Gran Premio del Mediterraneo

Enna-Pergusa, 20 Aug 1967

All cars are 1.6-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT23 [4] (Alan Rees): Roy Winkelmann Racing for Alan Rees in F2 1967. To Walter Habegger (Oberönz, Switzerland) 1968 for Swiss championship events. To Gérard Pillon (Geneva, Switzerland) 1969 and used in Swiss national events and French hillclimbs. (Although one source gives this as the car of Enzo Corti at Rheims and Albi in 1969, that identification looks highly doubtful.) Crashed at Côte de la Faucille on 7 September and not seen again. In 2009, Walter Habegger recalled that Pillon had an accident in the car and that it was badly damaged.
2. Lotus 48 [R2?] (Graham Hill): Graham Hill's regular Team Lotus entry in Formula 2 in 1967, raced by him in 16 of that season's races. Retained for 1968, when it was entered by Gold Leaf Team Lotus for Hill in a further eight F2 races. Sold to Gerry Kinnane's Team Ireland for 1969, and raced by John Pollock in the Thruxton F2 race in April and then in Irish 1600cc racing. Sold to Kevin Murphy in 1970 for Frank Keane to drive in Irish libre racing, primarily at Mondello Park, and in hillclimbs. Traded to Bobby Howlings for a Brabham BT30 in September 1970, and advertised by him the following month. Then evidently to Beric Ewin (Finchley, London) and fitted with a Ford twin cam engine for the new Formula Atlantic category in 1971 and 1972. Then unknown until acquired by a private collector in the late 1970s.
3. Brabham BT23 [3] (Frank Gardner): Motor Racing Developments entry for Frank Gardner in 1967. To Squadra Tartaruga for Xavier Perrot (Zürich, Switzerland) to race in F2 in 1968. Retained early 1969 but damaged at Nürburgring 27 April by a Porsche landing on top of it. Sold via Jo Siffert in 1969 to Jacques Joliat (Porrentruy, Switzerland) who raced it in French and Swiss hillclimbs in 1970 and 1971, before replacing the FVA with a FVC for 1972. Unknown in 1973 and 1974, then to Michel Salvi (Malbuisson, France) and raced with a 1300cc Renault Gordini engine in 1975 and 1976. To Alain Ribager (Mulhouse, Alsace, France) in 1977, and raced by him until 1979. In 1980, Daniel Coquet raced a 1300cc Brabham a few times, and advertised it in October that year as a BT23 with 1300cc Renault engine. Then in 1981 and 1982, Jean-Pierre Mutel raced a Renault-engined BT23 which is very probably the same car. Found by Gérard Gamand in 1984 near Valence, France with March bodywork but still with a Renault engine. To Michel Champelovier 1989 then 'Hollinger' then Thierry De Mortier by 2006. To Max Pearson (Queensland, Australia) 2010.
4. Lola T100 [SL100/6] (Andrea de Adamich): New for John Surtees to drive for Lola Racing at Mallory Park in May 1967, fitted with a Cosworth FVA engine. Surtees won at Mallory, and the next race at Zolder. This was then the team's main FVA car, as SL100/2 had been rebuilt in narrow-track form, and SL100/4 had been sold to David Bridges. Raced by Chris Irwin from July onwards, then by Andrea de Adamich at Enna. Raced by Irwin in F2 in early 1968, but after Irwin was badly injured in sports car race in May, the T100 was sold to Escuderia Nacional CS to replace SL100/8 that had been wrecked by Alex Soler-Roig. Raced by Soler-Roig for the rest of the 1968 season. To John Watson (Craigavad, County Down, Northern Ireland) and fitted with a Ford twin cam for local libre racing in 1969. To Dave Furlong (Dublin, Ireland) for 1970, then to John Burke (Dublin) for 1971. It was raced by Richie Conroy for Burke in 1972, then by Burke again in libre racing in 1973. Advertised by Burke, still with Ford twin cam engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox, in November 1973. Subsequent history unknown, but said by a later owner to have been owned by Bob Eccles (Oldbury, West Midland) in the late 1970s. If that is correct, it would be the second T100 that Eccles acquired as a source of spares for his main car. It is then believed to be the car raced by Pat Speer in HSCC events in 1985. Ted Walker then had two Lola T100s, probably the two ex-Eccles cars, and one remained in pieces while he had them, logically this one. According to a later Bonhams sale description, this car was owned by Speer in the 1970s, and was acquired by Louis Bernat (Chicago, IL) in 1989. Bernat died in 1997, and the car was advertised by his son Robert Bernat (Chicago, IL) in 2005, bought by Paul Busby, and returned to England. Sold at the Bonhams Brooklands auction in December 2011 to Robs Lamplough, but later sold back to Busby in 2015.
5. Lotus 48 [R1?] (Jim Clark): The prototype Lotus 48 was taken out to Australia for Graham Hill to drive in the Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm in February 1967, when he retired. It was then the Team Lotus spare car at the start of the F2 season, first racing at the Nürburgring in April. Jim Clark then used the car in nine F2 races from May onwards, including his wins at Jarama and Keimola. Driven by Alex Solor-Roig at the Spanish GP in November, but his deal to race the car fell through. Retained for 1968, when it was Jackie Oliver's regular entry supported by Roger Frogley's Herts & Essex Aero Club and maintained by Derek Wilde. It was sold to Gerry Kinnane at the end of the European F2 season, and raced for him by Oliver in the Argentine Temporada in December. Then raced by John Watson at the opening F2 race of 1969, at Thruxton, but crashed and badly damaged. Repaired in Belfast with a new outer skin created by Fred Smith using the workshop of Belfast Corporation Bus Company on the Falls Road, and raced by John L'Amie for Kinnane later in the year. To Alan Fowler for 1970, and driven by Barrie Smith at the Thruxton F2 race in March 1970, but did not start. Reportedly sold by Fowler's D&A Shells to a collector in Nuneaton, and retained by him until 1997, when it was sold via John Harper to Bob Tabor (Llanrothal, Herefordshire). The car was restored by Tabor by Simon Hadfield, and the monocoque was rebuilt by Competition Fabrications (Attleborough, Norfolk) who carefully replaced the single-curvature Belfast-made outer skin with a correct double-curvature skin. A stronger rollhoop structure was also fitted. The rebuilt car was raced by Hadfield in the Goodwood Glover Trophy in September 1999.
6. McLaren M4A [M4A/2] (Piers Courage): Entered by John Coombes for Piers Courage in F2 in 1967. Crashed at Brands Hatch in August 1967 and believed to have been rebuilt on a new tub before its next race at Albi four weeks later, but Autosport makes no mention of a rebuild nor of it being a new car. Raced by Piers Courage in the 1968 Tasman series. Sold to Niel Allen and raced in Australian events in 1968 until Allen crashed heavily at Lakeside in July, reportedly requiring another new tub to be fabricated. Raced again by Allen in 1969, then to Pat Burke for drivers Len Goodwin 1970-71 and Warwick Brown 1971. Sold by Burke and Peter Malloy to Erol Richardson but bought back by Pat Burke around 1982. Restored by Molloy for Burke and retained until sold to John Hugenholtz. To David Coplowe (England) by 1994. Raced in the HSCC Historic Formula Racing Car Championship in 1995. Raced by Coplowe until 2010, and sold to Gareth Williams (Oxfordshire) in 2012.
7. Lola T100 [SL100/2] (Chris Irwin): Believed to be the works Lola T100 entered by Lola Racing for Chris Irwin to drive in Formula 2 at the start of 1967. Fitted with a BMW Apfelbeck radial valve engine and raced by Irwin at Snetterton in March 1967. Irwin crashed during the race, and the Lola turned over and caught fire. It was rebuilt - or a new car was built using the same chassis number - with slightly different suspension and narrower track, now with a Cosworth FVA engine, and was raced by Irwin at Enna in August 1967. Sold to Alistair Walker for 1968, and raced by him in F2 that season. Alistair sold it at the end of that season, and cannot recall where it went. Subsequent history unknown, but thought to be one of the two Lola T100s sold to the US for Formula B, most likely the Max Mizejewski car.
8. Lotus 48 [R3?] (Jim Clark): Entered by Lotus Components Ltd for Jackie Oliver at the opening race of the 1967 season, and then taken over by Jim Clark for Pau, Montjuich Park and Nürburgring, qualifying on pole position each time and winning at Montjuich. Clark generally preferred chassis R1 thereafter, and R3 was raced by Pedro Rodriguez at Reims, Moises Solana at Jarama, and then by Oliver again at the Nürburgring in August, at Brands Hatch and at Vallelunga in October. The car was damaged at Vallelunga but not badly, and why it was not seen again is unclear. It has been suggested that the car was rebuilt on a longer monocoque over the winter to become chassis R4.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.