British Sprint Championship Round

Blackbushe, 20 Aug 1978

Notes on the cars:

1. McRae GM1 [012] (Dave Harris): See full history: McRae GM1/012.
2. March 742/772 ["U1"] (Alan Richards): Built by March as the development car for the new March 742 series, but using a leftover 732 monocoque. Employed as the spare car for the Elf-sponsored works team in 1974, it was raced by Patrick Depailler at Montjuich Park, by Michel Leclère at Hockenheim in June, by Depailler to win at Mugello, by Ronnie Peterson to win at Karlskoga, and by Depailler again at Enna. It was not seen in 1975, but then sold in December 1975 to David Franklin (Portbury, Somerset) and used in British hillclimbs in 1976, with sponsorship from Wendy Wools. Retained for 1977, when it was fitted with 1977 bodywork. For 1978, it was sold to Alan Richards (Prestbury, Gloucestershire), fitted with a 2-litre Cosworth FVC and used in sprints and hillclimbs. To Norrie Galbraith (Lanark, Scotland) for 1979, and used in Scottish speed events. Retained by Galbraith for 1980, but rebuilt over the winter by Robin Smith to 782 configuration, and fitted with a Hart 420R engine. In December 1980, the car was advertised from a Frome, Somerset, phone number, described as being ex-Depailler and ex-Galbraith, modified by Smith. It has been suggested that Stephen Cuff was the advertiser. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Brabham BT35X [2] (Terry Smith): New to Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) for 1971, and fitted with a 5-litre Repco 740 V8 engine for the British Hill Climb Championship and occasional rounds of the British Sprint Championship. Won one round of each series. Retained for 1972 when Griffiths again one one round in each series. To Malcolm Dungworth (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) for 1973 when he shared it with John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire). They shared the car again in 1974 and in 1975, when Cussins won a championship round at Barbon Manor, then Dungworth ran it alone in 1976 and 1977. Sold to Terry Smith in October 1977, and he raced it in the Sprint series in 1978. He raced it again in 1979, but in June he transferred the Repco engine into a March 75A/761 and the BT35X was sold to Mike Remnant in south-west England. Remnant did not race it, sticking to his BT30, and sold it to Roger Jordan who fitted a Ford twin cam and ran it in SW events from about 1981, later replacing the engine with a Rover V8. It was raced by Mark Haynes, still with the Rover V8, at Werrington Park in 1985. In 1986, Jordan sold it to Ted Walker (Dursley, Gloucestershire) who sold it to Shaun Mooney. Mooney had it restored by Simon Hadfield, fitted a Cosworth BDA, and raced it in historic racing from 1991 to 1996. In 2002, the car was sold to Japan and ran in Japanese historic events where it was noted having the name "E. Sekiya" on the side. It changed hands in 2004 and rebuilt by the Mecca racing garage at Tsukuba circuit in 2008. It was offered for sale by its Japanese owner in August 2015, and acquired by Ross Drybrough (Worthing, West Sussex). At this point it was in "F2" specification with a BDA engine. Restored and raced by Drybrough in HSCC F2 in 2022.
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.
5. March 702 [6] (Peter Fisk): Although given the number 702/6 by March, this was the development F2 car built using the very first Arch Motors frame. It raced just once in 1970 when Howden Ganley appeared in it at Mantorp Park in August. At the start of 1971, it was fitted with a Vegantune twin cam for Formula Atlantic, and was driven by David Morgan at the Mallory Park round in March, taking pole position and winning. He was second in the next race at Castle Combe, but then the car was advertised by March, and bought by John Nicholson, who used it for the rest of that season. Advertised by Nicholson (Ashford, Middlesex) in August 1972. Bought from Nicholson in October 1972 by Martin Steele (Faringdon, Oxfordshire) and used in sprints in 1973 and the first half of 1974. Sold in July 1974 to Peter Fisk (Cambridge) who raced it in speed events from 1974 to 1979. The car was fitted with a BDA engine, and Fisk sometimes shared with Robert Glass, also of Cambridge. Fisk advertised the car in October 1980 and sold it back to Steele in March 1981. Steele restored it and used it in UK historic racing in 1985 and 1986. Retained until sold in November 1998 to Mike Scott (Exeter, Devon) who drove it in FORCE events in 2003, and later appeared with it in Masters events in 2006. Sold in 2009 to Satoshi Onishi (Miharuno, Japan) and used by him in Japanese historic events.
6. March 702 (Vivian Carter): Allan Humphries (Bath) of Allwood Cars Ltd ran a 1600cc March 702 in hillclimbs at Wroughton and Wiscombe Park in 1976 and 1977. He later acquired a March 762, which he hillclimbed in 1978 and 1979, and then the ex-Ronnie Peterson March 761, which he used in 1980. Vivian Carter raced a March 702 in Sprints in 1978, and according to an Autosport feature, he was running as part of the Allwood Cars Ltd of Bristol team. This would indicate that he had the same car that Allan Humphries had raced in 1976 and 1977. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Brabham BT21B [28] (Leslie Stone): New to Frank Lythgoe Racing for Dave Berry (Colwyn Bay) to race in British F3 in 1968. To Alan Rollinson for 1969 and won six races at the start of the British F3 season. Sold to Norman Foulds (Fleetwood, Lancashire) in June 1969 and used in British F3 for the rest of that season. With dealer Bobby Howlings (Congleton, Cheshire) in early 1970, then used briefly by Nick Cook in early 1971 before his new BT35 was ready. Next seen in early 1972 when Spencer Elton (Westbury, Wiltshire) had fitted one of his Vegantune twin cam engines and ran the car in hillclimbs. Sold by Spencer to Gerry Wilkins (Bath, Somerset) for hillclimbs in 1973 and 1974. It returned to Spencer and was advertised by him in 1976 and then reappeared with Les Stone (Basingstoke, Hampshire) at Harewood in July 1976. Used by Stone in sprints and hillclimbs from 1977 to 1980. By 1987, the car was with Simon Harratt (Blandford, Dorset) who raced it at Gurston Down that year, and also in 1991. The car was raced by Simon, his wife Jane, and later daughter Melissa, in speed events for many years, for much of that time Simon being BARC SW chairman and Jane being competition secretary. After Simon died in 2016, the car was sold to Grant Cratchley (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire).

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.