Rhein-Pokalrennen

Hockenheim, 8 Jun 1975

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 742 [22] (Maurizio Flammini): New to the CSAI's Equipe Nationale, then managed by Eugenio Dragoni, for Maurizio Flammini to drive in F2 in 1974. After Dragoni's sudden death in April 1974, the team was managed by Ottorino Maffezzoli, the Monza circuit director. Flammini reappeared in this car from June 1975 onwards, running as part of the Trivellato Racing Team, and won at Mugello in July and Misano in August. Flammini joined the March works F2 team for 1976, but brought the old 742 out for a few races in 1977. In March 1977, the ex-Flammini March 742 was advertised by Yolanda Fawsitt (Haddenham, Buckinghamshire), although Autosport gave her name as Solanda Fowsitt. Subsequent history unknown.
2. March 742L [27/17] (Loris Kessel): New to Jean-Claude Favre (Switzerland) and raced in European F2 rounds but rarely qualified. Sold mid-season to Loris Kessel (Lugano, Switzerland) and entered for him by Jo Vonlanthen Racing Team at Vallelunga at the end of the year. Retained for 1975 and impressively quick, finishing fourth at Hockenheim in April and then qualifying second at the Nürburgring. It was crashed at that race and rebuilt on the monocoque from the ex-Hans Stuck 742/17. Prior to the Mugello race in July, Kessel heavily modified the March, including a wide nose, front radiator and modified rollhoop shroud. He crashed during practice and although the tub was undamaged, the modifications meant it could not be repaired. That evening, he bought Markus Hotz' March 752, and used that for the rest of the season. The 742's unique rollhoop shroud, together with references to it being "ex-Stuck", identify this as the car sold to Romain Feitler (Luxembourg) and used in hillclimbs in Luxembourg, France and Germany during 1976. A photograph shows that it was back in normal long nose specification and appeared to have a Schnitzer BMW engine. Sold to Helmut Kalenborn (Euskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) and used in hillclimbs across Europe in 1977 and 1978. It was described by Autosprint at Ecce Homo in 1978 as "ex-Stuck". The same unusual rollhoop shroud identified this as the Schnitzer-engined 742 acquired by Henri Nussbaum (Luxembourg) and used in hillclimbs in 1979 and 1980. Subsequent history unknown.
3. March 752 [17] (Sandro Cinotti): New to Ron Dennis's Project Three team and raced by Vittorio Brambilla and Sandro Cinotti during the first half of the 1975 F2 season. Crashed heavily by Brambilla in practice at Mugello, then raced by Bruno Pescia at the end of the year. Sold to Max Bonnin for 1976 but only seen at a few races. To Sylvain Lachaud for French hillclimbs in 1977 but referred to as a 742 for much of the year. To Bernard-Etienne Grobot for 1978 but he crashed very heavily at Gué-Chervais in September and the car was returned to March for repairs. To Anne Baverey for 1979, when described as a 772, but damaged mid-season and sold to Philippe Porcheur. Retained by Porcheur for 1980, when it was again described as a 772. Bought from Porcheur by Eddy D'Hoe for Belgian hillclimbs in 1981. Then to Pierre Evrard (Rochefort, Belgium) for Belgian hillclimbs in 1982 and 1983. Subsequent history unknown.
4. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3673] (Gérard Larrousse): 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.
5. March 752 [11] (Dieter Braun): Sold to Jorg Obermoser and run by Obermoser's Team Warsteiner Eurorace for Dieter Braun in European F2 in 1975. Unknown after 1975 and possibly one of the cars sold to Japan.
6. March 752 [10] (Hans Binder): Sold to Jorg Obermoser and run by Obermoser's Team Warsteiner Eurorace for Hans Binder in European F2, and later for Alain Peltier and Ewald Boisitz. To Alois Muller for 1976, still with its B Schnitzer BMW engine and used in the European F2 race at Salzburgring in May 1976, where it was entered by BMW Dienst Rischer Wien, and in Austrian national events. Unknown after 1976.
7. March 752 [15] (David Purley): New to Masami Kuwashima for Formula 2 in 1975, prepared by Roy Kennedy's team in London, and entered by Masami Kuwashima Racing. After just two races, Kuwashima returned to Japan, and the 752 was sold to Tom Walkinshaw.who had it converted by Kennedy to F5000 specification, with the installation of a 3.4-litre Ford V6 engine. Raced by Walkinshaw in the 1975 Shellsport F5000 Championship. To Val Musetti, and raced in Shellsport G8 in 1976 and 1977. Converted to F1 specification for 1978, with a Cosworth DFV engine, and referred to as a 761 that season. Wrecked at Mallory Park in August but rebuilt again for 1979, when it was described as a 771, but wrecked at Zolder at the start of the Aurora season and finally written off.
8. March 742 [24] (Jorg Siegrist): 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, Switzerland) 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 Christian Hollinger (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France) via Gérard Billaud (Toulouse, France) in the late 1990s by Philippe Demeyer (Liège, Belgium). Demeyer sold these parts to Matt Slinn (UK) and they form the basis of the car later raced in historics by Martin Stretton.
9. Elf (Jabouille) 2J [7501] (Jean-Pierre Jabouille): New for the Elf Switzerland team in 1975, based on the Alpine A367 chassis 3671. The car was completed in time for 50 km of testing at Dijon before the first race of the 1975 F2 season at Estoril on 9 March. Jean-Pierre Jabouille placed it fourth on the grid at that race, but struggled in the wet race conditons and finished eighth. He qualified scond at Hockenheim in April, then won the non-championship race at Magny Cours in May. He was second on the grid again at Pau, Hockenheim again in June and Salzburgring, winning the latter race. He took the 2J's first pole position at Rouen-les-Essarts two weeks later. The second 2J was then completed, so this car was handed over to Gérard Larrousse, who finished a fine second at Silverstone but retired with engine problems at Zolder and Nogaro. This car was consumed in the creation of new cars with Renault V6 engines for 1976. Whether chassis 7502 became the new chassis 7602 remains unresolved.
10. March 752 [3] (Lamberto Leoni): Entered by Giancarlo Minardi's Scuderia del Passatore for Lamberto Leoni in F2 in 1975. Also for Diulio Truffo at one late-season race. Retained by Minardi as a spare car for his Scuderia Everest in 1976 and raced by Gianfranco Brancatelli at Mugello in July. Unknown after 1976.
11. Chevron B29 [29-75-12] (Christian Ethuin): New to Fred Stalder's Societé Racing Organisation Course (Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, France), and fitted with ROC's Chrysler-Simca-based engines, developed by Max Funda (Geneva, Switzerland) for Formula 2 in 1975. Raced by Christian Ethuin, starting at Hockenheim in April, and also by former F1 driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise at Magny Cours, Pau and Nogaro. It was part of a two car team with Xavier Lapeyre driving the other car. Laurent Ferrier then drove the car in the final race of the season but did not qualify. It was raced by Roger Rivoire in two French hillclimbs in early 1976, at Charnizay and at Hébecrevon, and later in the year was driven by Jean Lachaud at Le Gua and Limonest-Mt Verdun. Press reports said it had been loaned to Lachaud by ROC boss Fred Stalder for these two events. As Xavier Lapeyre had retained his B29 for 1976, Lachaud must have been in the ex-Beltoise car. By the same logic, 75-12 is likely to be the ROC-engined Chevron bought by Ange-Marie Cheval from Stalder for 1977. It was described as a B27/B29, a B29 and a B29/35, but photographs in Echappement clearly show a B29. Advertised in Echappement in October 1977 as a B29/35. Subsequent history unknown, but there is a good chance this could be the "B35"-ROC raced by Jean Arzeno at Ceyreste in September 1979 and then the "B35" raced by Bernard Hazotte from 1980 onwards.
12. Chevron B29 [29-75-10] (Xavier Lapeyre): New to Fred Stalder's Societé Racing Organisation Course (Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, France), and fitted with ROC's Chrysler-Simca-based engines, developed by Max Funda (Geneva, Switzerland) for Formula 2 in 1975. Raced by Xavier Lapeyre (Toulouse, southwest France), starting at Hockenheim in April. Lapeyre left ROC for 1976, but retained the Chevron, fitting a BMW engine and racing it in five events at the start of 1976, failing to qualify for four of them. The last time the B29 was seen was at Pau on 7 June, where Lapeyre failed to qualify, and at the next race, at Rouen three weeks later, he had a new Chevron B35. Sold to Werner Ruckelshausen for Austrian national races in 1977, where it was entered as a "Chevron Swindon" of 2000cc capacity, implying a Swindon BDX engine. Subsequent thistory unknown.
13. March 732 ["59"] (Max Bonnin): Max Bonnin raced a March in Formula 2 in 1974, which was described by Motoring News as being "one of last year's March monocoques", to which Bonnin had fitted his own suspension, "which featured narrower track and revised roll centres". Bonnin later told Gérard Gamand that he acquired an unused 732 monocoque to build this car. It was powered by a Hart BDA. Bonnin raced this car in F2 through 1974 and 1975 before buying a March 752 for 1976. The 732, by then called a 742, was sold to Jean-Louis Albinet and used in French hillclimbs in 1976, 1977 and 1978, using a 2-litre Hart engine. In July 1978, Albinet acquired a Martini MK22, and the March-Hart was sold to Gérard Lafaurie (Bordeaux, Aquitaine), first appearing in August 1978 in a "March 732", and then regularly from the start of 1979 in a "March 742". Lafaurie raced the car again in 1980, 1981, and 1982. Later in 1982, the car was sold to Pascal Malateste, who fitted the 1600cc engine from his Pygmée. He raced the car in 1982 and 1983, before it passed to his father Yves Malateste in 1984. It is reported that the elder Malateste had a severe accident in the car, leaving him in a wheelchair. It is also reported that the remains of this car were sold to dealer/collector Christian Hollinger (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France), who took them to mechanic Jean-Pierre Navarro (Montluel, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), who built a new March 712-style monocoque and reassembled the car to be used in the 1600cc Historic F2 series. According to Navarro's records, the resulting car was delivered by Hollinger to Frédéric Lacarelle (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes). The car's HVIF shows Lacarelle acquiring it in January 1994. From Lacarelle, it went to Jean-Jacques Gravier (Servolex, Rhône-Alpes) who entered it for Historic Formula 2 events between 1999 and 2002 as a March "71B". Subsequent history withheld.
14. March 752 [23] (Bruno Pescia): New to Ron Dennis's Project Three Racing and driven in F2 by Bruno Pescia, Vittorio Brambilla, Masami Kuwashima, Tim Schenken and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in 1975. Retained in 1976 as part of Project Four Racing and thought to be the "762" used as a testbed for the Lancia engines at the start of that season. Then probably the "762" used by Gilles Villeneuve at Pau and by Mikko Kozarowitzky at three later races. Unknown after July 1976.
15. March 732 [17] (Roland Binder): Bought brand new by Roland Binder (Esslingen, Germany) late in the 1973 season and raced by him through the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Replaced for 1976 by a Lola T450.
16. Surtees TS15A [01] (Gerd Biechteler): New for the Ortega Ecuador Marlboro Team run by Ron Dennis in 1974, driven in F2 races by team principal Guillermo Ortega. Ortega struggled during 1974, and failed to qualify four times. His TS15A was sold to Gerd Biechteler (Klotten, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany) and used in German and Austrian F2 races in 1975. Then raced by Norbert Przybilla (Klotten, Rhineland-Palatinate) in hillclimbs in 1976, 1977 and 1978. In 1977, the car was entered by Benedikt Müller (Osterspai, Rhineland-Palatinate), and at least once it was entered as a "Surtees Toj", suggesting Jörg Obermoser's Toj sports car firm had been involved with it. Przybilla continued to appear in German events in 1979, but now with a Toj SC03 in the 2-litre sports car class, and also with a "Toj" in the F2 class. The last known appearance in the Surtees was at the ADAC-Eifel-Bergpreis in October 1979. This car was advertised for sale from Freidorf, Switzerland in June 2019, when it was said to be chassis 001, formerly driven by Norbert Przybilla, and with Toj bodywork.
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 (Neerijse, 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. March 732 [733] (Luis Maria de Almenara): New to Max Bonnin at some point during the 1973 Formula 3 season. Sold during 1974 to Luis Maria de Almenara Juandò (Barcelona, Spain), who raced it at Magione in September 1974. Then rebuilt as a March 732 for Formula 2 in 1975, using an ex-Alpine Hart BDA engine. De Almenara raced the car at five races in Formula 2 in 1975, but failed to qualify for four of them. He also ran it at the Carrera en Cuesta a la Rabassada hillclimb in Spain in October 1975, finishing second. A photograph of the car at Rabassada shows it wearing works-style 742 bodywork with side radiators, and the rollhoop casing cut down as happened to the 752s early in the 1975 season. 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.

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

Motoring News (12 June 1975 pp6-7) gives chassis numbers for the 24 qualifiers and two reserves. Tambay's car is given as 752-19 again but said to be "a new car following his Pau accident" and Dieter Braun's is finally identified as 752-11. Flammini's was said to be "the 742 model he ran with some success last year for the CSAI National team" and is given as 742/22M. Vonlanthen's was given as 752-6, instead of the earlier 752-16.