Players (Canadian) Formula B Series Race

Mosport Park, 19 Sep 1971

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT35 [39] (Allan Lader): New to Allan Lader in 1971 to replace the Brabham BT29 he had wrecked at Mexico City in June. Entered by Pacifico Inc. (Gresham, OR), and used by Lader to win at Road America in August and Mosport in September. Based on an annotation in a race program, this car is believed to be chassis BT35/39 (although a F3 car appeared in Germany in 1972 which is said to have the same chassis number). Presumably the Brabham BT35 entered by Pacifico for Frank Fitch at Riverside 24 Sep 1972 and, by extension, the Brabham raced by Fitch in other west coast events in 1972. Enetred by Fitch once in 1973. Subsequent history unknown.
2. Brabham BT29 (Bill Brack): After Rudolfo Junco's wrecked his usual Brabham BT29 in an accident in the warm up session at the FB race at Monterrey, Mexico, in June 1971, he was allocated another BT29 as part of the Fred Opert Racing operation. This #80 car was advertised by Opert later with mention that it was the car driven by Bill Brack at Mosport Park 19 Sep 1971. In October, Opert's advert called it a 1970 BT29 with 1971 wings and rollbar. This is presumably the car raced by Junco at the two Bogotá Formula B races in February and March 1972. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Chevron B18 (Freddy van Beuren): Freddy van Beuren (Estad de Mexico, Mexico) raced a orange/yellow Chevron B18 as part of the Fred Opert team in Formula B in 1971. The car was advertised by Opert in October 1971 but was not sold and is likely to be the car that van Beuren raced in Bogotá in February and March 1972. Van Beuren then took over as chief instructor at the Opert Racing School at Bridgehampton, and the next time he and the B18 were seen was at Brainerd in September 1972. The B18 was then taken over by Bill Brack for two late-season races, and was advertised by Opert in February 1973. It is probably the Opert-entered car raced by Bobby Dennett at Caracas in March 1973. Subsequent history unknown, but thought to be the car sold to Dean Lundgreen.
4. 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.
5. Brabham BT35 [32] (Raúl Pérez Gama): Raúl Pérez Gama was one of several Mexican customers of Fred Opert racing in the early 1970s. For 1971, he had a brand new orange-and-yellow Brabham BT35 and raced as part of the Fred Opert Racing team in Pro Formula B events with entry number #66. He retained the car for the two Bogotá races in early 1972 after which BT35-32 has been identified as the car driven in SCCA events by Gordon Strom (Santa Cruz, CA or Sunnyvale, CA) in 1972 and for the following three seasons, retaining the car's original orange and yellow colours throughout. For 1976, Strom acquired a Chevron B29 and the Brabham may have been traded back to Fred Opert.
6. 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).
7. Brabham BT29 [48] (Thomas E. Kornell): Sold new to Tom Kornell (Seal Beach, CA) and raced in SCCA Divisional and Pro Formula B in 1971 and 1972. Kornell added a sports car nose and a more substantial rollhoop amongst other changes. He ordered a Brabham BT41 for 1973 and the BT29 went to Fred Opert as a trade. Subsequent history unknown.
8. Brabham BT23F [1] (Al Justason): Sold to Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and fitted with a Vegantune Ford twin cam engine for SCCA 'Pro' and NEDiv Formula B. Raced through 1968 and retained for a few races in 1969 as Gubelmann's BT29 was late arriving. Sold to Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) who used it in both the Canadian and US Pro series in 1970 and again in the Canadian FB series in 1971. Sold to Michael Houselander who appeared at two Canadian national events in 1972, Later sold to ‘Dino Delousis’ who fitted a turbocharged 2-litre Ford Pinto engine for libre events but found the car to be undrivable and stored it from about 1974 to 2004 when sold to Dave Darrow (Mississauga, Ontario) and fully restored. Retained until 2007 when sold via race-cars.com to Murray Bryden (Melbourne, Australia). Sold to David Kloster (Kinglake, Victoria) September 2011.
9. Brabham BT35 [19] (Maurice 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".
10. Lotus 69 [71/69.4.FB] (Bob Hebert): New to "J Silver" in March 1971 with red bodywork according to the Lotus built record. This would have been John Silver, owner of the Barrington House restauarant in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, who sponsored Bob Hebert (Monterey, MA). Raced by Hebert in Northeast Division SCCA Nationals in 1971 and 1972. Sold to George Liebman Jr (New York, NY), who raced it in New England Region NARRC Formula B at Lime Rock in April 1973, but it appears it was borrowed back by Hebert for the Lime Rock National on 7 July where he raced it with Liebman's entry number #77. Then raced by Liebman at a New York Region SCCA Regional at Bridgehampton in October 1973, having earlier been entered in such a car for the Pro FB race that supported the Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Subsequent history unknown, but Jeff Hailand (Clayton, MO) ran a Formula B Lotus 69 in historic racing between 2014 and 2018 that was registered with the Lotus Formula Ford Register as chassis "71/69/4FB".
11. 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.
12. Chevron B17b [17B.70.04?] (Bruce Jensen): Bruce Jensen (Kitchener, Ontario) raced a Chevron B17b in Canadian Formula B in 1971, entered by Jen-Mac Racing. His car was white, and was entered as #41. Jensen retained the car for 1972, again running as #41. Leighton Irwin recalls that in 1972, the car was modified with a sports car nose designed by Terry Welch and larger rear wing. This created too much downforce, and not realising that stiffer springs were needed, his team struggled with the car on faster circuits. Subsequent history unknown.
13. Brabham BT29 [34] (Ken Huband): Ken Huband (Ottawa, Ontario) ran a red/black #15 Brabham BT29 in Canadian and US Formula B in 1970, first appearing at Mont-Tremblant 24 May 1970. He retained the car in 1971 and in 1972. Huband advertised the BT29 in CP&A 21 Oct 1972 as "Brabham BT29/34", implying it was chassis 34. Several BT29 owners had mentioned the chassis numbers of the cars in adverts, presumably to emphasise the newer cars. Peter Nye arranged the sale of the car to Bill Wolfe, a dentist in Austin, Texas, but Wolfe later pulled out of a deal with Nye to assemble the car for him. Subsequent history unknown.
14. 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.
15. Lotus 59 [59-F2/XB-41] (Max Nerrière): New to Craig Hill (Mississauga, Ontario) and run in the Canadian Road Racing Championship and the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B, entered by Bill Brack Racing Enterprises. Hill ran in a team with Brack's Formula 5000 Lotus 70, with both cars in marching Castrol GTX livery. Unlike the two JRDS cars, which were entered as Lotus 69Bs, Hill's car first raced in Lotus 59 bodywork and was generally billed through the season as the "Castrol GTX Lotus 59". For 1971, the car was sold to Max Nerrière (Toronto, Ontario), who raced it in the Players Canadian Formula B series. Retained by Nerrière for 1972 and for 1973. Subsequent history unknown.
16. 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.
17. Chevron B9/B15b (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.
18. Lola T240 (Vincent Dileo): John Sirmons (Weston, CT) and Vincent Dileo (Greenwich, CT) shared a white Lola T240 in Formula B in 1971, Sirmons racing it in SCCA Nationals and Dileo in Canadian FB events in the latter part of the 1971 season. Dileo retained the car for 1972, racing in NEDiv SCCA FB events and in the Pro event at Watkins Glen in August. Bought from Dileo by Tom Frasca in 1974 but a year later crashed at Lime Rock and totalled. Frasca scrapped the tub and parted out the other components.
19. Brabham BT35 [9] (Nick Craw): New to Nick Craw, and raced initially in the British Formula Atlantic series at the start of 1971 before moving to the North American SCCA series in May. Borrowed by Alan Lader for the 1971 SCCA Runoffs. Raced by Craw at Bogotá in early 1972, then sold to Bob Schutt (Kirkwood, MO) for Midwest Division SCCA FB in 1972 and 1973. Sold to Dorsey Schroeder (Manchester, MO) and raced by him 1974, 1975 and 1976. Then to Mike Mahan in 1976 or 1977 for autocross, and next to Greg Scharnburg in 1980, also for autocross. In October 2001, it was bought from Scharnburg by Mike Winebrenner (Sellersburg, Indiana).
20. March 71BM [2] (Bill Gubelmann): New for Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and used in British Formula Atlantic at the start of the season, winning at Oulton Park 21 March, and then in the SCCA Pro Formula B series. The car was often described as a 712M but it seems more likely that he used the same 712BM all season. Also raced with a BDA in the Formula A race at Lime Rock in Sep and in one round of the Canadian series. Sold via Joe Grimaldi's The Race Shop to Frank Del Vecchio (Trumbull, CT) and used in NEDiv FB and in a couple of rounds of the Pro series. Sold back via Joe Grimaldi at the end of 1972; Frank thinks it went to a Canadian, and it is very likely to have been the car driven by Ken Huband, Norm Joy and David Westgate in 1973 and 1974. Sold to Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec) to replace the 71BM he lost in a transporter fire in 1974. Significantly modified in 1976 as the Lanaro Special with triangular sidepods, a different nose, and with its Cosworth BDA engine laid on its side. This car went through many evolutions, and was still being raced by Lanaro right up to 1995 when it was used in a vintage event. Lanaro eventually rebuilt to original 71BM specification about 1999. In late 2018, it was part of a package of cars bought from Lanaro by David Clubine (Brantford, ON), and was sold to a collector in Ontario.
21. Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-42] (Eligio Siconolfi): New to Jacques Couture (Laval, Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson Championship during 1970. The car was entered by Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd, and generally wore #86. Sold to Eligio Siconolfi (Montréal, Quebec) for 1971 and raced in the Players Canadian Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson series. The car was acquired from Siconolfi by Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec) who took some time restoring it, and then raced it in regional events in Canada in 1973. Lanaro recalled to Joe Griffin in 2021 that "after a bad accident at Mosport, I sold what was left it to Peter Draggfy". Peter Dragffy is known to have had several Lotus 59/69s in the 1980s.
22. Brabham BT21C (Reg Forth): Bought from Fred Opert by Bill Bovenizer (Toronto, Ontario) and raced in Canadian Formula B events in 1970. Bill believes Horst Kwech may have raced it before he did. He sold it to Reg Forth for 1971 who continued to race it in Canadian events. Subsequent history unknown.
23. Brabham BT29 (Peter W Nye): Syd Demovsky (Chicago, IL) raced a yellow #11 Brabham BT29 in Pro events in 1970. At the end of the year the car was sold via Joe Grimaldi (Race Shop) to Peter Nye (Ann Arbor, MI) who fitted it with a HRE twin cam and raced it in Pro events and in some SCCA events through 1971. At the end of that season he sold it less engine to Jim Lloyd (Indianapolis, IN) who converted it to Formula C and won the CenDiv FC title in 1972 and 1973. Lloyd retained the car and later restored it to Formula B specification for vintage racing. He advertised it in fully-restored condition in February 1991.
24. Brabham BT18 (Thomas Abbott): Thomas Abbott (Detroit, Michigan) raced a Formula B Brabham BT18 in an SCCA Regional at Waterford Hills in July 1970, winning his class. This is presumably the same Thomas Abbott who appeared in the Players FB race at Mosport Park in September 1971. He scored two points in Central Division Formula B in 1970 representing Detroit Region, but did not score in 1971. Nothing more known.
25. March 71BM (Randy Fraser): Wilson Southam acquired two red March 71BMs for Canadian Formula B in 1971, one for Randy Fraser and one for himself. Fraser's was the first to appear, running as the #54 Tartan Fraser entry and is most likely to have been 71BM-8. In early 1972, the car was sold to Gilles Léger (Lachute, Quebec) and updated to 722 specification by Tom Greatorex, who also prepared the car for Léger. Then to Patricia Smith (Montréal, Quebec) in 1973 entered as #51 by P.S. Translations. Subsequent history unknown.
26. 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.

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.