OldRacingCars.com

Molson Formula Championship

Mont-Tremblant, 30 May 1971

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Jacques Couture Lotus 69 - Ford twin cam Hart
#84 Jim Russell Racing Team (see note 1)
20 34m 15.2s
2 Brian Robertson Brabham BT35 [10] - Ford twin cam Hart
#5 Fred Opert Racing (see note 2)
20 34m 22.4s
3 David McConnell Lotus 69 - Ford twin cam Hart
#86 Jim Russell Racing Team (see note 3)
20 34m 38.7s
4 Ian Coristine March 71BM [1] - Ford twin cam Hart
#50 Delta Racing Developments (see note 4)
20 35m 27.0s
5 John Powell Chevron B17b - Ford twin cam
#30 Penguin Racing Enterprise (see note 5)
19
6 Bill McCaig Brabham BT35 [19] - Ford twin cam
(see note 6)
19
7 Roy Folland Brabham BT35 [18] - Ford twin cam
#20 (see note 7)
19
8 Bill Eagles Chevron B9/B15 - Ford twin cam
#46 Tex Made Racing Team (see note 8)
19
9 Reg Scullion (FF) 1.6-litre Magnum Mk2 - Ford Kent
#95
19
10 Maurice Beauregard (FF) 1.6-litre Lotus - Ford Kent
#88
18
11 Bill Alsup (FF) 1.6-litre Caldwell - Ford Kent
#37
18
12 Jean-Pierre St Jacques (FF) 1.6-litre Magnum - Ford Kent
18
13 Robert Bergeron (FF) 1.6-litre Magnum - Ford Kent
18
14 Ian P Motley (FF) 1.6-litre Merlyn - Ford
18
15 Danny Buttitt (FF) 1.6-litre Hawke - Ford
18
16 Ed Dow (FF) 1.6-litre Hawke - Ford
18
17 unknown (FF) 1.6-litre Hawke - Ford
17
18 Gary Magwood (FF) 1.6-litre Hawke - Ford
17
19 Gilles Villeneuve (FF) 1.6-litre Titan - Ford
16
20 Serge Fournier (FF) 1.6-litre Lotus - Ford Kent
15

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lotus 69 (Jacques Couture): Raced by Jacques Couture as part of the Jim Russell Racing Team in the Players Formula B Championship and the Molson Formula Championship in Canada in 1971, winning rounds of both, and in the Seattle round of the SCCA Continental Championship. Unknown in 1972, but advertised by Fred Opert in October 1972 and again in February 1973. Thought to be the car driven by Opert customer Julio César Hidalgo in the FB race at Autodromo de San Carlo, Caracas in March 1973. Subsequent history unknown, but may be the Victor Gagliano/Bob Silvestro car from 1974 onwards.
  2. Brabham BT35 [10] (Brian Robertson): New to Brian Robertson (Brockville, Ontario, Canada) and raced by him in the Canadian Formula B series in 1971, entered by Fred Opert Racing. To Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario) for Canadian FB in 1972 and 1973. To Fred Beyer (Ottawa, Ontario) for the Players (Canadian) Formula Atlantic series in 1974 and 1975. History then unknown until it was acquired from Bobby Brown in November 2006 by Kent Copeland (Dallas, TX). Brown is believed to have acquired it from Frank Costey in 2004. Copeland commented that it had been owned in Colorado in 1988, and its last races were believed to have been in 1986. It was red when acquired, but restored to a blue colour. Copeland died in July 2014 and, in May 2015, Todd Upp was advertising the car on behalf of his wife Holly. Sold in August 2022 to Stephen Temple (Santa Cruz, CA).
  3. Lotus 69 (David McConnell): Raced by David McConnell (Montréal, Quebec) as part of the Jim Russell Racing Team in the Players Formula B Championship and the Molson Formula Championship in Canada in 1971. McConnell won one round of the Players series and four rounds of the regional Molson Championship, which he easily won. McConnell bought a new GRD for the 1972 Tasman championship, and the subsequent history of the Lotus 69 is unknown.
  4. March 71BM [1] (Ian Coristine): Gordie Dewar was appointed March importer into Canada for 1971 and his first purchase, chassis 71BM-1, went to Delta Racing Developments for Ian Coristine (Montréal, Quebec) to race in the Players FB series. Coristine finished the season fifth in the red #50 March but crashed in practice for the final race, at Circuit Ste-Croix in October. The car went to Reg Scullion (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Montréal, Quebec) for 1972 and it was entered for him by Kris Harrison's Ecurie Canada, and prepared by Andy Roe and Tom Greatorex. Ecurie Canada had also bought Wilson Southam's engine manufacturing business, acquiring Greatorex with it, and were preparing the engines in Scullion's car. Scullion started the season racing in Nationals in Texas before returning to Canada for the Players season. He ended the Canadian season in ninth place but then returned to the US to finish second in the SCCA Run-Offs. He retained the car for 1973 as a Scullion-Donolo Racing entry, and it was raced by partner Louis "Lou" Donolo (Montréal, Quebec) once or twice. Subsequent history unknown.
  5. Chevron B17b (John Powell): Peter Broeker (Pointe-Claire, Montréal, Quebec) raced a Chevron B17b in Canadian Formula B in 1970, often descibing it as a Stebro. It replaced Broeker's earlier B14, so the two cars were often confused. The B17b was raced by Craig Fisher and John Powell (both Toronto, Ontario) in 1971, entered by Penguin Racing Enterprise. The later history of the car is not known. Although it has been suggested that this was the car Broeker raced in 1974, when he returned to Formula Atlantic, that car appears to have been his older B14 updated.
  6. Brabham BT35 [19] (Bill McCaig): New to Maurice McCaig (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), and raced in the Canadian Formula B series in 1971 and 1972. To Hugh Cree (Georgetown, Ontario) for Canadian FB in 1973, and then for Canadian Formula Atlantic in 1974. Advertised by Cree in November 1974, when it had a 1972 big valve Hart. History then unknown until it was advertised in Victory Lane August 1990 by Bill Schley (Hartland, WI), who described it as a "very original car in excellent condition" with a Hart BDA and FT200. Oddly, in the same edition of Victory Lane, Bob Hildreth and Ken Petrie from a Denver, Colorado number advertised a BT35 with the same "# 35-19" serial number, which was "original unrestored" and "in storage for 12 years".
  7. Brabham BT35 [18] (Roy Folland): New to Roy Folland (Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the Canadian Formula B series in 1971, prepared by mechanic Andy Aitken. Some reports suggest Folland raced an older BT29 towards the end of that season, but an article in the Montreal Gazette in late August only mentions a BT35. An annotation to the entry list for the Canadian GP support race in September identified this car as chassis BT35/18. To Bill Eagles (Lasalle, Montréal, Quebec, Canada) for the 1972 Canadian FB series, entered by Tex-Made Racing Team. Then to Scott MacKenzie for 1973, entered and supported by Bryant Cougle of Astro Sports, but crashed heavily at Edmonton in June. The chassis was too badly damaged to be repairable, and MacKenzie suffered neck injuries that brought his season to an end. The car was then used as a source of spares for the team's replacement BT35, before being sold. It was acquired by Doug DeFresne (Portland, OR) in 1979, when it still had Astro Sports bodywork with it. It was acquired by Bob Slusher (Portland, Oregon) in September 2005.
  8. Chevron B9/B15 (Bill Eagles): Bill Eagles (Lasalle, Quebec) raced a Chevron "B9/B15B" in Molson events in 1970 and in the Players FB series in 1971. This may have been the ex-Wayne Kelly B9 but could also have been Peter Broeker's "B9/B14/B15" that he raced in 1969 and then retured to briefly in 1974. Nothing more known.

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.

The 1971-1973 Canadian Formula B race results have been compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Canadian Motorsport Bulletin, results sheets where available and from information drawn from Canadian newspapers.

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.