Malaysia Grand Prix

Batu Tiga, 30 Mar 1975

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT40 [35] (John Macdonald): New to John Macdonald (Hong Kong) and fitted with a Hart twin cam engine for the Southeast Asian 2-valve 1600cc formula. Macdonald won the 1973 Malaysian Grand Prix, the 1973 Macau Grand Prix, the 1974 Selangor Grand Prix, and Malaysian and Penang Grands Prix in 1975. Driven by José "Pocholo" Ramirez, Macdonald's Rothmans Cathay Pacific team mate at Macau at the end of 1975. Next seen with Jason Ho in 1988, then with Neville McKay in 1992. Still owned by McKay (Mona Vale, NSW, Australia) in December 2004.
2. Brabham BT40 (Graeme Lawrence): New to Albert Poon (Hong Kong) and fitted with a Hart twin cam engine for the Southeast Asian 2-valve 1600cc formula. Raced by Poon in 1973 and 1974 and then, after Poon acquired a newer Chevron B29, the Brabham was raced by Graeme Lawrence in the Malaysian GP in March 1975 and by Kevin Bartlett in the Macau Grand Prix in November 1975. Then raced by Poon's wife, Diana Poon, from 1976 to 1979. At some point, the Brabham was badly damaged, and its tub has been rebuilt by new owner Neville McKay. Reported to be still owned by McKay but in pieces in 2004.
3. Chevron B20 [72-9] (Steve Millen): New to John S Green in Formula B specification but there is no evidence of this car being delivered before the end of 1972. Green ran it in the Gap Hill Climb in January 1973, but only circuit raced it once, in the Singapore Grand Prix in April 1973. Green died in early 1974, and the Chevron was sold to David Schollum for Steve Millen in South-East Asian races that year. Then shipped to New Zealand and fitted with a 1980cc Cosworth FVC engine for the 1975 Tasman series. Used by Millen in 1600cc form at Batu Tiga and Macau later in 1975. Sold to Ian Grey in 1976 and raced with a Cosworth BDM at Macau in 1976 and 1977. Later sold to Dick Ward (Perth, Australia) and George Stacey about the end of 1979, and then to Harry Hickling (ACT, Australia). Sold to David Innes late 2014.
4. Chevron B29 [29-75-05] (Albert Poon): New to Albert Poon (Hong Kong), and raced in Southeast Asian events in 1975. Raced in Southeast Asian 1600cc 4-valve formula events in 1976, and driven by Kevin Bartlett at the Macau Grand Prix in November 1976. Sold less engine to Chong Boon Seng (Singapore) in December 1976 and raced by him in 1977, 1978 and 1979, It was then retained by him until it was sold to Leif Norberg, a Swede then living in Malaysia, in 1985. Then to Tony Armstrong (Australia) in 1989. To Geoff Weiland (Australia) in 1998, then to Peter Addison (Sydney, NSW), then to John Gale (Sydney, NSW) in 2005. In March 2020, the car was bought from Gale by Peter Brennan (Melbourne, Victoria).
5. March 722/732 (Harvey Yap): Percy Chan drove a March 732 in Southeast Asian racing in 1974. He had previously raced a 732 at the Selangor Grand Prix in September 1973, but that was thought to have been Sonny Rajah's car on loan. At the Malaysia GP in April 1974, his car was described in the programme as "Rothman's latest acquisition, a March 732 with Richardson engine". A photograph in the programme showed a car with standard 732 bodywork and forward-facing stays, but this may have been a photograph from Selangor GP in September 1973 rather than a picture of Chan's new mount. Eli Solomon published a picture of Chan's "732" in his excellent 'Rides of March - Part 2' article which shows the car with no forward stays. Solomon is confident it was a 732-bodied 722, although a 723 would also be a possibility. Chan raced the car through the 1974 season as a Team Rothmans entry. Chan did not plan to continue in 1975, so Team Rothmans assigned the March 722/732 to saloon car racer Harvey Yap for the Malaysian Grand Prix in early 1975. After Rothmans' team leader Jan Bussell emigrated in May 1975, Yap took over his 73B and the older 722/732 was raced by Pocholo Ramirez at the Grands Prix of Penang and Selangor later in 1975. Subsequent history unknown.
6. Brabham BT36 [BT30-14] (Chong Boon Seng): Sold new to Ecurie Ecosse and run for Graham Birrell in F2 in 1970. Also raced once by Peter Gethin and by Richard Attwood later in the season. To Peter Westbury early 1971 and raced in several F2 races (also raced once by Dieter Quester) until the team's BT36 was delivered. Sold to Dunnett's Garage, converted to F/Atlantic specification and entered for Ronnie Mackay in libre and F/Atlantic in 1971 and 1972, run by MRE. To Chong Boon Seng for south east Asian racing in 1973 and used by him until 1976. Then to Del Schloemer and raced by him and by Cherie Schloemer in 1977 and 1978. To Wybe Valkema around 1980 and retained to 1982. Then to Australia and with Brian Wilson by 1988. Wilson sold it to Art Valdez (Torrance, CA) and from Valdez it returned to Australia when he sold it to Bob Ilich (Perth, WA) in 2010.
7. March 732 (Jan Bussell): New to Sonny Rajah (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and used in British Formula Atlantic in 1973. In August 1973, it was flown to South East Asia, where it spent the rest of its racing career. However, it is difficult to understand exactly how this car was used, as Rajah also owned a March 712M which was updated to 73B specification, and was also involved with a March 723 which had been converted to the local 1600cc 2-valve formula. At the Selangor Grand Prix at Batu Tiga in early September 1973, it appears that Rajah won using his updated 712M/73B, with the 73B being driven to third place by Percy Chan. Historian Eli Solomon reports that Rajah's 73B was bought by Jan Bussell a couple of weeks before the 1973 Macau GP, so would be the car Bussell drove for Team Rothmans at that race, through 1974, and in early 1975. In May 1975, Bussell left Malaysia for Zaire, and Percy Chan was moved from the team's second car to drive the 73B at the Penang and Selangor Grands Prix later in the year. The 73B's subsequent history remains unresolved, but it is thought to have been the car raced by Brian Tyler from 1976 to 1978.
8. Surtees TS15 [04] (Graeme Lawrence): New to Graeme Lawrence and raced in the 2-litre class of the 1973 Tasman Cup, using a 1.9-litre Hart BDA. Then raced in Southeast Asian events, using a Hart Ford twin cam engine. Retained for Southeast Asian 1600cc events in 1974, but Lawrence used his new F5000 Lola T332 in the Tasman series. Retained again for Southeast Asian 1600cc events in 1975. He still had the car in early 1976 when he was musing whether to convert it to Formula Pacific. Later in 1976 the car was sold to Rex Hart and fitted with a Cosworth BDA for Formula Pacific, and raced in New Zealand from 1977 to 1981. Sold to Ken Smith in 1982, and sold by him to John Wigston (Auckland) in 1984.

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 10 Apr 1975 p5. Entry list and other programme details provided by Richard Coe.