Players (Canadian) Formula B Series Race

Mont-Tremblant, 11 Jul 1971

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lotus 69 (David McConnell): Raced by David McConnell (Montréal, Quebec) as part of the Jim Russell Racing Team in the Players Formula B Championship and the Molson Formula Championship in Canada in 1971. McConnell won one round of the Players series and four rounds of the regional Molson Championship, which he easily won. McConnell bought a new GRD for the 1972 Tasman championship, and the subsequent history of the Lotus 69 is unknown.
2. Brabham BT35 [10] (Brian Robertson): New to Brian Robertson (Brockville, Ontario, Canada) and raced by him in the Canadian Formula B series in 1971, entered by Fred Opert Racing. To Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario) for Canadian FB in 1972 and 1973. To Fred Beyer (Ottawa, Ontario) for the Players (Canadian) Formula Atlantic series in 1974 and 1975. History then unknown until it was acquired from Bobby Brown in November 2006 by Kent Copeland (Dallas, TX). Brown is believed to have acquired it from Frank Costey in 2004. Copeland commented that it had been owned in Colorado in 1988, and its last races were believed to have been in 1986. It was red when acquired, but restored to a blue colour. Copeland died in July 2014 and, in May 2015, Todd Upp was advertising the car on behalf of his wife Holly. Sold in August 2022 to Stephen Temple (Santa Cruz, CA).
3. March 71BM (Derek Johnson): George Brocklehurst (Montréal, Quebec, Canada) bought a March 71BM but preferred to race it only in minor events, leaving it to Derek Johnson (Montréal, Quebec) in the bigger events. Brocklehurst's car ran as a #93 Todco Racing Team entry. Although it was silver, it seems likely to have been the blue 71BM-5 shown in March records as having gone to a customer of Canadian March importer Gordie Dewar. The car was written off in Johnson's accident in the rain at Trois-Rivières in August when he wrapped it round a telephone pole. [CT]
4. March 71BM (Randy Fraser): Wilson Southam acquired two red March 71BMs for Canadian Formula B in 1971, one for Randy Fraser and one for himself. Fraser's was the first to appear, running as the #54 Tartan Fraser entry and is most likely to have been 71BM-8. In early 1972, the car was sold to Gilles Léger (Lachute, Quebec) and updated to 722 specification by Tom Greatorex, who also prepared the car for Léger. Then to Patricia Smith (Montréal, Quebec) in 1973 entered as #51 by P.S. Translations. Subsequent history unknown.
5. March 71BM [1] (Ian Coristine): Gordie Dewar was appointed March importer into Canada for 1971 and his first purchase, chassis 71BM-1, went to Delta Racing Developments for Ian Coristine (Montréal, Quebec) to race in the Players FB series. Coristine finished the season fifth in the red #50 March but crashed in practice for the final race, at Circuit Ste-Croix in October. The car went to Reg Scullion (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Montréal, Quebec) for 1972 and it was entered for him by Kris Harrison's Ecurie Canada, and prepared by Andy Roe and Tom Greatorex. Ecurie Canada had also bought Wilson Southam's engine manufacturing business, acquiring Greatorex with it, and were preparing the engines in Scullion's car. Scullion started the season racing in Nationals in Texas before returning to Canada for the Players season. He ended the Canadian season in ninth place but then returned to the US to finish second in the SCCA Run-Offs. He retained the car for 1973 as a Scullion-Donolo Racing entry, and it was raced by partner Louis "Lou" Donolo (Montréal, Quebec) once or twice. Subsequent history unknown.
6. Chevron B17b (John Powell): Peter Broeker (Pointe-Claire, Montréal, Quebec) raced a Chevron B17b in Canadian Formula B in 1970, often descibing it as a Stebro. It replaced Broeker's earlier B14, so the two cars were often confused. The B17b was raced by Craig Fisher and John Powell (both Toronto, Ontario) in 1971, entered by Penguin Racing Enterprise. The later history of the car is not known. Although it has been suggested that this was the car Broeker raced in 1974, when he returned to Formula Atlantic, that car appears to have been his older B14 updated.
7. Chevron B9/B15 (Bill Eagles): Bill Eagles (Lasalle, Quebec) raced a Chevron "B9/B15B" in Molson events in 1970 and in the Players FB series in 1971. This may have been the ex-Wayne Kelly B9 but could also have been Peter Broeker's "B9/B14/B15" that he raced in 1969 and then retured to briefly in 1974. Nothing more known.
8. Brabham BT35 [18] (Roy Folland): New to Roy Folland (Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the Canadian Formula B series in 1971, prepared by mechanic Andy Aitken. Some reports suggest Folland raced an older BT29 towards the end of that season, but an article in the Montreal Gazette in late August only mentions a BT35. An annotation to the entry list for the Canadian GP support race in September identified this car as chassis BT35/18. To Bill Eagles (Lasalle, Montréal, Quebec, Canada) for the 1972 Canadian FB series, entered by Tex-Made Racing Team. Then to Scott MacKenzie for 1973, entered and supported by Bryant Cougle of Astro Sports, but crashed heavily at Edmonton in June. The chassis was too badly damaged to be repairable, and MacKenzie suffered neck injuries that brought his season to an end. The car was then used as a source of spares for the team's replacement BT35, before being sold. It was acquired by Doug DeFresne (Portland, OR) in 1979, when it still had Astro Sports bodywork with it. It was acquired by Bob Slusher (Portland, Oregon) in September 2005.
9. Brabham BT29 [49] (Barry Fox): New to Barry Fox (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) for Formula B in 1971. Barry was the son of Tom Fox, one of the backers of the "Spirit of Edmonton" project in 1970. He first tested the BT29 at Edmonton on 21 April 1971, and first raced it in a CASC Regional at the same circuit in mid-May. He then competed in most rounds of the Players series, sponsored by Astro Shield and Muntz. The BT29 was sold to Dave Ogilvy (Vancouver, BC), who raced it in the Players series in 1972. It was then sold to Gordon Munroe (Victoria, BC) who raced it in Canadian and ICSCC events in 1973 and 1974 as a Formula B, then from 1975 to 1979 as a Formula Atlantic. Munroe then sold the Brabham to Andrew Hagen (Victoria, BC), proprietor of Eurocar in Victoria, who fitted an Alfa Romeo engine for ICSCC Formula B events in 1980 and 1981. It was typically entered by "Jawl Bros Racing/Euro Car". Rex Thompson (West Vancouver) bought it from Euro Car and raced it in ICSCC Novice races in 1982. Still owned by Thompson in 2008.
10. Brabham BT29 [34] (Ken Huband): Ken Huband (Ottawa, Ontario) ran a red/black #15 Brabham BT29 in Canadian and US Formula B in 1970, first appearing at Mont-Tremblant 24 May 1970. He retained the car in 1971 and in 1972. Huband advertised the BT29 in CP&A 21 Oct 1972 as "Brabham BT29/34", implying it was chassis 34. Several BT29 owners had mentioned the chassis numbers of the cars in adverts, presumably to emphasise the newer cars. Peter Nye arranged the sale of the car to Bill Wolfe, a dentist in Austin, Texas, but Wolfe later pulled out of a deal with Nye to assemble the car for him. Nothing more known until a car with this chassis number sold by Reg Howell (Newport Beach, CA) to Steve Thein (San Diego, CA) in December 1994, then by Thein to Francisco "Tito" Gallegos (San Antonio, TX) in March 1999. Subsequent history unknown.
11. Lotus 69 (Jacques Couture): Raced by Jacques Couture as part of the Jim Russell Racing Team in the Players Formula B Championship and the Molson Formula Championship in Canada in 1971, winning rounds of both, and in the Seattle round of the SCCA Continental Championship. Unknown in 1972, but advertised by Fred Opert in October 1972 and again in February 1973. Thought to be the car driven by Opert customer Julio César Hidalgo in the FB race at Autodromo de San Carlo, Caracas in March 1973. Subsequent history unknown, but may be the Victor Gagliano/Bob Silvestro car from 1974 onwards.
12. Brabham BT29 (Peter W Nye): Syd Demovsky (Chicago, IL) raced a yellow #11 Brabham BT29 in Pro events in 1970. At the end of the year the car was sold via Joe Grimaldi (Race Shop) to Peter Nye (Ann Arbor, MI) who fitted it with a HRE twin cam and raced it in Pro events and in some SCCA events through 1971. At the end of that season he sold it less engine to Jim Lloyd (Indianapolis, IN), who Nye recalled converted it to Formula C with a Cosworth SCA engine. Newspaper reports of Lloyd's exploits described his engine as a 998cc Ford Cosworth downdraft engine, which implies a Cosworth MAE. Lloyd won the CenDiv FC title in 1972 and 1973. Lloyd's chief crew was Chuck Matthews and they ran as Lloyd Matthews Racing. Other crew members were Doug Campbell and Les Miller. Lloyd apparanely sold the car and borrowed an older BT21B for 1974, but the following year his crew member Les Miller raced a Formula C BT29, again entered by Matthews-Lloyd Racing. Lloyd appears to have either retained or reacquired the car and later restored it to Formula B specification for vintage racing. In 1988, a list of "Known of former Brabham owners", almost certainly compiled by John Hafkenschiel of the US Brabham Registry, showed Lloyd owning chassis BT29-15. Lloyd advertised such a car in fully-restored condition in February 1991, stating that it had won 25 Nationals between 1969 and 1976, and was "National Champ 1974 FC". Lloyd wasn't national FC champion in 1974 - it was Bill Anspach in a Chevron - and by that time Lloyd had sold his BT29 and was racing an older BT21B, so it is quite possible that the BT29 Lloyd restored was not the one he had raced in 1972 and 1973. Lloyd raced a #4 Brabham BT29 at VSCDA Grattan in August 1994 and August 1995.
13. Brabham BT23F [1] (Al Justason): Sold to Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and fitted with a Vegantune Ford twin cam engine for SCCA 'Pro' and NEDiv Formula B. Raced through 1968 and retained for a few races in 1969 as Gubelmann's BT29 was late arriving. Sold to Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) who used it in both the Canadian and US Pro series in 1970 and again in the Canadian FB series in 1971. Sold to Michael Houselander who appeared at two Canadian national events in 1972, Later sold to ‘Dino Delousis’ who fitted a turbocharged 2-litre Ford Pinto engine for libre events but found the car to be undrivable and stored it from about 1974 to 2004 when sold to Dave Darrow (Mississauga, Ontario) and fully restored. Retained until 2007 when sold via race-cars.com to Murray Bryden (Melbourne, Australia). Sold to David Kloster (Kinglake, Victoria) September 2011.
14. Brabham BT29 (Bob Evans): Bob Evans (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) drove a #44 Brabham BT29 in two Players series races at Mont-Tremblant in July and August 1971. He was also an entrant for the Players race at Mosport Park in October and the entry list recorded his car as a BT29. Evans and fellow Edmonton resident Barry Fox were sponsored in 1971 in a pair of BT29s by Muntz Canada, a maker of 8-Track Stereo systems. The only other reference found to Evans and a BT29 was two years later, when Jack Ondrack (Edmonton) was expected to be racing "Bob Evans' old BF 29 Brabham Formula B car" in a regional race at Edmonton in May 1973. When the Northern Alberta Sports Car Club held a drivers school at Edmonton in April, Ondrack had been said to be driving the ex-Barry Fox BT29, but the ex-Fox BT29 had been sold to Dave Ogilvy in British Columbia in 1972, so this is more likely to have been his teammate Evans' car. This BT29 may have been the car advertised by Anglo Canadian Motorsport Centre in Edmonton in early 1973 as complete but needing work. Anglo Canadian was run by Mike Atkin, who, like Ondrack, was an experienced ice racer. Ondrack retired from the first regional race at Edmonton, and then handed the car to the more experienced Howard Cazaley for the second. Cazaley won the race. Ondrack also won a novice race at the same track later in the season, finishing second in both formula races later in the day. Ondrack then returned to ice racing in his Corvair-engined Karman Ghia, and nothing more was heard of the Brabham.
15. Brabham BT21C (Reg Forth): Bought from Fred Opert by Bill Bovenizer (Toronto, Ontario) and raced in Canadian Formula B events in 1970. Bill believes Horst Kwech may have raced it before he did. He sold it to Reg Forth for 1971 who continued to race it in Canadian events. Subsequent history unknown.
16. Chevron B17b [17B.70.04?] (Bruce Jensen): Bruce Jensen (Kitchener, Ontario) raced a Chevron B17b in Canadian Formula B in 1971, entered by Jen-Mac Racing. His car was white, and was entered as #41. Jensen retained the car for 1972, again running as #41. Leighton Irwin recalls that in 1972, the car was modified with a sports car nose designed by Terry Welch and larger rear wing. This created too much downforce, and not realising that stiffer springs were needed, his team struggled with the car on faster circuits. Subsequent history unknown.
17. Lola T240 (Max Mizejewski): Bought by Jean de la Bruyere (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) for Max Mizejewski (Woodland Hills, CA) to race in SCCA Formula B in 1971 as "The Edmonton Flyer", after an initial project involving a March 71BM fell apart. Raced by Mizejewski in two early races of the Canadian FB series, at Edmonton (as #27) and at Mont-Tremblant (as #97). The number #97 appears on a red T240 later in 1971, and in 1972, and it seems highly likely that this was the same car. It was used by Brooks Frybarger (Carmel, CA) in an SCCA Regional at Riverside in October 1971, and then by Gordon Strom (Santa Cruz, CA/Sunnyvale, CA), entered by The Tex-All Comp, at two raced at Riverside in February 1972. Frybarger then raced it in four more northern California FB events from April to June 1972, including the Pro FB race at Laguna Seca in May. Then sold to Charlie Powell (Riverside, CA), also sometimes called Chuck Powell, who raced it in Formula B in 1972 and early 1973. His only known races in the car are at his home town track but he may have ventured further afield. He crashed the car in an SCCA National in Feb 1973, when he flipped sideways and landed upside down on the barrier, resulting in a 10-day stay in hospital. He acquired a replacement car for 1974, now known to be HU6. The fate of this first car is unknown, but it is assumed to no longer exist.
18. Brabham BT35 [19] (Maurice McCaig): New to Maurice McCaig (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), and raced in the Canadian Formula B series in 1971 and 1972. To Hugh Cree (Georgetown, Ontario) for Canadian FB in 1973, and then for Canadian Formula Atlantic in 1974. Advertised by Cree in November 1974, when it had a 1972 big valve Hart. History then unknown until it was advertised in Victory Lane August 1990 by Bill Schley (Hartland, WI), who described it as a "very original car in excellent condition" with a Hart BDA and FT200. Oddly, in the same edition of Victory Lane, Bob Hildreth and Ken Petrie from a Denver, Colorado number advertised a BT35 with the same "# 35-19" serial number, which was "original unrestored" and "in storage for 12 years".
19. Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-42] (Eligio Siconolfi): New to Jacques Couture (Laval, Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson Championship during 1970. The car was entered by Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd, and generally wore #86. Sold to Eligio Siconolfi (Montréal, Quebec) for 1971 and raced in the Players Canadian Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson series. The car was acquired from Siconolfi by Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec) who took some time restoring it, and then raced it in regional events in Canada in 1973. Lanaro recalled to Joe Griffin in 2021 that "after a bad accident at Mosport, I sold what was left it to Peter Draggfy". Peter Dragffy is known to have had several Lotus 59/69s in the 1980s.

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.

The 1971-1973 Canadian Formula B race results have been compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Canadian Motorsport Bulletin, results sheets where available and from information drawn from Canadian newspapers.

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.