A meagre total of 10 cars were entered for the event, the second race of the series of the 1980 Easter holidays.[2]
The race was held over 40 laps of Brands Hatch's Grand Prix circuit, a distance of 104.56 miles. A small piece of history was carved out, when Desiré Wilson became the first woman to win a F1 race, a feat which she achieved in remarkable style. At the wheel of her Theodore Racing with Hi-Line Wolf WR4, she simply trounced the opposition, leading from start to finish and extending her advantage of over 15 seconds at the end of the race.
For the Theodore Racing, Wilson's victory more than compensated for the disappointment for teammate Geoff Lees caused the race to be stopped on the first lap. An over-zealous start for the middle of the poor 10-car grid saw the Wolf barge Norman Dickson’s Lotus 78, then spin wildly in the pack; Lees continued, but suspension failure stranded him in the middle of the track. Dickson was the other star of the race. The gritty Scotsman passed the Williams FW07s of poleman Emilio de Villota and Eliseo Salazar on the early stages, fighting off the latter in his defence of second spot after de Villota and Guy Edwards effectively eliminated each other after a touch at Hawthorns.
Giacomo Agostini’s fourth-placed drive was a lonely one in a rebuilt car after a heavy race morning shunt, while the Chevrons of Tony Dean and Brian Robinson squabbled over the F2 category throughout.[2][3]
