Racing & Sport-Racing Car Scratch

Bishopscourt, 15 Jul 1967

All cars are 1.6-litre Irish 1600cc unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT16 [F2-19-65] (John Watson): Jack Brabham's works SCA-engined BT16, used during the 1965 mid-season and also raced by Chris Irwin when the Honda project was revived. To Robs Lamplough (London) for 1966 and retained for 1967. To John Watson (Craigavad, County Down, Northern Ireland) for Irish racing in 1967 and fitted with a Lotus-Ford twin-cam. Retained for 1968. Sold to Dave Berry (Colwyn Bay, Wales) for 1969 and used in UK libre; then fitted with an Oldsmobile V8 for 1970, 1971 and 1972. Last seen in October 1972.
2. Brabham BT16 [BT14 FL-5-65] (Malcolm Templeton): New to Malcolm Templeton (Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) for Irish libre racing, winning 14 libre races over the next three seasons, more than any other Irish driver. Crashed heavily at Dunboyne in July 1966 and rebuilt on a new frame, thought to have been a BT16 frame. Templeton retired after 1967 and the BT14/BT16 was taken over by John Smith, also from Ballymena, and raced for a further two seasons. Sold to Ed Irvine (Conlig, County Down), the father of the future GP driver of the same name, and raced in the 'Club Specials' class at Kirkistown with a 997cc engine in 1971. Then to Gerry Gaw (Bangor, County Down) who raced it in 1972 in the 1600cc class of the Clubmans Specials category with 997cc then 1089cc engines. Then sold to someone in nearby Newtownards who never raced it and later emigrated to Australia, possibly taking the car with him. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Lotus 22 [22-J-19] (Richard Heeley): Alan Putt's article in the in the April 2006 edition of the Golden Gate Lotus Club newsletter (http://www.gglotus.org/ggchap2/06cr1-12/06aprilw.pdf) identifies 22-J-19 as the car bought by Mick Mooney's Irish Racing Cars for Tommy Reid to drive in FJ races and later in libre. The article says that it then went to Richie Heeley and was used in local events with a 1500cc pushrod Ford, then with a supercharger and finally with 1650cc Ford when it appeared in the Mondello Park F5000 race in 1969. It was later raced by Tom Osbourne and Declan Reardon. It then went to Simon Thomas in 1985, then Jonathan Bradbourne in England, Chris Ball in Canada and then in Europe from 1987 to 1991, George Dudley (UK), David Stevenson (UK) and then Patrick Moran in California by 2005.
4. Brabham BT23 [1] (Tommy Reid): Entered by Motor Racing Developments for Jack Brabham in F2 in 1967 until crashed at Rouen in July. Repaired and sold to Mick Mooney's Irish Racing Cars in July, fitted with a 1600cc Ford twin cam and raced by Tommy Reid (Tandragee, County Armagh, Northern Ireland) in Irish 1600cc Formula events for the rest of 1967 and through 1968. Refitted with a Cosworth FVA for 1969 and dominated the Irish season. To Walter Kinnear (Gilford, County Down, Northern Ireland) with twin cam power for 1970 but crashed heavily at Mondello Park in August. Rebuilt on a new BT23C frame and raced in 1971 and 1972 by Nelson Todd (Lisburn, Northern Ireland). To Maurice Stirling (Crumlin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) for 1973 and converted to Irish Clubmans for 1974. Advertised from a Ballymoney, County Antrim telephone number in 1979 but then unknown until for sale by Northdown Racing (Ripley, Surrey) in 1982. Then to Bob Wilson (Glasgow) and sold via dealer Jon Bradburn to Andrew Fellowes in late 1984. To Joe Fairley (Belfast, N. Ireland) 1986. To John Moulds (Alderley Edge, Cheshire) 1997. Sold to Steve Padgett (Australia) 2013.
5. Brabham BT18 [F2-22-66] (Reg Armstrong): New to Roy Winkelmann Racing for Jochen Rindt to race in European F2 in 1966, winning at the Nürburgring in April and at Brands Hatch in October. Sold to Reg Armstrong (Northern Ireland), fitted with a 1600cc Ford twin cam and raced in Northern Ireland in 1967. Later to Tommy Reid (Tandragee, County Armagh) for 1969 as a backup to his Brabham BT23 and used in events where the FVA-engined car was not eligible. To John Smith (Ballymena, County Antrim) and raced again in Irish libre racing in 1970. Smith acquired a BT30 for 1971 and the BT18 was sold to English dealer Bobby Howlings who sold it on, less engine, to RAF pilot John Walmsley. Walmsley fitted a 997cc ex-F3 Cosworth engine and ran it in sprints and hillclimbs, winning the novice award at Blackpool in June 1971. He fitted a Vegantune twin cam for 1972. The car was next seen with John Hart on the hills in 1975, when it still had the Vegantune twin cam, but he apparantly fitted a Cosworth FVA for the 1976 season. Then sold to Jimmy Johnstone for 1977, when it was back to its Vegantune powerplant. Traded to dealer David Winstanley (Winsford, Cheshire) for a Brabham BT30 and then unknown until raced between 1979 and 1981 in Monoposto by Barry Whitehurst (Wombourne, Staffordshire). Peter Speakman (Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria) acquired the car for the 1984 season, and hillclimbed it for many years. It was displayed by Speakman in a Rindt tribute at the Essen Motor Show in 1993. Some time around 2007, this car was bought from David Crowther by Joe Willenpart (Austria). By 2019, this had moved to a private collection.
6. Brabham BT18 [F2-18-66] (Kevin Murphy): New for Jack Brabham to race in Formula 2 from April to July 1966, fitted with a Honda engine. Brabham won at Goodwood, Pau, Montjuich Park, Zolder and Reims in this car. Then raced by Alan Rees at Keimola in August, using a Cosworth SCA engine. Not seen again that season. Sold to Kevin Murphy (County Offaly, Ireland), fitted with a 1600cc Ford twin cam engine and raced by Murphy and Frank Keane in Irish libre events in 1967, 1968 and 1969. Sold to Patsy McGarrity (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for 1970, again for Irish libre. To Paddy Farrelly (Lucan, Dublin, Ireland) for libre in 1971 and for Formula Ireland in 1972. 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

Autosport 21 Jul 1967 p106,121, Irish Wheel Magazine Sep 1967 pp11-13. This round of the series was granted double points as it was originally intended to hold it at Dunboyne. Kevin Murphy's Brabham, running in the handicap, was said to have a twin-cam engine. Templeton now led the series on 29 pts from Watson on 24 and Pollock on 18. The race was run as a class with sports cars and Impala Specials but the 1600cc class was said to have ten starters from an entry of 13, the three "non-starters" being Tommy Reid, Reg Armstrong and Frank Keane. Only seven of the runners are mentioned but one of those is the 1650cc car of Richie Heeley, leaving some doubt on whether the class had been correctly identified.