OldRacingCars.com

Lady Wigram Trophy

Ruapana Park, 6 Nov 2011

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Jay Esterer McRae GM1 [014] - Chevrolet V8
#1 (see note 1)
15 20m 10.366s
2 Steve Ross McRae GM1 [009] - Chevrolet V8
#5 (see note 2)
15 20m 11.025s
3 Tony Richards "Lola T332" - Chevrolet V8
#23 (see note 3)
15 20m 21.446s
4 Andrew Higgins Lola T400 [HU6] - Chevrolet V8
#10 (see note 4)
15 20m 37.488s
5 Aaron Burson McRae GM1 [008] - Chevrolet V8
#29 (see note 5)
15 20m 46.364s
6 Brett Willis Lola T330 [HU6] - Chevrolet V8
#16 (see note 6)
15 20m 47.798s
7 Russell Greer Lola T332 [HU28] - Chevrolet V8
#14 (see note 7)
15 21m 02.668s
8 John Mackinlay (F5000) 4.4-litre March "72A" - Oldsmobile V8
#35 (see note 8)
14 20m 18.956s
9 David Arrowsmith Lotus 70B [02] - Ford V8
#70 (see note 9)
14 21m 03.400s
10 David Banks Talon MR-1 ["007"] - Chevrolet V8
#78
14 21m 03.582s
R Sefton Gibb Lola T332 [HU38 (A)] - Chevrolet V8
#88 (see note 10)
13
R Stan Redmond Lola T333CS/T332 - Chevrolet V8
#25
12
R Peter Burson McRae GM1 [003] - Chevrolet V8
#51 (see note 11)
11
R Roger Williams Lola T332 ['K3'] - Chevrolet V8
#63 (see note 12)
2
R Ian Clements Lola T332 - Chevrolet V8
#30 (see note 13)
2
DNSF Ken Smith Lola T332 ["HU54"] - Chevrolet V8
#11 (see note 14)
Did not start final
DNSF Gregory Thornton Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8
#32 (see note 15)
Did not start final
DNS Chris Lambden McRae GM1 [004] - Chevrolet V8
#27 (see note 16)
Did not start

All cars are 5-litre F5000 unless noted.

Heat 1 Laps Time Speed
1Jay Esterer810m 39.859s
2Ken Smith810m 40.336s
3Steve Ross810m 44.030s
4Tony Richards810m 48.100s
5Roger Williams810m 52.813s
6Sefton Gibb811m 03.894s
7Brett Willis811m 06.899s
8Russell Greer811m 08.621s
9Aaron Burson811m 20.068s
10Ian Clements811m 20.536s
11Stan Redmond811m 21.233s
12Gregory Thornton811m 22.579s
13John Mackinlay811m 29.250s
14Peter Burson812m 04.397s
15David Arrowsmith7
16David Banks7
Heat 2 Laps Time Speed
1Jay Esterer810m 46.362s
2Ken Smith810m 46.786s
3Roger Williams810m 52.373s
4Sefton Gibb811m 05.463s
5Aaron Burson811m 05.870s
6Steve Ross811m 06.129s
7Ian Clements811m 07.983s
8Brett Willis811m 17.743s
9Russell Greer811m 17.758s
10Andrew Higgins811m 29.252s
11Tony Richards811m 44.276s
12Peter Burson811m 50.789s
13David Banks812m 07.866s
14David Arrowsmith7
Stan Redmondretired
John Mackinlayretired
Gregory Thorntoncarburettor
Qualifying
1 Steve Ross (F5000) 5-litre McRae GM1 [009] - Chevrolet V8 1m 18.637s
2 Ken Smith (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 ["HU54"] - Chevrolet V8 1m 19.015s
3 Jay Esterer (F5000) 5-litre McRae GM1 [014] - Chevrolet V8 1m 19.156s
4 Tony Richards (F5000) 5-litre "Lola T332" - Chevrolet V8 1m 19.316s
5 Sefton Gibb (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU38 (A)] - Chevrolet V8 1m 20.861s
6 Aaron Burson (F5000) 5-litre McRae GM1 [008] - Chevrolet V8 1m 21.067s
7 Ian Clements (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 - Chevrolet V8 1m 21.763s
8 Chris Lambden * (F5000) 5-litre McRae GM1 [004] - Chevrolet V8 1m 22.285s
9 Brett Willis (F5000) 5-litre Lola T330 [HU6] - Chevrolet V8 1m 22.501s
10 Stan Redmond (F5000) 5-litre Lola T333CS/T332 - Chevrolet V8 1m 22.504s
11 Roger Williams (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 ['K3'] - Chevrolet V8 1m 22.799s
12 Russell Greer (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU28] - Chevrolet V8 1m 23.186s
13 Gregory Thornton (F5000) 5-litre Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8 1m 23.747s
14 John Mackinlay (F5000) 4.4-litre March "72A" - Oldsmobile V8 1m 24.881s
15 Peter Burson (F5000) 5-litre McRae GM1 [003] - Chevrolet V8 1m 25.472s
16 David Arrowsmith (F5000) 5-litre Lotus 70B [02] - Ford V8 1m 28.023s
17 David Banks (F5000) 5-litre Talon MR-1 ["007"] - Chevrolet V8 1m 31.014s
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. McRae GM1 [014] (Jay Esterer): New for Graham McRae in 1973 and raced by him in the US series, in STP livery and entered as #1. The car was not a success and McRae was distracted by his Indy 500 campaign and his F1 debut. The car returned to England but was not sen again until advertised by dealer Derek Robinson (Frome, Somerset) in May 1975. Sold to Ian Stronach (Manchester) and raced in libre racing during 1976 and 1977, usually at Oulton Park and Aintree. Then to Larry Bradley late 1978, then to Ian Higgins in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Sold to the US where it reappeared with Ken Petrie at a F5000 reunion in May 2001. Sold to Jay Esterer (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) in 2008, restored to its #1 STP livery and raced by him in historic racing in the US and in New Zealand. Damaged at Manfeild in November 2011 but repaired and raced by Esterer again in 2015. More information
  2. McRae GM1 [009] (Steve Ross): Built for 1973 season. Quicksilver Racing (Rockville, MD) for Jim and Chuck Sarich: raced in US 1973 (debut Watkins Glen R5 17 Jun 1973), US 1974 (1 race: Laguna Seca); advertised Autoweek 26 Apr 1975 - Ted Wenz and Peter Marcovicci (of Marcovicci-Wenz Engineering) 1986: raced by Wenz in US vintage racing 1986-1998 - Stan Redmond (Christchurch, New Zealand) 2003. Retained 2004 and used in the F5000 Tasman Revival series in 2004 and 2006. To Alistair Hey (Christchurch) 2007, and used by Chris Hyde to win the 2007/08 F5000 Tasman Revival Series. To Steve Ross (Dunedin) 2009, who continued to run it in the F5000 Tasman Revival series (#5 orange).
  3. "Lola T332" (Tony Richards): Effectively a brand new car advertised by Michael Sheehan (CA, US) in 2002. This was "a 100% rebuild" of an old, crashed, car but the identity of the crashed car was unknown to Sheehan. According to later owner Marc Rauchfuss, it was built by Mel Spillman (San Antonio, TX) in the late 1990s using T332 parts acquired from Evan Noyes team. Marc saw this car raced for the first time by Spillman at Road America in 1999. The car uses the chassis number "HU 32B" but no connection to HU32 has been demonstrated. To John Mann (New Zealand) 2002 and raced in the Tasman Revival Series. To Tony Richards (Christchurch, NZ) 2005. Raced by Richards in the Formula 5000 Tasman Cup Revival at the Australian GP meeting 28 Mar 2009, and appeared regularly in Tasman Revival races until February 2014. Advertised by Richards as "HU32b, ex Evan Noyes" in 2015, and sold to Marc Rauchfuss (Simi Valley, CA). Repainted in Noyes' livery and advertised by Rauchfuss in February 2016.
  4. Lola T400 [HU6] (Andrew Higgins): See full history: Lola T400 HU6.
  5. McRae GM1 [008] (Aaron Burson): New to Cuddy Racing for Jon Woodner to race in the 1973 US series. Advertised in Autoweek 22 Dec 1973 by Carroll Smith, Bill Cuddy and Woodner. Subsequent history unknown but a tub with chassis plate 008 plus bodywork and wings acquired from Graham McRae by Dan Furey (Columbus, OH), built up and and raced by Furey in historics from 1994 to 1997. Sold in 2004 to Paul Hoey (Olympia, WA) who believed it may have been the Josef Scott car, not the Woodner car. Sold to Jay Esterer (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) July 2008, and raced in F5000 Tasman Revival series in New Zealand in January 2009. Sold February 2009 to Peter Burson (Auckland, New Zealand), also the owner of 003, and raced regularly by Aaron Burson (Auckland, New Zealand) in the F5000 Tasman Revival series almost every season from 2009/10 to 2017/18. More information about McRae GM1-008
  6. Lola T330 [HU6] (Brett Willis): New to Australian Colin Hyams who raced it in the UK series in early 1973. To Trevor Twaites June 1973, and raced by him in the UK series in 1973, 1974 and 1975. Later to John Jordan (UK), who entered it for Tom Belso in 1977, and raced it himself in libre in 1978. Entered by Jordan for Dave Williams in libre racing 1983, and then for Tony Trimmer in the BRSCC Libre Championship from 1984 to 1989, winning the championship in 1986 and finishing second in 1987 and in 1988. At some point between 1985 and 1988, the T330 was dismantled and parts used by Dave Finnigan (Biggleswade, UK) to construct T332 "HU42" for Jordan's team. The original HU6 chassis remained with Finnigan until early 2000 when sold to Richard Lines (UK), then to Kevan McLurg (UK) 2005 and built into a complete car by McLurg and then by John Crawford's Motorsport Solutions NZ Ltd by July 2009. Owned by this time by Lindsay Willis of Wilco Racing (Rotorua, NZ), and raced by his son Brett Willis (Rotorua, NZ) in the F5000 Tasman Revival series every season from 2010/11 to 2017/18. More information about Lola T330 HU6
  7. Lola T332 [HU28] (Russell Greer): Graeme Lawrence (NZ) for Tasman 1974, New Zealand Gold Star 1974; Tasman 1975; Tasman 1976; Gold Star Oct/Nov 1976; Australian Internationals 1977 - Terry Hook (Aus) Australian Internationals 1978, Australian Internationals 1979; heavily crashed at a club event at Lakeside 21 Jun 1981. Rebuilt by March 1982 by Chas Talbot on a new tub. Sold to Bob Minogue and Pete Brennan in the mid-1980s who sold the rear end to Peter Bick to complete his ex-Davison HU34. The ex-Hook car was then built up with other parts and sold to Manuel Jimenez who in turn passed it to Murray Richards (Murrumbeena, Australia). To David Sharp (New Zealand) 1993. To Murray Sinclair (Hong Kong, and Christchurch, New Zealand) 2001, and raced in the F5000 Tasman Revival from 2003 to 2007. To Russell Greer (Blenheim, New Zealand) 2007, who continued to race it in the Revival series. More information about Lola T332 HU28
  8. March "72A" (John Mackinlay): Bought as "a basic unrestored tub and some running gear" from Kenny Smith (NZ) by John Mackinlay (Auckland, New Zealand) in 2001. Restored by Bob Needham into the spec of Cannon's 1972 March 72A-Oldsmobile. It was fitted with a 4.4-litre Aluminium Oldsmobile V8 and 721 bodywork. The car was entered by Mackinlay in the 2005/06 New Zealand F5000 Revival Series, starting at Fielding 12-13 Nov 2005, but first raced in the series at Sandown Park Nov 2006. Raced in selected rounds of the Tasman Cup Revival series in 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10 series, then missed 2010/11 and returned for the 2011/12 series. Taken to Shayne Windelburn in 2014, to fit a 1973-style March body with front-mounted radiator. When investigated in 2021, this car was found to be marked 'Marlo 801-1', indicating that it was the March-based Marlo Formula Pacific car raced by Kookie Ramirez in Malaysia in 1981. Its tub is numbered 'AM72/23', which is consistent with it being built from the ex-Chris Cramer March 723-12, which was reported to have been the basis of the Marlo. More information about March 723/72A 'AM72/23'
  9. Lotus 70B [02] (David Arrowsmith): Jefferson Racing Enterprises (from Lotus in kit form) for Bob West, one of a small number of African American drivers in road racing at that time: US 1972 (Boss Ford): R6 Road Atlanta 20 Aug 1972 (Q24) and R8 Riverside 24 Sep 1972 (Q19). Crashed on the second lap at Riverside, hitting Lunger's Lola and damaging the front left suspension and tub. Advertised by Roland Jefferson (Los Angeles, CA) Autoweek 28 Oct 1972: "damaged at Riverside". To Bruce Russell (Estacada, OR): racing history unknown except for an SCCA Regional at Riverside 26 May 1974. Advertised by Russell "70B - Boss 302" on 16 Oct 1976. Sold to Dave Edgar (Eugene, OR) late 1970s. To Dave Swigler (Panama City, FL) 1988: raced at the Walter Mitty event in April 1988 and then regularly to the end of the 1993 season after which it was unused for five seasons. Raced again by Swigler from 1999 up to Mitty 02 in July 2002. Retained by Swigler until sold, together with Swigler's Shadow and Surtees F1 cars, to Harin De Silva and sold on by him to David Arrowsmith (Christchurch, New Zealand) in July 2011. Raced in the 2011-12 Tasman Revival series in NZ and David is planning to compete again in the 2013-14 season.
  10. Lola T332 [HU38 (A)] (Sefton Gibb): The original tub from HU38 was repaired and sold as a spare tub at the same time as the complete HU38(B). These were last advertised by Tuck Thomas (Edina, MN) in May 1978. The complete car was sold to Gordy Oftedahl (Minneapolis, MN) but the fate of the repaired tub is unknown. It may have gone with the complete car via Oftedahl and Chris Carrell to Chuck Haines. Believed to be the car sold by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) to Ian Clements (Christchurch, New Zealand) in 1999. The car was rebuilt in New Zealand, and raced in the F5000 Tasman Revival series from 2003 to 2007. Then sold to Sefton Gibb (Napier, New Zealand), who continued to race it in the Tasman Revival series from 2007/08 to 2016/17. Sold to Tony Galbraith (Te Kauwhata, NZ) and raced in the 2017/18 Tasman Cup Revival, at Monterey in August 2018, then in the 2018/19 Tasman Cup Revival, but was crashed badly in the Skope Classic in February 2019, putting Galbraith in hospital. Car and driver both returned for the 2020/21 season and raced again in 2021/22. More information about Lola T332 HU38(A)
  11. McRae GM1 [003] (Peter Burson): Built for 1972 season as a Leda LT27 and entered by Leda Cars for Trevor Taylor in the UK series until Graham McRae bought the Leda Cars operation. Rebranded as a McRae GM1 (plated "LT27 GM3") and sold to Jock Russell (Midlothian, Scotland) July 1972. Raced by Russell in the 1972 UK series (also raced by Brett Lunger at two races). Raced again by Russell in the UK series in 1973. From Russell to Noel Butler (Birmingham), then to Roy Lane 2000, and restored in Lane's orange colours. To Peter and Aaron Burson (New Zealand) Oct 2006, and raced regularly by Peter in the F5000 Tasman Revival series from 2007/08 onwards. More information about Leda LT27-003/McRae GM1-003
  12. Lola T332 ['K3'] (Roger Williams): Originally a car built up by Ed O'Brien's team on a new tub prior to the Long Beach Grand Prix in September 1975, for Danny Ongais to race, replacing the kitted T400 he'd used earlier in the season. This Long Beach monocoque was acquired from Ed O'Brien by Shayne Windelburn (Auckland, New Zealand) in 2005, and was reskinned by Windelburn and built up as a complete car. Sold to Roger Williams (Auckland, NZ) in October 2007, and raced by Williams in the 2007/08 Tasman Revival series, the 2008 USA F5000 40th Anniversary Championship, the 2008/09 Tasman Revival and in the F5000 Tasman Revival support race at the Australian GP in March 2009. Raced by Williams in the series from 2009/10 to 2012/13. Sold to Stuart Lush (Auckland, NZ) in 2015. More information about Lola T332 'K3 - the Ongais car'
  13. Lola T332 (Ian Clements): A yellow "ex-John Morton" Frissbee Can-Am car bought in 2007 from Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) by Ian Clements (Christchurch, NZ) and rebuilt as a Lola T332 for the Tasman Revival series. Clements raced this red-and-white #30 Lola T332 in every season of the F5000 Tasman Revival series from 2008/09 to 2017/18. Sold to Kevin Ingram in 2018.
  14. Lola T332 ["HU54"] (Ken Smith): Thought to be the F5000 Lola T332 chassis bought by Interscope Racing for Danny Ongais to replace the car damaged by Ongais at Riverside 1975. Then the T332-spec spare car used by Ongais alongside his new T332C in the US series in 1976. The spare car was "comprehensively written off" in practice at Elkhart Lake but may well have been repaired. This is believed to be the car deposited in the Justice Brothers Museum some time between 1977 and 1980 by Ed O'Brien. It remained in the museum until 2010 when acquired by Ken Smith (Auckland, New Zealand), his chief crew Barry Miller and Phil Richardson. Raced in the 2011/12 F5000 Tasman Revival series but Smith crashed heavily at its second race. Rebuilt with a new monocoque, and raced in the series every season from 2012/13 to 2017/18.
  15. Chevron B24 [24-73-02] (Gregory Thornton): New for 1973 season. Doug Shierson for Peter Gethin: raced in UK 1973 (won Race of Champions) and US 1973. To Roger Bighouse (Eastlake, OH): raced in US 1974 (7 races); US 1975 (4 races + 1 DNS) - Pat McGonegle (Cincinnati, OH): raced in US 1976 (1 race) and Can-Am 1977 (4 races + 1 DNS); probably the car entered by McGonegle as 'Mannix MX-2' in Can-Am 1978; advertised April 1979 - Danny Johnson (Kewanee, IL) 1979: raced in Can-Am 1979 (1 race), Can-Am 1981 (5 races), Can-Am 1982 (6 races) - Brian R Taylor (now Clive, Iowa) for Mike Engstrand (Des Moines, Iowa): raced in Can-Am 1985 (3 races) - Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) - Anthony Taylor (Blackburn, UK) 2001: due to be rebuilt and raced in FORCE Historic F5000 series (UK) 2001. Then unknown until owned by Greg Thornton in 2011 and raced in UK and New Zealand 2011/12. Badly damaged in a fire at Thornton's garage in June 2012 but completely reconstructed.
  16. McRae GM1 [004] (Chris Lambden): Built for Evan Noyes as spare tub for 002, and stayed with 002 through its later US owners, until sold to Roger Williams (NZ) in 2005. Sold to Alistair Hey (NZ) in 2008 and eventually built up into a complete car for Hey by Motorsport Solutions (Christchurch, NZ). Sold to Chris Lambden (Melbourne, Australia) in 2011, and raced in the F5000 Tasman Revival from 2011 to 2013. Sold back to Hey in mid-2014 and raced by Michael Collins in New Zealand rounds of the Tasman Revival in 2017/18. More information about Leda LT27-004/McRae GM1-004

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.

Individual sources for this event

Main details from email from Ross MacKay of FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association, dated Sunday, 6 November 2011 6:21 pm. Additional data from https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/732671