The 37th BRDC International Trophy, was the opening round of the 1985 International Formula 3000. The inaugural was held at Silverstone, on 24 March.

Report

Entry

A total of 17 F3000 cars were entered for the first ever event. Every new formula sets new questions and this one was no exception; some teams ran ex-Formula One machinery, while the Lola T950 was based upon an IndyCar design, whereas Ralt and March drew upon their Formula Two experience.

Qualifying

Michel Ferté took pole position for Equipe Oreca, in their March Engineering-Cosworth 85B, averaging a speed of 135.404 mph.

Race

The race was held over 44 laps of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Mike Thackwell wrote himself into the history books by winning the International Trophy for the third time and the first F3000 race in the process, driving a works Ralt RT20 from teammate John Nielsen in a similar car. Thackwell won in a time of 1hr 07:41.01mins., averaging a speed of 114.397 mph, with Nielsen over 34 seconds behind. The next three places were filled by March 85Bs in the hands of Michel Ferté, Christian Danner and Gabriele Tarquini, with the sixth place going to a Formula One Tyrrell 012, driven by Roberto Moreno.

Classification

Race result

Pos.No.DriverEntrantCar - EngineTime, LapsReason Out
1st1New Zealand Mike ThackwellTeam RaltRalt-Cosworth RT201hr 07:41.01
2nd2Denmark John NielsenTeam RaltRalt-Cosworth RT201hr 08:13.35
3rd3France Michel FertéOreca MotorsportMarch-Cosworth 85B1hr 09:09.77
4th8Germany Christian DannerBS AutomotiveMarch-Cosworth 85B43
5th13Italy Gabriele TarquiniSanremo Racing SrlMarch-Cosworth 85B42
6th20Brazil Roberto MorenoBarron RacingTyrrell-Cosworth 01242
7th9Italy Emanuele PirroOnyx RacingMarch-Cosworth 85B41
8th15France Alain FertéLola MotorsportLola-Cosworth T95041
9th22Switzerland Mario HyttenCorbari ItaliaLola-Cosworth T95041
10th7Sweden Tomas KaiserBS AutomotiveMarch-Cosworth 85B39
NC17Belgium Thierry TassinPMC MotorsportWilliams-Cosworth FW08C38
NC18Italy Lamberto LeoniPMC MotorsportWilliams-Cosworth FW08C38
DNF19Italy Claudio LangesBarron RacingTyrrell-Cosworth 01233Electrical
DNF5France Philippe StreiffAutos Gonfaronnaises SportivesAGS-Cosworth JH207Suspension
DNF10United Kingdom Johnny DumfriesOnyx RacingMarch-Cosworth 85B1Accident
DNF14Italy Alessandro SantinSanremo Racing SrlMarch-Cosworth 85B0Accident
DNS4Austria ”Pierre Chauvet”Onyx RacingMarch-Cosworth 85BAccident