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Weston-Super-Mare Speed Trials

Weston, 7 Oct 1978

ResultsTime 
1 Terry Smith 5-litre Brabham BT35X [2] - Repco 740 V8
(see note 1)
11.63s
2 Dave Harris 5-litre McRae GM1 [012] - Chevrolet Smith V8
(see note 2)
11.67s
3 David Franklin 5-litre Brabham BT35X [2] - Repco 740 V8
(see note 3)
11.71s
4 Alan Richards (F5000) 5-litre Surtees TS8 [007] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 4)
11.81s
5 Johnty Williamson 5.7-litre McLaren M14A [2-2] - Chevrolet V8
11.92s
6 Clive Bracey 7.6-litre Vebra Mk1 - Chevrolet turbo
11.92s
7 Simon Riley 3-litre Brabham BT33 [3] - Cosworth DFV V8
11.93s
8 Noel le Tissier 5-litre Chevron B32 [32-75-01] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 5)
11.96s
9 Bob Clapham (F5000) 5-litre Surtees TS8 [007] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 6)
11.99s
10 Ted Williams 2-litre March 772 [6] - Hart 420R
(see note 7)
12.11s
Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. Brabham BT35X [2] (Terry Smith): New to Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) for 1971, and fitted with a 5-litre Repco 740 V8 engine for the British Hill Climb Championship and occasional rounds of the British Sprint Championship. Won one round of each series. Retained for 1972 when Griffiths again one one round in each series. To Malcolm Dungworth (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) for 1973 when he shared it with John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire). They shared the car again in 1974 and in 1975, when Cussins won a championship round at Barbon Manor, then Dungworth ran it alone in 1976 and 1977. Sold to Terry Smith in October 1977, and he raced it in the Sprint series in 1978. He raced it again in 1979, but in June he transferred the Repco engine into a March 75A/761 and the BT35X was sold to Mike Remnant in south-west England. Remnant did not race it, sticking to his BT30, and sold it to Roger Jordan who fitted a Ford twin cam and ran it in SW events from about 1981, later replacing the engine with a Rover V8. It was raced by Mark Haynes, still with the Rover V8, at Werrington Park in 1985. In 1986, Jordan sold it to Ted Walker (Dursley, Gloucestershire) who sold it to Shaun Mooney. Mooney had it restored by Simon Hadfield, fitted a Cosworth BDA, and raced it in historic racing from 1991 to 1996. In 2002, the car was sold to Japan and ran in Japanese historic events where it was noted having the name "E. Sekiya" on the side. It changed hands in 2004 and rebuilt by the Mecca racing garage at Tsukuba circuit in 2008. It was offered for sale by its Japanese owner in August 2015, and acquired by Ross Drybrough (Worthing, West Sussex). At this point it was in "F2" specification with a BDA engine. Restored and raced by Drybrough in HSCC F2 in 2022.
  2. McRae GM1 [012] (Dave Harris): See full history: McRae GM1/012.
  3. Brabham BT35X [2] (David Franklin): New to Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) for 1971, and fitted with a 5-litre Repco 740 V8 engine for the British Hill Climb Championship and occasional rounds of the British Sprint Championship. Won one round of each series. Retained for 1972 when Griffiths again one one round in each series. To Malcolm Dungworth (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) for 1973 when he shared it with John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire). They shared the car again in 1974 and in 1975, when Cussins won a championship round at Barbon Manor, then Dungworth ran it alone in 1976 and 1977. Sold to Terry Smith in October 1977, and he raced it in the Sprint series in 1978. He raced it again in 1979, but in June he transferred the Repco engine into a March 75A/761 and the BT35X was sold to Mike Remnant in south-west England. Remnant did not race it, sticking to his BT30, and sold it to Roger Jordan who fitted a Ford twin cam and ran it in SW events from about 1981, later replacing the engine with a Rover V8. It was raced by Mark Haynes, still with the Rover V8, at Werrington Park in 1985. In 1986, Jordan sold it to Ted Walker (Dursley, Gloucestershire) who sold it to Shaun Mooney. Mooney had it restored by Simon Hadfield, fitted a Cosworth BDA, and raced it in historic racing from 1991 to 1996. In 2002, the car was sold to Japan and ran in Japanese historic events where it was noted having the name "E. Sekiya" on the side. It changed hands in 2004 and rebuilt by the Mecca racing garage at Tsukuba circuit in 2008. It was offered for sale by its Japanese owner in August 2015, and acquired by Ross Drybrough (Worthing, West Sussex). At this point it was in "F2" specification with a BDA engine. Restored and raced by Drybrough in HSCC F2 in 2022.
  4. Surtees TS8 [007] (Alan Richards): New for Peter Revson at the 1971 Questor GP then for Alan Roillinson in UK series. To Alan Brodie 1972 and raced by Brodie and by Steve Thompson. To Servis Appliances Racing Team 1973 and raced by Ray Allan early in the season. Then possibly the Robin Darlington car in Sep 1973 Reappeared with Colin Andrews (Banbury, Oxfordshire) 1974, then to Steve Cuff (Frome, Somerset) 1975 for hillclimbs. To Alan Richards (Cheltenham) and used in sprints and occasional hill climbs in 1976 and 1977. Used in sprints and occasional hill climbs by Bob Clapham in 1978 and 1979. Then unknown until sold by Brian Redman to Dave Swigler (Panama City, FL) in 1986. Dave believes Brian got it from Richard Attwood about two years earlier. Retained until Swigler sold his collection to Harin De Silva (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) in 2009. Restored by Virtuoso Performance and first raced at Laguna Seca in August 2011. Also raced in New Zealand in the 2011/12 Tasman Revival series and at the Phillip Island Classic in March 2013.
  5. Chevron B32 [32-75-01] (Noel le Tissier): New to John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire) with a 5.7-litre Chevrolet V8 for the British Hill Climb Championship in 1975 and 1976. Then to Noel le Tissier and Tom Coughlan in Guernsey for 1977 and 1978, and raced by Brian Redman in a bike versus car challenge on the Isle of Man in 1979. Then to Andy Sauvarin for Sprints in 1980, then unknown until owned by Roy Lane in 1984, and run in Sprints by Ken Ayers. To Chevron enthusiast Richard Budge (Retford, Notts) by 1990 and driven by Mike Wilds in historic events. To Richard Maurice Jones (Rhyl, North Wales) and was rebuilt in 2002 with a 5-litre Chevrolet V8. Then to Mike Wrigley (Ashbourne, Derbyshire), then to Hamish Paterson (Auckland, New Zealand) in 2008. Raced by Paterson in the Tasman Revival series in 2009, 2010 and 2011, after which it was stored for five years before being sold to Karl Zohs (Rotorua, New Zealand), who raced it in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The car was then for sale until Zohs' death in October 2021. In November 2021 it was sold to Alastair Chalmers (Hastings, New Zealand). More information about the Chevron B32
  6. Surtees TS8 [007] (Bob Clapham): New for Peter Revson at the 1971 Questor GP then for Alan Roillinson in UK series. To Alan Brodie 1972 and raced by Brodie and by Steve Thompson. To Servis Appliances Racing Team 1973 and raced by Ray Allan early in the season. Then possibly the Robin Darlington car in Sep 1973 Reappeared with Colin Andrews (Banbury, Oxfordshire) 1974, then to Steve Cuff (Frome, Somerset) 1975 for hillclimbs. To Alan Richards (Cheltenham) and used in sprints and occasional hill climbs in 1976 and 1977. Used in sprints and occasional hill climbs by Bob Clapham in 1978 and 1979. Then unknown until sold by Brian Redman to Dave Swigler (Panama City, FL) in 1986. Dave believes Brian got it from Richard Attwood about two years earlier. Retained until Swigler sold his collection to Harin De Silva (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) in 2009. Restored by Virtuoso Performance and first raced at Laguna Seca in August 2011. Also raced in New Zealand in the 2011/12 Tasman Revival series and at the Phillip Island Classic in March 2013.
  7. March 772 [6] (Ted Williams): New to AFMP-Euroracing, fitted with a Hart 420R and raced by Ricardo Zunino in F2 in early 1977. When AFMP collapsed, the car was taken over by mechanic Tony Harvey for Zunino to drive at Vallelunga, Pau and Mugello. Then run by "March Racing" for Zunino for the last half of the season. Sold to Ted Williams (Bristol) for sprints and hillclimbs in 1978, still using a 2-litre Hart engine. Retained for 1979, when it was partly updated to 782 specification. Sold to Martin Bolsover (Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire) for 1980, and fitted with a 1600cc BDA engine and again entered as a 772/782. Bolsover fitted his BDA to a new Pilbeam for 1981, and the March was not seen in 1981, 1982 and 1983. It reappeared in 1984 when raced by Roy Woodhouse, and fitted with a turbocharged 3.5-litre Rover engine. Alan Payne (Birmingham, West Midlands) won a sprint at Curborough in June 1984, when sharing this car with Woodhouse. Raced by Woodhouse in sprints in 1985 and 1986, after which he transferred the engine into a newer March 822. When that car was wrecked at the end of 1988, he returned to the 772 for 1989, 1990 and 1991, only for the car to be comprehensively demolished at the Weston sprint at the end of 1991.

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.