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Rand Spring Trophy

Kyalami, 1 Oct 1977

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Roy Klomfass March 77B [8] - Ford BDA Swindon
#2 Team Gunston [Eddie Pinto] (see note 1)
32 45m 17.38s
174.4 kph
2 Len Booysen March 76B [1] - Ford BDA
#9 Golden-Flo Racing with Kenitex
(see note 2)
32
3 Bobby Scott March 77B [17] - Ford BDA
#21 Sportsman Lager [Andrew Thompson]
(see note 3)
32
4 John Gibb March 77B [11] - Ford BDA Swindon
#8 Uniewinkels [Martin Flint/Roger Taylor]
(see note 4)
32
5 Evan Boddy Chevron B34 [34-76-02] - Ford BDA Nicholson
South Coast Motors (see note 5)
31
6 Grant Maben Wheatcroft R18 [003] - Ford BDA Nicholson
(see note 6)
31
7 Dorino Treccani Chevron B29 [29-75-15] - Ford BDA
(see note 7)
30
8 Mike Domingo March 76B ['MD'/"1A"] - Ford BDA
#6 Team Domingo (see note 8)

9 Nols Nieman March 77B [18] - Ford BDA
#5 Benson & Hedges / Alex Blignault
(see note 9)
Valve spring
R Yunus Domingo Chevron B25 [25-73-03?] - Ford BDA
Team Domingo (see note 10)

R Kevin Stopford Modus M3 [024] - Ford BDA Nicholson
(see note 11)

R Dave Charlton March 76B [19] - Ford BDA Swindon
#3 Lucky Strike Racing-Scribante
(see note 12)
16 Camshaft pulley
R Tony Martin Chevron B39 [39-77-02] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#4 South Coast Motors (see note 13)
9 Wheel bearing

All cars are 1.6-litre F/Atl unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Tony Martin (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B39 [39-77-02] - Ford BDA Nicholson 1.22.78
2 Bobby Scott (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 77B [17] - Ford BDA 1.23.05
3 Dave Charlton (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 76B [19] - Ford BDA Swindon 1.23.21
4 Roy Klomfass (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 77B [8] - Ford BDA Swindon 1.23.36
5 Len Booysen (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 76B [1] - Ford BDA 1.23.54
6 John Gibb (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 77B [11] - Ford BDA Swindon 1.23.75
7 Nols Nieman (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 77B [18] - Ford BDA 1.24.03
8 Mike Domingo (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 76B ['MD'/"1A"] - Ford BDA 1.26.40
9 Kevin Stopford (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Modus M3 [024] - Ford BDA Nicholson 1.26.63
10 Grant Maben (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Wheatcroft R18 [003] - Ford BDA Nicholson 1.27.19
11 Evan Boddy (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B34 [34-76-02] - Ford BDA Nicholson 1.28.34
12 Dorino Treccani (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B29 [29-75-15] - Ford BDA 1.30.90
13 Yunus Domingo (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B25 [25-73-03?] - Ford BDA 1.31.24

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 77B [8] (Roy Klomfass): New to Eddie Pinto and Team Gunston for Roy Klomfass to race in South African Formula Atlantic in 1977, using Swindon BDA engines. Retained by Team Gunston in 1978 for new driver Trevor van Rooyen. Retained again by Team Gunston for the 1978/79 season, when it was a spare car to Van Rooyen's new March 79B and was driven that season by Basil Van Rooyen at Kyalami in October 1978 (when Trevor was unwell), by Dave Charlton at Killarney later that month, and then by Trevor at two races. Later in 1979, it was raced twice by John Love. It was unused in 1980, then sold to Jeff Waberski after his DAW Supplies team's ex-Ian Scheckter March 78B was destroyed in a transporter fire. The 77B was fitted with a Mazda engine and raced by Bernard Tilanus for DAW Supplies from June 1981 onwards. It was raced by Dave Charlton for DAW around March/April 1982, then by Billy Maloney as a DAW entry later in 1982. Maloney crashed the car at some point, and acquired a March 782 to replace it in April 1983. The 77B was sold to Klaus Grogor's House of Sports Cars team for Grogor to drive in the 1983 season, and then retained by Grogor unused through 1984 and 1985. It was then sold to Gary Harrison who intended to convert it into a sports car for the 'Can-Am' series that absorbed Formula SA in 1986, but he only used in single seater form. The car was acquired by Dorino Treccani during the 1990s and sold to Andrew and Stuart Thompson in 2000.
  2. March 76B [1] (Len Booysen): New to Ian Scheckter for South African Formula Atlantic in 1976. Sold to Len Booysen for the 1977 season, then loaned by Booysen to Dave Charlton to drive. During this time it was bought from Booysen by Ken Gillibrand, who then loaned to DAW for Bernard Tilanus to drive in April and May 1978. It was unused in 1979, and advertised by Gillibrand in August. Sold later in 1979 to Soon Weeks who fitted the 2-litre BMW engine from Dave Hart's March 77B and raced it in this form in early 1980. Then swapped with Bernard Tilanus and the DAW team for DAW's Wheatcroft R18, and fitted with a Mazda engine. Raced several times by Tilanus but he then left the team after a disagreement with Jeff Waberski and was replaced by Trevor van Rooyen, who raced the 76B for the rest of 1980. It was sold to Vernon Bricknell at the end of that season, and raced by him in early 1981 until his new Maurer MM80 arrived. The 76B was then sold yet again, this time to the Pretoria Brick team for Wayne Taylor to drive, until Hekro's March 802 was acquired for him. Pretoria Brick retained the 76B for 1982, when it was raced by Basil Mann, Kevin Heath and Roy Carr. It was sold to Alan Dunlop for 1983, and he raced it until 1985. It then passed to Neville Riddell and most of its components were used in a sports car built for Riddell by Lew Baker. All that was left was the tub, and this was sold to Fred Goddard who is believed to have stripped it to keep the bulkheads as spares. At this point the 76B no longer existed.
  3. March 77B [17] (Bobby Scott): New to Andrew Thompson in South Africa, and raced by Bobby Scott in South Africa Formula Atlantic in 1977, with sponsorship from Sportsman Lager. Retained by Thompson and Scott for the 1978 season. After the end of that season, in June 1978, the car was damaged during a display exhibition at a shopping centre car park that had been converted into a mini race track for publicity purposes. Thompson built another 77B from spares (77B/'AT') for Scott to drive in the 1978/79 season, and the next time 77B/17 was seen was when it was hired to Tommy Dunne during that 1978/79 season but crashed at Welkom in June. The wreck was pushed to the back of Thompson's workshop and was not raced again. The salvaged tub and parts have remained in South Africa.
  4. March 77B [11] (John Gibb): New for Rupert Keegan to race in the South African Formula Atlantic series in early 1977, run for him by the Doug Shierson team and entered as Team Uniewinkels. Then run by Martin Flint and Roger Taylor for John Gibb to race for the rest of 1977. Retained by Flint & Taylor's Team Uniewinkels for 1978, when it was driven by Roy Klomfass. Moved to Alex Blignaut's Team Texan for the start of the 1978/79 season, still with Klomfass driving, as a spare car to the team's new March 79B. The 77B was then sold to Dave Hart's Team Valvoline. Hart fitted it with a BMW engine for the new Formula South Africa in 1979, then converted to a Mazda engine for 1980. It was then sold to Brian Ferris, who raced it in 1981 and in early 1982 before his new Ralt RT4/82 arrived. The 77B may have been raced by Ferris's friend Klaus Grogor in the latter half of 1982. In January 1983, it was sold to Fred Goddard who ran it for several drivers as part of his Petromark team over the next two seasons, including Braam Smith, Roy Carr, Derek Irving and Danie Mulder. It was unused in 1985, then driven by Ivano Moavero in 1986. Then retained by Goddard who took it with him to the UK when he emigrated in 1989 to set up Fred Goddard Racing. After Fred's death in July 2007, the 77B passed to his son Earl Goddard, and he sold it to Nick Beer around 2013.
  5. Chevron B34 [34-76-02] (Evan Boddy): New to Tony Martin for the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic championship, entered by Team Bic/South Coast Motors. Retained by Martin for 1977 as a spare car to his new B39 and raced only once that season, as a South Coast Motors entry for Evan Boddy at Kyalami in October. Raced by Boddy during 1978, entered again by South Coast Motors Racing. Raced again by Boddy in 1979, again entered by South Coast Motors, and also retained for 1980 as a backup for 34-76-08, but apparently unused that season. Sold in early 1981 to Stan Chandler, who commissioned SCM's engine specialist Piet Bredenhann to fit a Mazda rotary engine. The car was entered for John Banks to drive at Kyalami and at Goldfields Raceway in May 1981, at Kyalami in May 1982, and possibly at other races. Shortly after that last entry, it was sold to Ken Critchfield. The car was involved in an accident later in 1982 or in early 1983, and the engine and gearbox were then used by Fred Goddard to rebuild his March 802. The damaged Chevron tub and salvageable suspension components were returned to John Banks who retained it in its damaged state until selling it to Mike Budd in 1995. Budd was rebuilding the car for Gary Dunkerly, and after Mike's death in 2022, the restoration was taken over by his son Ryan.
  6. Wheatcroft R18 [003] (Grant Maben): Sold new to Alex Blignaut, for the 1976 South African season driven by Nols Neiman. Chassis number given in AS report of Welkom race 10 Feb 76, with the note that ‘last year’s Wheatcroft works car’ was carried as the team spare [R18-002]. Used throughout season, the spare remaining un-raced until 1977. Reported by Ian Hebblewhite as sold to Grant Maben in 1977, debut at Kyalami 1 Oct 77.
  7. Chevron B29 [29-75-15] (Dorino Treccani): New for Jim Crawford at Oulton Park in late May when his early-season development car was rebuilt on a new monocoque, effectively becoming a new car with chassis number 29-75-15. Crawford raced this car seven times in the British Formula Atlantic series, winning two races, and also raced it in F2 specification at Silverstone in August, using a Geoff Richardson BDA engine. Richard Morgan (Purley, Surrey) then hired the car for a few races at the end of the season. To Len Booysen (Randburg, South Africa) for the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic series, entered by Golden-Flo Racing with Kenitex. Then to Dorino Treccani, and raced by him in a few late 1977 and early 1978 races before it passed to Sarel Pienaar, who raced it for the rest of 1978 and in 1979. It was purchased from Pienaar by Peter Haller in 1980 to provide parts for his homebuilt Haller Special. The B29 tub was not used in the Haller Special, and was never converted to a Mazda engine. After Haller's death in March 1984, the original tub and salvageable parts from the B29 and were bought from Haller's widow by Alan McDonald and Mike Budd. Their plans to build a sports car did not materialize, and the B29 was eventually restored by Budd for Mike Ward. The restoration was completed around 2005. It was later sold to Doug Brown, who returned it to its 1976 Golden Flo livery. Later sold to Colin Frost about 2015.
  8. March 76B ['MD'/"1A"] (Mike Domingo): A car built up by Mike Domingo at the start of 1977 using a monocoque that Ian Scheckter had damaged when testing 76B/1 after the race at Aldo Scribante in March 1976. Domingo's car is usually referred to as "76B/1 (A)" as it built around the first tub from 76B/1. It was raced by Mike Domingo through 1977, 1978 and 1979, still with its BDA engine. It was then rebuilt with a Mazda engine for 1980, but was damaged at Kyalami in January. The car was rebuilt, but the Domingos also acquired Alex Blignaut's 76B/19 which was built up for Roy Klomfass to drive. When Klomfass declined the drive, Mike Domingo moved to the ex-Blignaut car, leaving his original car redundant. The ex-Scheckter tub and associated spares were sold in mid-1980 to Vernon Bricknell as spares for the March 76B-1 he had just acquired from the DAW Supplies team. When Bricknell sold 76B-1 to the Pretoria Brick Racing Team in early 1981, the remains of the Domingo car remained with Bricknell until damaged when the building in which they were being stored collapsed. The tub was scrapped and the remaining parts sold to Trevor Trautmann for a sports car project. At this stage, the Domingo 76B had effectively ceased to exist.
  9. March 77B [18] (Nols Nieman): New to Alex Blignaut for Nols Nieman to race in the South African Formula Atlantic series in early 1977, with Benson & Hedges sponsorship. Retained by Blignaut's Benson & Hedges team for Nieman again in 1978. Raced for Blignaut by Derek Bell in November 1978, then by Sarel van der Merwe in May 1979, after which it was given by Blignaut to Tony Martin's South Coast Motors team as a spare car. It was entered for Billy Scheepers in January, then rented to Roy Moss for the Goldfields race in February. Bernard Tilanus then borrowed it for the Killarney race in March after his DAW March 78B had been destroyed in a transporter fire. In July 1980, it was sold to Jeff Waberski's DAW Supplies team for Wayne Taylor to drive. Then in October 1980, it was sold on to Mel Lahner's Rackrite Racing. Taylor moved with the car, and raced it at Kyalami on 4 October and then in the first few months of the 1981 season. It was then taken over by Trevor van Rooyen who found the weight penalty on his ground-effect March 802 was too great. He raced the 77B for the rest of the 1981 season. It was retained for 1982, when Rackrite ran the car for Andre du Plessis and Mike Domingo. It was retained again for 1983, when driven by Gavin Lahner and Kevin Heath. It was not used again after that, but was retained by Mel Lahner until sold to Andrew Thompson in 1984. It was later restored for Ian Schofield.
  10. Chevron B25 [25-73-03?] (Yunus Domingo): Chassis number observed by the Formula 1 Register (F1R) on the Team Gunston car of Ian Scheckter in the 1973 South African Formula 1 championship (F2 class). This car, and its sister chassis 73-02, were retained by the team for 1974, when they ran with Lexington sponsorship. Chassis 73-03 is believed to have been the car driven by Brian van Hage in 1974. In 1975, the team ran one of the B25s for Roy Klomfass, with the other one being kept as a spare car for him. Both cars were sold to the Domingo brothers for the inaugural year of the South African Formula Atlantic championship but it has not proved possibly to identify the individual histories of the two cars during this period. It is assumed that 73-02 was the #7 car driven by Joe Domingo in 1976, by Yunus Domingo in 1977, and then the #11 car entered for Joe Domingo in 1978. Not seen in 1979, but then sold to Mel Lahner for 1980, and converted by Andrew Thompson to Mazda rotary engines for the new South African 'Atlantic' rules. Raced by various drivers in this form in 1981 and 1982. In the absence of any other information, it is assumed that 73-03 was the first choice car, wearing #12 in 1980 and #16 in 1981. In 1985 or 1986, Alan Macdonald and Andrew Thompson bought 73-02 and 73-03 from Mel Lahner. Thompson refurbished 73-03 for Johann Rupert's Franschhoek Motor Museum, and sold it to the museum in 1991.
  11. Modus M3 [024] (Kevin Stopford): New to Scribante Racing for Dave Charlton to race in South African Formula Atlantic in 1976, sponsored by the United Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike brand. Charlton acquired a new March 76B mid-season, and the Modus was taken over by Kevin Stopford for the rest of 1976. Retained by Stopford for 1977 and thought to have been wrecked that season. Components from this car were acquired by the Domingos to assist in the rebuild of their own Modus M3. The monocoque from Stopford's car has been repaired and was reportedly still in South Africa in 2019.
  12. March 76B [19] (Dave Charlton): Sold to Dave Charlton in July 1976 for to drive for the Scribante team in South African Formula Atlantic, sponsored by United Tobacco through its Lucky Strike brand. The March replaced Charlton's existing Modus M3, debuting at the Rand Winter Trophy in August 1976 Charlton raced the March again in 1977, and at the start of 1978, at which point Lucky Strike withdrew Charlton's sponsorship, moving it to Tony Martin. The March 76B reverted to Alex Blignaut, who retained United Tobacco sponsorship through the Benson & Hedges brand. The 76B was kept as a spare car to the March 77B he ran for Nols Neiman until the end of the short 1978 season, when the engine and gearbox were sold to Andrew Thompson. The 76B was retained by Blignaut's team in 1979 but not used that season. It was then sold to the Domingo brothers (who also owned a bitza 76B built using a spare 76B monocoque) and fitted with a Mazda engine for Roy Klomfass to race in Formula South Africa in 1980. After Klomfass turned down the drive, Domingo drove it instead. The car was driven Dave Charlton at Kyalami in August 1980 as Domingo was observing Ramadan, but failed to start after being injured in practice for the saloon car race. Domingo continued to drive the car until early 1981, when it was sold to Ivano Moavero and raced by him in 1981 and part of 1982. Then in mid-1982, Moavero bought the highly-developed ex-Duxbury 77B, and sold the 76B to Michele ('Mike') Peters who raced it through to July 1985. Peters sold the car to Terry Moss, to replace the 77B that Moss had wrecked. However, instead of racing the 76B, Moss stripped the car and used its components to build up a March 782. The 76B tub was put aside until 2010, when it was acquired from a friend of Moss by Bernard Tilanus. The tub number showed that it was the original monocoque from 76B/19, so it was reunited with its original chassis plate (which had been kept by Brian Raubenheimer) and fully rebuilt. It was later sold by Tilanus to the Scribante family. In early 2022, the Scribante family sold the 76B and their March 782 to Mark Charteris in the UK. He kept the 782 but sold the 76B to Paul Nightingale in Derbyshire.
  13. Chevron B39 [39-77-02] (Tony Martin): New to Tony Martin (Durban, South Africa) and raced in the 1977 South African series. Retained for 1978 as a spare car to Martin's new B45, and and upgraded to B45 specification. Sold for 1979 to Paul England for Peter Larner to race in the early 1979 Australian Internationals. Larry Perkins took over the drive later in 1979, and also drove the car in the Aurora AFX Formula Pacific Championship in New Zealand in early 1980 and the Australian National Panasonic Formula Pacific series in 1981. Some time about 1985 or 1986, the car was sold to Norm Carr (Victoria) who raced it once or twice before damaging one corner at Calder. When Carr acquired it the chassis plate was missing so he had a new one issued by Roger Andreason at Chevron which read "39-77-B-02". It was still owned by Carr in 2003.

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 South African race results were originally compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Autosport and Motoring News plus information supplied by a wide range of contributors. One of the contributors was later found to have used erroneous information, and the results have in some places been reworked using reports and results in South African newspapers such as the Rand Daily Mail.

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

Motoring News 6 Oct 1977 p20, Sunday Times p23 and Motor Sport Annual of South Africa 1978