Penang Grand Prix

Penang, 1 Sep 1975

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Ralt RT1 [5] (John Macdonald): New to John Macdonald (Hong Kong) and raced in Southeast Asian 1600cc 2-valve category racing in 1975, when he won the Penang and Selangor Grands Prix, then as a Formula Atlantic to win the Macau GP in November. Retained for 1976 when he ran it in the 1600cc 4-valve category and won the Selangor and Indonesia Grands Prix. He ran it again in 1977, and it was also raced by Vern Schuppan at Macau that year. Macdonald then sold the Ralt to Peter Marshall, who raced it in Formula Pacific in 1978 and 1979. It was still in Marshall's ownership when raced by Sonny Rajah in 1980 and 1981. The car was then stored at Rajah's father's house in Kuala Lumpur until 1990, when Marshall retrieved the car and had it shipped to Sydney, Australia. The following year it was taken to Ralt importer Graham Watson to be rebuilt to original specification. It was sold in early 1999 to Peter Mohr (Sydney, Australia) who took it with him to the US when he moved there, and raced it in US historic racing in 2000 and 2001. It was then sold to Dennis D'Angelo and remained with him until 2006. It was then bought by Don Sandy and Art Hebert and raced on the west coast in 2006. In 2012, it was acquired by Harindra de Silva and raced by Timothy de Silva (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) in west coast historic events. Sold in 2021 to Éric Verdin (Mill Valley, CA), who has continued to race it in historic events.
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. March 732 [73B] (Harvey Yap): 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.
5. 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.
6. March 722/732 (José "Pocholo" Ramirez): 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.

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

Results from Eli Solomon, quoting Angus Lamont in HKCCC The Chequered Flag's Exhaust Notes, September 1975. He says that Millen led at the start, followed by MacDonald, Yap and Poon. MacDonald overtook Millen into the second corner and stayed in front. Yap and Millen later retired, leaving MacDonald as the winner. Laps completed and race times provided by Angus Lamont.