All-Ireland 1600cc Single-Seater Championship Race

Kirkistown, 22 Jul 1967

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

Notes on the cars:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

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 28 Jul 1967 p159, Irish Wheel Magazine Sep 1967 p36. Brian Cullen dropped out in the "1525cc Crosslé". Kinghan's slow Alexis was said to be 1594cc, implying a pushrod Ford. Frank Keane, running Kevin Murphy's Brabham in the libre race was said to have a 1594cc pushrod engine.