Gran Premio del Mediterraneo

Enna-Pergusa, 27 Jul 1975

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Elf 2 (Alpine) A367 [3673] (Gérard Larrousse): New for 1974, for Ecurie Elf team leader Jean-Pierre Jabouille to drive in F2. The car was fitted with Schnitzer BMW engines. It was raced by Jean-Pierre Beltoise at Hockenheim in April, where it used Schnitzer's experimental 12-plug engine. Jabouille won at Hockenheim in June in this car. Retained by Equipe Elf Switzerland for 1975, when No 2 driver Gérard Larrousse used it until his new Jabouille-designed Elf 2 was ready, and Larrousse won at Hockenheim in April in this car. Unlike the two sister cars which were rebuilt for further duty in 1976, this car was sold to Guy Fréquelin and used in French hillclimbs in 1976, still with its Schnitzer BMW engine. It was then sold to Pierre Desnos and used by him in French hillclimbs in 1977 and 1978. Gerard Gamand on Autodiva adds that the car was raced by Jean Louis Neveu from 1983 to 1985.
2. Osella FA2/75 [001] (Diulio Truffo): New for Arturo Merzario to race for Osella Squadra Corse at Vallelunga in October 1974. Rebuilt to 1975 specification and raced by Giorgio Francia in the early part of the season, then by Diulio Truffo, and then my Merzario for the last three races. Rebuilt to 1976 specification and raced by Gianfranco Trombetti at the start of that season. Subsequent history unknown.
3. March 742 [20] (Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi): New to the CSAI's Equipe Nationale as a spare car but sold on unused to Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi, who raced it twice in F2 late in 1974. Pesenti-Rossi raced the car again in 1975 but was more focused on his F3 campaign with a March 743. After a single F2 race with the 742 at the start of 1976, Pesenti-Rossi acquired a 762 and a 763, and the 742 was not seen again. Reports that it went to the Brambillas are now thought to be incorrect. In early 1978, Nigel Clarkson (Cirencester, Gloucestershire) ran a F2 March in the Aurora series. This was described as a 762 when he failed to qualify for the two Easter races but was identified as a 742 with BDX engine when it reappeared in September. Clarkson recalls that "the car was a disaster having been put together from a bunch of bits by an Australian John Gillmeister" and believes it later became a Special Saloon. According to Kevan McLurg, Scot Ron Cummings bought a dismantled March 742 from Clarkson in 1980, and this was used as a basis of such a Special Saloon, a Lotus Esprit that he raced in 1982 with an 1800cc Cosworth engine. He then fitted a 3400cc Ford GAA to it, and raced it in this form from 1983 to 1988. In 1985, it was crashed at Brands Hatch, and rebuilt using a March acquired from the Channel Islands. Cummings then bought a March 802 in AC bodywork and the March-based Esprit was driven by Ricky Gauld (Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) in GT racing at Ingliston in 1989 and 1990. Gauld bought the March from Ron Cummings, recalling that it was "an ex Super Saloon", and used it in March form in hillclimbs in 1994. Meanwhile, the original 742 monocoque and associated parts were sold by Cummings to Hall & Fowler (late Hall & Hall). Rick Hall remembers the transaction and recalls selling such a car to Graham Williams. Some years later, in 2009, the 742 monocoque still with original chasis plate and all its associated parts were acquired by dealer Kevan McLurg from someone in the English northwest. Initially he sold it all to Tony Dunderdale as spares for his own car, but when Dunderdale sold his own 742, the remains of 742-20 were sold by McLurg to a man in Belgium. Subsequent history unknown.
4. March 742/752 [742-8] (Giancarlo Martini): New to Trivellato Racing Team, and raced in F2 by Giancarlo Martini, entered by Scuderia Everest. In 1975, Martini raced for Giancarlo Minardi's Everest-sponsored Scuderia del Passatore, and the March 742 was retained as a muletto. It was raced by Martini at Enna, by Roberto Farneti at Misano when it had 752 bodywork, and is very probably the car raced by Lorenzo Niccolini at Vallelunga in October. The car was then retired and according to a later advertisement it was acquired by Antonino Missiroli who fitted a non-F2 BMW engine and used the car for track days only. It then passed to a Mr Guerzoni (Bolzano) in 1985, but its history is then unknown until acquired by Christian Bouveron (Prunoy, France) in 2007. It was advertised by Bouveron in 2017 when it was restored to Everest livery and in long-nose 1974 specification. Bought by Gerard Gamand in 2019, who commenced a restoration of the car.
5. March 742L [28] (Carlo Giorgio): New to Carlo Giorgio, fitted with a very unusual Holbay Ford Pinto engine and raced in F2 in 1974, entered by Scuderia Jolly Club. Giorgio retained the car for 1975, when he used a Hart Ford BDA. He returned very briefly in 1976, when the car was used to test the new Armaroli V6 engine, but it did not qualify for its only race. He returned for a fourth season in 1977 when the March had its original 742 sidepods but a 762 cockpit and 762 nose, and used a Hart 420R engine. He failed to qualify for three of his five races that season and did not go the distance in the other two. He raced the car again in 1978, when it has a distinctive rollhoop extension. This was carried over when it moved from its 762 bodywork to full 782 bodywork during the season. He failed to qualify for all his six races that season, except at the Nürburgring in April where he was 37th and slowest in practice, but everyone was allowed to start. For the 1979 season, Giorgio acquired a pukka March 782. The 742 ended with a record of 25 F2 races but 12 failures to qualify and only five classified finishes. Many years later, in 2016, the monocoque from this car was in the garage of Silvio Pederzini in Padova, Italy. It showed signs of having had a 782 roll hoop forward stay stiffening plate added just forward of the rear seat panel, showing it was the car Giorgio used in 1978.
6. March 742L [21] (Gianfranco Trombetti): New to the CSAI's Equipe Nationale, then managed by Eugenio Dragoni, for Diulio Truffo to drive in F2 in 1974. After Dragoni's sudden death in April 1974, the team was managed by Ottorino Maffezzoli, the Monza circuit director. Run by Osella Squadra Corse for Truffo until his new Osella was ready, then to Gianfranco Trombetti for the rest of the 1975 season.
7. March 752 [22] (Sandro Cinotti): New to Ron Dennis's Project Three Racing but using an early-season monocoque that had already been used by the work team. Raced by Patrick Depailler at Pau, then Vittorio Brambilla at Salzburgring, and by Bruno Pescia, Sandro Cinotti, Tim Schenken and Maurizio Flammini later in the season. Sold to John Nicholson for 1976, fitted with a Chevrolet Vega engine and used in F2 and in the Shellsport G8 series. To Alan Baillie for 1977, who fitted a Swindon BDX engine for libre, Shellsport and Aurora over the next three seasons. Subsequent history unknown.
8. Chevron B29 [29-75-12] (Christian Ethuin): New to Fred Stalder's Societé Racing Organisation Course (Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, France), and fitted with ROC's Chrysler-Simca-based engines, developed by Max Funda (Geneva, Switzerland) for Formula 2 in 1975. Raced by Christian Ethuin, starting at Hockenheim in April, and also by former F1 driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise at Magny Cours, Pau and Nogaro. It was part of a two car team with Xavier Lapeyre driving the other car. Laurent Ferrier then drove the car in the final race of the season but did not qualify. It was raced by Roger Rivoire in two French hillclimbs in early 1976, at Charnizay and at Hébecrevon, and later in the year was driven by Jean Lachaud at Le Gua and Limonest-Mt Verdun. Press reports said it had been loaned to Lachaud by ROC boss Fred Stalder for these two events. As Xavier Lapeyre had retained his B29 for 1976, Lachaud must have been in the ex-Beltoise car. By the same logic, 75-12 is likely to be the ROC-engined Chevron bought by Ange-Marie Cheval from Stalder for 1977. It was described as a B27/B29, a B29 and a B29/35, but photographs in Echappement clearly show a B29. Advertised in Echappement in October 1977 as a B29/35. Subsequent history unknown, but there is a good chance this could be the "B35"-ROC raced by Jean Arzeno at Ceyreste in September 1979 and then the "B35" raced by Bernard Hazotte from 1980 onwards.
9. March 732 ["59"] (Max Bonnin): Max Bonnin raced a March in Formula 2 in 1974, which was described by Motoring News as being "one of last year's March monocoques", to which Bonnin had fitted his own suspension, "which featured narrower track and revised roll centres". Bonnin later told Gérard Gamand that he acquired an unused 732 monocoque to build this car. It was powered by a Hart BDA. Bonnin raced this car in F2 through 1974 and 1975 before buying a March 752 for 1976. The 732, by then called a 742, was sold to Jean-Louis Albinet and used in French hillclimbs in 1976, 1977 and 1978, using a 2-litre Hart engine. In July 1978, Albinet acquired a Martini MK22, and the March-Hart was sold to Gérard Lafaurie (Bordeaux, Aquitaine), first appearing in August 1978 in a "March 732", and then regularly from the start of 1979 in a "March 742". Lafaurie raced the car again in 1980, 1981, and 1982. Later in 1982, the car was sold to Pascal Malateste, who fitted the 1600cc engine from his Pygmée. He raced the car in 1982 and 1983, before it passed to his father Yves Malateste in 1984. It is reported that the elder Malateste had a severe accident in the car, leaving him in a wheelchair. It is also reported that the remains of this car were sold to dealer/collector Christian Hollinger (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France), who took them to mechanic Jean-Pierre Navarro (Montluel, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), who built a new March 712-style monocoque and reassembled the car to be used in the 1600cc Historic F2 series. According to Navarro's records, the resulting car was delivered by Hollinger to Frédéric Lacarelle (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes). The car's HVIF shows Lacarelle acquiring it in January 1994. From Lacarelle, it went to Jean-Jacques Gravier (Servolex, Rhône-Alpes) who entered it for Historic Formula 2 events between 1999 and 2002 as a March "71B". Subsequent history withheld.
10. March 752 [10] (Hans Binder): Sold to Jorg Obermoser and run by Obermoser's Team Warsteiner Eurorace for Hans Binder in European F2, and later for Alain Peltier and Ewald Boisitz. To Alois Muller for 1976, still with its B Schnitzer BMW engine and used in the European F2 race at Salzburgring in May 1976, where it was entered by BMW Dienst Rischer Wien, and in Austrian national events. Unknown after 1976.
11. March 742L [26] (Cosimo Turizio): New to Trivellato Racing Team and raced by Cosimo Turizio in F2 in 1974, entered by Scuderia Vesuvio and sponsored by insurance company Lloyd Centauro Italia. He started the season with the car in standard short-nose customer specification, but it was in works long-nose form by Mugello in July. Turizio retained the car for 1975, when he was again entered by Scuderia Vesuvio, and was sponsored by Lloyd Centauro. Subsequent history unknown.
12. March 752 [24] (Herbert Muller): New to Hotz for customer Herbert Muller in Artos livery and used in F2 and in Swiss national events. Retained by Muller for 1976 and again used in Swiss events. Used by Rüdi Gygax at the F2 race at Hockenheim in September but did not qualify. Unknown after 1976.
13. March 742 [30] (Claude Bourgoignie): New to Bang & Olufsen late in the 1974 season and used as a training car over the close season by Bernard de Dryver, the son of B&O's marketing director Fredy De Dryver. Bang & Olufsen Team Vaillant bought new March 752s for 1975 but the 742 was kept as a backup, and De Dryver reverted to the 742 for the race at Magny Cours in May. It was also raced by B&O teammate Claude Bourgoignie at Enna in August. Advertised by Brian Lewis for Bang & Olufsen Team Michel Vaillant in November 1975. Retained again for 1976 and raced by De Dryver and by Hervé Regout, B&Q's 1975 F3 driver. Sold after 1976 to Belgian hillclimber Henri Bruixola (Brussels), who raced it in Belgian hillclimbs in 1977. He sold it to Claude Darné in France but the next owners after that are not known. A later owner, Fouché (Foucher?), sold it to Maurice Noel (Cherbourg), who sold it to Alain Prat in 1991. Raced by Alain in French historic events. Sold in 2003 to Ian Jacobs and raced by him in HSCC events. To Mark Dwyer (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire) in 2006, also in HSCC racing, and restored to Bang & Olufsen livery in 2009.
14. March 752 [3] (Lamberto Leoni): Entered by Giancarlo Minardi's Scuderia del Passatore for Lamberto Leoni in F2 in 1975. Also for Diulio Truffo at one late-season race. Retained by Minardi as a spare car for his Scuderia Everest in 1976 and raced by Gianfranco Brancatelli at Mugello in July. Unknown after 1976.
15. Elf (Jabouille) 2J [7502] (Jean-Pierre Jabouille): New for the Elf Switzerland team in mid-1975, based on the Alpine A367 chassis 3672 used by the team in 1974. This second car was produced during July, and was driven by Jean-Piere Jabouille at Enna-Pergusa, Silverstone and Zolder, retiring with engine problems at all three races. It was driven by Marie-Claude Beaumont at Vallelunga in October as Jabouille was in Japan with the Alpine sports cars, her first public run in a single seater. She went off the track during practice while avoiding a spinning José Pedro Chateaubriand, and cleaning dirt from the throttle slides left her no time to set a qualifying time. This car was consumed in the creation of new cars with Renault V6 engines for 1976. Whether chassis 7502 became the new chassis 7602 remains unresolved.
16. March 752 [23] (Vittorio Brambilla): New to Ron Dennis's Project Three Racing and driven in F2 by Bruno Pescia, Vittorio Brambilla, Masami Kuwashima, Tim Schenken and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in 1975. Retained in 1976 as part of Project Four Racing and thought to be the "762" used as a testbed for the Lancia engines at the start of that season. Then probably the "762" used by Gilles Villeneuve at Pau and by Mikko Kozarowitzky at three later races. Unknown after July 1976.
17. March 742 [22] (Maurizio Flammini): New to the CSAI's Equipe Nationale, then managed by Eugenio Dragoni, for Maurizio Flammini to drive in F2 in 1974. After Dragoni's sudden death in April 1974, the team was managed by Ottorino Maffezzoli, the Monza circuit director. Flammini reappeared in this car from June 1975 onwards, running as part of the Trivellato Racing Team, and won at Mugello in July and Misano in August. Flammini joined the March works F2 team for 1976, but brought the old 742 out for a few races in 1977. In March 1977, the ex-Flammini March 742 was advertised by Yolanda Fawsitt (Haddenham, Buckinghamshire), although Autosport gave her name as Solanda Fowsitt. Subsequent history unknown.
18. March 742L [15] (Carlo Franchi ("Gimax")): Sold to Trivellato Racing Team and raced by Gabrielle Serblin in F2 in 1974. Retained by Trivellato as a spare car for 1975 and raced by Alberto Colombo, Francesco Cerulli-Irelli, Serblin and "Gimax" (Carlo Franchi). Raced by Gimax at a few Italian F2 races in 1976 and 1977 then to Richard Jones and Robin Smith for the Aurora AFX series in mid-1978, using the Cosworth BDG (or BDA) engine from the pair's Chevron B31 sports car that had been wrecked at Le Mans. Also raced by fellow sports car racer Tony Charnell at the end of 1978. The car is then unknown for two years, until an "Atlantic March" 742 with 772 bodywork was advertised by Ralph Halley, an Opel dealer in Milngavie, a suburb of Glasgow. It was bought from Halley by Jim McGaughey (Lochgilphead, Argyll and Bute, Scotland) and rebuilt as a Renault 5GT special saloon for 1981, using bodywork modelled on the new Renault 5 Turbo by Graham Kelly, a 1930cc Cosworth FVC acquired from Jimmy Jack, and a Hewland FT200 gearbox. It debuted in this form at Ingliston in April 1981, and won McGaughey the 1981 Scottish GT Championship. He then fitted an ex-F2 BMW M12 engine acquired from hillclimber Barrogill Angus, and raced it again in 1982 and 1983. When the special saloon's career ended, it was acquired by the Higgins Brothers of Lincolnshire, and was bought from them by Ian Jones in 1990, by which time it was in a very sorry state. Jones reskinned the monocoque using the original bulkheads, fabricated new suspension parts, and fitted late-1974 (long-nose) F2 bodywork. Jones sold it to Richard Evans in 2010, and by 2012 it was completed with a Gathercole BDG in Stebel livery and was raced in the Derek Bell Trophy races at the HSCC Superprix at Brands Hatch. Shared by Evans and Andrew Smith in Historic F2 from 2013 onwards.
19. Chevron B29 [29-75-10] (Xavier Lapeyre): New to Fred Stalder's Societé Racing Organisation Course (Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, France), and fitted with ROC's Chrysler-Simca-based engines, developed by Max Funda (Geneva, Switzerland) for Formula 2 in 1975. Raced by Xavier Lapeyre (Toulouse, southwest France), starting at Hockenheim in April. Lapeyre left ROC for 1976, but retained the Chevron, fitting a BMW engine and racing it in five events at the start of 1976, failing to qualify for four of them. The last time the B29 was seen was at Pau on 7 June, where Lapeyre failed to qualify, and at the next race, at Rouen three weeks later, he had a new Chevron B35. Sold to Werner Ruckelshausen for Austrian national races in 1977, where it was entered as a "Chevron Swindon" of 2000cc capacity, implying a Swindon BDX engine. Subsequent thistory unknown.
20. March 732 [733] (Luis Maria de Almenara): New to Max Bonnin at some point during the 1973 Formula 3 season. Sold during 1974 to Luis Maria de Almenara Juandò (Barcelona, Spain), who raced it at Magione in September 1974. Then rebuilt as a March 732 for Formula 2 in 1975, using an ex-Alpine Hart BDA engine. De Almenara raced the car at five races in Formula 2 in 1975, but failed to qualify for four of them. He also ran it at the Carrera en Cuesta a la Rabassada hillclimb in Spain in October 1975, finishing second. A photograph of the car at Rabassada shows it wearing works-style 742 bodywork with side radiators, and the rollhoop casing cut down as happened to the 752s early in the 1975 season. Subsequent history unknown.
21. Surtees TS15 [08] (Francy Jerancic): This car was not seen in 1973, but was raced by John Watson as a works Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees entry at the opening race of the 1974 season where it was described as "one of last year's cars dusted off". It was then José Dolhem's works car at the next four races before disappearing again. To Yugoslavian driver Francy Jerancic for 1975, entered in four F2 races by Avto-Moto društvo (AMD) Škofja Loka. Jerancic returned for three races in 1977. In early 1978, the car was advertised by David Winstanley's Lodge Corner Agencies (Crewe, Cheshire), but the advert said that details were still to come from Yugoslavia, which suggests the car was not actually in Crewe. As it was not advertised again, it may never have arrived. Subsequent history unknown, but some time around 1990, this car was bought by Pasqualino Turatello from Flavio Tullio. Pasqualino Turatello's son Francesco understands that the car had previously been used in Swiss hillclimbs. Flavio Tullio's son Matteo recalls that Flavio owned the car twice, selling it to Bertola of Torino and then buying it back, before selling it to Turatello. Matteo believes it was used by Bertola in French hillclimbs using a Fiat Volumetrico engine. It is listed in its 2013 FIA HTP as a Surtees TS15/A with chassis number TS15/08. Used by Francesco Turatello in historic hillclimbs in 2014.

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

Motoring News (31 Jul 1975 pp8-9) gives chassis numbers for all qualifiers. Some pseudonyms cause problems: "Gimax" was in "the Trivellato's old back-up car which had been rebuilt after Serblin crashed it heavily at Pau", while "Gianfranco" is said to be (Carlo) Bilotti instead of Trombetti. Osella had sold the 002 car to Charly Kyser and Jabouille had to take over the 002 Elf 2 as he'd damaged his at Mugello.