Malaysia Grand Prix

Batu Tiga, 5 Sep 1971

All cars are 1.6-litre 1.6 2v unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT10 [F2-12-64] (John Macdonald): Mike Costin of Cosworth Engineering bought this car later in the 1964 season and raced it a handful of times with its usual Cosworth SCA engine. It appeared in a libre race with a 1500cc Cosworth prototype engine at Silverstone in June 1965 and then in F3 spec with Cosworth's new MAE engine in September 1965. In August 1966, it appeared again with the prototype FVA F2 engine and was Cosworth's test car for the FVA in 1967. In 1968 it was sold to Bill Jones who entered it in F2 for Chris Meek. It then went to John Macdonald (Hong Kong) for 1969 and was raced across for the next three seasons, firstly with the FVA engine and later with a Ford twin cam when four-valve engines were banned. Retained by Macdonald until 2007 when he advertised it.
2. Lotus 59/69 [F3-11?] (Sonny Rajah): A new Lotus 59 raced by James Hunt in F3 in 1970 with Holbay engine and was modified with the 69-style bodywork of the 59A spec during the season. Then believed to be the Lotus 59/69 raced by Sonny Rajah in South East Asian racing in 1971. Retained by Rajah who refers to it as "the ex-James Hunt Lotus 69". Still with Rajah in 2010.
3. McLaren M4C (Jan Bussell): New Zealand F3 driver Howden Ganley performed some testing for his friend Bruce McLaren on the Can-Am M8A in early 1969, and as part of the deal was able to build up a car for a Formula 2 campaign. The car used a McLaren M4A monocoque but with special bodywork designed to make it a "mini-M7". Money problems and delivery delays meant that Ganley never raced it, focusing instead on a successful F3 season. The McLaren was next seen when advertised by Jim Gleave of MRE (Bourne End, Buckinghamshire) in May 1971 as a "brand new" McLaren 'M4C' built for Ganley. It was sold to Jan Bussell (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) in time for the Malaysian GP in early September. The car was then reported to have used second-hand M4B F1 suspension and a new body based on the M7 F1 cars. As well as the designation 'M4C-1', it was also reported to carry the chassis number 'FJB4' for Bussell. It was modified to take a Ford twin cam engine and used by Bussell at the Malaysian GP, the Macau GP in November 1971 and at the March 1972 Singapore GP, during which it was damaged by fire. Its history is then unknown until it was found in Malaysia by RAF engineer Irwin Lindsey and brought back to England where it was sold in June 1984 to McLaren's Leo Wybrott. Wybrott subsequently reported that the car had been built using the original monocoque from M4A/2, crashed at Brands Hatch in August 1967, and he restored the car over some period to the same specification as M4A/2. It was on display in the Donington Museum and at the Midland Museum from 1992 until 2005, when Leo moved to Australia, and the M4A moved to the Fremantle Motor Museum in West Australia.
4. Brabham BT30 [BT29/23] (Graeme Lawrence): Entered by Fred Opert Racing for Evan Noyes (Cedarville, MI) in the 1971 Tasman series, where it was fitted with a 1.8-litre Cosworth FVC. This was not the same BT29 that Noyes had used in Formula B in 1970, as that car was later advertised by Opert in the US. Sold to Graeme Lawrence (New Zealand) after the Tasman series, fitted with a Hart twin cam and used in races in South East Asia in early 1971, then with the FVC again for races in New Zealand and Australia. To Leo Geoghegan for SE Asian races in 1972, then to Ken Smith in New Zealand. Next seen when advertised by Bill David (Taupo, New Zealand) in June 1974, still with its FVC and twin cam engines. Raced by Frank Bray and entered by David in 1975, then to Peter Hughes and fitted with a Fiat engine for 1976, then a BDA for 1977. Observed by David McKinney in 1977 to be chassis BT29/23.
5. Palliser WDB4 [1] (Hengkie Iriawan): New for Vern Schuppan to drive as the Palliser Racing entry in the British Formula Atlantic series in early 1971. Taken out to Singapore in April 1971 and sold there to Hengkie Iriawan, who raced it in Southeast Asian events in 1971 and early 1972, still fitted with its BRM Ford twin cam engine. Iriawan died on 23 April 1972 in a go-kart crash at Ipoh in Malaysia, and the Palliser was sold to Jan Bussell (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), who raced it in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Subsequent history unknown.
6. Brabham BT16 (Lionel Chan): Hengkie Iriawan, or Heng Kyeow Ooi as he was then known, raced a Brabham "bitza" in two races in Malaysia and Singapore in early 1968. It is presumably the car he raced at Macau the previous November. According to Eli Solomon's "Snakes & Devils" it was probably a Brabham BT16. He quickly moved on to a new Elfin 600, and the Brabham reappeared two years later having been bought from Iriawan by Lionel Chan. Chan was killed while racing this car after an accident at the Singapore GP's Long Loop in 1972.

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

The Straits Times, 6 September 1971, Page 29