Trophée International Paul Ricard

Paul Ricard, 7 Apr 1974

Notes on the cars:

1. Alpine A441 [4411] (Alain Cudini): Team Archambeaud acquired a new A441 for 1974 for lead driver Gérard Larrousse. The car was used as a test chassis for the 2.1-litre turbo engine and won at Mugello at the beginning of 1975. It was kept as a backup car for Le Mans in 1976 but it is not yet certain whether chassis 4411 then became chassis 4420.
2. March 74S [10] (Jean Ragnotti): Built new for 1974, fitted with a BMW engine and entered by March Engineering for Jean Ragnotti in the European 2-litre Sports Car championship, with Antar sponsorship. Fitted with a Richardson FVC after the first few races, and later with a Cosworth BDG. Retained by March for 1975, fitted with a Hart 420R engine, updated to 75S specification and plated as '75S-U2' for John Lepp to race. The car was retained again for 1976, now to 76S specification and reportedly using the identity '76S-1', now raced by Lepp as part of the Ultramar team. Sold to Bobby Brown (Hicksville, NY) for the 1977 Can-Am season, now using the identity '77ST-1'. Sold to Greg Sorrentino (Troy, Michigan) and raced in 1979. In 1980, it was converted to centre-seat specification with a new body fabricated by Dave Craddock and campaigned in this form by Sorrentino in 1981, described as a March 802. To Charlie Monk (Sarnia, Ontario) for 1982, and then via John Adams Racing & John Kalagian to J. Byron Walker (Detroit, Michigan). Raced by Walker in 1983 and 1984 before being stored. Walker later acquired the 1977 bodywork from EB Lunken, who had used it on his March 73S, and found Lepp's Ultramar livery under the layers of paint. In 2013, Walker was in the process of restoring the car to its 1975 specification.
3. Chevron B26 [74-02] (John Lepp): Although described by some sources as the "prototype", the Gunston-liveried car raced by John Watson and Jody Scheckter in the 1973-74 Springbok series in South Africa was the second B26, chassis 74-02. This car was then sold to Derek Buller-Sinfield and prepared by Roger Hire's Forge Mill Racing for John Lepp (Altrincham, Cheshire) to drive in Europe in 1974. Then the "works development car" advertised by Hire and the "ex-works development" "B36" raced by Bob Marsland (Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) from 1976 to 1978. Sold to Richard Simms (Ossett, West Yorkshire) late in the 1978 season and used briefly in libre racing before being converted over the close season into a Skoda "Super Saloon". Raced in this form from 1979 to 1981 and then restored to B36 specification for use in Thundersports in 1983 and 1984, sharing with Warren Booth. After passing through several more hands in England and, it would seem, Sweden, it was sold to Jack Russeli (Ohio) in June 1997. To Murray Smith (Washington, CT) in 2005. To Roger Wills (London) 2011.
4. Chevron B23 [73-05] (Ian Grob): Bought new by Ian Grob and used mainly in minor British and French events at first. Grob took his car to the Springbok series at the end of 1973 and then did a full European campaign in 1974. For 1975, he bought a new Chevron B31 and the B23 was sold to Scottish club racer Tony Charnell. Charnell then bought Grob's B31 for 1976 and the fate of the B23 in unknown.
5. Alpine A441 [4410] (Jean-Pierre Jabouille): Société Alpine entered two new A441s in 1974 and chassis 4410 was Jean-Pierre Jabouille's car for the first race and then became Alain Serpaggi's regular car for the rest of the season. This car was sold to 'Jimmy' Mieusset for the 1976 French hillclimb season and then to Jean Ortelli for 1977 and 1978, after which it was on display in the Mougins museum, still owned by Ortelli. The car was still in the Musée de l'Automobile at Mougins in June 2008 and appeared at Retromobile in 2010.
6. Lola T294 [T292 HU40] (Martin Raymond): Described consistently as the "prototype" T292, HU40 first appeared at Jarama 5 Nov 1972 where it was raced by Richard Scott. It was then Guy Edwards' works car throughout 1973 after which it was updated to T294 specification and sold by Lola to Martin Raymond for 1974. It went to Stewart Chubb for 1975 and continued to race in the European series. In 1976, Chubb sold the car to Steven Payne-Herbert and it was used in Can-Am and SCCA BSR racing until 1980. Payne-Herbert kept the car until 1989 when it was sold for vintage racing and, three owners later, it was being offered for sale by Grand Prix Classics in February 2011.
7. Lola T292 [HU57] (Philipp Gantner): Bought new by Roland Heiler in June 1973 to replace the disappointing GRD S73 that he'd been running as part of Jörg Obermoser's Eurorace team. He ran the T292 in 1973 and 1974 as part of Obermoser's operation but it was driven mainly by Philipp Gantner in 1974. The fate of this car is unknown.
8. Lola T290 (François Servanin): At the opening race of the 1974 2-litre series, at Paul Ricard, Francois Servanin was entered in a Lola T290-FVC. His name appeared next to Fred Stalder's in the entry list so it is likely that this was a ROC entry, not an entirely private one. The car does not appear again as the team move to their T292 and T294 Simca-powered cars so it is likely to have been either Stalder's 1973 car, T290 HU5, or possibly the sister team car T290 HU14 driven in 1973 by Jacques Henry.
9. Alpine A440 [4401] (Gérard Larrousse): New for the Nürburgring in Sep 1973, chassis 4401 was sold to Equipe Archambeaud for 1974 and raced by Gérard Larrousse, Marie-Claude Beaumont and Bernard Darniche that year. From Larrousse's team, the car is understood to have gone to Jean-Paul Barbier for hillclimbs in 1977 and then to Jean-Pierre Theuil who ran it from 1978 to 1980. In May 2005, chassis "A440-01" was auctioned by Bonhams at Monaco but the history assigned to the car was that of the prototype, an understandable mistake given Alpine's unusual numbering system. Its current location is uncertain.
10. Lola T294 [HU67] (Javier Juncadella): This car was sold new to Roger Heavens for 1974 and was entered under the Escuderia Montjuich Tergal banner for Javier Juncadella. It was also raced by Hervé Leguellec, Richard Lloyd and Manrico Zanuso. In January 1976, it was advertised by Heavens, noting that it had last raced in the Boxing Day meeting at Brands Hatch. Martial Legou told Philippe Rafesthain, as reported on the Autodiva thread, that he bought this car from Heavens via Leguellec after the 1975 season. According to Philippe's research, this car later ran as the #25 Pronuptia entry at Le Mans in 1978.
11. Chevron B21 (Christine Beckers, Jacques Coche): Roger Dubos acquired a Chevron "B21" for 1973 which he shared with Christine Beckers. Beckers recalls that the car was bought from England and it may be that this was actually a B19. It was raced through 1973 with Dinitrol sponsorship and used by Dubos and Beckers at Le Mans that year where it was described as a B21/23. Beckers continued to drive it in 1974, still in similar white and blue colours but now with Seiko signwriting. It was raced at Spa in May and probably at the Nürburgring but is not the Dupont-owned B23 that Beckers then drove at the 1974 Le Mans. Beckers then shared a car with Michel Dupont twice more in 1974; this is likely to be the Le Mans car again. Christine recalls selling the Chevron to a garage owner in Le Mans but the subsequent history of the car has not yet been established.
12. Lola T294 [HU70?] (Fred Stalder): The entry for this car is blank in Lola records, but it is believed to be one of two cars sold to Fred Stalder's Racing Organisation Course, and fitted with ROC's Chrysler-Simca-based engine for 2-litre sports car racing in 1974. Believed to have been Stalder's own car for 1974. Raced in long-distance events at Dijon and Le Mans in 1975. According to Philippe Rafesthain, this car was sold to Hervé Bayard (Roye, France) and fitted with a Hart 420R engine for French hillclimbs in 1976, winning the Group 6 class at every event. For Pascal Foix and Bayard at the Paul Ricard sports car race in July 1977. Sold to Michel Lateste for 1978, and returned to French hillclimbs. Then to Patrice Lenorman and appeared at three events in July 1979 before Lenorman crashed the car. He advertised it, still unrepaired, in December 1979 and it appears to have gone to Dominique Lacaud when Lenorman bought's Lacaud's T297-BMW. Later repaired by Lacaud but whether this is the car he used in French events and hillclimbs from 1981 to 1986 is not clear. Lacaud restored the T294 for historic events many years later, appearing in it from 2009 onwards. For sale at Artcurial's Retromobile sale in February 2015.
13. Lola T292 [HU63] (Mauro Nesti): In August 1973, Mauro Nesti crashed the March 73S with which he'd been dominating Italian hillclimbing and his sponsor Cebora bought a T292, chassis HU63, to replace it. The car was updated to T294 spec for 1974 and Nesti was enormously successful in it for the next three seasons, winning his class in the European Hill Climb Championship in 1975 and 1976. It has been suggested that Nesti had a new T296 for 1977, but it is quite possible that the old T292 was the car he drove in 1977 (taking his third title), 1978 and the early part of 1979 before acquiring a brand new T298 HU98. The subsequent history of the T292 is 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.