1996 British Formula Two Championship

Last updated September 13, 2025

The 1996 British Formula Two Championship was the seventh season of the British Formula 3000 Championship. The championship was dominated by the Super Nova car of Gareth Rees, the former Marlboro Masters F3 winner who competed in International Formula 3000 the previous year. He won six races and clinched the title with two rounds to go.

Rees started the season in style, winning the first 5 races, but stumbled at Donington when Sascha Maassen took his only victory of the year. Werner Lupberger won the following round as Rees retired, but Gareth won the Silverstone round to tie up the championship. Luiz Garcia Jr. won the remaining two rounds after battling with Lupberger and Gonzalo Rodriguez, securing second in the standings. Lupberger ended up third, one place ahead of Rodriguez. British Formula Renault champion David Cook raced twice in Rees' absence, while future International F3000 star Jason Watt made his F3000 debut for Fred Goddard Racing in the final round. Ex-Andrea Moda F1 non-qualifier Perry McCarthy made a single seater return with DKS Racing. The future boss of International F3000 team Arden, Christian Horner, finished fifth overall after half a season with veteran team Madgwick International. Sarah Kavanagh, future Formula Nippon and BOSS Formula 1 driver, raced on a couple of occasions in a Sainsbury's and Parmalat backed Fred Goddard Racing entry.

Several talented drivers entered British F2 in 1996, but at times grids had declined to just five cars, the smallest in the series' history, and teams withdrew their support. British F2 was finally dead.^[1]

Drivers and teams

The following drivers and teams contested the 1996 British Formula Two Championship. All teams ran a Reynard chassis with Cosworth engine.

Team	No.	Driver	Rounds
Fred Goddard Racing	1	Werner Lupberger	All
	6	Steve Arnold	1
		Sascha Maassen	4, 6, 8-9
		Jason Watt	10
	16	Sarah Kavanagh	4, 6
		Francis Phillips	8
		Paul Smith	10
	22	Alan Berkov	1, 4
	24	William Hewland	4
Super Nova Racing	2	Gareth Rees	1-8
	2	David Cook	9-10
	3	Luiz Garcia Jr.	All
Durango Equipe	4	Luca Riccitelli	1-4
	4	Denny Zardo	5
	5	Fabrizio Gollin	1
		Vito Popolizio	2-3
		Pietro Ferrero	4
Jupiter Racing	7	Nigel Smith	4
Madgwick International	8	Christian Horner	5-10
Edenbridge Racing	9	Gonzalo Rodriguez	4–6, 8-10
DKS Prosperity Management	10	Perry McCarthy	8-10
Worswick Engineering	17	Tony Worswick	5
Rex Hart Racing	20	David Mercer	1, 4–5, 7-10
Rex Hart Racing	20	Lars Johansson	6

Results

British Formula Two Championship

Round	Date	Circuit	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	April 5	Oulton Park (Fosters)	Gareth Rees	Luca Riccitelli	Gareth Rees	Super Nova Racing
2	May 6	Snetterton	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Gareth Rees	Super Nova Racing
3	May 6	Snetterton	Gareth Rees	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Gareth Rees	Super Nova Racing
4	June 22	Silverstone (GP)	Sascha Maassen	Gareth Rees	Gareth Rees	Super Nova Racing
5	July 6	Oulton Park	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Gareth Rees	Gareth Rees	Super Nova Racing
6	August 4	Donington Park	Gareth Rees	Gareth Rees	Sascha Maassen	Fred Goddard Racing
7	August 27	Brands Hatch (Indy)	Werner Lupberger	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Werner Lupberger	Fred Goddard Racing
8	September 28	Silverstone (GP)	Gareth Rees	Gonzalo Rodriguez	Gareth Rees	Super Nova Racing
9	October 13	Brands Hatch (Indy)	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Gonzalo Rodriguez	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Super Nova Racing
10	October 27	Donington Park	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Super Nova Racing

Championship Standings

^[2]

Pos.	Driver	OUL	SNE	SNE	SIL	OUL	DON	BHI	SIL	BHI	DON	Points
1	Gareth Rees	1	1	1	1	1	5	Ret	1			56
2	Luiz Garcia Jr.	Ret	2	2	2	Ret	3	2	2	1	1	52
3	Werner Lupberger	4	3	3	Ret	3	Ret	1	6	3	2	35
4	Gonzalo Rodriguez				Ret	2	2		Ret	2	3	22
5	Christian Horner					Ret	4	3	3	5	6	14
6	Sascha Maassen				Ret		1		Ret	4		12
7	Luca Riccitelli	2	4	Ret	Ret							9
8	David Mercer	6			4	Ret		4	5	7	8	9
9	Perry McCarthy								3	Ret	Ret	4
10	Fabrizio Gollin	3										4
11	Pietro Ferrero				3							4
12	David Cook									6	4	4
13	Denny Zardo					4						3
14	Tony Worswick					5						2
15	Alan Berkov	5			DNS							2
16	Vito Popolizio		5	Ret								2
17	Jason Watt										5	2
18	Sarah Kavanagh				Ret		6					1
19	Lars Johansson						7					0
20	Francis Phillips								7			0
21	Paul Smith										7	0
	William Hewland				Ret

References

↑ "British F3000/F2/UK3000/Autumn Cup". Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
↑ "1996 Venson British F2 Championship | Motorsport Database".

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[1] "British F3000/F2/UK3000/Autumn Cup". Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2020-05-05.

[2] "1996 Venson British F2 Championship | Motorsport Database".

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