

1. Rosberg, TAG Williams Team, FW08C/6, DFV
4. Sullivan, Benetton Tyrrell Team, 011/2, DFV
5. Rebaque, Fila Sport, BT52/1, BMW M12/13
7. Watson, Marlboro McLaren International, MP4/1C/02, DFV
12. Mansell, John Player Team Lotus, 93T/2, Renault EF1
17. Schlesser, RAM Automotive Team March, 01/2, DFV
26. Boesel, Equipe Ligier Gitanes, JS21/03, DFV
28. Arnoux, Scuderia Ferrari SEFAC SpA, 126C2/063, Ferrari 126C
29. Serra, Arrows Racing Team, A6/1, DFV
30. Jones, Arrows Racing Team, A6/3, DFV
33. Guerrero, Theodore Racing Team, N183/17, DFV
34. Henton, Theodore Racing Team, N183/16, DFV
40. Johansson, Spirit Racing, 201/4, Honda B7LE

Was that not the debut of the Honda turbo engine in F1 as well (in a hybrid Spirit F2/F1 chassis)?

3. Jones, 40 laps in 53'43.895"
4. Henton, 40 laps in 53'55.770"
5. Boesel, 40 laps in 53'56.224"
6. Schlesser, 39 laps in 54'13.464"
7. Roberto Guerrero, Theodore Racing, Theodore_Ford N183, Ensign MN17, 39 laps in 54'18.874"
8. Serra, 31 Laps (gear linkage)
9. Arnoux, 24 laps (no more tyres left in pits)
10. Rebaque, 15 laps (withdrawn)
11. Watson, 9 laps (transmission)
12. Mansell, 7 laps (withdrawn)
13. Johansson, 5 laps (engine)

The cold weather was probably the reason for the powerful Ferrari eating up its tyres. And yes, the new Honda RA163E made its debut in an old Spirit F2 chassis, 201-04, dubbed 201B.

fines,Racer,David,

Tank you

Again, there seems to be a difference of opinion over chassis numbers.

Darren has Henton in N183/18, Racer has him in N183/16. Pul Sheldon says it was N181/16, motor Spport says MN18.

Racer and Darrenboth have Boesel in JS21/3 as does Motor sport, Sheldon says it ws JS19/3.

Racer and Darren have Schlesser in 01/2, motor Sport says 01/1, Sheldon says 831-2

motor sport and Sheldon both have all retirements one lap earlier than fines (eg, Serra on the lap 31 rather than having completed 31 laps. Motor Sport gave the main reason for the retirement of Mansell, Rebaque and Arnoux as "Driver gave up". Just Jenks thinking racing drivers should work a bit harder...

From the Autosport report of the race

"Rebaque," said Bernie Ecclestone of his temporary pilote, "is one of the most underrated drivers in the world."

Roebuck's comment to this was "I have to say that he did not look underrated in practice, as much as out of his depth."

1983 Marlboro Race of Champions

April 10, 1983 – Brands Hatch – 40 laps – 104.544 miles

Practice

1 Keke Rosberg, Williams-Cosworth FW08C, Goodyear, 1m 16.583s, 1m 15.766s
2 Rene Arnoux, Ferrari 126C2B V6 turbo, Goodyear, 1m 17.682s, 1m 15.839s
3 Alan Jones, Arrows-Cosworth A6, Goodyear, 1m 18.862s, 1m 17.501s
4 John Watson, McLaren-Cosworth MP4/1C, Michelin, 1m 22.073s, 1m 18.062s
5 Roberto Guerrero, Theodore-Cosworth N183, Goodyear, 1m 18.862s, 1m 18.416s
6 Danny Sullivan, Tyrrell-Cosworth 011, Goodyear, 1m 18.860s, 1m 18.446s
7 Brian Henton, Theodore-Cosworth N183, Goodyear, 1m 19.406s, 1m 18.549s
8 Nigel Mansell, Lotus-Renault V6 turbo, Pirelli, 1m 21.736s, 1m 18.894s
9 Raul Boesel, Ligier-Cosworth JS21, Michelin, 1m 20.132s, 1m 19.236s
10 Hector Rebaque, Brabham-BMW 4-cyl turbo, Michelin, 1m 19.592s, 1m 19.996s
11 Chico Serra, Arrows-Cosworth A6, Goodyear, 1m 22.402s, no time
12 Stefan Johansson, Spirit-Honda V6 turbo, Goodyear, no time, 1m 35.500s
13 Jean-Louis Schlesser, RAM-Cosworth 01, Pirelli, no time, no time


Results

1 Keke Rosberg, Williams-Cosworth FW08C, 53m 15.253s (117.886 mph)
2 Danny Sullivan, Tyrrell-Cosworth 011, 53m 15.743s
3 Alan Jones, Arrows-Cosworth A6, 53m 43.895s
4 Brian Henton, Theodore-Cosworth N183, 53m 55.770s
5 Raul Boesel, Ligier-Cosworth JS21, 53m 56.224s
6 Jean-Louis Schlesser, RAM-Cosworth 01, 39 laps
7 Roberto Guerrero, Theodore-Cosworth N183, 39 laps


Retirements

Chico Serra, Arrows-Cosworth A6, gear linkage, 30 laps
Rene Arnoux, Ferrari 126C2B V6 turbo, tyre & gearbox, 23 laps
Hector Rebaque, Brabham-BMW 4-cyl turbo, handling, 14 laps
John Watson, McLaren-Cosworth MP4/1C, drivetrain vibration, 8 laps
Nigel Mansell, Lotus-Renault V6 turbo, handling, 6 laps
Stefan Johansson, Spirit-Honda V6 turbo, engine, 4 laps

Fastest Lap: Arnoux 1m 17.862s 120.897 mph

Race Leaders: Arnoux laps 1-6: Rosberg laps 7-40

It was a shame Arrows never managed to find the funding to keep AJ in the team. The A6 was a reasonable car at the start of the season and he seemed to enjoy being back with his mates from the Shadow days.

Maldwyn - agreed. Perhaps that way he could have avoided that Beatrice-Lola debacle as well, and then not got tarnished with the 'lucky world champion' brush.

Can I just add that this was a race where Rosberg really ought to have been beaten by Sullivan because for many laps at the end Rosbergs tyres were incredibly blistered.

Whenever I think of a blistered tyre it's always that Williams that comes to mind.

Rebaque certainly managed to make the best F1 car of all time (, biased?, me?) look pretty ordinary on that day.

Danny Sullivan in a Tyrrell beat Rosberg's Williams Perish the thought

Perhaps we should contextualise Bernie's comments about Hector Rebaque a bit. Bernie seemed to have a some pretty strong ideas about how to run a team - a good, championship challanging number #1 driver in one car and whoever brought a good budget to subsidise the team in the other. In the early 1980's that was Nelson Piquet in one car and the likes of Hector Rebaque and Ricardo Zunino in the other.

Parmalat had intervened in 1982 and insisted he take an Italian, and Ricardo Patrese was duly signed. While Patrese was very talented and competitive (winning in both 1982 and 1983), I am sure that from Bernie's perspective Rebaque was a great number #2 when viewed with the Ecclestone team model. He was not particularly quick, but he did not complain (by all accounts he was a very pleasant and well liked chap), he did not crash too many cars and, most importantly, he paid hansomely for his drive. A bit like a late 70's/early 80's version of Pedro Diniz, but without the writeoffs and the complaining. I am sure he paid a good amount for his drive that day at Brands Hatch too. Perhaps Bernie was was just waxing lyrical about the good old days

Surprisingly none of these posts actually describe how exciting the race actually was. Sullivan was all over the back of Rosberg for a good part of the race. I can't remember too much about the race though I think Arnoux could have been leading when he had a puncture.

Most exciting race of 1983!

Chris

I believe this is the aforementioned battle...

Great picture.

Was that not also Brian Hentons last Formula One race? I might be wrong but seeing his name there jogged a memory cell in my brain somewhere.

Chris

Chris, you are right about it being Henton's last F1 race. Arnoux led for the first six laps but he chewed up his tyres. He actually changed tyres 3 times on laps 7, 15 and 23 and pitted again for more on lap 24 but they only had wets left, so he retired.

Anyone know if it was covered by television at the time?

From memory the BBC showed highlights but the memory is a very vague one!

I seem to recall it was live on the BBC and very exciting - but then 1983 was one of those transitional years where new rules, and numerous different ideas on how to make the most of them, created a lot of good races and unexpected results....sounds a little like 2009!
In my memory bank I can recall Rosberg being truly exceptional on several ocassions during the year, especially at Spa where a non-turbo had no real business being that close to the front. Happy days. Then the turbos completely took over and potentially explosive racing racing was too-often hamstrung by the new fuel limits - something people with rose tinted eye furniture are apt to overlook these days.

My (probably unreliable) recollection is that the start and early laps of the race were shown live. The Beeb then moved on to something else, and came back much later to show the dramatic final laps, pretending that it was still live (which it couldn't possibly have been). The Beeb has practised this con in many different sports over the years, and continues to do so in this year's Wimbledon coverage.

My photo of Hector taken from the paddock looking out onto the Cooper Straight.

Was Henton's car sponsored by Silkolene?

Yes

http://forix.autosport.com/8w/henton/bh-roc83.jpg

Thanks!

Roebuck was effusive in his praise of Hentons performance over the weekend too, especially since he had not been in a car since the Vegas race at the end of 82. I vaguely recall an interview with Brian in an early Motor Sport of 1985 where he said he was still ready to come back at the highest level at the drop of a hat. Sadly he didnt though.

Henton was a bit of an enigma. Often brave and very quick on his day but he never scored a point in F1. He possibly deserved better although I sometimes wonder if his forthright personality got in the way!

I think thats the general consensus!

Definately a man who thought PC only stood for personal computer.

The Williams tweak for the race meeting was extra toe in to get the tyres to warm up in the cold conditions. This probably caused the blistering by the end of the race.