2004 Season

1997 TOM's 037F Formula 3

In 2004, Spawny Whippet Motorsport ran a 1997 TOM's Toyota 037F Formula 3 carbon-tub car, driven by Andy Dickens in the premier category (2 litre) of the British Monoposto Championship. This is one of only 4 cars built by Toyota Motorsport (TOM's) for the 1997 British F3 Championship, at a cost of over £250,000 each. The car was acquired from fellow Monoposto driver Tony Adams on 12th January 2004.

The car was reputedly tested by Juan Pablo Montoya in 1997 and was raced by Kevin McGarrity, Brian Smith, Giovanni Anapoli, Ricardo Mauricio, Martin O'Connell, Andy Priaulx, Jamie Spence and Darren Turner in the 1997 British F3 Championship. It competed against Dallara's driven by Mark Webber (Williams F1), Enrique Bernoldi (ex-Arrows F1), Guy Smith (Le Mans 2003 winner for Team Bentley), Darren Manning (CART / IRL / ASCAR), Peter Dumbreck (DTM) and Nicolas Minassian (Le Mans, F3000, CART and ASCAR), It has since spent most of its life languishing in a dismantled state in the back of Nemesis Motorsport's workshop.

Update 23/02/04

The engine management was successfully re-mapped by GEMS in west London.
Unfortunately at Peter Baldwin's rolling road (see pics), the car tried to pump all its oil out through the camcover gasket at 5,000rpm within 1 min of the test starting. At present we don't know what is causing this, it is possibly related to the sealing of the F3 camcover, but could also be a problem with the oil pressure or an incorrect oil pump. As a result, all testing and racing has been cancelled until the problem is resolved. Dermot and I will pull the camcover off the engine over the next week and attempt to isolate the problem.

Update 21/03/04

Dermot cured the oil leak problem and took it back to the rolling road, where it behaved itself and produced reasonable results. The car then went on to Snetterton for its first shakedown. After a spanner check, the car was started, but mis-firing. Dermot soon rectified this and I did a few installation laps then returned to the pits. The car had a mysterious rev-related vibration that was severely shaking the whole car. There was no other apparent problems, so I did another 10 or so slow laps keeping a careful eye on temps and pressures. Everything seemed OK other than the vibration, so I picked up the pace a little and hunted down a few Formula Zip cars. After turning in a few laps in the 1.14's, I came back to the pits to make a seat for the car, as I was being thrown all over the place in the cockpit. I then returned to the track only for the input shaft to break after 1 lap, thereby ending the day. All in all, more successful than expected, but ended the day on a down note as we now need to source an input shaft and get it fitted in time for one more test prior to the next race at Silverstone on 3rd April.

Update 01/04/04

Due to a misunderstanding by the engineering company, the new input shaft will not be ready in time for the race at Silverstone on the 3rd April, so I will be running the manky Formula Vauxhall Junior in the 1800cc class again.

Update 25/04/04

The new input shaft has now been delivered, but I am taking this opportunity to have the gearbox rebuilt by JP at Silverstone with a new crown wheel and pinion and new gear ratios. The gearbox needs some welding due to a flange being damaged internally by a broken component.
The car should be ready to run in time for the non-championship rounds at Pembrey on the 8th / 9th May.

Update 25/05/04

Needless to say, the car wasn't ready for Pembrey, so it was first tested and run at Llandow shortly before the Mallory race. I spent many hours prior to this adjusting bodywork and electrics to get the dashboard and datalogging working, and to get the rear gearbox covers and diffuser to fit correctly.

Update 02/07/04

After the 2nd gearbox rebuild, new brakes and rebuilt rear end, we took the car testing to Llandow again. Unfortunately, on the 2nd lap, the rear brakes of the car locked whilst going at over 100mph and pitched me into the tyre wall. The car sustained chassis, bodywork and suspension damage to the front, rear and right hand side. This means the car is now out of action for the rest of the season to undergo a complete strip down, repair and rebuild. I suffered only some bruising and neck ache, thanks to the amazing protection of the carbon tub chassis.

Update 31/08/04

The car has been stripped to a bare tub and sent for repair at Neil Blundens near Goodwood. It should be returned for re-assembly by the 3rd of September. The bodywork has been sent to a composites specialist in Manchester and wishbones etc are currently being manufactured by Mike Waite. The moulds for the car were located by Dermot Healy, who also made a splitter moulding from a sister car. A complete floor assembly has been sourced. I am hoping to get the car running in time for Donington.

Update 11/09/04

The tub has now been returned from Neil Blunden. It was 3 weeks overdue but he made a superb job of the repair; its almost invisible and certainly much more substantial than before. The engine, new floor, dampers and electrics were installed today. I am now awaiting brackets, wishbones, steering rack and the uprights to make the car a rolling chassis. It will then go to Greg Lilley in Manchester to have the bodywork fitted, painted then out for the first test.

Update 10/07/06

The car was sold to Andy Webb for the 2005 season, then to Larry Jeram-Croft. It competed unreliably in the hands of Webb during the 2005 season, and unfortunately went even worse in 2006. 

It was sold to a French buyer in August 2006 and immediately put up for sale again on a French website for 22,000 Euros.

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