1983 British Formula Three Championship

The 1983 British Formula Three Championship was the 33rd season of the British Formula Three Championship, starting at Silverstone on 6 March and concluding at Thruxton on 23 October after 20 races.

The season saw a head-to-head title battle between future Formula One stars Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle - both driving Toyota-powered Ralt chassis, prepared by West Surrey Racing and Eddie Jordan Racing respectively. Senna built up a commanding advantage by winning the first nine races in succession, but a series of retirements for the Brazilian later in the year allowed Brundle to close the gap. The Brit took the points lead heading into the series finale, but Senna dominated the race to secure the title.

Senna won 12 of the 20 races in the season (60% of that year's races), a record until Jan Magnussen won 14 of the 18 races in the 1994 season (78% of that year's races). Both Senna and Brundle stepped up to F1 in 1984, joining Toleman and Tyrrell respectively.

Other notable drivers from the year included future Le Mans winner Davy Jones, BTCC star David Leslie and Senna's future Lotus teammate Johnny Dumfries. 1983 was also the final season before 'Class B' was established, offering a separate prize for those competing in older cars.

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	Silverstone	6 March	David Leslie	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
2	Thruxton	13 March	Ayrton Senna	Martin Brundle	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
3	Silverstone	20 March	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
4	Donington Park	27 March	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna Davy Jones	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
5	Thruxton	4 April	Ayrton Senna	Martin Brundle	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
6	Silverstone	24 April	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
7	Thruxton	2 May	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
8	Brands Hatch	8 May	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
9	Silverstone	30 May	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
10	Silverstone	12 June	Martin Brundle	Davy Jones	Martin Brundle1	Eddie Jordan Racing
11	Cadwell Park	19 June	Ayrton Senna	Martin Brundle	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing
12	Snetterton	3 July	Martin Brundle	Ayrton Senna	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing
13	Silverstone	16 July	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
14	Donington Park	24 July	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing
15	Oulton Park	6 August	Martin Brundle	Ayrton Senna	Calvin Fish	David Price Racing
16	Silverstone	29 August	Ayrton Senna	Davy Jones	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing
17	Oulton Park	11 September	Ayrton Senna	Davy Jones	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing
18	Thruxton	18 September	Ayrton Senna	Martin Brundle	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing
19	Silverstone	2 October	Davy Jones	Martin Brundle	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing
20	Thruxton	23 October	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing

^1 Brundle was ineligible to score points as he was using European specification tyres. Allen Berg therefore secured maximum points at this round.^[1]

Points in brackets include dropped scores – only the best 17 of 20 scores count towards the championship

Pos.	Driver	Team	SIL	THR	SIL	DON	THR	SIL	THR	BRH	SIL	SIL2	CAD	SNE	SIL	DON	OUL	SIL	OUL	THR	SIL	THR	Pts
1	Ayrton Senna	West Surrey Racing	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	Ret	DNS	Ret	1	2	Ret	1	Ret	Ret	2	1	132
2	Martin Brundle	Eddie Jordan Racing	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	Ret	2	1	1	1	(3)	123
3	Davy Jones	Murray Taylor Racing	3	Ret	4	3	Ret	2	3	3	5	14	3	2	7	3	2	3	Ret	2	3	2	77
4	Calvin Fish	David Price Racing	4	Ret	3	Ret	3	4	Ret	4	4	16	2	3	3	4	1	5	2	3	4	5	67
5	Allen Berg	Neil Trundle Racing	10	8	7	Ret	5	7	6	5	3	10	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	3	4	5	Ret	5	DNS	32
6	Mario Hytten	Axxess Racing Team	5	3	Ret	4	4	8	4	Ret	7	Ret	5	5	6	9					7	4	23
7	David Leslie	Robinson Motorsport	7	4	5	6	Ret	6	5	6	Ret	Ret		Ret	8	6	4	Ret	3	4	6		22
8	Eric Lang	Murray Taylor Racing	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	13	9	11	8	17	4	6	9	7	Ret	11	6	6	15	6	10
9	Tony Trevor	Driver	8		6	Ret	8	9	8	8	9	19	6	4	Ret	8	5	7	7		12		9
10	Richard Trott	Richard Trott Racing			Ret	5	DNS	Ret		DNS	6	12				5			4	Ret			8
11	Johnny Dumfries	Associated Racing	6	5	Ret	8	7	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		DNS	5		Ret	6			16		8
12	David Hunt	Eddie Jordan Racing																9	9	5	Ret	7	2
13	Tim Lee-Davey	David Luff Racing	9	6	12	Ret	6	10	7	7		22			10			8			11		2
14	Mike Blanchet	Tarry Racing	10					17	10	9		21		DNS	12		Ret				10	8	1
15	Carlton Tingling	Tingling Racing	14	DNS	11	Ret	12	14	DNS	10	10	23		Ret	13	10	6	Ret	8	7	13	9	1

^2 European Championship race where the British runners had to use regulation Avon rubber to be eligible for British championship points.^[2]