Grand Prix de Rouen

Rouen-les-Essarts, 30 Jun 1974

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 742L [17] (Hans-Joachim Stuck): New for the March Engineering works team, assigned to Hans-Joachim Stuck and painted in his bright orange Jagermeister livery. March records show that after Loris Kessel crashed his Favre-owned March 742 at the Nurburgring in 1975, it was rebuilt on "Stuck's 742 tub from last year". It is assumed that 742/17 had therefore been broken up and disappeared at this point.
2. Chevron B27 [27-74-10] (David Purley): Sold in May 1974 to Team Harper, and used by David Purley in the European F2 championship. Probably the car driven by David Purley at the Brands Hatch Boxing Day libre race at the end of the season. Team Harper advertised both their Chevron B27s as rolling chassis in January 1975. This car is likely to be the "late 1974 F2 car" used by Doug Thomson (Edinburgh, Scotland) in Scottish libre, sprints and hillclimbs in 1975, and offered for sale in January 1976 with a Swindon BDA and Hewland FGA400 gearbox. Thomson recalls that he sold the car to UK-resident American Bob Brown (not Bobby Brown) who occasionally raced what is described by Autosport as an ex-Harper B27 in Indyatlantic and Formula Libre in 1976, after buying the car late in 1975. Brown was backed by Oceaneering International, a Texas company, and is believed to have been a diver working in the North Sea oil field. He appears to have taken the car back to the US. Then unknown until an "ex-Purley" B27 was raced by Bobby Brown in SVRA and HSR vintage racing. Sold to Skip Jones (Portland, OR) and used in ICSCC and SOVREN vintage racing, fitted with a 2-litre Wenz Cosworth YBM engine. Sold in August 2016 back to Bobby Brown.
3. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3672] (Michel Leclère): New in mid-1973, for Elf Coombs Racing team leader Jean-Pierre Jabouille to drive in F2. Raced with Cosworth BDG and Hart alloy-block BDA engines. Retained for 1974, fitted with a Schnitzer BMW engine and assigned to Michel Leclère for that season, but probably the car raced by Alain Cudini at Hockenheim. Two effectively new cars were built for 1975 consuming two of A367s, this car becoming chassis 7501.
4. March 742L [12-1] (Jacques Coulon): Originally built with a Ford engine and used in back-to-back tests with a BMW-engined car. Then converted to BMW specification and entered by March Engineering for Jacques Coulon in F2 in 1974, sponsored by Antar. In February 1975, the car was converted to 75B specification, and March records show that it was given the identity 75B-U1. However, Motoring News twice reported its chassis number as 742/12 during 1975, suggesting that it still had its 742 chassis plate.
5. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3671] (Patrick Tambay): New for 1973, for team leader Jean-Pierre Jabouille to drive in F2 for the Elf Coombs Racing team. The car was fitted with a Cosworth BDG for its first two races, but was then changed to a Hart alloy-blocked BDA. Also driven by François Cevert, at Pau as his own new car was not yet ready, and won the race, Alpine's first F2 win. Only seen a couple more times that season. Retained for 1974, fitted with a Schnitzer BMW engine and assigned to Patrick Tambay for that season, but driven once by Alain Cudini in Tambay's absence. Tambay won at Nogaro in September in this car. Two effectively new cars were built for 1975 consuming two of A367s, this car becoming chassis 7501.
6. March 742 [24] (Jacques Laffite): New to Jacques Laffite (Paris) using BP France money and prepared by Tico Martini for F2 in 1974. Extensively modified by Martini during the season. To Jorg Siegrist (Lucerne, Switerland) for 1975 and entered for him in F2 events by Schweizer Auto Rennsport. It was then sold to Bernhard Wissler (Ebringen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) in mid-1975 and raced by him at the Preis Der Nationen at Hockenheim at the end of August and at Ulm-Mengen two weeks later. He also raced it in the F2 race at Hockenheim in April 1976, when it still had its Martini nose from 1974. One distinct possibility is that this car was acquired by French Martini enthusiast Jacques Terrien (France) who had raced an ex-F3 MK12 in 1974-75 and would run a pukka F2 MK19 in 1977 but had a March 742-Ford for the latter half of 1976. Terrien's car went to Jean-Pierre Perrin (Beaucourt, northeastern France) for 1977. Subsequent history unknown but the remains of a car believed to be the ex-Laffite car were bought from French dealer Hollinger via Gérard Billaud (Toulouse, France) in the late 1990s by Philippe Demeyer. Demeyer sold these parts to Matt Slinn (UK) and they form the basis of the car later raced in historics by Martin Stretton.
7. March 742L [18] (Patrick Depailler): New for the March Engineering works team, assigned to Patrick Depailler. March records say that it was not raced in 1975, and sold to Pierre Maublanc in November 1975. To Bernard Chevanne for 1976, and raced at Thruxton in April, but he was unable to qualify for any of his others races that season. Subsequent history unknown. Note that the March raced by Joe Henry in WCAR Formula Atlantic in 1984 has been reported to be "742/18" but is more likely to have been a 74B.
8. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3673] (Jean-Pierre Jabouille): New for 1974, for Ecurie Elf team leader Jean-Pierre Jabouille to drive in F2. The car was fitted with Schnitzer BMW engines. It was raced by Jean-Pierre Beltoise at Hockenheim in April, where it used Schnitzer's experimental 12-plug engine. Jabouille won at Hockenheim in June in this car. Retained by Equipe Elf Switzerland for 1975, when No 2 driver Gérard Larrousse used it until his new Jabouille-designed Elf 2 was ready, and Larrousse won at Hockenheim in April in this car. Unlike the two sister cars which were rebuilt for further duty in 1976, this car was sold to Guy Fréquelin and used in French hillclimbs in 1976, still with its Schnitzer BMW engine. It was then sold to Pierre Desnos and used by him in French hillclimbs in 1977 and 1978. Gerard Gamand on Autodiva adds that the car was raced by Jean Louis Neveu from 1983 to 1985.
9. Chevron B27 [27-74-09] (Dieter Quester): Sold to Team Harper, and used by Dieter Quester in the European F2 championship. Also driven by Tom Pryce and badly damaged at Enna; returned to works and rebuilt for Jim Crawford to use at Nogaro late in 1974. Probably the car taken to Macau by Team Harper for Purley in November 1974. Team Harper advertised both their Chevron B27s as rolling chassis in January 1975. Subsequent history unknown, but since 2006 (and quite possibly earlier), there has been a Chevron B27 in Team Harper livery in the Macau Grand Prix Museum.
10. March 732/742 [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.
11. Surtees TS15 (John Watson): In June 1974, a Surtees TS15A was taken to the Rouen F2 race to be used by Pierre Dieudonné or Bernard de Dryver. It was described as being "ex-De Adamich", so was presumably the car built for De Adamich in 1973, but left unused after a disagreement between his sponsor and John Surtees led to De Adamich moving to Brabham. At Rouen, a further diagreement between John Surtees and a sponsor, in this case Bang & Olufsen, meant that Dieudonné and De Dryver were not allowed to even sit in their cars, and the "ex-De Adamich" car became John Watson's T-car at that race. Watson found he preferred it, and raced it instead of the TS15 EXP-BMW at Rouen and at the next race, at Mugello. It is then likely to be the BMW-engined Surtees TS15A first seen at Enna in August 1974, where it was driven in practice by José Dolhem after his regular Hart-engined TS15 was involved in an accident. The new car had the rear suspension of the Surtees "Exp 2", but a front radiator and BMW engine. Dolhem soon had another accident in the new car, so went back to his regular TS15 for the race. After the Enna meeting, Surtees then withdrew his team from F2, leaving the Ortega Ecuador Marlboro Team to continue separately. In mid-1975, Space Racing hired "both" of the works 1974 cars, so presumably the "Exp 2" raced by John Watson, and this second TS15A used so briefly at Enna by Dolhem. Ewald Boisitz was due to drive the "ex-Dolhem" car at Silverstone at the end of August, but did not go out, after which it was an unused spare at Zolder two weeks later and at the team's two remaining races. John Woodington of Space Racing recalls that both cars were returned to John Surtees after the season. Subsequent history unresolved.
12. GRD 274 [084-F2] (Claude Bourgoignie): After racing the same GRD 272 for two seasons, Belgian Claude Bourgoignie bought a new GRD 274 for 1974, the company's only F2 customer that season. After a very disappointing season, the car was heavily damaged on the first lap of the last race of the season. It was not seen after 1974 until it was bought by Daniel Lebacq in 1978 and used as the basis for his Lebacq DL9 sports car. The Lebacq was destroyed in a fire in 1983.
13. March 742L [9] (Masami Kuwashima): New to Masami Kuwashima, run for him by Roy Kennedy, and raced in European F2 until September, at which point the car was shipped to Japan for the JAF GP in November. Retained by Kuwashima for the Japanese F2 series in 1975, then to Kenji Takahashi for 1976, 1977 and 1978.
14. March 742S [3?] (Dave Walker): Jörg Obermoser's Team Warsteiner Eurorace ran a March 742 for Dave Walker in Formula 2 in 1974, using a Schnitzer engine instead of usual BMW Motorsport engine, Walker gave the car its debut in the Alzey hillclimb at the end of March, and it was then hired to Harald Ertl to race at Hockenheim in April, as Obermoser and Walker were at the sports car race at Paul Ricard. It was driven by Walker at Hockenheim, Rouen and Mugello, and then by Ertl at the Freiburg-Schauinsland hillclimb. It was loaned to the works team to be Patrick Depailler's spare car at Karlskoga, but was in the original customer short-nose 742 specification with Schnitzer engine and remained unused. Its final appearance in 1974 was for Hans Binder at Hockenheim in September. At Vallelunga in October 1975, Ewald Boisitz appeared with what was said by Motoring News to be the ex-Hans Binder 742, but Autosport called it the ex-Binder 752 and MN also called it a 752 on its grid listing, so it is unlikely to have been the ex-Obermoser 742. The subsequent history of the Obermoser 742 is unknown, but geography would suggest it was the Dieter Kern car in 1975 and 1976.
15. Chevron B27 [27-74-01] (Bob Marsland): Sold to Bob Marsland (Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) to use in European F2 and in European hillclimbs in 1974. Not seen in 1975 but advertised by Marsland in November when it had only done three races and three hillclimbs. Sold to Francis Polak for Belgian courses de côte, winning the 1976 Belgian championship. Retained by Polak for 1977, but then sold to Gérard Burgraff for the 1978 Belgian season, when he finished fourth in the series using a 1800cc Cosworth engine. Then to Christian Figue and Luc Marx, and driven by Marx in 1985. Subsequently to Nick Crossley for renovation and then to Paul Newton. Sold to Alan Bell (Lymm, Cheshire) in November 2003. Sold from Bell to Michael Bletsoe-Brown in 2011 and since converted to inboard rear brakes and the roll hoop has forward facing supports.
16. Surtees TS15 [08] (José Dolhem): This car was not seen in 1973, but was raced by John Watson as a works Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees entry at the opening race of the 1974 season where it was described as "one of last year's cars dusted off". It was then José Dolhem's works car at the next four races before disappearing again. To Yugoslavian driver Francy Jerancic for 1975, entered in four F2 races by Avto-Moto društvo (AMD) Škofja Loka. Jerancic returned for three races in 1977. In early 1978, the car was advertised by David Winstanley's Lodge Corner Agencies (Crewe, Cheshire), but the advert said that details were still to come from Yugoslavia, which suggests the car was not actually in Crewe. As it was not advertised again, it may never have arrived. Subsequent history unknown, but some time around 1990, this car was bought by Pasqualino Turatello from Flavio Tullio. Pasqualino Turatello's son Francesco understands that the car had previously been used in Swiss hillclimbs. Flavio Tullio's son Matteo recalls that Flavio owned the car twice, selling it to Bertola of Torino and then buying it back, before selling it to Turatello. Matteo believes it was used by Bertola in French hillclimbs using a Fiat Volumetrico engine. It is listed in its 2013 FIA HTP as a Surtees TS15/A with chassis number TS15/08. Used by Francesco Turatello in historic hillclimbs in 2014.
17. Pygmée MDB17 [372] (Georges Schäfer): New to the BERT team for Patrick Dal Bo to race in the 1972 F2 series. Dal Bo was fourth in the first race of the season, but had a series of failures to qualify, often caused by engine failures. The car was sold to Georges Schäfer for 1973, and used in occasional F2 races, rounds of the Swiss championship, and French hillclimbs for the next three seasons, using a Cosworth BDE engine. It appears that it was updated for 1974 with revised bodywork and given the chassis plate "MDB19 - 03 -74". Gérard Gamand's book shows this as the Pygmée owned by Roger Martini (Girond, Aquitaine) from 1979 to 1983, although Martini believed he had owned the ex-Pace car. According to Gamand, the car then passed via two other French owners, 'Legeay' and 'Sutter' to Roland Perrin in 1988, by which time it had acquired odd square sidepods and a Martini nose, and the steelwork had been painted a fetching orange. Bought by Peter Morley in Belgium in 2005, then to Gamand in April 2007, who completely restored the car in 2008-09. On display at Epoqu'auto in Lyon in November 2009. Raced by Gamand in Historic F2 in 2010 and 2012. On display on the Autodiva stand at Epoqu'Auto in November 2013.
18. Chevron B27 [27-74-12] (James Hunt): Built for Chris Marshall's Baty/Ottershaw Motors team as a quasi-works car in European F2 championship, fitted with a Schnitzer BMW engine. It was originally announced as a two-car works team for James Hunt and Hiroshi Kazato, managed by Bill Harding, and "the first car" was shown to the press in mid-May. This car was driven by Tom Pryce at Salzburgring, Hockenheim and Mugello, and by Hunt only at Rouen-les-Essarts. The team dropped out in August, and the car was used briefly as a development car by Derek Bennett. Harald Ertl hired the car for Hockenheim in September 1974, still using its Schnitzer BMW engine. Ertl then acquired the car and raced it in the early rounds of the 1975 season using works BMW engines. He replaced it with a brand new B29 in mid-season but then retained the B27 unraced until his death in 1982. Bought from the Ertl estate by American Jack Perkins (San Jose, CA) in the early 1990s. Perkins had the tub disassembled, reglued and re-riveted by Mark Bahner, and had its BMW M12/7 engine and Hewland FG400 gearbox overhauled by Dave Vegher and Veloce Motors West.
19. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3670] (Alain Cudini): 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.
20. Surtees TS15 EXP (John Watson): An experimental Surtees TS15 various described as the EXP or TS15X or "Exp 2" and driven by John Watson in F2 in 1974. It was also driven by Derek Bell at Hockenheim in June. It appears to have been one of a pair loaned to Space Racing in 1975 for Hans Meier, but he wrecked the "ex-Watson" car in practice at Zolder and was unable to take over the second car as it had not been through scrutineering. He then failed to qualify for the next two races in the "ex-Watson" car. John Woodington of Space Racing recalls that both cars were returned to John Surtees after the season. Subsequent history unresolved.

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

Autosport's report (4 Jul 1974 pp14-17), Autocourse 1974/75 results section pp181-182, and Autosport's F2 Review (12 Dec 1974 pp18-27). Entry numbers kindly provided by Alain Poulain via 'Wookey', but a full entry list has still not been located.