Trophée International Paul Ricard

Paul Ricard, 9 Apr 1972

Notes on the cars:

1. Chevron B21 [72-8] (John Hine): One of two Chevron B21s acquired by Red Rose Racing for the 1972 sports racing season, 72-8 was driven by John Hine in the early 2-litre races, and shared by him and team principal John Bridges in long-distance events. Hine got a new Chevrolet Vega-engined car at Dijon in June, and 72-8 was taken over by José Juncadella for the rest of the year. This is almost certainly the car shared by Hine and Dave Charlton in the Springbok series in November and December. In 1973, the car appeared at the first race for José's brother Javier Juncadella but Roger Hire then became involved with the team and he provided a new B23 and his relatively recent B21 instead of the ex-Red Rose B21. The fate of the B21 is not known.
2. Chevron B21 [B19 71-32] (Niki Bosch): The last new B19 to appear in Europe, B19-71-32 was new for Red Rose Racing boss John Bridges to drive at Jarama 7 Nov 1971. It had the wider B21-spec chassis required to meet 1972 regulations so was retained by Red Rose Racing as a fourth entry in 1972. It was driven mainly by Bridges in 1972 but also by Niki Bosch, Paco Josa and John Watson in European 2-litre events. At the end of the 1972 season it was sold to Bobby Howlings and was almost certainly the car driven by Howlings and John Hine at Vallelunga 25 Mar 1973 and then by Hine at Paul Ricard 8 Apr 1973. The car then disappears from Howlings' Ember Racing team, possibly to Japan or possibly to fellow wheeler-dealer Tony Dean.
3. Lola T290 [HU22] (Guy Edwards): The works assisted Barclays International entry, chassis HU22 was driven by Guy Edwards in 1972. It was then sold to Dorset Foods and driven by Tony Birchenhough, Brian Joscelyne and Lee Kaye in 1973 events and this continued into 1974, when Claude Crespin joined the driving group, and 1975, when Ian Bracey became a regular driver. Each year the car was updated at the Lola factory to the latest specification and different chassis plates were added to ensure it gained the best possible prize money. The car was raced at Le Mans every year from 1976 to 1980 and continued to race in Internationals right up to 1983. It was then sold to Nick Mason and stored until brought back to Le Mans for demonstration runs in 1992 and 1993. Birchenough now cares for the car and it appeared at the Le Mans Classic in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
4. Lola T290 [HU5] (Claude Swietlik): This car was acquired by Ecurie Bonnier and run for customer Claude Swietlik throughout 1972, also being raced by Mario Cabral, Gilbert Salles and Hervé Bayard on occasion. In 1973 it was sold to Fred Stalder who founded Racing Organisation Course (ROC) and was used throughout the season in both European 2-litre racing and in French hillclimbs. Based on photographic evidence, this car was retained by ROC for 1974 as a backup for for hire purposes. It appears to be the car used by Albert Dufrêne in French hillclimbs in 1974 and is then believed to have passed to Christian Riehl around 1976.
5. Chevron B21 [72-7] (José Maria Juncadella): Red Rose Racing acquired two Chevron B21s for the start of the 1972 sports racing season, chassis B21-72-7 and B21-72-8. Of these, 72-7 was initially assigned to José Maria Juncadella and raced by him in the 2-litre championship. At Dijon in June, Juncadella took over 72-8 from John Hine, and the team's third driver Niki Bosch was promoted into 72-7. He raced the car for the remainder of the season, including the finale at Jarama in November. Subsequent history unknown, but likely to be the car that went to Henk Bosman.
6. Chevron B19 (Michel Dupont): Swiss driver Michel Dupont drove a B16 in 1971 until a crash at Imola. He reappeared at the Nürburgring 500 km in September with a B19 of unknown origin and continued to run this car through 1972, including sharing it at Le Mans with Pierre Bodin and Pierre Blancpain. Dupont continued to drive a Chevron sports car until the end of the 1974 season. It was described as a B21 at Imola 17 Sep 1972, a B23 in 1973, a B23/26 in 1974, a B26 on two occasions and then back to a B23 at the end of 1974.
7. Lola T212 [SL210/14] (Rolf Skoghag): Terry Croker bought SL210/14 in August 1970 to replace his Lola T70 for use in the Interserie championship. Croker used it in the 1971 European 2-litre series, sharing with Guy Edwards at the Nürburgring in September. It was sold to Rolf Skoghag for 1972 who continued to race it until June 1973. It is then reported to have passed through the hands of Mike Gue and John Webb before reaching Bill Sainsbury (Vancouver, Canada) for 1976. After racing in DSR in 1976 it is reported to have passed via MacKenzie Racing 1977 and at least one other Canadian owner to Robert Grant (UK) in 1985 who sold it to Bengt Ljungbergh (Sweden) later that year. Ljungbergh retained it to 2007 when it was sold via Chris Fox to Geoff Lister. It was for sale in November 2010.
8. Lola T290 [HU3] (Jean-Louis Lafosse): Acquired by Scuderia Filipinetti and entered for Jean-Louis Lafosse in European 2-litre events but crashed heavily at Vallelunga in April and replaced by a new car. According to Lola historian Philippe Rafesthain, the crumpled chassis remained at Mader's until it was repaired around 1976 and sold to José Albertini to be fitted with a 1300cc Ford engine for French hillclimbs. Subsequently to Daléa and then to Patrick Fessler.
9. Chevron B19 (Gabriele Serblin): Gabriele Serblin drove a B19 or "B19/21" through the 1972 season. This is presumably one of the B19s delivered to Eris Tondelli in 1971 but its exact identity is unknown.
10. Lola T212 [HU18?] (Claude Ballot-Léna): One of two cars delivered to Ecurie Bonnier and raced under the Scuderia Filipinetti banner. HU18 is identified by Sport Auto as Jo Bonnier's personal car and is likely to be the car used at Paul Ricard April 1972 by Claude Ballot-Léna. A surviving Bonnier invoice shows that HU18 was sold to Enzo Osella in May 1972 and a 2011 advert by Marcel Roks quotes a 1985 HVIF which identifies HU18 as the car then owned by Roberto Filannino and Pasquale Barberio. Barberio raced a 1300cc Lola T212-Abarth in Italian domestic racing in 1973 and the Roks advert says he kept the car until 1976. Later owners are given as a Mr. Girollami 1976, Stefano Sebastiani 1982, Victor Myette 1994, Andy Wolfe (Cambridge, UK) 1998 and the current owner in 2001.
11. Chevron B21 [72-2] (Trevor Twaites): This car was sold to Trevor Twaites and raced by him and regular co-driver Brendan McInerney in European events throughout 1972. They continued to drive the Intertech-backed car in early 1973, their last event being the Nürburgring 1000 km in May, It was then acquired by Roy Johnson and Alan Stubbs who were to form Paulenco Racing and driven by José Uriarte at Vila Real in July 1973 and in the Angolan series. It was raced by Chris Skeaping in the Nürburgring 500 km in Sep 1973 and then by Uriarte at Nogaro and the Barcelona 400 km. It was sold to Stewart Chubb for 1974 and driven by Peter Long and others 1974-1975. It is then believed to have been sold to France.
12. Chevron B21 [72-3] (Peter Smith): Sold new to Peter Smith and raced by him and co-driver David Welpton through 1972 and 1973 primarily in distance events across Europe but also in some short British events. Updated to B23 specification for 1974 and raced by Smith with various co-drivers including Rupert Keegan. Co-drivers in 1975 included John Turner. The car was replaced by the ex-KVG/John Hine Chevron B31 for 1976 and was sold to Ray Petry (Boston, MA) for SCCA racing and then for the new Can-Am series that started in 1977. Ray used an ex-Rondel 1840cc BDE engine that he'd bought from Tony Cicale. Raced in Can-Am 1978 to 1980. Ray later sold the car to dealer Mike Gue of Essex Racing, who sold it to Canada. Subsequent history unknown.
13. Chevron B21 [72-6] (Max Cohen-Olivar): New to Max Cohen-Olivar and raced in European 2-litre sports car rounds in 1972, fitted with an 1800cc Cosworth FVC. Sold to Jacques Alméras for French hillclimbs in 1973, then to Daniel Gache (Avignon, France) for 1974, when it was usually described as a B23. 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.

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

Autosport 13 Apr 1972 pp8-11.