OldRacingCars.com

Hanford Formula

Hanford Motor Speedway, 19 Sep 1965

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Bruce Eglinton LeGrand Mk 3B [001] - Alfa Romeo
20 23m 44.20s
2 Karl Knapp (FC) 1.1-litre LeGrand - Ford

3 Chuck Gounis (FC) 1.1-litre Elva - Ford

4 Barry Blackmore (FC) Lotus 20

  Wayne Jones (FA) 2.5-litre Lotus 35 [35-F-18?] - Climax FPF 4
(see note 1)
On entry list
  Don Radbruch (FA) Cooper T54 - Buick
(see note 2)
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lotus 35 [35-F-18?] (Wayne Jones): Very probably the Lotus 35 sold new via Lotus Southwest to Wayne Jones (Burbank,CA) and fitted with a 2.5-litre Coventry Climax FPF engine for the SCCA's new Formula A in 1965. First raced in an SCCA Regional at Santa Barbara in October 1965 and raced again by Jones in 1966. Sold to Ed Marshall (Kentfield, CA) and raced again in FA. For 1968, this car moved to Vernon Shields (Los Angeles, CA) and was fitted with a 4.7-litre Ford V8 engine to fit the increased capacity limit of Formula A. Also driven for Shields by Bob West (Hollywood, CA). Subsequent history unknown but owned by John Dimmer in 2009.
  2. Cooper T54 (Don Radbruch): Entered for Jack Brabham in the 1961 Indy 500 and qualified 13th. Ran well in the race and finished ninth. Returned to the Speedway in 1962 but only on display in the museum as Jim Kimberly focused his efforts on the new Mickey Thompson cars. Then sold to Kjell H. Qvale, the BMC distributor from San Francisco, and fitted with an Aston Martin Le Mans sports car engine for the 1963 Indy 500 as the #48 Cooper Special. Although underpowered, the car's handling was excellent and Pedro Rodriguez qualified only to be later bumped. It was next seen in 1965 when Don Radbruch (Palo Alto, CA) had fitted a Buick engine and was running it in local SCCA Formula A events. It was then advertised by Dick Terrell (San Bruno, CA) in April 1966. According to later owner Philippe de Lespinay, it was owned in the 1970s by Bob McLease (Seattle, WA) who sold it to Tony Soleski (Tacoma, WA). Solecki fitted a Chevrolet engine and it was raced for him by Darrel Lopeman until crashed badly at Spanaway in 1975. The remains were used by team mechanic Robert Wintrip to build a special but all that was left, including bodywork, corners, and much of the frame, were sold to 1990 to de Lespinay (Newport Beach, CA) and Robert Arnold. The chassis was reconstructed using Dave Friedman pictures and the car was restored in time for the 1991 Monterey Historics where it was driven by Sir Jack Brabham. Later seen at the 1994 Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2006 Monterey Historics, 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and 2016 Historic Indycar Exhibition.

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

Autoweek (16 Oct 1965 page A and B) contains a report on this race. Also mentioned in the race were Gene Levin, who led the start of the race in his Lotus 18, Bud Smith, who ran third in his Lotus, Cecil Wells who wrecked his Lotus 20, second heat winner Stan Foley (Lotus 20) and the two FV class winners Byron Quivey (Quivey-BMW) and Tony Simonaro.(Crusader).