Grand Prix de Pau

Pau, 21 Apr 1968

All cars are 1.6-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren M4A [200-20F] (Robin Widdows): This number is given for a Formula 2 car entered by Chequered Flag for Robin Widdows until he crashed it at Crystal Palace in June 1968 and it was replaced by a new car, or at least a new monocoque. The car somehow survived and is said to have raced in UK club racing in the 1970s. Found by Lincoln Small and others in an Essex barn c1990. Raced by Small 1996-97 and then by a further owner before the 1999 Coys Silverstone auction. With Graham Earl in 2000 and sold by him to a Belgian collector in 2002. Restored and repainted in Chequered Flag colours in 2012.
2. Chevron B10 [F2.1] (Peter Gethin): Frank Lythgoe ran Chevron's first F2 car, the B10 chassis F2.1, at five early season races but the car was then dropped, re-emerging briefly when Frank Williams entered it for American Samuel Brown at Enna-Pergusa on 25 August (Speed World International 7 Sep 1968 p27). Brown crashed in practice and broke an upright, a spare part that Williams hadn't packed. The car was not seen again but is likely to have headed to the US where it is believed to be the car used by Horst Kwech (Gurnee, IL) in Formula A with a 2.7-litre Alfa V8. Subsequent history unknown. Patrick Jamin was reported to have this car in France in the late 1980s. From 1992 to 1997, this car was advertised by BB One Exports (Los Angeles, CA) but said to be located in France. In 2001, it was for sale by Giannandrea Calderazzo (Paris) and then said to be located in Italy. In 2005, the car was still in Italy and advertised by Autospeak.
3. McLaren M4A [200-19F] (Guy Ligier): Ecurie Intersport for Guy Ligier in F2 in 1968. The team was disbanded after Schlesser's death in a F1 race in July. If Schlesser's regular car went into French hillclimbs, then 200-19 is likely to be one of two cars acquired from the team by Pierre Bardinon (Aubusson, France) and would be the car raced by Bardinon at the Mont-Dore hillclimb in August 1968. These two cars were then traded by Bardinon to Franco Sbarro (Grandson, Switzerland) and one was sold to Georges Schäfer (Geneva, Switzerland) for use in French hillclimbs and Swiss national events in 1971, as well as a single F2 race. After crashing this car, Schäfer bought Sbarro's second car. Then unknown until offered for sale by Hans Peter (Switzerland) in August 1990. A car with this chassis number was in the Brooks Monaco auction in 2000 when it was said to be "unraced since 1968". Also at this time, Auto-Salon-Singen (Singen, Germany) advertised a pale yellow "ex-Schlesser" McLaren M4A that was said to be unraced since 1968. Subsequent history unknown
4. Tecno 68/F2 [T00 284?] (Clay Regazzoni): When the Tecno team took three cars to the Argentine Temporada at the end of 1968, Motoring News noted that Clay Regazzoni's car, 'T00 284', was "his regular car". Presumed to have been his car from Pau (April 1968) onwards. To Roland Binder (Esslingen, Germany) in mid-1969, to replace the Tecno he had wrecked at Hockenheim in June. Binder continued to race this car in F2 in 1970 and 1971. Subsequent history unknown.
5. Lola T100 [SL100/8] (Alex Soler-Roig): Rebuilt from SL100/1 or SL100/3 for Escuderia Nacional CS for Formula 2 in 1968, and raced by Alex Soler-Roig. The team was sponsored from Calvo Sotelo (ENCASO), a state-owned Spanish oil company. Soler-Roig crashed the Lola heavily at Crystal Palace in early June, an accident that "wrapped the monocoque in a knot". Escuderia Nacional CS acquired SL100/6 from Lola Racing to replace it.
6. Lola T100 [SL100/4] (Chris Williams): Believed to be the works Lola T100 entered by Lola Racing for John Surtees to drive in Formula 2 at the start of 1967. Fitted with a Cosworth FVA engine and raced by Surtees at Snetterton and Silverstone in March 1967, then by Chris Irwin at the Nürburgring in April. Sold in May to David Bridges for Brian Redman to drive in F2 for the rest of that season. Retained by Bridges for F2 in 1968, when it was driven by Redman, Chris Williams, Mike Beckwith, David Hobbs and Robin Widdows. Sold to Robin Darlington (Ruaben, Wales) late 1969, and used in libre racing in 1970. He advertised it in January 1971 when it had a twin cam and was prepared for the new 1971 Formula Atlantic category. Robin cannot recall where it went, but it was next seen in Sprints in late 1973, when it was driven by Richard Lester (Yoxall, Staffordshire). The car was run by Lester in the 1600cc class in Sprints and occasional hillclimbs from 1974 to 1977. Lester then acquired a March 73B, and advertised the T100 in January 1978 as "ex-Redman" with an all-steel twin cam and Hewland FT200 gearbox. This is likely to be the red/white 1600cc Lola T100 that Kenneth Brill (Redditch, Worcestershire) raced in libre at Croft in 1978. Subsequent history unknown.
7. McLaren M4A [200-22F] (Graeme Lawrence): This number is given for a Formula 2 car entered by Chequered Flag for Graeme Lawrence early in the 1968 season, then Frank Gardner and then Mike Walker. Likely to have been one of the four M4As advertised by Chequered Flag at the end of 1968.
8. McLaren M4A [200-18F] (Jo Schlesser): Ecurie Intersport for Jo Schlesser in F2 in 1968 until his death in a F1 race in July. Presumably then the "ex-Schlesser" McLaren M4A raced in French hillclimbs by Jean-Claude Fontès (Bayonne, France) in 1969, by Hughes Hazard in 1970 and by Roger Rivoire in 1972. Then unknown until restored by an unnamed German owner in 1990. Appeared in various auctions between 1997 and 2005, in the midst of which Paul Dudley (and Steve Worrad) raced it in historic racing in 1999 and 2000. Sold at Bonhams & Brooks' Silverstone auction in September 2001 to an unknown owner who restored it in 2004 and then sold it via Bonhams Silverstone auction in July 2005. With Lindsay O'Donnell (Christchurch, NZ) in 2005 and raced for him by Ken Smith at Eastern Creek in December 2006. Still with O'Donnell in 2009.
9. Brabham BT23C [11] (Alan Rees): New to Winkelmann Racing for Alan Rees to race in F2 in 1968 but also raced by Gerhard Mitter at Hockenheim in October. To Bill Ivey for 1969 and entered for him in F2 races by Paul Watson Racing Organisation (PWRO). To Brian Cullen (Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland) in August 1969 and he raced it in a F5000 race and in libre in 1969, in European F2 events in 1970, and at Bogotá in early 1971. Entered by Irish Racing Team for Lingard Goulding at Mondello Park in July 1971 and then maybe the BT23C raced by Ted Shanahan (Dublin) over the next two months and also possibly the BT23C raced by Roy Courtney (Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) in local clubmans/club specials racing in 1972. To Harold McGarrity (Belfast) for 1973 and raced in Formula Ireland with a 1.6-litre Holbay engine. To Paddy Heron for 1974 and raced in clubmans and in Formula Atlantic. For sale from Glengormley in 1975 and entered by Belfast car dealer Noel Crymble for Chris Stanfield to race at Kirkistown a couple of times until the Holbay pushrod engine blew up. Next seen when bought from Ireland by Mark Raymont who still had it in the late 1980s with a Holbay engine and Hewland Mk 8 gearbox. Sold to Steve Worrad (Whitchurch, Shropshire) of Maverick Motorsport around 2002 and restored by him. For sale by Maverick in 2004 and sold the following year via the Bonhams auction at RAF Hendon to Joe Willenpart (Scheibbs, Austria).
10. Brabham BT23C [5] (Jochen Rindt): New to Winkelmann Racing for Jochen Rindt to race in F2 in 1968, winning four of his first seven races. Driven by Vic Elford at at Monza in June and crashed. The car was rebuilt on a new chassis and Rindt won two more races later that year. To Ecurie Ecosse and raced by Graham Birrell in F2 in 1969. Ecurie Ecosse and Birrell had a BT30 for 1970 but the BT23C was raced in a libre at Ingliston in May when it was crashed. Sold in July to Stanley Robinson who fitted the engine, gearbox and suspension to the Unipower GT Group 6 car he raced with John Blanckley. The BT23C chassis was repaired some time around 1972 and sold to Joe Applegarth (Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham) who built it up using parts from BT23C/16 and fitted a pushrod Ford engine for Monoposto racing. Raced by Applegarth from 1973 until the end of 1977, competing in around 130 events, and then retained after Applegarth retired. Sold by him to Joe Willenpart (Scheibbs, Austria) in 2010.
11. Lola T100 [SL100/7] (Jorge de Bagration): Rebuilt from SL100/1 or SL100/3 for Escuderia Nacional CS for Formula 2 in 1968, and raced by Jorge de Bagration, with sponsorship from Calvo Sotelo. This is likely to be the car advertised by Charlie Hayes in April 1970 "ex-Alex Soler Roig European F2 car", as Soler-Roig was de Bagration's better-known teammate. By the time the advert appeared, Soler-Roig had done a deal to drive for Lotus in F1. It was next seen in May 1975 when Ron Renari (White Plains, NY) raced a Formula B Lola in SCCA Regionals at Lime Rock. He raced the car again in 1976, and advertised it as an "ex-Alex Soler-Roig Lola T100". It is reported to have gone to Stewart Bone, a Pontiac Fiero collector in NY state, and he sold it to Tim Gaffney in 1992. After having the monocoque restored by Simon Hadfield, Gaffney raced it in 2003. Sold in 2009 to Dean Baker (Bowmanville, Ontario), who raced it once at Watkins Glen, but found it needed a thorough restoration and put it aside until he got to that.

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.