OldRacingCars.com

MCD/Southern Organs Formula Atlantic Race

Brands Hatch, 18 May 1975

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Tony Brise Modus M3 [009-FA] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#3 Team Modus
20 15m 21.2s
96.92 mph
2 Ted Wentz Lola T360 [HU7] - Ford BDA Swindon
#10 Wella International Hair Care
(see note 1)
20 15m 28.2s
3 Val Musetti March 74B [73B-21] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#14 Bernigra Ice Cream (London)
(see note 2)
20 15m 29.4s
4 Peter Wardle Surtees TS15 [06] - Ford BDA Swindon
#9 (see note 3)
20 15m 30.2s
5 Alo Lawler Chevron B29 [29-75-06] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#24 L&B Excavations Ltd (see note 4)
20 15m 43.0s
6 John Nicholson Lola T360 [HU5] - Ford BDA
#15 Strakers of Wimbledon Ltd (see note 5)
20 15m 58.0s
7 Philip Sharp Lyncar 005 [005] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#20
20 16m 03.2s
8 Steve Prior McLaren M21 - Ford BDA LEC
#27 Astor Club Racing International
(see note 6)
19
R Richard Morgan Wheatcroft R18 [001] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#18 Donington Park Collection/Wheatcroft Racing
(see note 7)
14 Nose splitter
R Derek Cook Chevron B27 [27-74-06] - Ford BDA Cook
#17 (see note 8)
2
DNA Cyd Williams Brabham BT40 [21] - Ford BDA Swindon
#6 Graham Eden (see note 9)
Did not arrive
DNA Matt Spitzley Chevron B29 [29-75-25] - Ford BDA Hart
#11 Rapid Movements Ltd-Ted Moore
(see note 10)
Did not arrive
DNA Brett Lunger Lola T360 [HU5] - Ford BDA
#15 Strakers of Wimbledon Ltd (see note 11)
Did not arrive
DNA Mike Franey Chevron B27 [27-74-16] - Ford BDA Gray
#30 Samatco Ltd (see note 12)
Did not arrive
DNA David Barden Royale RP12A [1] - Ford BDA Nicholson
#39
Did not arrive

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

Qualifying
1 Tony Brise (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Modus M3 [009-FA] - Ford BDA Nicholson
2 Richard Morgan (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Wheatcroft R18 [001] - Ford BDA Nicholson
3 Ted Wentz (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Lola T360 [HU7] - Ford BDA Swindon 0.49.8
4 Alo Lawler (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B29 [29-75-06] - Ford BDA Nicholson
5 Val Musetti (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 74B [73B-21] - Ford BDA Nicholson
6 Derek Cook (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B27 [27-74-06] - Ford BDA Cook
7 Peter Wardle (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Surtees TS15 [06] - Ford BDA Swindon
8 Philip Sharp (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Lyncar 005 [005] - Ford BDA Nicholson
9 John Nicholson (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Lola T360 [HU5] - Ford BDA
10 Steve Prior (F/Atl) 1.6-litre McLaren M21 - Ford BDA LEC

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lola T360 [HU7] (Ted Wentz): Believed to be the new car loaned to Ken Bailey in August for British Formula Atlantic, after he had wrecked his original loan car at Silverstone two weeks earlier. Sold to Planer, owners of the Wella brand, for Ted Wentz, starting with the televised Thruxton race in November 1974. Raced by Wentz through 1974 until it was heavily damaged by Roy James in a testing accident in early October 1975. Wentz hired the works development car for the rest of the season, so it is assumed that HU7 was not repairable.
  2. March 74B [73B-21] (Val Musetti): 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.
  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. Chevron B29 [29-75-06] (Alo Lawler): New to Alo Lawler (St Helens, Merseyside) and raced in the 1975 British Formula Atlantic championship, sponsored by L&B Excavations Ltd. Also used in the Irish championship that year, and in libre racing. Retained by Lawler for 1976, when he raced it in the Shellsport G8 championship, the Irish Formula Atlantic championship, the British Indylantic championship, and in libre racing. Sold to John Eastwood and raced in the Irish Formula Atlantic series. To Joe Greenan (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for 1978, and entered by Irish Racing Cars in Irish Atlantic, then raced by Ken Fildes (Clonskeagh, Dublin) in 1979 and 1980. Sold to English wheeler dealer Bobby Howlings (Congleton, Cheshire) for 1981, and raced by Howlings in rounds of the reintroduced British Formula Atlantic championship. Sold to Stuart Harte (Littleborough, Greater Manchester) and fitted with a 2.2-litre Hart 420R engine for sprints and hillclimbs. After Harte's death, the car was retained by his family until 2011, when it was sold to Jon Waggitt. Waggitt sold it to Chris Porritt in July 2011, and he spent some years returning it to running condition. He first raced it at Laguna Seca in March 2020, then brought it back to the UK later that year.
  5. Lola T360 [HU5] (John Nicholson): New to Nigel Clarkson (Cirencester, Gloucestershire) and raced by him and by Richard Scott (London) in British Formula Atlantic, backed by Hurford Jones Ltd. To Nick May (Sutton, Surrey) for the 1975 British series, entered as a T360B with Strakers of Wimbledon Ltd sponsorship and run by Dave Price Racing. To Brian Robinson (Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham) and fitted with a 2-litre Cosworth BDG engine for Shellsport Group 8 races in 1976. To John Brown for John Morrison (Warwick) to drive in Shellsport G8 and libre racing in 1977, then to Kevin Bowditch (Maidenhead) for a few race appearances in 1978. It was sold to Martin Mansell (Middlesex), who raced it as a Lola "FA79" with Winchmore Hill Garage sponsorship in Formula Atlantic in 1979. Mansell crashed heavily at Brands Hatch in April 1979, and did not appear again. It was next seen in 1990 when it was bought by Robert McGimpsey (Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland) from a dealer somewhere in the English midlands. It was then fitted with a 3-litre Weslake engine, and McGimpsey used it for one season in hillclimbing before the engine and chassis were sold separately. It was bought by two friends in 1993 or 1994, and in 2012 they still had it.
  6. McLaren M21 (Steve Prior): One of two cars entered by Astor Club Racing International in British Formula Atlantic in 1975, this car was raced by Steve Prior. Prior returned for Indylantic in 1976, now sponsored by Capital Radio and Applied Racing Techniques. This car is then unknown until acquired at auction by Chris MacAllister in the late 1990s. Retored by Kerry Adams for MacAllister, at the same time another car was restored for Jody Scheckter with help from McLaren International who owned the ex-Tony Trimmer car. As none of the three cars had chassis plates, McLaren International gave MacAllister a '3' chassis plate.
  7. Wheatcroft R18 [001] (Richard Morgan): New to Wheatcroft Racing for Richard Morgan to race in British Formula Atlantic in 1975. When the car first appeared, at Brands Hatch on 18 May, Morgan was second fastest in practice behind the dominant Modus M3 of Tony Brise, and led the opening lap. Brise took the lead on lap 2, after which the Wheatcroft's engine started to misfire, dropping Morgan further back. He eventually retired with a broken splitter. Brian Henton, then a F2 driver tipped to rise to F1, was brought in to test the car but crashed in testing at Oulton Park the following Wednesday, writing off the car.
  8. Chevron B27 [27-74-06] (Derek Cook): 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. 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.
  10. Chevron B29 [29-75-25] (Matt Spitzley): The Rapid Movements Chevron B29 driven by Matt Spitzley is believed to have suffered a testing accident at some point early in 1975, and it was rebuilt with a new monocoque. At the Oulton Park race on 26 May, it was noted as having chassis plate 75-25, but exactly when the rebuild took place is still unclear. Gunnar Nilsson took over the car from Spitzley in August, and recorded five successive wins in it, four of them from pole. In January 1976 it was sold to John Gibb (Randburg, South Africa), to be raced in the new South African Formula Atlantic series, entered by Team Mum for Men with backing from Pioneer Hi Fi. It was sold to Geoff Frizell (Durban, South Africa) for 1977, and returned with Frizell in 1979, when it was described as a B34. It then went to Manny Pinto, and was raced by him from 1980 to 1984, and then reappeared two years later with Trevor Trautmann who raced it in 1986. Trautmann exhanged it for Alan Dunlop's Lant, and the Chevron then went to Alan McDonald and Mike Budd. Budd restored it for Mark du Toit, who owned it in 2000. It was purchased by Anthony Corin (Malmesbury, South Africa) in 2004 and was still owned by him in June 2008. By 2019 it was owned by Colin Frost.
  11. Lola T360 [HU5] (Brett Lunger): New to Nigel Clarkson (Cirencester, Gloucestershire) and raced by him and by Richard Scott (London) in British Formula Atlantic, backed by Hurford Jones Ltd. To Nick May (Sutton, Surrey) for the 1975 British series, entered as a T360B with Strakers of Wimbledon Ltd sponsorship and run by Dave Price Racing. To Brian Robinson (Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham) and fitted with a 2-litre Cosworth BDG engine for Shellsport Group 8 races in 1976. To John Brown for John Morrison (Warwick) to drive in Shellsport G8 and libre racing in 1977, then to Kevin Bowditch (Maidenhead) for a few race appearances in 1978. It was sold to Martin Mansell (Middlesex), who raced it as a Lola "FA79" with Winchmore Hill Garage sponsorship in Formula Atlantic in 1979. Mansell crashed heavily at Brands Hatch in April 1979, and did not appear again. It was next seen in 1990 when it was bought by Robert McGimpsey (Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland) from a dealer somewhere in the English midlands. It was then fitted with a 3-litre Weslake engine, and McGimpsey used it for one season in hillclimbing before the engine and chassis were sold separately. It was bought by two friends in 1993 or 1994, and in 2012 they still had it.
  12. Chevron B27 [27-74-16] (Mike Franey): Sold to Peter Williams (Brentwood, Essex) in June 1974 for British Formula Atlantic; and retained for the 1975 season. To Porsche racer and driving instructor Mike Franey (London) later in 1975 and raced in F/Atlantic with Samatco Ltd backing. Unknown in 1976, but in early 1977, novice racer Martin Murphy (London) won a Formule Libre race at Thruxton in the "ex-Peter Williams Coin Monthly" B27. The car remained in Franey's possession until September 1979, when it was sold to Jeremy Bouckley (Sutton Coldfield, West Midands) as a rolling chassis. Bouckley cannot recall what happened to it, but this car was reportedly owned by Phil Sharp for hillclimbs in 1984. Subsequent history unknown.

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.