Swedish Gold Cup

Kinnekullering, 20 May 1973

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Surtees TS15 [03] (Jochen Mass): New for team leader Mike Hailwood for the opening race of the 1973 F2 season. Driven by Derek Bell at Hockenheim as Hailwood was racing a F1 car at the International Trophy. Then inherited by Jochen Mass when Hailwood had a new TS15/009 at Thruxton in April, but Mass only used chassis 03 in the heat, moving into Hailwood's newer car for the final. Mass drove chassis 03 again at Nürburgring, at Kinnekullering in May, where he won, at Nivelles-Baulers, at Hockenheim, where he won again, and at Rouen-les-Essarts. However, the following weekend at Monza he crashed this car heavily into the barrier, wrecking one side. The car was not seen again.
2. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3670] (Patrick Depailler): Entered as an "ELF 2", but built by Alpine and designated the A367. Chassis 3670 was built for the 1972 F2 season, when it was raced by Patrick Depailler and Jean-Pierre Jabouille. This is apparently the same car that was updated for 1973 and became Depailler's regular car that season. Substantially redesigned by Andre de Cortanze for 1974, and fitted with a Schnitzer BMW as a fourth team car for Alain Serpaggi and others to race. According to reports, this car started to be converted to 1975 specification, but was unfinished. In 1999, this car was reported to be owned by Thierry Gay (Lyons), and Gerard Gamand reported on Autodiva that the car had been reconstructed using a new chassis fabricated by Gilles and Vincent Duqueine. In 2015, Fred Marquet's HTT Motorsport was restoring this car to its 1974 Serpaggi specification. It was first seen at Albi in June 2016.
3. Motul M1 [206] (Tim Schenken): The car raced by Henri Pescarolo for Motul Rondel in F2 in 1973, and believed to be the same car all season. Also raced by Tim Schenken at Pau, Kinnekulle Ring and Rouen. This car was fitted with a Schnitzer BMW engine for the last two races of the season. Then believed to have been sold via Fred Opert to the US so this may be the car wearing Pescarolo bodywork that was sold to Alistair Justason (Toronto, Ontario) in 1974, then Bob Beyea in 1975. Chassis 206 was later bought from Opert by Randy Zimmer as a source of spares for his Can Am car. Still with Zimmer in 2010, but by July 2011, it had been sold to Richard Parkin and Martin Walker in the UK. From them, it later went to Martin Donn, still unrestored, and then to Steve Worrad (Whitchurch, Shropshire) in January 2019.
4. GRD 273 [061-F2] (Sten Gunnarson): Sold to Picko Troberg's Team Pierre Robert and identified by Autosport at Kinnekulle in May 1973 as the regular car of Sten Gunnarson. Presumed to be his car at all races in 1973. In October 1974, Pierre Robert Racing Team advertised chassis 061 as a rolling chassis updated to 1974 specification, together with two BMW F2 engines and a racing transporter. Subsequent history unknown.
5. GRD 273 [063-F2] (Håkan Dahlqvist): Sold to Picko Troberg's Team Pierre Robert and identified by Autosport at Kinnekulle in May 1973 as the car driven there by Håkan Dahlqvist but previously by Reine Wisell to win at the Nürburgring in April. Presumed to be the spare third car at other races so also the car driven by Wisell at Hockenheim earlier in April and by Gunnar Nordström at Mantorp Park. Also presumably the car driven by Rolf Skoghag in practice at Nivelles-Baulers. This was identified as the BMW-engined car for Wisell at the start of 1974 and then presumably for Torsten Palm at later races. This car remained with Team Pierre Robert until the 1990s, when it was acquired by Ulf Lindberg. By this time many of its components had been removed for use on a sports car, but Lindberg was later able to find replcement components from a GRD that had been crashed in the UK. In 2017, the car was displayed at a Picko Troberg memorial, having been cosmetically restored by Zetterman Engineering.
6. March 732 [11] (Bill Gubelmann): New to Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) for F2 in 1973 and retained for 1974 when run by Brian Lewis Racing. Clay Regazzoni was due to drive the car at Vallelunga in October, but did not arrive, so a deal was done for Gabrielle Serblin to drive after he damaged his usual 742 in practice. Not seen in 1975, when the intention had been to sell the car to Stuart Chubb Racing, but Gubelmann returned for the 1976 Shellsport G8 series with the car updated to 752 specification, fitted with a Hart BDG, and run by Bob Gerard. Gubelmann also appeared in a handful of F2 races in 1976, but after failing to qualify for the Rouen race, quickly moved to Mallory Park in time to qualify for the Shellsport race. He was involved in a nasty accident in the race when he clipped the rear of Mike Wilds' F1 Shadow, rode up over its back wheel and hit the bank at the Esses very hard. He was taken to hospital with head injuries. The March is believed to have been destroyed.
7. Surtees TS15 [02] (Torsten Palm): New for Jochen Mass as a works FINA Team Surtees entry for the first two races of the 1973 F2 season. Then driven by Carlos Pace at Thruxton in April. Then used as a third works entry for Torsten Palm at Kinnekullering in May, and then later for Palm again at Mantorp Park and Karlskoga in July and August. Then this was reported to be the car raced by Pace at Enna two weeks later, but as this was also said to be a "development F5000 chassis", that may have been a newer car travelling on the carnet of 02. The Enna car had a streamlined body with side wings, and enclosed rear section and revised bodywork, but the Italian scrutineers declared the body illegal, and it had to be converted to normal specification. When Pace later went off into the barrier, the new suspension also had to be replaced before the race. This car was not seen again, so it could be one of the cars that went to Japan, or the car that was destroyed over the winter in a transporter fire.
8. Motul M1 [207] (Bob Wollek): The car raced by Bob Wolleck for Motul Rondel in F2 in 1973, and believed to be the same car all season. Like most of the team's cars, this went to Fred Opert for 1974 to be converted for use in SCCA Formula B and Canadian Formula Atlantic. Assuming Wolleck used the same car all season, this would then be "ex-Wolleck" car that Seb Barone (Portland, CT/Middletown, CT/Dilliner, PA) remembers buying for 1974. After a season in the Canadian Formula Atlantic series, Barone traded it back to Opert for his 1975 Chevron B29. According to Cy Morland, who owned chassis 207 from 1998 to 2008, the car was owned after Barone by John Stowe in New England for an extended period, so would be the Rondel raced by Stowe in New England Region SCCA Regionals in 1976. Morland had the tub completely rebuilt by Marc Bahner, and then sold the car back to England. Subsequent history unknown.
9. GRD 273 [062-F2] (Reine Wisell): Sold to Picko Troberg's Team Pierre Robert and identified by Autosport at Kinnekulle in May 1973 as the car driven on that occasion by Reine Wisell. Presumed to be his car at all races in 1973 except at Hockenheim in April where he drove the spare and at the Nürburgring where he drove 063. Also presumed to be the BDA-powered car used by Mikka Arpiainen for two races in 1974. The car then sat in a museum in Sweden until it was acquired as part of a package of five or six by Chris Halford in 1999. He sold it to Andrew Butcher, a Brit then living in Germany in 2000, and he sold it on to Jonny Dimsdale in 2006. Dimsdale restored the car for historic racing with a Gathercole BDG and advertised it in late 2014. In early 2019, it was sold to Glenn Eagling who raced it at Silverstone in May 2019.

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.

Individual sources for this event

Autocourse 1973-74; Autosport 24 May 1973 pp12-13.