Coppa di Santamonica

Misano, 22 Jul 1973

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT40 [12] (Wilson Fittipaldi): Run by Motor Racing Developments as a works car in Formula 2 in 1973, fitted with a 2-litre David Wood BDA raced at first by John Watson at Mallory Park in March, but after he was injured in a F1 Brabham BT42 at the Race of Champions a week later, the BT40 was taken over by Wilson Fittipaldi. A Schnitzer BMW engine was tried in the car at Rouen in June, but the car had its Wood engine again when Fittipaldi won a non championship race at Misano in July. Sold to Eugenio Baturone for Spanish hillclimbs in 1974, still with its 2-litre Wood BDA engine. Retained by Baturone for three more seasons, then sold to José Canela Ballesteros, who raced it in hillclimbs in 1979. Acquired by an Italian lawyer who owned it for many years. Bought by Giulio Vezzoli (Brescia, Italy) in December 2018.
2. March 732 [8] (Colin Vandervell): For Colin Vandervell, run by Brian Lewis Racing. Vandervell became disillusioned with F2 and the car was rented out to other drivers, notably Motoharu Kurosawa. Unknown after 1973 but there are no unexplained 732s in Japan to suggest Kurosawa took it home. This could be the unexplained 732 of Jean Lapierre in French hillclimbs in 1974.
3. March 732 [7] (Jacques Coulon): Ecurie Filipinetti for Jacques Coulon with Antar sponsorship, completed on the Saturday morning of the opening Mallory race, but did not start. Transferred to Brian Lewis Racing after Georges Filipinetti's death in May. To Gérard Pillon (Geneva, Switzerland) 1974 and used in Swiss national events. In 1977, Pillon loaned it to his fellow Genevois Laurent Ferrier for the European F2 races at Hockenheim and Vallelunga, but Ferrier could not qualify the old car for either race. Pillon then appeared at three F2 events in 1978 in a March-BMW variously described as a 762 or a 782, and it is possible that this was the old 732 again. The 732 was next seen in 1979, driven by Ami Guichard, son of the Automobile Year editor of the same name, in French hillclimbs. After driving Pillon's new 782 in 1978, Guichard returned to the 732 and was still racing the car in Swiss championship events in 1988, when it was described as being largely original. The car remained with Pillon thereafter, and was still in Switzerland in 2015.
4. Brabham BT36 [4] (Roland Binder): New to Rolf Stommelen as part of the Eifelland Wohnwagenbau (Caravaning) team for F2 in 1971. To Roland Binder (Esslingen, Germany) in F2 and hillclimbs in 1973. Later to Wittwer Racing, when the car had been modified with strange March bodywork, and sold to Ruedi Jauslin, then to dealer Fridolin Hämmerli. Then sold to Hansmarkus Huber who bought new Brabham bodywork from Peter Denty Racing; then sold to Albert Eggs, and sold by him to 'someone from Zurich'. Subsequent history unknown. A car with this number seen in 2003 with Sid Hoole and then in 2005 with Joseph (Sepp) Meyer.
5. March 732 [14] (Roger Williamson): Bought by Tom Wheatcroft for Roger Williamson to race in F2 in 1973, replacing a pair of GRD 273s. Used in three F2 races in mid-1973. After Williamson's death in a F1 race at the end of July, the car remained in Wheatcroft's collection as part of a tribute to Williamson at the Donington Museum. After Tom Wheatcroft's death in 2009, the car was inherited by his son Kevin Wheatcroft, who has stated his intention to retain the car, even after other cars in his father's collection are sold. After the Donington Museum was closed in November 2018, the March 732 was moved into secure storage.
6. Somalita (March 712M) [4] (Ettore Ricci): New to Frank Williams Racing, and raced in F2 in 1971 by Henri Pescarolo, Andrea de Adamich, and "Jean Max", who crashed heavily at Rouen in June. Suggestions that the car was replaced by a new car, 712M/25, after that accident appear to be unfounded. Used by Pescarolo for the remainder of the 1971 European season. At the Torneio Brasiliero, it was raced by Pescarolo in the first two races, then by Carlos Pace at Porte Allegre, and by local driver Nestor Garcia Veiga at Cordoba. This is almost certainly the "ex-Pescarolo" March sold to Tino Brambilla for 1972, and raced by brother Vittorio at several F2 events, using an 1800cc Novamotor BDA. According to later owner Fabio Montani, this is the car that went to Ettore Ricci and Scuderia Nettuno for 1973. A few modifications were made to the car, including fitting a 2-litre Armoroli BDA engine and a Hewland FG400 gearbox to replace the original FT200, and it was entered as a Somalita, but all the race reports, including Autosprint's, simply called it a March 712M. The last time the car was seen in F2 was at Vallelunga in October, when Fernando Spreafico drove it, but the Armoroli BDA engine broke on the warm-up lap. The car was then bought by Adriano Parlamento (Turin), so this would be the March "732" that Parlamento used in hillclimbs from 1974 onwards. Parlamento last raced it in 1979, and after a season racing small saloons, he acquired a March 75S sports car for the 1981 season. The March 712M/732 was acquired by Fabio Montani (Milan) and restored. It is hoped that photographs were taken of the car in Parlamento's distinctive bodywork to prove the identity of this car. It was advertised by Montani in December 1994, when it was said to have new skins and suspension, and a Richardson BDA engine, but with the old parts available.
7. Brabham BT40 [19] (Vittorio Venturi): New to Vittorio Venturi in Italy, who raced it in European hillclimbs in 1973, and in one F2 race in Italy that season. It ran in Marlboro livery, and was identified as chassis 19 by Motoring News when it appeared at Misano in July. It then reappeared for two more F2 races driven by Spartaco Dini and entered by Scuderia Nettuno, and Autosport noted at the time that it was the car bought for Venturi to do European hillclimbs. This then appears to be the car driven by "Shangri-Là" (Romano Martini) in the F2 at Mugello in July 1974. It is then unknown until BT40/19 appears in the hands of a Sicilian hillclimber who used the pseudonym "King", who also had a March 75S with BMW engine, and used the engine in the BT40. "King" was entered for the Enna-Pergusa F2 race in 1976, but it is unclear whether he arrived for practice. Some years later, the car was used by "King" as security on a loan, and after he died, it therefore changed hands. It was offered for sale in 2017, missing not just engine and gearbox, but other parts which were loaned out and then disappeared. The "BT40/19" plate was still on the car, and appeared to be genuine.
8. March 732 [4-2] (Vittorio Brambilla): Beta Racing Team for Vittorio Brambilla 1973 and used as his main car all season. Crashed at Monza in June and rebuilt on a new monocoque. Crashed again in practice at Vallalunga in October and may have been written off, leaving Vittorio to drive brother Tino's 732/5 at the last race. This car appears to have been repaired on a new monocoque and retained by the team as a spare in 1974. It would be the car raced by Diulio Truffo at Mugello and Alberto Colombo at Vallelunga. It remained with the Brambillas until 1977, when it passed to sponsor Daniele Ciceri of Beta Tools, and was placed on display at the Beta factory. It 1988, it passed to the Autorevival Italia Association, and was displayed in the Museum Autodromo Monza until 2000, when it was acquired by Guido Romani (Milan). It was sold to Hall and Hall (Bourne, Lincolnshire) in 2019 when it was found to be in remarkably original condition. Sold to Graham Adelman in 2019.
9. Brabham BT40 [36] (Gabriele Serblin): Run by Motor Racing Developments as a second works car in Formula 2 in 1973, driven at first by Andrea de Adamich, and entered by FINA Racing Team. Raced later in the season by Gabriele Serblin and Rolf Stommelen. Sold to Tom O'Leary (Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland) for Irish Formula Atlantic in 1974. Retained by O'Leary for 1975, 1976 and 1977, then acquired by Gerry Kinnane in part-exchange for a Chevron B29 sold to O'Leary, and entered for John Ledlie, Ivor Greenwood and Derek Shortall in 1978. Next seen with Chris Charlett in Trinidad in 1981 and 1982. Returned to the UK by 2001, when it was restored by Cooper Motorsports and raced by Steve Parrott in the HSCC Derek Bell Trophy. Sold to Tim Kuchel (Australia) in 2006 and raced in Australian historic racing. Kuchel died in December 2019, and the car was sold by his family to Wayne Groeger (Fairhaven, Victoria, Australia) in December 2020.
10. Surtees TS10 [04] (Romano Martini ("Shangri-Là")): New for Andrea de Adamich to race as a FINA Team Surtees entry in the 1972 F2 series, first appearing at the Pau GP in early May. De Adamich had driven for Surtees in F5000 in 1969, and returned to the team after two years leading Alfa Romeo's efforts to introduce their V8 engine into Formula 1. Like his Formula 1 Surtees TS9B, the Italian's TS10 was red and white with FINA logos. He drove the F2 car when his F1 commitments allowed, with a best result of fourth at Imola. The car was sold for 1973 to Romano Martini who raced as "Shangri-Là", and was used by him in F2 and in Italian hill climbs during 1973, entered by Etienne Aigner. The car reappeared in 1974 as an Etienne Aigner entry on loan to Helmut Koinigg at Hockenheim in April. Then sold to Hans Deffland (Munich, Bavaria, West Germany) in May 1974, and used by him in hillclimbs plus the F2 race at Hockenheim in September 1974. Then to Gerhard Donnerer (Marxzell, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg) in January 1975, and used in hill climbs in 1975 and 1976, and then to Jürgen Zimmerman (Schwieberdingen, Baden-Württemberg) in August 1978. It was later sold to a Mr. Studer in Switzerland who did not race it, and was sold by him to Mario Colombo (Rapperswil, Switzerland) in 1983. Mario had the car restored by Wittwer Partner Motorsport in Diepoldsau, Switzerland, and then had it fixed to the wall of his flat, where it remained until June 2019, when it was bought by Dean Forward, and shipped back to England.
11. Surtees TS10 [07] (Silvio Moser): A new car built up for the Matchbox Team Surtees F2 team in mid-1972, and first raced by Dieter Quester at the Österreichring in early July. Raced later in the season by Carlos Pace, John Surtees and Mike Hailwood. It is almost certainly the car raced by Lian Duarté in the F2 Torneio do Brasil. Sold to Silvio Moser for 1973, repainted in Marlboro livery, and used regularly through the 1973 F2 season. Raced by Alberto Colombo at Vallelunga at the end of the season. According to Beat Schenker, Moser's mechanic, the Surtees was sold to a Mr Herber, from Ticino, who planned to use it in the Swiss national championship. Beat recalls that he crashed on his second or third outing, and believes the car may have been a total loss.
12. GRD 273 [071-F2] (Jo Vonlanthen): Jon Vonlanthen (Frauenfeld, Switzerland) moved up to F2 in 1973 with a new GRD 273. He raced the car in the European series and in the Swiss Championship, using Alan Smith and David Wood BDA engines. For 1974, the car was sold to Jurg Dubler (Oberhasli, Switzerland) but other commitments meant that he did not race it until October. He continued with the car in French hillclimbs in 1975, appearing at Saint-Pierre in April, Turckheim-Trois-Epis in June and Poissons in August. Otto Stuppacher also drove Dubler's GRD at the Bergrennen Bad Mühllacken in 1975 and 1976. Many years later, this car was fully restored with Marc Widmer (Eiken, Switzerland) in 2014.
13. GRD 273 [054-F2] (Hiroshi Kazato): New to Hiroshi Kazato, and run for him in 1973 F2 events by GRS International. Kazato used Racing Services alloy Ford BDA engines at first, then moved to Cosworth BDG, and then had a new car built to take a Schnitzer BMW, retained chassis 054 as a spare. Chassis 054 is thought to have been sold to Chris Oates for 1974, and the "ex-Kazato" car that he ran in Formula Atlantic for Richard Morgan and then Frank Sytner, but this may have been an older car. Chassis 054 reappeared in 1976 when it was run in libre racing by Alan Clennell, described as a B73 and using Swindon BDA engines. Retained by Clennell for sprints and hillclimbs in 1977 and 1978. Advertised by Clennell (Southam) as an ex-works 273 in November 1978. Subsequent history unknown.
14. Brabham BT38 [BT38C-23] (Demetrio Martino): New to Vittorio Venturi and raced in Italian F3 and Italian hillclimbs in 1972. The car was reported by Autosprint to have been rebuilt as a F2 for 1973, and it is understood to be the Marlboro-backed car that he used in European hillclimbs that season, while acquiring a new BT40 for Formula 2. Scuderia Nettuno had an intention to run the BT38 in circuit racing, to be shared by Spartaco Dini and Demetrio Martino, but the only appearance of this found so far was an entry for Demetrio Martino at Misano in July 1973. Subsequent history unknown, but in 2012, this car was photographed in Italy on display attached on a wall. It was in Marlboro Nettuno livery which appeared to be original.
15. Pygmée MDB17 [372] (Georges Schäfer): New to the BERT team for Patrick Dal Bo to race in the 1972 F2 series. Dal Bo was fourth in the first race of the season, but had a series of failures to qualify, often caused by engine failures. The car was sold to Georges Schäfer for 1973, and used in occasional F2 races, rounds of the Swiss championship, and French hillclimbs for the next three seasons, using a Cosworth BDE engine. It appears that it was updated for 1974 with revised bodywork and given the chassis plate "MDB19 - 03 -74". Gérard Gamand's book shows this as the Pygmée owned by Roger Martini (Girond, Aquitaine) from 1979 to 1983, although Martini believed he had owned the ex-Pace car. According to Gamand, the car then passed via two other French owners, 'Legeay' and 'Sutter' to Roland Perrin in 1988, by which time it had acquired odd square sidepods and a Martini nose, and the steelwork had been painted a fetching orange. Bought by Peter Morley in Belgium in 2005, then to Gamand in April 2007, who completely restored the car in 2008-09. On display at Epoqu'auto in Lyon in November 2009. Raced by Gamand in Historic F2 in 2010 and 2012. On display on the Autodiva stand at Epoqu'Auto in November 2013.

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.