BRDC European Championship Race

Silverstone, 31 Aug 1975

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Elf (Jabouille) 2J [7501] (Gérard Larrousse): 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.
2. Wheatcroft R18 [002] (Brian Henton): 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.
3. March 752 [24] (Herbert Muller): New to Hotz for customer Herbert Muller in Artos livery and used in F2 and in Swiss national events. Retained by Muller for 1976 and again used in Swiss events. Used by Rüdi Gygax at the F2 race at Hockenheim in September but did not qualify. Unknown after 1976.
4. March 75B [75B-U1] (Ray Mallock): An unnumbered March 75B built for Ray Mallock (Roade, Northamptonshire) and run for him in British Formula Atlantic and some F2 races by Ardmore Racing in 1975. It replaced the second-hand March 742 that Mallock wrecked in the Thruxton Formula 2 race in March, but it is possible that the 75B was still used the chassis plate of the old 742 during this time, as it was listed by Motoring News as "742/12" twice in 1975 and was also described as a 742 by Motoring News at Hockenheim in September 1976. Mallock raced the car in F2 for the last four races of 1975. For 1976, Ardmore Racing bought a Lola T450 for Mallock, but when that proved a flop, fitted the March with a Swindon BDX engine and Mallock raced that car in Formula 2 specification in the European F2 series and in the Shellsport Group 8 series. During the season it was further modified with wider sidepods and its main radiator moved to the front, and from Pau onwards used the nose from one of Ray Mallock's father's Mallock U2s. Ardmore boss Creighton Brown also raced it in a libre race at Oulton Park in October. It was last raced by Mallock at Brands Hatch on 7 November 1976. This is likely to be the 75B advertised by MRE (Bourne End, Bucks) in Autosport four days later, described as "Updated to full F2 spec" with FG gearbox and "2 litre alloy engine". In the same edition of Autosport, Lucien Lampach (Wiltz, Luxembourg) was seeking a F2 car, and photographs indicate that he acquired the modified Mallock 75B and ran it as a March 742 in European hillclimbs in 1977 and 1978. Numerous reports mentioned it having a Swindon engine, so presumably its Swindon BDX. Subsequent history unknown.
5. March 742L [28] (Francesco Cerulli-Irelli): New to Carlo Giorgio, fitted with a very unusual Holbay Ford Pinto engine and raced in F2 in 1974, entered by Scuderia Jolly Club. Giorgio retained the car for 1975, when he used a Hart Ford BDA. He returned very briefly in 1976, when the car was used to test the new Armaroli V6 engine, but it did not qualify for its only race. In 1977, he returned for a fourth season, the March now used a Hart 420R engine, but he failed to qualify for three of his five races and did not go the distance in the other two. He raced the car again in 1978. For the 1979 season, thankfully the car's last, he fitted March 782 bodywork. It ended with a record of 30 F2 races but 13 failures to qualify and only ten classified finishes. Many years later, in 2016, the chassis was in the garage of Silvio Pederzini in Padova, Italy.
6. March 752 [23] (Masami Kuwashima): 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.
7. Ralt RT1 [7] (John Wingfield): New to John Wingfield (London NW11), fitted with a Swindon BDG and raced in the F2 events at Silverstone and Zolder in 1975, entered by Marshall-Wingfield Racing. Retained for 1976 when Wingfield used it in Shellsport Group 8 and the MCD Open Single Seater Championship. Later in the season it was raced by Ray Mallock in the F2 races at Hockenheim and Rouen. In September 1976, Wingfield crashed at the Thruxton G8 race, sliding off at Village at hitting the concrete Marshal's post side-on. Wingfield died instantly. The Ralt was severely damaged and it is highly unlikely that it was rebuilt.
8. March 742L [732-10] (Antônio Castro Prado): STP March Engineering works car for Jean-Pierre Beltoise at Hockenheim and later by Jean-Pierre Jarier at two races. Probably the car used by Jacques Coulon at Hockenheim, by Beltoise at Albi and by Stuck at Estoril. To Brian Lewis Racing for 1974 and updated to 742 spec for Andy Sutcliffe as '742-10b', then run for hire drivers later in the year. To Roger Heavens for Antônio Castro Prado for F2 in the latter part of 1975, then sold via Hervé Le Guellec to Jimmy Mieusset as a backup car for French hillclimbing at the start of the 1976 season. Also used by Roger Rivoire in May 1976, and then sold to Jean-Pierre Simon in June 1976. Retained by Simon for 1977, still with its BMW engine. Unknown in 1978, when it could have been the 742-BMW of, for example, Robert Despratx in southwest France. Then to Maurice Crozier and raced in 1979 and 1980 with a 1600cc Ford engine. Advertised by Crozier with or without its 1600cc Cosworth FVA engine in November 1980. Acquired by Daniel Mangini during 1981, and fitted with an ex-Pourcher Ford engine. Raced by him in courses de côte in 1982. History then unknown until it was advertised by Yves Bonjean (Pont-du-Château, Auvergne, France) in September 1997. The car was still in the 1977 bodywork used by Crozier. Sold via Philippe Demeyer (Liège, Belgium) to Simon Hadfield (Shepshed, Leicestershire). Sold to Howard Katz (New York, NY) who raced it extensively in US vintage racing around 2005. To Nick Osborn (UK) and raced in Historic F2 in 2016, still exactly in Katz' livery. Still owned by Osborn in February 2019, but by the summer it was owned by Graham Adelman, who also owned the Beta-liveried 732/4. Adelman raced the STP-liveried 732 at the 2019 Silverstone Classic.
9. March 742 [26] (Cosimo Turizio): New to Trivellato Racing Team and raced by Cosimo Turizio in F2 in 1974, entered by Scuderia Vesuvio. Retained by Turizio for F2 in 1976. Subsequent history unknown.
10. Surtees TS15A (Hans Meier): 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.
11. 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.
12. Lola T360 [HU7] (Ted Wentz): Believed to be the new car loaned to Ken Bailey in August 1974 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 1975 until it was heavily damaged by Roy James in a testing accident in early October 1975. Wentz hired the works development car for the remaining three races of the season, so it is assumed that HU7 was not repairable.
13. Chevron B29 [29-75-15] (Jim Crawford): New for Jim Crawford at Oulton Park in late May when his early-season development car was rebuilt on a new monocoque, effectively becoming a new car with chassis number 29-75-15. Crawford raced this car seven times in the British Formula Atlantic series, winning two races, and also raced it in F2 specification at Silverstone in August, using a Geoff Richardson BDA engine. Richard Morgan (Purley, Surrey) then hired the car for a few races at the end of the season. To Len Booysen (Randburg, South Africa) for the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic series, entered by Golden-Flo Racing with Kenitex. Then to Dorino Treccani, and raced by him in a few late 1977 and early 1978 races before it passed to Sarel Pienaar, who raced it for the rest of 1978 and in 1979. It was purchased from Pienaar by Peter Haller in 1980 to provide parts for his homebuilt Haller Special. The B29 tub was not used in the Haller Special, and was never converted to a Mazda engine. After Haller's death in March 1984, the original tub and salvageable parts from the B29 and were bought from Haller's widow by Alan McDonald and Mike Budd. Their plans to build a sports car did not materialize, and the B29 was eventually restored by Budd for Mike Ward. The restoration was completed around 2005. It was later sold to Doug Brown, who returned it to its 1976 Golden Flo livery. Later sold to Colin Frost about 2015.
14. Chevron B29 [29-75-30] (Hans Binder): Built as a works development car, and tested by Brian Redman. Then entered by Jörg Obermoser's Team Warsteiner Eurorace for Hans Binder to drive in Formula 2 with a Rosche BMW engine, when it was reported to be chassis 32. Brian Redman drove it in the 1976 New Zealand Internationals, still with its 2-litre BMW engine, this time as part of the Fred Opert team. Sold in New Zealand to David Oxton, fitted with a Formula Pacific BDA engine and raced in the New Zealand Formula Pacific series in January 1977. Then to Eric Morgan for Gold Star and International races from 1977 to 1981. Sold to Chris Read for 1982. Later history with the car indicates that it was sold by Read to Kenny Smith in 1991, then to Brian Sampson in 1992, then Peter Whelan in 2000, and Miles Jackson in 2008.
15. Osella FA2/75 [001] (Arturo Merzario): New for Arturo Merzario to race for Osella Squadra Corse at Vallelunga in October 1974. Rebuilt to 1975 specification and raced by Giorgio Francia in the early part of the season, then by Diulio Truffo, and then my Merzario for the last three races. Rebuilt to 1976 specification and raced by Gianfranco Trombetti at the start of that season. Subsequent history unknown.
16. March 752 [17] (Bruno Pescia): 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.
17. Elf (Jabouille) 2J [7502] (Jean-Pierre Jabouille): New for the Elf Switzerland team in mid-1975, based on the Alpine A367 chassis 3672 used by the team in 1974. This second car was produced during July, and was driven by Jean-Piere Jabouille at Enna-Pergusa, Silverstone and Zolder, retiring with engine problems at all three races. It was driven by Marie-Claude Beaumont at Vallelunga in October as Jabouille was in Japan with the Alpine sports cars, her first public run in a single seater. She went off the track during practice while avoiding a spinning José Pedro Chateaubriand, and cleaning dirt from the throttle slides left her no time to set a qualifying time. 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.
18. March 752 [22] (Sandro Cinotti): New to Ron Dennis's Project Three Racing but using an early-season monocoque that had already been used by the work team. Raced by Patrick Depailler at Pau, then Vittorio Brambilla at Salzburgring, and by Bruno Pescia, Sandro Cinotti, Tim Schenken and Maurizio Flammini later in the season. Sold to John Nicholson for 1976, fitted with a Chevrolet Vega engine and used in F2 and in the Shellsport G8 series. To Alan Baillie for 1977, who fitted a Swindon BDX engine for libre, Shellsport and Aurora over the next three seasons. Subsequent history unknown.
19. 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.
20. March 742L [21] (Gianfranco Trombetti): New to the CSAI's Equipe Nationale, then managed by Eugenio Dragoni, for Diulio Truffo 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. Run by Osella Squadra Corse for Truffo until his new Osella was ready, then to Gianfranco Trombetti for the rest of the 1975 season.
21. Safir (Rondel M1) [209] (Patrick Neve): The last Rondel M1 monocoque, numbered 209, remained with Rondel when the team became Token in 1974 when Tony Vlassopulos and Ken Gob took over, and was handed over to Peter Thorp of Safir Engineering in 1975. As well as running the Token F1 car, Safir also bult a Safir F3 car for Patrick Neve to race, and in built up the unused Rondel monocoque as a Safir F2 car. It only appeared at the Silverstone F2 race in August 1975, but its Ford Pinto engine was misfiring badly and it was "put away". After Safir went into liquidation, it was acquired by Vlassopulos, and was retained by him until 1988, when it was bought by George Langhorne and former Rondel partner Neil Trundle, complete except for bodywork and gearbox. Langhorne and Trundle restored the car to immaculate condition, completing it in 2016. It was then sold to David Tomlin (Worcester), and race prepared by Pete Johnston's crew at Raceworks Motorsport with a Cosworth BDG engine.
22. Surtees TS15A (Ewald Boisitz): 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.

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 (4 Sep 1975 pp16-18) gives chassis numbers for 32 starters. Kuwashima was in a Ron Dennis Project 3 March 752 that had been modified for Brambilla's use; in the same team, Pescia was "using a new monocoque". Hans Meier had a Surtees-BMW TS15A said to be ex-Watson and given as TS15A/05. The full entry list for this race appears in Motoring News 28 Aug 1975 p9.