Rothmans F5000 Championship round

Mondello Park, 30 Apr 1972

All cars are 5-litre F5000 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren "M10H" [400-06 (B)] (Keith Holland): Keith Holland's replacement car. Used in the 1971 British F5000 series during which time it was modified along the lines of McRae's successful car. Retained for 1972 but crashed at Brands in April, after which the car was even further modified and dubbed "M10H". By July 1972, it had side radiators, a wedge nose and had been lengthened by 3½in. Sold to Clive Baker August 1972 and raced in the British series in 1972 and 1973. Then via Chris Oates to Spencer Elton (Westbury, Wilts) late 1973 and advertised. To Stephen Cuff (also Westbury, Wilts) late 1973 and advertised with a 5.7-litre Chev Jan to Apr 1974. To Bob Leckie (Aberdeen) for libre racing that summer. Advertised by Leckie in July 1974 but not seen again. Spencer Elton recalls that Leckie converted the M10B to a Skoda Super Saloon. Subsequent history unknown.
2. Surtees TS8 [007] (Steve Thompson): New for Peter Revson at the 1971 Questor GP then for Alan Roillinson in UK series. To Alan Brodie 1972 and raced by Brodie and by Steve Thompson. To Servis Appliances Racing Team 1973 and raced by Ray Allan early in the season. Then possibly the Robin Darlington car in Sep 1973 Reappeared with Colin Andrews (Banbury, Oxfordshire) 1974, then to Steve Cuff (Frome, Somerset) 1975 for hillclimbs. To Alan Richards (Cheltenham) and used in sprints and occasional hill climbs in 1976 and 1977. Used in sprints and occasional hill climbs by Bob Clapham in 1978 and 1979. Then unknown until sold by Brian Redman to Dave Swigler (Panama City, FL) in 1986. Dave believes Brian got it from Richard Attwood about two years earlier. Retained until Swigler sold his collection to Harin De Silva (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) in 2009. Restored by Virtuoso Performance and first raced at Laguna Seca in August 2011. Also raced in New Zealand in the 2011/12 Tasman Revival series and at the Phillip Island Classic in March 2013.
3. March 725 [1] (John Cannon): Built for 1972 season for John Cannon and fitted with Oldsmobile engine. Raced in UK and US series 1972. Advertised by Cannon and Patrick Kay (Autosport 9 Nov 1972) and later appeared in Ecurie Santos adverts in 1973 and 1974 but not seen again. It is reported that the 725 was sold as part of a large package of cars to Australian Ray Gibbs but the 725 remained in the UK and was sold to Peter Bloore (Wallingford, Oxfordshire). Bloore later sold it to Ryan Hodges who sold it to his friend Jeff Luff but the dates of these transations are unknown. In 1986 it was sold to Richard Parkin (Retford, Nottinghamshire). Richard has sold the car at least twice, only to buy it back again. Parkin sold the car to Richard Taylor (Rishton, Lancashire) in August 2014, but it sat with him at his Autotune Ltd business until 2021, when restoration finally began. During the restoration, Taylor's customer Andrew Wareing admired the car and decided to buy it. The car was completed in mid-2023 and after an initial shakedown test, the car was first seen in public at Aintree in August.
4. Brabham BT16/21B [F2-19-65] (Dave Berry): 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.
5. Lotus 70 [06] (Jock Russell): Jock Russell (Ford V8) UK 1970 (debut Mallory Park May 1970), UK 1971, UK 1972 (first rounds only); retained by Russell for many years - Peter Denty (date unknown): restored and raced in UK by Peter's son, James Denty. Raced by James at the Silverstone Classic in 2005 and at Watkins Glen in 2008. Offered for sale by Peter Denty (Thetford, Norfolk) in 2010. Raced again by James Denty at Watkins Glen in 2012 but on behalf of new owner Nick Grewal (Gilford, NH).
6. Brabham BT30 [12] (Tommy Reid): Autosport identifies BT30-12 as Reid's F2 car in 1971 implying BT30-8 was his FVC libre car. As BT30-8 is advertised by Bobby Howlings in late 1971, it is reasonable to assume that it was BT30-12 that Reid retained for the early part of 1972, still FVA-powered. That car goes to Nelson Todd in July 1972 and according to David McKinney was then John Pollock's 1973 car, Harold McGarrity's 1974 car, and then the BT30 of Paddy Heron (Draperstown, County Londonderry) from 1975 to 1977. This would be the BT30 rolling chassis advertised from a Draperstown phone number in Autosport in June 1978. Sold some time after by Manchester dealer Bobby Howlings to Chris Charlett in Trinidad, later returning to the UK via Howlings again, presuably in a trade for the BT40 that Charlett later raced. The BT30 next appeared in 1986 when it and a BT18 were bought in Staffordshire by Mike Freeman (Staunton, Gloucestershire). Subsequently sold by Freeman to Roger Murray (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria) in 1990 and raced by son James on a few occasions. Sold to Neil Glover (Ansty, West Sussex) by 2004 and then to Michael Scott in 2006.
7. Lotus 69 [69/71.2.F2] (John Pollock): New to Mick Mooney's Irish Racing Cars for Alan Rollinson to race in F2 in 1971, but only appeared once, at Hockenheim. By June, the car was being driven by John Pollock (Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) for Gerry Kinnane's Team Ireland in Irish libre racing. Some confusion was then caused when Motoring News reported that Emerson Fittipaldi's car at the Brazilian F2 Torneo was chassis "69/2". It was clear from the reports in both Autosport and Motoring News that Fittipaldi was driving his usual car, not Rollinson's car, so this "69/2" must have been a transcription error. Pollock continued to use chassis 69/71.2.F2 with great success in Formula Ireland and in libre at Ingliston during 1972. It was then sold to Paddy Farrelly (Lucan, Dublin) for Irish libre in 1973. The car was next seen when advertised as "chassis no 7169/2F2" in Northern Ireland in 1977 having been 'virtually unused last 4 years'. Subsequent history unknown.
8. Lotus 69 [69/71.4.F2] (Patsy McGarrity): New to LIRA, a new team set up by Justin Haler and Chris Witty, with support from the Lotus factory and financial backing from John Kendall. This new car was raced by Richard Scott in F2 in 1971 alongside teammate Reine Wisell in a 1970 Lotus 69. When LIRA collapsed, Scott ran the car privately later in the season. Sold to Patsy McGarrity (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for Irish libre in 1972, then to Dermot O'Leary (Clonee, County Meath, Ireland) for races at Mondello Park in 1973. O'Leary replaced the Cosworth FVA with a BDA for Irish Formula Atlantic in 1974, again just racing at Mondello Park. The car was bought from an advert in Autosport by David Fletcher (Ashdon, Essex) and Steve Bradley (Cambridge) of Ashtune Race Hire and raced by Bradley in Formule libre and Formula Atlantic in 1975, mainly at Silverstone. It then went to Terry Scannell and Colin Thorpe, and was run by Thorpe for Craig Dennis (Rainham, Essex) to drive in Monoposto from 1977/78 to 1981, when the car was crashed at Snetterton in 1981 and was not repaired. The remains were acquired from Thorpe about 1993 by Peter Denty (Thetford, Norfolk), who restored it for German customer Eberhard Metke. It was sold in 2000, but the next owner is not yet known. 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.

1969-1976 UK results have been researched and collated by Chris Townsend based primarily on material in Autosport and Motoring News. Information has been added from the growing collection of entry lists from programs.

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.