John Player (British) Formula Atlantic Series Race

Snetterton, 14 Apr 1974

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Scott (Richard Scott): New for Richard Scott to race in European F2 in 1973, fitted with an iron block 1970cc Geoff Richardson BDA engine. Scott crashed in practice for the opening race at Mallory Park, but raced the car in the F2 rounds at Hockenheim, Thruxton and Nürburgring in April. He then crashed again in practice at Pau, seriously damaging the car. It was rebuilt as a Formula Atlantic for 1974, and Scott proved highly competitive, finishing third in the opening round at Mallory Park, then winning his second and third Formula Atlantic races, at Brands Hatch in March and at Snetterton in April. He then crashed again at Oulton Park at the start of May when a tyre deflated and he slid off into the sleepers at Knickerbrook, severely damaging the car. The car was sold to dealer Bob Howlings, who repaired it and entered it for Scott at the British GP meeting support race, but he retired with handling problems. It was then sold to Phil Bennett (Pool-in-Wharfedale, West Yorkshire) and fitted with a Cosworth BDG engine for sprints, hillclimbs and libre in 1975 and 1976. Sold to Warren Booth (Blackburn, Lancashire) for 1977, and used in northern Formula Libre in 1977 and the first half of 1978, winning at least six races at Croft and Longridge. Booth also used it in three Aurora AFX British F1 Championship rounds in 1978. Then sold to Neville Robinson (Leeds, West Yorkshire) for libre in 1979 and 1980. It was not seen in 1981, but returned to competition in 1982 when owned by Geoff Lumb (Brighouse, West Yorkshire) and fitted with a Cosworth FVA for 1600cc class hillclimbs. He ran the car again in 1983, when it had a 1600cc BDA engine. It was not seen in 1984 or 1985, but in 1986 it was acquired by Peter Voigt (Haywards Heath, Sussex), and remained in his collection until sold to Chris Perkins (Ashbourne, Derbyshire) in 2020.
2. March 74B [U1] (Bev Bond): New to Harry Stiller Racing and entered for Bev Bond in a few late-season 1973 Formula Atlantic races, but only appeared once. Rebuilt by March to 74B specification over the winter and appeared as 74B chassis 'U1' for Bond in 1974, until he announced his retirement in June 1974. Alan Jones took over the drive for the rest of the season and won three races. Advertised by AW Brown (London) in January 1975. Briefly to Frank Blanchard in early 1975 but then to Bill Gowdy (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for Irish Formula Atlantic. To Gerry Kinnane for Des Donnelly to drive in 1976, then to Eddie Jordan (Dundrum, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland) for 1977. Subsequently to Colin Simpson (Dundee, Scotland) for Scottish hillclimbs in 1978 and 1979, when it was fitted with a 1800cc Cosworth BDE. It was then sold to Graham Brown, a Scot who emigrated to Australia and took two Formula Atlantic cars with him. Brown raced it in Scottish hillclimbs in 1980 before it went. Raced by Geoff Nicol in Australian Formula Pacific in 1981, and by John Blennerhasset in 1982. Then to Michael Miller, brothers Peter and Terry Simms, then the Kendall family, then to Bryan Miller in 2002. Sold by Bryan to Richard Carter (Berry, NSW) in September 2018, and shortly afterwards sold to Richard Ellingworth.
3. Surtees TS15 [06] (Peter Wardle): New to Peter Wardle (Wimbledon, London) and raced in British Formula Atlantic in 1973, winning from pole position at one race Brands Hatch in August. Retained for 1974, again in British Formula Atlantic, and then retained for a third season in 1975. However, towards the end of 1975, Wardle was entering Steve Carvill (Wimbledon, London) in some races, and it is unclear whether the team had a second TS15 by this point, as the pair never appeared together in the same race. Wardle acquired sponsorship from Radio Luxembourg and Applied Racing Techniques for 1976, and both Wardle and Carvill appeared in Indylantic and in Shellsport G8 during that season, presumably both still in chassis 06. Wardle advertised a TS15 in 1983, with FG400 but no engine and a mountain of spares. According to researcher David McKinney, chassis 06 and chassis 07 were with Tony Collinson in 1990, and chassis 06 appears to stayed with its sister through the ownership of Gerry Wainwright, John Elliott, Mark Griffiths and Crispian Besley, who had both cars in 2010. Beesley sold chassis 06 to Dean Forward in 2019, still in unrestored component form.
4. March 73B [18] (Geoff Friswell): According to surviving March records, this was a F/Atlantic car built for Geoff Friswell (Coventry) and raced by him in the UK series through 1973 and 1974. It was then sold to Andy Barton (Newcastle upon Tyne) as a libre car and upgraded to 74B and then 75B spec over the next two seasons, also acquiring a F2 BDG engine at times in 1976. Barton sold it to Bob Rollo (Prestonpans, Scotland) for 1977, as an Atlantic again, and it then went to Stewart Robb (Alloa, Scotland) during 1978 in F2 spec. The car was rebuilt on a "new" 752 tub after a crash in 1978 and then rebuilt to 782 spec by Robin Smith after the 1979 season. It was raced again by Robb as a "March 75/782" with steel 2-litre Cosworth BDG engine from 1980 to 1982 and was sold to Roger Andreason at the new Chevron Cars Ltd around 1984. A "March 75/782" which had been "completely rebuilt over winter" was advertised from an Epsom number in August 1985.
5. March 73B ['SDC1'] (Jim Crawford): Over the 1973/74 winter, Jim Crawford built up Steve Choularton's March 73B spares in to a second car. He raced the car with great success in the two British Formula Atlantic series in 1974, winning two John Player races and narrowly losing the title to John Nicholson after the two collided at the last race. He also won one race in the Southern Organs series, before crashing at Brands Hatch at the end of September, which resulted in the car being rebuilt on a new tub from March. The car was then raced at least once by Choularton, while Crawford moved over to Fred Opert's Chevron B27 for the last two races, winning both, and taking the title. The 73B that appeared for Cyd Williams in May 1975 is thought to be Choularton's 73B/1. The ex-Crawford car was sold to Derek Cook (Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, South Yorkshire) in July 1975 but in practice for his first race, the British GP support race, Cook spun off and hit Val Musetti's March, writing off both cars.
6. Royale RP11A [6] (Val Musetti): New factory car for Tom Pryce to drive, replacing the one wrecked at the 1972 Monaco GP F3 race. To Reystan Racing for 1973 for Andy Sutcliffe to drive, but Sutcliffe left the team in April, and his seat was taken over by Val Musetti, who had written off his own RP11 in testing. Raced by Musetti through to the end of the season. Converted to Formula Atlantic specification for 1974 and raced by Musetti in the British championship up to May. Sold later in the year to Mike Franey and raced in libre racing. Raced by Franey in a couple of British Formula Atlantic races in 1975. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Brabham BT38 [22] (Donald MacLeod): New to Frank Williams for his Italian customer Giancarlo Gagliardi, and run in F2 in 1972 using Cosworth BDE engines maintained by Novamotor. Gagliardi first appeared in the car at Crystal Palace at the end of May, where he was one of the slowest. After three more uninspiring performances, he dropped out, and the BT38 was next seen at the Rothmans 50,000 in August, where it was entered by Robs Lamplough's Fiddlers Three Racing for Tony Trimmer, having been acquired by Lamplough the Friday before the race. Trimmer could not qualify, but finished fifth in a short consolation race. It was acquired by David Cole for 1973, but used mainly in libre racing. The car appeared once in Formula Atlantic in 1974, driven by Donald MacLeod who had borrowed it from Cole. It was then exported to the US, and was next seen in the hands of Dick Zibert (Tiburon, CA) in mid-1975. Carl von Doymi (Greenbrae, CA) reportedly "tried out" Zibert's Brabham when it first appeared in July 1975. Zibert had moved up through Formula Vee and Formula Super Vee, and raced the white #11 Brabham BT38 in North Pacific Division SCCA Nationals and Regionals until 1978. Towards the end of Zibert's time with the car, he cut off the tub's outer skins in an attempt to make a ground-effect car, but this was aborted, and the car was sold to John Hafkenschiel in November 1988, as a pile of parts. Hafkenschiel had the tub repaired by Marc Bahner, who used Hafkenschiel's BT38B tub as a template.
8. Chevron B27 [27-74-06] (Héctor Rebaque): New to Fred Opert Racing and the car raced by Bertil Roos in the British Formula Atlantic race at Brands Hatch in mid-March. Then fitted with a 2-litre Brian Hart Ford BDA for Roos at two F2 races, Montjuich Park and Hockenheim. Apparantly returned to Formula Atlantic specification and run by the Opert team in the UK series, initially for Héctor Rebaque, and later for Johnny Kastner, William Henderson III and then local man Jim Crawford. Sold to Derek Cook (Rotherham, South Yorkshire) for early 1975 Formula Atlantic races before being replaced by a newer B29. Retained for 1976 when Cook ran it in Indylantic, Shellsport G8, and libre racing, with either a Formula Atlantic BDA or a self-built 2-litre BDA. Retained again for early 1977 and used in F2 and in Shellsport, now with a 2-litre Alan Smith BDG, before Cook acquired a F1 Williams. Subsequent history unknown.
9. GRD B74 (Dave Walker): New for 42-year-old Australian Dave Walker to drive in the British Formula Atlantic championship at the start of 1974, entered by Ken Swanson Racing. The car then went to North America, where Walker was expected to drive it in the Canadian series, but he did not appear, and continued with the Obermoser team in Europe in F2 and sportscars. The GRD was raced by Cliff Hansen (Laguna Beach, CA) in SCCA events in late 1974. Hansen retained the car for 1975, but it was entered by Doug Shierson Racing. After failing to qualify for Westwood and Gimli, Hansen transferred to one of the Shierson team March 75Bs. The subsequent history of the GRD is unknown.
10. Brabham BT40 [21] (Cyd Williams): New to Graham Eden Racing, and driven by Cyd Williams in the 1973 British Formula Atlantic championship. Retained by Eden and Williams for 1974. After Williams crashed the car at Brands Hatch in September 1974, it was raced by Richard Morgan and Tony Trimmer later that season. Retained by Eden again for 1975, with Cyd Williams again driving. To David Winstanley (Winsford, Cheshire) of Withers of Winsford for 1976, and raced in the Indylantic championship.
11. March 74B [9] (David Morgan): New to Bobby Brown (Hicksville, NY) and raced in the British Formula Atlantic series at the start of the year, then moving to North America in May for the Canadian Players series. In June, Brown acquired a new Chevron B27, and the March was traded to Fred Opert as part of the deal. However, Brown demolished the Chevron in September and used a 74B, presumably this one, to completely dominate an SCCA National at Bridgehampton on 22 September. Advertised by Opert in June and November 1975, and shown as "in stock" in November 1975, with a comment that it had not raced since June 1974. Next seen in late 1978 and again in late 1979, when raced by Peter Moodie (Kingston, Jamaica) in a series of Jamaica National Championship races. Subsequent history unknown
12. March 73B [21] (Chris Oates): New to Stan Mathews (Wicken, Wolverton, Bucks) in June 1973, and raced in British Formula Atlantic. To Chris Oates (Kimberley, Notts) for 1974, but sold mid-season to Val Musetti (London). Retained by Musetti for 1975, when it was updated to 74B specification. It was also rebuilt on another tub about this time, but the details are obscure. Damaged by Derek Cook's March 73B in practice at Silverstone in July, and rebuilt in time for the race on the car's original tub - only to be crashed and damaged again in the race. At the end of 1975, Musetti built up a March "742", which could be said to have inherited the identity of 73B-21, but as the tub had been changed, the chassis plate had long gone, and its appearance and description were radically different, it could be argued that 73B-21 had dissipated by the end of 1975. The successor "742" later went to Bill Wood, then Ray Rowan, before spending much of the 1980s in Monoposto and then being rebuilt as a "712M" for historic racing in the late 1980s.
13. March 74B [1] (Ted Wentz): New to Ted Wentz (Philadelphia, PA) and raced in the 1974 British Formula Atlantic season. To New Zealander Alan Crocker, who had moved to England to race in the 1975 British series, but a blown engine curtailed his season. Used occasionally in the 1976 Indylantic series and in libre racing. Croker took the car to New Zealand and raced it in the 1977 Formula Pacific series, then sold it there to Ken Smith, who rented it to Ken Sager to drive in the 1977/78 Gold Star series, and to Robbie Booth for the 1978/79 season. It reappeared with Robbie Hislop in 1981/82, then to Tony Batchelor for 1982/83. Last seen when raced by Keith Laney in 1984/85, and sold by him back to Kenny Smith some time before 1988. Later sold by Smith to Richard Carter in Australia to donate parts to Carter's rebuild of March 73B/8. The remains of the car were sold with the 73B to George Makin (Melbourne, Australia) about 2005.
14. March 73B [1] (Stephen Choularton): Stephen Choularton (Hale Barns, Cheshire) acquired the first production March 73B and raced it in libre events and in the British F/Atlantic series with support from Autovita Developments Ltd. His mechanic Jim Crawford also raced this car in a libre race that year. Choularton continued with the car in 1974 when it was driven by Crawford in one round, at Brands Hatch in September, after Crawford had damaged his usual car. The car was next seen in May 1975 when Choularton dusted it off for Cyd Williams to drive after Williams had wrecked Graham Eden's Brabham BT40. Choularton retained the car, unused, until 1977 when it was sold to Paul Gardner (Preston, Lancashire) and used in libre racing in 1977. It then travelled out to the West Indies, quite possibly via Manchester-based racing car dealer Bobby Howlings, who would have known Gardner well, and was a regular visitor to the West Indies series. Raced by Mark Moodie in 1978 and 1979, winning the 1979 Jamaican National Championship. Subsequent history unknown, but it may have gone to Gordon Gonsalves in Trinidad.
15. Chevron B27 [27-74-05] (Hugh "Wink" Bancroft): An Fred Opert team car, used by Hugh "Wink" Bancroft (Costa Mesa, CA) in the US series in 1974. The car was owned by Bancroft, who according to Formula and Sports Car retained it unraced in 1975, and then wheeled it out again for a few SCCA South Pacific Division races in early 1976. Advertised in May 1976, and then by Fred Opert in November 1976. The car now owned in 2009 by Bud Morrison had an SCCA log book showing it was owned by Ken Valan (Wilmington, DE) in August 1978, so it is assumed that this was the "B29" that Valan raced from the start of the 1977 season. The logbook then shows that it went to Frank Shober (Chatham, NJ) and was raced by him from early 1979 to 1985. In October 1988, it was bought from Bruce McQuiston at the Bertil Roos Racing School (Blakeslee PA) by Monte C. Shalett (New Orleans, LA), who sold it via Grand Prix Classics (La Jolla, CA) to Paul Wesselink (Dana Point, CA/Huntington Beach, CA) in June 1997. From Wesselink to Emmet "Bud" Morrison (Tempe, AZ) in May 2005.

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 race results have been compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Autosport and Motoring News reports in the UK plus the information supplied by a wide range of contributors.

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.