Weston-Super-Mare Speed Trials

Weston, 6 Oct 1973

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren M10A/B [300-08] (Johnty Williamson): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-08.
2. Brabham BT35 (Bob Marsland): Bob Marsland (Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) acquired a Brabham BT35 for hillclimbing in 1971. He appeared in the European Hill Climb Championship round at Ollon-Villars in August 1971, but was also entered for the Formula Atlantic race at Oulton Park in September, showing that his car had a Ford twin cam engine. He appeared intermittently in 1972, when the car was said to have a BDA engine, and entered a couple of Formula 2 races in 1973, using a Hart BDA engine of unknown capacity, before winning a Belgian hillclimb at Herbeaumont and then competing in the Weston-Super-Mare Speed Trials at the end of the season. Marsland acquired a Chevron B27 for 1974, and the subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown.
3. Brabham BT29X [37] (David Render): New to Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) and fitted with a 1.8-litre Cosworth FVC as the "BT29X" for hillclimbing. Damaged in a practice accident at Silverstone on its debut and said to have been rebuilt on a BT30 chassis, although this is disputed. Raced by Griffiths in British Hill Climb Championship events in 1970, often entered as the BT30Y. Sold to Spencer Elton (Westbury, Wiltshire) by February 1971 but not used until mid-1972, when it had a 1.6-litre Vegantune engine. To David Render (London) as a 1600cc backup to his 2-litre Brabham BT35 and used from 1973 to 1976. Then unknown until acquired by Peter Robinson (Studley, Warwickshire) to replace BT30-26 in late 1979. Sold to Julian Majzub (Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire) when Robinson retired c1983 so Majzub could retrive some of the parts from BT30-26. Sold to Richard Jones (Pitchcombe, Nr Stroud) winter 2007/2008.
4. Brabham BT18 [F2-44-66] (Dave Hartley): New to Clive Baker near the end of the 1966 season, after Baker had given up on the Stockbridge Racing Cooper T83 in May. Built with a Ford twin cam engine for libre racing and first reported winning a libre race very comfortably at Castle Combe at the end of August. The nearly-new car was sold to Bryan Eccles (Solihull, Warwickshire) for 1967 and fitted with a 3.5-litre Oldsmobile V8 engine for hillclimbing. Eccles won a number of events, including the Shelsley Walsh championship hillclimb in August. To Chris Cox for 1968 and used in libre racing. Then to Tony Charnell for 1969 but not seen. It returned to hillclimbing in 1970 when owned by Richard Thwaites (Dewsbury, West Yorkshire) and then in 1971 with Dave Hartley who also used the Brabham-Buick in sprints. Hartley continued to run the car regularly in the British Sprint Championship until 1975. He took class wins in Longton & District MC's Isle of Man hillclimb in 1977 and 1978. Next seen when advertised by Jim Johnston in January 1988. According to a later advertisement for the car (then called F2-42-66), it was owned after Johnstone by Peter Speakman (also the owner of F2-22-66), and was then bought back by Jim Eccles in the early 2000s. It was later sold to Simon Durling, who had it fully rebuilt and used it in the Pre-1971 racing car class. After an accident, it was sold to John Green as a project and extensively rebuilt again. Adam Sykes advertised the car in early 2023, and in May 2023 announced that it had been sold.
5. Brabham BT18 [F2-8-66] (Tom Elton): New to Mike Hawley (Solihull, Warwickshire) and run in the RAC British Hill Climb championship in 1966, taking a very impressive overall win at Shelsley Walsh in August. Sold to Peter Fenwick in late September or early October and used by him in minor hillclimbs at the end of that season and in 1967 and 1968. The car faded from view until the beginning of 1971, when Tom Elton ran it in sprints and hillclimbs, now fitted with a Vegantune twin cam. His son Spencer Elton took over the car later in the year and preferred it to his own BT21C, taking an overall win in the British Sprint championship round at Thruxton in August. Retained by the Eltons for 1972 and fitted with a 1100cc Cosworth BDA engine for the small racing car category. Tom raced the car in 1972, 1973 and 1974, and was still running it in the 1100cc class in 1976. Subsequent history unknown.
6. March 702 [1] (Dave Harris): The first production March 702 was used by Chris Amon in the opening race as part of Malcolm Guthrie's team and then by Ronnie Peterson for the rest of the season. Unseen in 1971 but presumably the "ex-Peterson" car that Geoff Inglis (Yatton, Somerset) used for sprinting in 1972. Advertised by Inglis in February 1973 when it still had its FVA engine. To Spencer Elton (Westbury, Wiltshire) and sold by him to Dave Harris for sprints in 1973. Then back to Elton and next to Philip Anstruther (Bristol) who ran it in sprints in 1974. Anstruther sold it back to Elton yet again and it was advertised by him in March 1975. Next seen when advertised from Birmingham in 1981 as an "abandoned sprint and hillclimb project" and then from Devon in 1983. Reappeared in 1985 when raced by Ian Giles in HSCC events when its papers said it had previously been used by Dave Harris in hillclimbs. Then to Simon Brien in Ireland in 1986, to Lew Wright by 1989, then to Tony Birchenough 1991, and driven by Martin Birrane. It was sold to Steve Hitchins in 1992, and it is reported that this car was the one raced by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Grave in historic racing in the 1990s, was still with him in 2004, and still in France in 2010. In April 2013, Eric Charles (Dubai, UAE) reported that he had acquired 702/1.
7. Brabham BT21B [28] (Gerry Wilkins): New to Frank Lythgoe Racing for Dave Berry (Colwyn Bay) to race in British F3 in 1968. To Alan Rollinson for 1969 and won six races at the start of the British F3 season. Sold to Norman Foulds (Fleetwood, Lancashire) in June 1969 and used in British F3 for the rest of that season. With dealer Bobby Howlings (Congleton, Cheshire) in early 1970, then used briefly by Nick Cook in early 1971 before his new BT35 was ready. Next seen in early 1972 when Spencer Elton (Westbury, Wiltshire) had fitted one of his Vegantune twin cam engines and ran the car in hillclimbs. Sold by Spencer to Gerry Wilkins (Bath, Somerset) for hillclimbs in 1973 and 1974. It returned to Spencer and was advertised by him in 1976 and then reappeared with Les Stone (Basingstoke, Hampshire) at Harewood in July 1976. Used by Stone in sprints and hillclimbs from 1977 to 1980. By 1987, the car was with Simon Harratt (Blandford, Dorset) who raced it at Gurston Down that year, and also in 1991. The car was raced by Simon, his wife Jane, and later daughter Melissa, in speed events for many years, for much of that time Simon being BARC SW chairman and Jane being competition secretary. After Simon died in 2016, the car was sold to Grant Cratchley (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire).
8. Brabham BT30 (Tony Street): Tony Street (Wellesbourne, Warwickshire) raced a Brabham BT30 in sprints and hillclimbs in 1973. The origins of the car are currently unknown but Malcolm Orme recalls that the car he and Bob Penzer used in speed events between 1976 and 1978 had previously been driven by Street. Penzer had bought the car from John Hinley (Knowle, Warwickshire) so this would be the BT30 that John Hinley ran at Curborough in 1974 and advertised in May 1974 with a 1930cc BDA. It is also likely that this was the 2-litre "BT30/35" used at Curborough in June 1975 by Tony Sofiano (Harborne, Birmingham) and John Parsons, managers of The Elbow Room nightclub in Aston. Parsons advertised this car with a 1920cc BDG and mentioning BT35 fuel tanks in October 1975. The last known appearance of this car was when driven by Bob Penzer in a sprint at Oulton Park in April 1978. Penzer later sold the Brabham back to Hinley in a deal on the Lola T332C that Penzer drove in 1979. Subsequent history unknown.
9. Brabham BT21C [17] (Nigel Pow): New to Malcolm Eaves (Solihull, Warwickshire) and fitted with a 3.5-litre Buick V8 engine for hillclimbing. It made its competition debut at Curborough on 4 October 1970, its only previous outing having been a shakedown at Silverstone. Eaves qualified the car regularly for the Top Ten in British championship hill climbs in 1971. To Peter Boshier-Jones (Cardiff) for 1972 and again often made the Top Ten in 1972 and 1973. To Nigel Pow (Bristol) and kept the Buick engine for 1974, qualifying for the Top Ten on several occasions. Pow reappeared with the car in 1976, when it had been fitted with a 4.2-litre four-cam Indianapolis Repco V8 running on neat methanol. The bodywork had also been updated and it was described as a BT21/23C. The car was not a great success in this configuration. Sold by Pow to John Harper in 1979 and sold by him to Australian Clive Osborne in 1981 and then sold to Les Wright in 1987. Wright located Malcolm Eaves who still had the detailed photographs from when the car was first built, allowing Wright to return it to original specification by 2003. The quad-cam Repco V8 was sold to be fitted to a Matich sports car. Les Wright raced the BT21C-Buick regularly in Australian historic racing from 2003 onwards.

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.

The British Sprint Championship results were originally provided by Paul Parker and Steve Wilkinson and are based on material drawn from Motoring News, Autosport and Speedscene magazines plus results sheets and programmes provided by former competitors and by the organising clubs.

The identification of individual cars is based on the Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic research work presented elsewhere on the site.

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.