7-3-86 UNL MIC Racing sons pose problem Sir Jack Brabham, pictured celebrating his 1961 Lady Wigram Trophy Race victory, will spend much of his time this year in the United Kingdom, where one of his sons is racing fail-time. Gary Brabham, recently married to an Australian girl, spent his honeymoon in England seeking sponsorship to fund his Formula 3 project. Sir Jack, however, has a problem: While Gary males his Formula 3 debut in England on March 2, his youngest son, David, will be making his Formula Ford debut in Australia. To ensure that the three-times world champion does not have time on mis hands, his eldest son Geoff will be racing in the American CART series. 6 - 5 - 86 Big line-up for UK title opener Now in its second year, the British Formula 3000 championship - the accepted stepping stone into Formula One - started the 1986 season by attracting a massive 43-car entry. The field was restricted to 31 for the opening race, run at the Silverstone circuit in England. The 44-lap event had to be reduced to 24 laps because of the wet conditions. With most of the cars running the outdated formula One V8 Cosworth engines, the race was won by Pascal Fabre, driving a Lola. Last year's winner, New Zealand-born Mike Thackwell driving a similar car, had to settle for fourth place 18sec behind the winner. The race also featured two drivers who contested New Zealand Formula Pacific series in the past season. The series winner, American Jeff MacPherson, driving in his first race in the class, qualified in sixth place. With typical no nonsense style, he stayed out of trouble in the race to come home eighth. Another American from the New Zealand series, Cary Bren, also lined up on the grid. But any change in luck that Bren might have expected from his poor showing in New Zealand, did not materialise. After qualifying in a dismal 24th place, Bren's race came to an end one lap from home. He had been running near the rear of the field after a firstlap spin. 112%