OldRacingCars.com

Players (Canadian) Formula B Series Race

Westwood, 9 Jul 1972

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Craig Hill Lotus 69 [71/69.5.FB] - Ford twin cam Hart
#4 Fother Hill Ltd
58
2 Ric Forest March 722 - Ford twin cam
#56 Ric Forest Racing (see note 1)
58
3 John Powell Chevron B18 [18.71.1] - Ford twin cam Hart
#30 (see note 2)
57
4 Brian Robertson Chevron B20 [20.72.05] - Ford twin cam Hart
#5 ("B20B") (see note 3)

5 Jon Milledge Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#91 (see note 4)

6 Reg Scullion March 722 [71BM/1] - Ford twin cam Greatorex
#95 Ecurie Canada Racing (see note 5)

7 Dave Ogilvy Brabham BT29 [49] - Ford twin cam
#9

8 Bill Eagles Brabham BT35 [18] - Ford twin cam Hart
#46 Tex-Made Racing Team (see note 6)
52
9 Al Justason Brabham BT35 [10] - Ford twin cam
#32 (see note 7)

10 Gordon Munroe Brabham BT21 [35] - Ford twin cam
#38 (see note 8)

11 Max Nerrière Lotus 59 [59-F2/XB-41] - Ford twin cam
#42 ("59F") (see note 9)

12 Derek Johnson Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#93 (see note 10)

13 Eligio Siconolfi Brabham BT38B [13] - Ford twin cam
#35 Downtown Datsun [Mtl.] Ltd (see note 11)

14 Michael Houselander Brabham BT23F [1] - Ford twin cam
#89 (see note 12)

R Roy Folland March 722 [23] - Ford twin cam
#6 (see note 13)
23 Accident
R Mike Hansen Brabham BT35 [31] - Ford twin cam
#33 (see note 14)
29 Accident damage
R Barry Fox Brabham BT38B [12] - Ford twin cam
#22 (see note 15)
2 Collision with Hansen
DNS Maurice McCaig Brabham BT35 [19] - Ford twin cam
#58 (see note 16)
Did not start
DNA Ian Coristine March 722 [71BM-10?] - Ford twin cam Greatorex
#50 (see note 17)
Did not arrive
DNA David McConnell GRD B72 [019-F2] - Ford twin cam
#86 DWM Racing
Did not arrive
  Bruce Jensen Chevron B17b [17B.70.04?] - Ford twin cam
#41 (see note 18)
On entry list
  Gilles Léger March 722 [71BM-8?] - Ford twin cam
#72 (see note 19)
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Ric Forest (FB) 1.6-litre March 722 - Ford twin cam 1.05.5
2 John Powell (FB) 1.6-litre Chevron B18 [18.71.1] - Ford twin cam Hart 1.05.9
3 Brian Robertson (FB) 1.6-litre Chevron B20 [20.72.05] - Ford twin cam Hart 1.06.0
4 Jon Milledge (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam 1.06.0
5 Michael Houselander (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT23F [1] - Ford twin cam 1.06.7
6 Craig Hill (FB) 1.6-litre Lotus 69 [71/69.5.FB] - Ford twin cam Hart 1.06.9
7 Mike Hansen (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT35 [31] - Ford twin cam 1.07.7
8 Al Justason (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT35 [10] - Ford twin cam 1.08.1
9 Barry Fox (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT38B [12] - Ford twin cam 1.08.2
10 Roy Folland (FB) 1.6-litre March 722 [23] - Ford twin cam 1.08.3
11 Dave Ogilvy (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 [49] - Ford twin cam 1.08.8
12 Maurice McCaig * (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT35 [19] - Ford twin cam 1.08.9
13 Max Nerrière (FB) 1.6-litre Lotus 59 [59-F2/XB-41] - Ford twin cam 1.09.1
15 Bill Eagles (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT35 [18] - Ford twin cam Hart
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 722 (Ric Forest): Ric Forest (Edmonton, Alberta) raced a #56 March 722 in the Players Canadian Formula Atlantic series in 1972. In 1973, the car went to Al Lader, and was entered by him for John Holloway (Gresham, OR) for the first two races of 1973. Subsequent history unknown.
  2. Chevron B18 [18.71.1] (John Powell): A new car built for Brian Redman after he wrecked the development B18 while testing in South Africa. Fitted with a 1.8-litre Cosworth FVC engine and raced by Redman in two races in South Africa in January 1971. This car returned to Bolton and became the works entry in F2 for Chris Craft during the 1971 F2 season. It was then sold to Canadian John Powell and rebuilt to Formula B specification. Powell raced it in the Brands Hatch Boxing Day meeting at the end of 1971 and then loaned it to Brian Robertson to race in the two Bogotá FB races in February and March 1972. Raced by Powell (Ottawa, Ontario) in the Canadian FB series in 1972, Sold to Paul Wheatley (Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the Canadian series in 1973. Wheatley appeared on a couple of early-1974 entry lists but the car was not seen again until he advertised it in April 1975.
  3. Chevron B20 [20.72.05] (Brian Robertson): Sold via Fred Opert and entered for Brian Robertson (Brockville, Ontario, Canada) in Formula B in 1972. To Ferguson/Wilson Racing Team for 1973 and raced by former Miss Canada pageant finalist Linda Wilson in Canadian Formula B. Due to be driven by Ric Forest at Trois-Rivières in September but teammate Peter Ferguson "wiped out" the sister car on the Saturday so took over Wilson's car for the race. Only one of the B20s was seen in 1974, driven by Ferguson, and it seems likely it was the ex-Wilson car. Advertised by Fred Opert in June 1975, suggesting it had returned to Opert in part exchange for Ferguson's new Chevron B29. Advertised again by Opert in early November 1975. Subsequent history unknown until bought as a rolling chassis by Ed Swart from somebody on the east coast who had been trying to restore it. It was black at that stage, and Ed repainted it to orange, the Dutch racing colours, and fitted a BDA engine as he completed the restoration. Raced by Swart from 1989 to February 1993, winning VARA's historic Formula Atlantic West coast title in 1992. Swart then acquired a Chevron B45, and the B20 was sold to Richard Morrison in Tennessee in February 1996.
  4. Brabham BT29 (Jon Milledge): Jim Gutfreund (Des Moines, Iowa) bought a new Brabham BT29 for 1970 and ran it in Midwest Div Formula B, winning two races and leading the division until his BRM-built Ford twin-cam blew. He sold the car to Archie Snider (Los Gatos, CA) for 1971 and Snider continued with the BRM engine until joining forces with Jon Milledge (Mountain View, CA) who crewed the car for Snider in Regionals while racing it in Nationals and in Pro events. They continued with the car through 1972 and into 1973, before Snider replaced it with a GRD. It then went to Larry Wright (Riverside, CA) to replace his earlier BT29 that he'd wrecked in June 1973. Wright kept the car until 1976 after which he retired and sold the car to "an unknown guy who lived in the Sierra Madre area of So Cal, near Pasadena".
  5. March 722 [71BM/1] (Reg Scullion): 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.
  6. Brabham BT35 [18] (Bill Eagles): 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.
  7. Brabham BT35 [10] (Al Justason): 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).
  8. Brabham BT21 [35] (Gordon Munroe): Jean-Pierre Cassegrain had a Brabham BT21 for the 1967 F3 season but crashed heavily during the European F3 Challenge meeting at Hockenheim in October 1967. Autosport (22 Mar 1968 p5) said that he had a new BT21B for 1968 but when it appeared, it was described as an updated BT21. In September 1969, the car was sold via Frank Williams to Gordon Munroe (Victoria, BC) and used in Formula B events in Canada.
  9. 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.
  10. Brabham BT29 (Derek Johnson): Peter Roberts (Granby, Quebec) raced a Brabham BT29 in 1970, appearing as #71 in the main Canadian series and as #1 in the Molson (Quebec Region) Championship. His best results came in the Molson series with two third places at Mont-Tremblant. Roberts had earlier raced a BT29 that he had borrowed from "an Ontario racer" but whether this 1970 car was the same one is unknown. Robert did not continue in Formula B after 1970 and after sitting around unused for 18 months, the BT29 was sold to Derek Johnson (Montreal, Quebec) who was making a comeback after injury. The Montreal Gazette quoted Johnson's chief crew Bob Beale saying that nobody had driven it for a year, and Roberts' mechanic John Lo Bosco confirmed that Roberts' BT29 went to Johnson. Johnson bought the car the Friday before the opening race at Sanair and it was rented by Ian Coristine for that race after his new March 722 could not be readied in time. Raced by Johnson for the rest of the 1972 season. Subsequent history unknown.
  11. Brabham BT38B [13] (Eligio Siconolfi): New to Eligio Siconolfi (Montréal, Quebec, Canada), who raced in the Canadian FB series in 1972, sponsored by Downtown Datsun Ltd. To Peter Overing (Montreal, Quebec) for 1973, but only seen at Sanair in June. Entered by Overing for Reg Scullion (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Montréal, Quebec) in the Players Canadian Formula Atlantic series in 1974, but still with a Ford twin cam engine. Overing then acquired a March 74B for Scullion, and the Brabham was sold to Cliff Dawson (Mount Royal, Quebec), who fitted a BDA engine and raced it in Formula Atlantic in 1975, 1976 and 1977. After racing it in Regionals in the late 1970, Dawson converted the car to Can-Am specification with a body built in Montreal by Francis Cordolle and ran it in this form in Can-Am from 1980 to 1983, still with the 1600cc Cosworth BDA engine. According to Doug Waters, it was "sold in July 1984 to Martin Handforth in Ottawa, who soon sold it to Pennsylvania". (Note that Handforth had owned and raced a different BT38 in Quebec events in 1981.) Subsequent history unknown.
  12. Brabham BT23F [1] (Michael Houselander): 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.
  13. March 722 [23] (Roy Folland): Roy Folland (Montréal, Quebec) raced a blue March 722 in the early rounds of the British Formula Atlantic series in 1972, before taking the car to Canada and running in the Players Canadian Formula B series. Sold for 1973 to Bruce Jensen (Kitchener, Ontario) and raced in the Players Canadian series. Sold to Edmond Villa (Clark, NJ), and raced in a New England Region SCCA Regional at Lime Rock in April 1974. In January 1976, he advertised a 722 in Competition Press & Autoweek from Port St Lucie, FL. Ed sold it to Folis Jones (Chesapeake, VA), who raced a March in SEDiv events in 1976 and 1977, and in SCCA Regionals at Summit Point in 1978 and 1979. This would be the March 722 with '77 bodywork advertised by Jones in December 1978 and February 1979. Subsequent history unknown.
  14. Brabham BT35 [31] (Mike Hansen): New to Mike Hansen (Belmont, CA) and Steve Marx (Fremont, CA) of Hansen-Marx Racing (or Marx-Hansen Racing) and raced by them in SCCA Regionals and Nationals predominately in southern California in 1971. Retained by the pair for 1972, and raced by Hansen in SCCA Nationals up and down the west coast, and then in Pro events later in the season. To Bill Cooper (San Jose, CA) for 1973, and used in SCCA Regionals. Retained by Cooper for 1974 and raced in SCCA Nationals. Seen less often in 1975, and advertised by Cooper with a BDA engine from September 1975 to July 1976. It is reported to have gone to Tom Smith after Cooper. It was bought from Tommy Smith in July 1978 by John Hafkenschiel and raced in Californian Formula Atlantic before selling it in the winter of 1984. In November 2016, Ron Hornig (Laramie, Wyoming) bought the car and has thoroughly restored it. Note that Hornig also has two F3 BT35s which he uses in historic racing.
  15. Brabham BT38B [12] (Barry Fox): New to Barry Fox (Edmonton, Alberta) and raced in the Canadian Formula B series. To Lorne Progosh (Ottawa, Ontario) for 1973, but crashed during practice at Edmonton when the throttle stuck open. The car was badly damaged and Progosh was unable to continue. He towed it back to Ottawa and sold it to Ron Rogers (Trenton, Ontario), who repaired it with his racing partner Vince Murray and fitted an ex-Craig Hill Ford twin cam. Rogers raced it in mainly club events in 1973 and 1974, and appeared in at least one Players event in 1975, only for the engine to break during practice. In 1975 or 1976, he sold it to Steve Van Vlaenderen (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and maintained it for him for a season or two. Van Vlaenderen advertised the car in February 1977. What must surely be the same car was advertised by Stew McNair (Winnipeg) in April 1980, then with a "tired Hart 416B" engine, and it is likely that this was the car raced by Martin Handforth (Kanata, Ontario) in Quebec events in 1981. The car then somehow found its way to Ron Hunter (Denver, CO) who fitted a Cosworth BDJ (a 1300cc engine used in C Sports Racing) and used the car for a record attempt at Bonneville before breaking the engine. After Hunter died in 1987, the car was bought from his stepson Rick Graham (Denver, CO) by Cameron MacArthur (Loveland, CO). He prepared it for historic racing, at first with a pushrod engine and then with a Cosworth BDD, racing it until around 1997 or 1998 when he recalls selling it "to a dentist from Summit County". Subsequent history unknown.
  16. 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".
  17. March 722 [71BM-10?] (Ian Coristine): The talented but cash-strapped Ian Coristine (Montréal, Quebec) had run his own March 71BM in 1971, but for 1972 rented an updated car from Ecurie Canada. The 71BM, probably Wilson Southam's old car, was updated to side-radiator 722 specification by team mechanic Tom Greatorex. Coristine stayed with the team for 1973 but the car was put back to 71BM specification. The team almost ran out of money mid-summer, but were rescued by a sponsorship deal with Schweppes. The 71BM was then sold to Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec) and used in Canadian Formula Atlantic in 1974. Coristine recalls that this car was destroyed in a transporter fire on its way to a race at Debert, but the exact date of this has yet to be determined. Lanaro then bought another 71BM to replace it.
  18. 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.
  19. March 722 [71BM-8?] (Gilles Léger): 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.

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.