Race of Champions

Brands Hatch, 13 Mar 1965

All cars are 1.5-litre F1 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT3 [F1-1-62] (Ian Raby): Raced by Jack Brabham in F1 in 1962 and retained as a spare car during the 1963 season. Used by Brabham to win the non-championship Solitude and Austrian GPs and also by Denny Hulme for the F1 race at Karlskoga. Sold to Brighton garage owner Ian Raby for 1964 and raced in F1 events fitted with a BRM V8 engine. Retained for 1965 but now used mostly in non-championship events and even in libre racing. To Tony Dean in Leeds at the end of 1965 but sold on quite quickly by him to David Hepworth in nearby Brighouse for hillclimbing. Fitted with a 4.6-litre Chevrolet V8 and used in British hillclimbs in 1966 but without any great success. Sold to John Scott-Davies in February 1967 and then on to Tim Stock a few months later for circuit racing but appeared only rarely. Sold to Fred Opert to be exported to the US but instead sold back to Hepworth who sold it on to Tom Wheatcroft for his museum. Restored (eventually) by 1971 and in Wheatcroft's Donington Museum when it opened in 1973. Ever present in the museum for nearly 40 years until the collection started to be disbanded after Wheatcroft's death. Sold to Marco Rollinger (Luxembourg) in 2012 and prepared for historic racing.
2. Cooper T71/73 [F1-3-64] (John Rhodes): Although given a F1 chassis number, F1-3-64, this car is now seen more as a cross between the F1 Cooper T73 and the F2 Cooper T71. It was built up by Bob Gerard's team and fitted with a 1.5-litre Ford twin cam engine with the intention of using it in minor F1 races and in Formule Libre, especially at Gerard's local Mallory Park. John Taylor raced for Gerard in libre with great success in 1964, in the early-season English non-championship F1 races and at the British GP. Gerard then acquired an ex-works F1 Cooper T60 V8 for Taylor to drive, and the T71/73 was then raced by Alan Rollinson and Taylor later in the season. It was also converted to F2 specification for Taylor to use in a couple of races in September. The car reappeared in F1 spec again in 1965 for John Rhodes, as a F2 for Taylor, as a 1650cc libre car for Taylor, and then even as a F3 car for Bob's son Julian Gerard. It was not used again until late 1966 when Chris Lambert raced it as a F2 and then it became Julian Gerard's regular libre car in 1967. It was finally sold at the end of 1967 to Bob Wenz (Los Gatos, CA) who raced it in SCCA Formula B from 1968 to 1972. It then went to Bob Korst and was "laid up" for 20 or so years until Alan Baillie (Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire) acquired it and brought it back to England. He restored it to 1.5-litre F1 specification with a Ford twin cam and raced it from 1997 onwards in historic racing, generally in HGPCA Grand Prix Cars events. It was sold to car dealer Chris Drake (London) for 2018, who also raced it with the HGPCA.
3. Lola T55 [SL64/2] (Jo Schlesser): New to John Willment Racing for Paul Hawkins to drive in F2 in 1964, also appearing in a non-championship F1 race but still with its F2 Cosworth SCA engine. It was retained by Willment for 1965 and driven in F2 by Alan Rees, Jo Schlesser and Tony Hegbourne. Sold to Paul Tomlin for 1966 and fitted with a 1600cc Ford engine for libre racing but not often seen. To Geddes Yeates for libre in 1967 until an accident at Mallory Park in July which left Yeates hospitalised. Converted to Formula Ford specification for Yeates in 1968 and raced again in that category by Chris Alford in 1969. Glyn Jones remembers buying this car from someone in the Basingstoke area who had been racing it in hillclimbs with an 1100cc engine and a Renault gearbox. Jones fitted a Ford twin cam and used it in libre racing for a few years from 1973 onwards. Then unknown until bought from David McLaughlin by Murray Smith in the 1990s, at which point it had a Ford twin cam engine. Sold to Douglas Jamieson who sold it to Geoffrey Williams in 2001 who used it in the HGPCA Pre '66 with a 1500cc twin cam as a F1 car. Then to Roger Murray (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria) in 2006 who had it rebuilt from F1 spec to Mk5A Formula Junior spec. Raced by Roger's son James Murray from 2008 onwards.
4. Brabham BT14 [FL-6-65] (Rodney Bloor): New to Rodney Bloor, boss of Sports Motors (Manchester) and fitted with a 1500cc Ford twin cam engine for use in libre racing and non-championship F1 races in 1965. Bloor retired mid-season and car was sold to David Bridges and used in a few local sprints and libre races later in 1965. Subsequent history unresolved. Both John Davies and Bryan Eccles had cars in 1966 that were said to be ex-John Bridges BT14s, but one of these is likely to have been ex-David rather than ex-John.
5. Lola T55 [SL64/2] (Alan Rees): New to John Willment Racing for Paul Hawkins to drive in F2 in 1964, also appearing in a non-championship F1 race but still with its F2 Cosworth SCA engine. It was retained by Willment for 1965 and driven in F2 by Alan Rees, Jo Schlesser and Tony Hegbourne. Sold to Paul Tomlin for 1966 and fitted with a 1600cc Ford engine for libre racing but not often seen. To Geddes Yeates for libre in 1967 until an accident at Mallory Park in July which left Yeates hospitalised. Converted to Formula Ford specification for Yeates in 1968 and raced again in that category by Chris Alford in 1969. Glyn Jones remembers buying this car from someone in the Basingstoke area who had been racing it in hillclimbs with an 1100cc engine and a Renault gearbox. Jones fitted a Ford twin cam and used it in libre racing for a few years from 1973 onwards. Then unknown until bought from David McLaughlin by Murray Smith in the 1990s, at which point it had a Ford twin cam engine. Sold to Douglas Jamieson who sold it to Geoffrey Williams in 2001 who used it in the HGPCA Pre '66 with a 1500cc twin cam as a F1 car. Then to Roger Murray (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria) in 2006 who had it rebuilt from F1 spec to Mk5A Formula Junior spec. Raced by Roger's son James Murray from 2008 onwards.
6. Brabham BT16 [F2-1-65] (Alan Rees): Driven by Alan Rees for Roy Winkelmann Racing in 1965. Presumably Rees raced the same car all season. Bought in 1966 from Winkelman by Bob Fuller (Connecticut), fitted with a Cosworth Mk 12 and raced in FB in 1967. To Steve Brownstein (New York) for 1968 and raced again in FB with the Mk 12. Then traded to Fred Opert for a new Chevron. To Bruce Jensen and raced in Canadian FB in 1969 and then to Bill Pickthorne (Ottawa, Ontario) who raced it in 1970 and at the beginning of 1971. It was then stored for 18 years until bought by Murray Wivell (Brantford, Ontario) in October 1989. Restored and used in US vintage racing for ten seasons, initially with the Ford twin cam engine and then with a Cosworth SCA for the last two seasons. Sold to Ivan Scotti (Zurich, Switzerland) November 2004. This is presumably the ex-Alan Rees BT16 run at the 2013 Solitude Revival by Bruno Weibel of Schaffner Racing.

Sources

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' original results.

3-litre Formula 1 Non-championship events 1966-1983

These results were initially compiled by Allen Brown, but these were in the very basic form required to track individual car histories. Since then further details, such as laps completed, qualifying times and so on, have been added from Rob Ryder's extensive database.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help with our research.