Australian Gold Star Race

Sandown Park, 11 Apr 1965

All cars are 2.5-litre Tasman unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Cooper T70 [FL-1-64] (John McDonald): New for Tim Mayer to drive as a Bruce McLaren Motor Racing entry in the 1964 Tasman Cup. Mayer finished second at Levin and Teretonga, and third at Pukekohe. For Warwick Farm, he swapped cars with team leader Bruce McLaren, and McLaren then took FL-1-64 to second place at Warwick Farm and at Longford, winning the Tasman Championship by six points from his great rival Jack Brabham, Retained for the 1965 Tasman Cup to be driven by Phil Hill but raced by McLaren at Pukekohe after he damged his new T79 in the Heat. Hill toook three podium finishes in this car. Sold to Bill Patterson and entered for John McDonald in Australian Gold Star events in 1965, in the 1966 Tasman series and in Gold Star again in 1966. Sold to Don O'Sullivan prior to the Internationals in February 1967, but he failed to qualify at Lakeside or at Warwick Farm. O'Sullivan then raced it in Western Australia, primarily at Caversham, in 1967. It was sold to Gordon Stephenson (Perth, WA) in February 1968 and he raced it eight times that season. In March 1969, he sold it to Ken Jones (Hamilton Hill, WA), and it passed from Jones to Ken Barnard (Sydney, NSW). Barnard sold it to Richard Berryman (Melbourne, Victoria) in 1974. Remained with Richard Berryman until 1985 when it passed to his son Adam Berryman (Melbourne, Victoria). An extensive restoration began in 2001 which was finally completed in early 2010. Raced by Adam in the NZ Motor Racing Festival in January 2010, at Winton in August 2010, and at Phillip Island and the Australian Grand Prix historic demonstration in 2011. Now numbered FL/2/64.
2. Cooper T53 [F1-2-61] (Don Fraser): Built for 1961 season. Yeoman Credit Racing (Reg Parnell Racing) 1961 for Roy Salvadori in F1. To Lex Davison (Australia) 1962 and crashed at Longford. Replaced by Jack Brabham's spare car 'F2-17-60'. F1-2-61 was sold damaged to Don Fraser (Australia) 1963, who rebuilt it with a 2.5-litre BRM engine and raced it from 1965 onwards. To Tony Osborne (Australia) 1976. To Don Thallon (Brisbane, Australia) May 1999 and used in historic racing. Raced by Thallon at Zandvoort in 2014 alongside Wulf Goetze's 'F1-1-61' and then returned to Australia.
3. Brabham BT4 [IC-1-62] (Kerry Grant): New for Jack Brabham to drive at the November 1962 Australian GP. Used by Brabham in the New Zealand Internationals in January 1963, winning at Levin, then sold to Dave McKay's Scuderia Veloce for the Australian International races the following month. Raced by Graham Hill for McKay in the 1964 Tasman series, winning the Longford race in March. To Len Southward's Lesco Racing Team for Kerry Grant to drive during the 1964/65 season, and for Neil Whittaker in 1965/66. Sold to John McCormack (Davenport, Tasmania) and raced on through the next three seasons. From McCormack to John Blanden (Adelaide, South Australia) in 1978 and extensively rebuilt. To Ken Messenger (Adelaide) March 1982, then to Art Valdez (Torrance, CA) in 1986, and remained in his collection for many years, until sold to a UK consortium in 2017.

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.

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.