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British Sprint Championship Round

Oulton Park, 2 Apr 1977

ResultsTime 
1 Dave Harris 5-litre McRae GM1 [012] - Chevrolet Smith V8
(see note 1)
37.7s
2 Simon Riley 3-litre Brabham BT33 [3] - Cosworth DFV V8
38.61s
3 David Render (F1) 3-litre Lotus 76 [2 JPS10] - Cosworth DFV V8
38.67s
4 Richard Lester 1.6-litre Lola T100 [SL100/4] - Ford BDA
(see note 2)
43.92s
5 Arthur Hinds (clubmans) 1.6-litre Mallock U2 Mk 8B - Ford
43.93s
6 John Taylor 3-litre Brabham BT16/21B - Ford Essex V6
(see note 3)
44.98s
7 John Chilton (unknown) 1.6-litre Wee - Ford
49.38s
8 Paul Edwards 1.8-litre Brabham BT38 [17] - Cosworth BDE
(see note 4)
55.13s
Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. McRae GM1 [012] (Dave Harris): See full history: McRae GM1/012.
  2. Lola T100 [SL100/4] (Richard Lester): Believed to be the works Lola T100 entered by Lola Racing for John Surtees to drive in Formula 2 at the start of 1967. Fitted with a Cosworth FVA engine and raced by Surtees at Snetterton and Silverstone in March 1967, then by Chris Irwin at the Nürburgring in April. Sold in May to David Bridges for Brian Redman to drive in F2 for the rest of that season. Retained by Bridges for F2 in 1968, when it was driven by Redman, Chris Williams, Mike Beckwith, David Hobbs and Robin Widdows. Sold to Robin Darlington (Ruaben, Wales) late 1969, and used in libre racing in 1970. He advertised it in January 1971 when it had a twin cam and was prepared for the new 1971 Formula Atlantic category. Robin cannot recall where it went, but it was next seen in Sprints in late 1973, when it was driven by Richard Lester (Yoxall, Staffordshire). The car was run by Lester in the 1600cc class in Sprints and occasional hillclimbs from 1974 to 1977. Lester then acquired a March 73B, and advertised the T100 in January 1978 as "ex-Redman" with an all-steel twin cam and Hewland FT200 gearbox. This is likely to be the red/white 1600cc Lola T100 that Kenneth Brill (Redditch, Worcestershire) raced in libre at Croft in 1978. Subsequent history unknown.
  3. Brabham BT16/21B (John Taylor): In 1976, John Taylor (North Petherton, Somerset) ran a Brabham BT16/21B in sprints. The car had been fitted with a 3-litre Ford Essex V6 engine. He advertised it was a BT21B in November 1976 but appeared again with it at a sprint at Oulton Park in April 1977. It was then sold to Eike Wellhausen (Chesterfield, Derbyshire), then described as a former Jaguar E-Type driver but now better known as a Lister racer. Eike understood it to be a Brabham BT23C and Autosport described the car as a BT23C that had originally been built for an American who had intended installing a Chevy V8 but had never raced. Wellhausen replaced the standard Essex engine with a fully-tuned version and raced the car in libre events at Mallory Park, Donington Park and Silverstone from 1977 to 1979. By 1979 the V6 had been replaced with a Hart BDA. Eike recalls selling it to "a London jeans manufacturer who raced other single seaters". Subsequent history unknown.
  4. Brabham BT38 [17] (Paul Edwards): Brand new for Richard Scott at Oulton Park at the end of March 1972, and used by him through the 1972 F2 season. To Alan Padgett (Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire) for 1973, fitted with an 1850cc Cosworth BDE and used in hillclimbs. To David Baumforth (North Newbald, East Riding of Yorkshire) for hillclimbs and prints in 1974, then to John Hinley (Knowle, Warwickshire) for sprints in 1975. It was acquired by Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) for 1976, then to chef Paul Edwards (London), who used it extensively in sprints in 1977 and 1978. To Ron Cumming (Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) for libre racing in 1979, when it still had a 1800cc BDE engine. Cumming crashed the car in a race at Ingliston, probably in May 1979, and rebuilt it using a replacement monocoque supplied by Jim Stevenson. The car was then sold, less engine, to somebody in Essex. About seven years later, it was acquired by Chris Perkins (Ashbourne, Derbyshire), still in the distinctive orange-and-white livery used by Cumming in 1979 and with evidence of where the March 79B-style sidpods had been fitted, but now with a Buick V8 engine in the process of installation. Perkins's recollection is that he bought the car in the Brighton area in the mid-1980s; Autosport mention his purchase in December 1987.

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 British Sprint Championship results were originally provided by Paul Parker and Steve Wilkinson and are based on material drawn from Motoring News, Autosport and Speedscene magazines plus results sheets and programmes provided by former competitors and by the organising clubs.

The identification of individual cars is based on the Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic research work presented elsewhere on the site.

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.