MCD/Southern Organs Formula Atlantic Race

Snetterton, 10 Aug 1975

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Modus M3 [022-FA] (Tony Brise): New in August 1975 season for Tony Brise to drive as a works Team Modus entry in Formula Atlantic, replacing his wrecked chassis 009. Brise was not racing for the Embassy Hill team in F1, so only raced the Modus four times. Danny Sullivan drove the car at Oulton Park race in October, as Brise was at the US GP, but he crashed in practice and did not start. For Dick Parsons at Thruxton, when Brise was racing in the F5000 Long Beach GP but he also failed to start. Brise drove the car a final time at Brands Hatch on 19 October. The car was then hired by David Purley for the Macau Grand Prix in mid-November.
2. 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.
3. Wheatcroft R18 [002] (Richard Morgan): New for Wheatcroft Racing in June 1975, replacing chassis 001 which had been destroyed by Brian Henton while testing at Oulton Park in late May. Raced by Richard Morgan in British Formula Atlantic in Donington Park Collection livery. In August the car was converted to F2 spec and driven by Henton at the Silverstone F2 race, finishing third. Henton then drove it in Formula Atlantic for the rest of the season. Sold to Alex Blignaut for Nols Nieman to drive in the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic series as a spare car to his new chassis 003. Retained for 1977 and 1978, but apparently not raced over these two seasons. Sold to Steve Herbst in 1979, and converted to a Mazda engine for Formula SA. In early 1980, Herbst was involved in a collision with Peter Morrison in the sister R18. Herbst's car's tub was repaired by Mike Domingo, and Herbst continued to race it until mid-1982. In August 1982, it was sold to Trevor Trautmann, again for Formula SA, and in 1983 he had a new monocoque fabricated in South Africa for the car, the original tub apparently being discarded. He did not complete the rebuild and later sold the car's gearbox, suspension and uprights to Dorino Trocchani for a Tiga sports racing car project. The new tub and bodywork were sold off, but quickly located by Roger Pearce and sold to John Hatfield (Pinetown, Kwazulu-Natal), who owned the sister R18-003. Hatfield built up a car on the new tub using parts from both 002 and 003, but using the 002 chassis plate. The resulting car was exported to the UK some time between 1987 and 1993, and in 1996 it was purchased from a dealer in Cheshire by Paul Gardener of Bolton. He noted that it still had the 002 chassis plate. In 2004, Simon Hadfield collected the Wheatcroft from Gardener and delivered it to Mondello for Martin Birrane. It remained in Birrane's collection until about 2016.
4. Chevron B29 [29-75-04] (Brett Riley): New to Tom Wheatcroft in February 1975, and tested by Richard Morgan who would be driving it in British Formula Atlantic. Raced by Morgan in the early races of the season, winning one race, until crashed at Brands Hatch in April. Morgan then drove the new Wheatcroft R18, and the Chevron was sold to Brett Riley, who drove it for the rest of 1975. To Ken Bailey (Stretford, Greater Manchester) and raced in Indylantic in 1976. Stored unused during 1977 and advertised by Bailey in November. Sold to Eddie Jordan (Dundrum, County Dublin, Ireland) and used in Irish Formula Atlantic in 1978 in Marlboro livery, winning both the All-Ireland and Duckhams Formula Atlantic Championships. Raced by his teammate Vivian Candy in Ireland in 1979, then sold via Phil Bennett to David Ward (Hesketh Bank, Lancashire) for British libre racing in 1980 and 1981. With Terry Cole for Monoposto racing in 1983, then reportedly broken up for spares by Chevron Cars.
5. 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.
6. Lyncar 005 [005] (Philip Sharp): New for John Nicholson in mid 1973, and raced in the British Formula Atlantic series, using Nicholson BDA engines. He won six races in the car that season, five in the main BP series and one in the Yellow Pages series. He won the BP championship. Nicholson retained the car for 1974 and won four more rounds, on his way to winning the John Player championship. Lyncar 005 was then sold to Phil Sharp (Colnbrook, Berkshire) for 1975 and again raced in British Formula Atlantic. Then sold to Frank Potts, and raced by him in libre events in 1976, still with its Nicholson BDA engine. Then Chris Morris (Dursley, Gloucestershire) drove Lyncar 005 at Prescott in May 1978. After that, it was seen in the hands of Sandy Hutcheon (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) sprinting at Colerne in 1979. Subsequent history unknown. It was acquired at some point by Lew Wright and restored for historic racing, until it was severely damaged in an accident at Pau in 2005. Acquired in 2006 by Bob Sellix (East Sussex) and rebuilt using a new monocoque supplied by Martin Slater. Sellix ran the car in historic racing from 2007 to 2013, when he retired from racing.
7. Lola T360 [HU5] (Nick May): 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.
8. Chevron B29 [29-75-29] (Derek Cook): New to Derek Cook (Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, South Yorkshire) in August 1975, and raced in British Formula Atlantic with support from George Cooper Lubricants. To Jeremy Rossiter (Kidlington, Oxfordshire) for 1976, and raced in Shellsport G8 and Indylantic races. The series died at the end of 1976, and the car was unused until August 1977 when it was sold to John Pollock (Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland), who raced for Gerry Kinnane's team in Irish Formula Atlantic. Pollock raced it at Phoenix Park and Mondello Park in September 1977, but it was then sold to Tom O'Leary (Dalkey, County Dublin), Pollock taking O'Leary's older Brabham BT40 in part-exchange. Raced by O'Leary in the Irish series in 1978 and 1979.
9. Chevron B27 (Ronald Remeeus): Ashtune Race Hire ran a Chevron B27 in Formule Libre and Formula Atlantic in 1975. It was first recorded when Steve Bradley (Newmarket) raced it in a libre race at Silverstone in May, when it had a Don Moore engine, like the Ashtune-entered Lotus 69 Bradley had used earlier in the season. From August to October 1975, Ashtune Race Hire entered the Chevron B27 in Formula Atlantic races for Dutch Formula Ford racer Ronald Remeeus. Process of elimination would suggest this was chassis 27-74-09, the second Team Harper B27. Subsequent history unknown.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. March 74B [1] (Alan Crocker): 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.
13. 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.