Preis Der Nationen

Hockenheim, 25 Aug 1974

Notes on the cars:

1. Alpine A441 [4410] (Alain Serpaggi): Société Alpine entered two new A441s in 1974 and chassis 4410 was Jean-Pierre Jabouille's car for the first race and then became Alain Serpaggi's regular car for the rest of the season. This car was sold to 'Jimmy' Mieusset for the 1976 French hillclimb season and then to Jean Ortelli for 1977 and 1978, after which it was on display in the Mougins museum, still owned by Ortelli. The car was still in the Musée de l'Automobile at Mougins in June 2008 and appeared at Retromobile in 2010.
2. Chevron B26 [74-02] (John Lepp): Although described by some sources as the "prototype", the Gunston-liveried car raced by John Watson and Jody Scheckter in the 1973-74 Springbok series in South Africa was the second B26, chassis 74-02. This car was then sold to Derek Buller-Sinfield and prepared by Roger Hire's Forge Mill Racing for John Lepp (Altrincham, Cheshire) to drive in Europe in 1974. Then the "works development car" advertised by Hire and the "ex-works development" "B36" raced by Bob Marsland (Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) from 1976 to 1978. Sold to Richard Simms (Ossett, West Yorkshire) late in the 1978 season and used briefly in libre racing before being converted over the close season into a Skoda "Super Saloon". Raced in this form from 1979 to 1981 and then restored to B36 specification for use in Thundersports in 1983 and 1984, sharing with Warren Booth. After passing through several more hands in England and, it would seem, Sweden, it was sold to Jack Russeli (Ohio) in June 1997. To Murray Smith (Washington, CT) in 2005. To Roger Wills (London) 2011.
3. Lola T294 [HU70?] (Fred Stalder): The entry for this car is blank in Lola records, but it is believed to be one of two cars sold to Fred Stalder's Racing Organisation Course, and fitted with ROC's Chrysler-Simca-based engine for 2-litre sports car racing in 1974. Believed to have been Stalder's own car for 1974. Raced in long-distance events at Dijon and Le Mans in 1975. According to Philippe Rafesthain, this car was sold to Hervé Bayard (Roye, France) and fitted with a Hart 420R engine for French hillclimbs in 1976, winning the Group 6 class at every event. For Pascal Foix and Bayard at the Paul Ricard sports car race in July 1977. Sold to Michel Lateste for 1978, and returned to French hillclimbs. Then to Patrice Lenorman and appeared at three events in July 1979 before Lenorman crashed the car. He advertised it, still unrepaired, in December 1979 and it appears to have gone to Dominique Lacaud when Lenorman bought's Lacaud's T297-BMW. Later repaired by Lacaud but whether this is the car he used in French events and hillclimbs from 1981 to 1986 is not clear. Lacaud restored the T294 for historic events many years later, appearing in it from 2009 onwards. For sale at Artcurial's Retromobile sale in February 2015.
4. Alpine A441 [4412] (Jean-Pierre Jabouille): The third A441 was the regular car of Société Alpine team leader Jean-Pierre Jabouille. This car was sold to Japan in 1975 and was raced by Jabouille at Fuji in October and by Beaumont at Fuji a month later. The car remained in Japan and raced in 1976, 1977 and 1978, winning the Fuji 500 km in April 1978 driven by Hasemi and Hoshino. It is believed to have remained in Japan.
5. Chevron B26 [74-08] (Rafael Barrios): After the closure of Red Rose Racing, Roger Hire struck a deal to run works-assisted Chevron B26s in 1974 under the name Forge Mill Racing. John Lepp ran the main car and Rafael Barrios joined the team to run a second B26, now positively identified as chassis 74-08. This car only raced once in 1975 but was then bought by Robin Smith to be used in endurance and Interserie in 1976. Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) acquired it for Can-Am in early 1977 and raced it for three seasons, winning the Pacific Coast title in 1978 and the last BSR title at the Run-Offs. It went to John Graham in Canada for the 1981 season and then to Luc Behar-Bannelier for 1982. The B26 was sold to Gil Baird for Thundersports in England in 1983 then to Richard Piper for another three seasons during which time it was converted to DFV power before moving to Ireland in the late 1980s where it stayed for nearly 15 years. It was sold back to the US again around 2003 and has raced in US vintage racing.
6. Lola T294 [T292 HU40] (Martin Raymond): Described consistently as the "prototype" T292, HU40 first appeared at Jarama 5 Nov 1972 where it was raced by Richard Scott. It was then Guy Edwards' works car throughout 1973 after which it was updated to T294 specification and sold by Lola to Martin Raymond for 1974. It went to Stewart Chubb for 1975 and continued to race in the European series. In 1976, Chubb sold the car to Steven Payne-Herbert and it was used in Can-Am and SCCA BSR racing until 1980. Payne-Herbert kept the car until 1989 when it was sold for vintage racing and, three owners later, it was being offered for sale by Grand Prix Classics in February 2011.
7. March 74S [10] (Jean Ragnotti): Built new for 1974, fitted with a BMW engine and entered by March Engineering for Jean Ragnotti in the European 2-litre Sports Car championship, with Antar sponsorship. Fitted with a Richardson FVC after the first few races, and later with a Cosworth BDG. Retained by March for 1975, fitted with a Hart 420R engine, updated to 75S specification and plated as '75S-U2' for John Lepp to race. The car was retained again for 1976, now to 76S specification and reportedly using the identity '76S-1', now raced by Lepp as part of the Ultramar team. Sold to Bobby Brown (Hicksville, NY) for the 1977 Can-Am season, now using the identity '77ST-1'. Sold to Greg Sorrentino (Troy, Michigan) and raced in 1979. In 1980, it was converted to centre-seat specification with a new body fabricated by Dave Craddock and campaigned in this form by Sorrentino in 1981, described as a March 802. To Charlie Monk (Sarnia, Ontario) for 1982, and then via John Adams Racing & John Kalagian to J. Byron Walker (Detroit, Michigan). Raced by Walker in 1983 and 1984 before being stored. Walker later acquired the 1977 bodywork from EB Lunken, who had used it on his March 73S, and found Lepp's Ultramar livery under the layers of paint. In 2013, Walker was in the process of restoring the car to its 1975 specification.
8. Alpine A441 [4411] (Gérard Larrousse): Team Archambeaud acquired a new A441 for 1974 for lead driver Gérard Larrousse. The car was used as a test chassis for the 2.1-litre turbo engine and won at Mugello at the beginning of 1975. It was kept as a backup car for Le Mans in 1976 but it is not yet certain whether chassis 4411 then became chassis 4420.
9. Alpine A440 [4401] (Bernard Darniche): New for the Nürburgring in Sep 1973, chassis 4401 was sold to Equipe Archambeaud for 1974 and raced by Gérard Larrousse, Marie-Claude Beaumont and Bernard Darniche that year. From Larrousse's team, the car is understood to have gone to Jean-Paul Barbier for hillclimbs in 1977 and then to Jean-Pierre Theuil who ran it from 1978 to 1980. In May 2005, chassis "A440-01" was auctioned by Bonhams at Monaco but the history assigned to the car was that of the prototype, an understandable mistake given Alpine's unusual numbering system. Its current location is uncertain.
10. Lola T292 (Ruedi Jauslin): For 1974, veteran racer Ruedi Jauslin (Muttenz, Switzerland) moved from his 1600cc Chevron Special to a 2-litre Lola. The new car was generally entered as a T294 but the shape of the rollhoop suggests that it began life as a 1973 T292. If so, it is likely to be one of the BIP team cars run by Ecurie Bonnier in 1973 as there are few T292s that can't be accounted for in 1974. Jauslin's first known appearance in the car was at Course de côte Lorentzweiler, Luxembourg, on 15 Apr 1974 but he also appeared regularly in German and Swiss events during 1974. Jauslin upgraded to a new Lola T390 for 1975 and nothing more is known of the T292. It has been suggested that this car was Lola T292 chassis HU50, the 3-litre car Jauslin later owned in 1978, but the two intervening cars, the T390 in 1975 and 1976 and a Lola T296 in 1977, make this unlikely.
11. Lola T292 [HU57] (Philipp Gantner): Bought new by Roland Heiler in June 1973 to replace the disappointing GRD S73 that he'd been running as part of Jörg Obermoser's Eurorace team. He ran the T292 in 1973 and 1974 as part of Obermoser's operation but it was driven mainly by Philipp Gantner in 1974. The fate of this car is unknown.
12. Lola T292 [HU65] (Christian Melville): The last T292 built went to John Abrahams in South Africa for the 1973 Springbok series. It was co-driven in the series by Charlie Lucas. The car went back to England under the care of Derrick Worthington and was the car raced by Rikki von Opel in the Nürburgring Interserie in June (although that car was listed as a Chevron B26). It was later raced in the Hockenheim 2-litre race in August (Christian Melville), the Brands Hatch 1000 km in September (Worthington and Nigel Clarkson) and at Kyalami in November (Abrahams and Richard Scott). In 1975, it was driven at Le Mans by Worthington and Clarkson and also appeared at the Spa 1000 km and in a couple of UK races. In 1976 it was sold to SCCA driver Dean Dietrich and was used in the revived Can-Am series in 1977. It then went to Rick Villate for two more seasons of Can-Am. To David P. Gough (Atlanta, GA) 1982 and used as a road car. To Ed Swart (Torrance, California) 1997 and then via six other US owners until bought by Cal Meeker (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) in 2013. As its identity was unknown until researched in 2013 by OldRacingCars.com, the car continued to race in Primagaz colours.
13. Chevron B23 [73-05] (Ian Grob): Bought new by Ian Grob and used mainly in minor British and French events at first. Grob took his car to the Springbok series at the end of 1973 and then did a full European campaign in 1974. For 1975, he bought a new Chevron B31 and the B23 was sold to Scottish club racer Tony Charnell. Charnell then bought Grob's B31 for 1976 and the fate of the B23 in unknown.
14. Lola T290 (Helmut Bross): From early 1973 until early 1975, Helmut Bross drove a Lola T290 in European events, mainly in Germany and Austria, supported by packaging company Lang-Verpackungen. His last known event in the car was the Preis der Stadt Stuttgart at Hockenheim in February 1975. The identity of the T290 is not 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.

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 29 Aug 1974 pp9-10, Motoring News 29 Aug 1974 pp10-11. Christian Melville is mentioned only in MN has "hiring from Roger Hire the Derek Worthington maintained Lola T292 which was last used by Martin Birrane at Clermont Ferrand". The Birrane reference may be spurious but the car would appear to be John Abrahams' car. MN also mentions two non-qualifiers, Moritz and Gotz. Jauslin's Lola is given by MN as a "1973 model", probably the same car that Jauslin hillclimbed and raced extensively through 1974 as a "T294" and, as such, quite possibly the car that Jauslin had updated to DFV specification and raced from 1977 to 1983 after his two seasons (1975-1976) in a Lola T390.