All-Ireland 1600cc Single-Seater Championship Race

Bishopscourt, 2 Sep 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 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

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 8 Sep 1967 p409, Irish Wheel Magazine Oct 1967 pp25-28. The 1600cc race left Templeton on 44pts, Watson on 40, Pollock on 25 and Murphy on 20. There were two more races to run.