Preis Der Nationen

Hockenheim, 31 Aug 1975

Notes on the cars:

1. Chevron B23 [73-05] (Tony Charnell): 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.
2. Chevron B23 [B21 72-26] (John Calvert): Bought relatively late in the 1972 season by Martin Raymond (London) to replace his Daren Mk. 3, B21-72-26 was used for the last three races of the European series and then, in upgraded B23 form, for the whole 1973 season. It was unused in 1974 and was advertised by Raymond in November that year. Bought by John Blanckley (London) for 1975 and raced by him and John Calvert that season, after which it was sold to Rolf Götz (Waldenbuch, Germany) and raced from 1976 to 1978, latterly described as a B26. For 1979, Götz bought Blanckley's newer B31 and the fate of the B21 is unknown. Between 1980 and 1982, a car with this identity was advertised by Bob Speak's Barrowford Garage (Nelson, Lancashire) but how it had got from southwestern Germany to Lancashire is unclear.
3. Lola T292 [HU64?] (Pierre-Marie Painvin): Chassis HU64 is listed in Lola records as a red car invoiced to Heini Mader of Ecurie Bonnier. As the only late-season T292 to go to Europe, it is likely to be the car that went to the Ecurie Bonnier/Team BIP to replace HU47 after Carlos Santos' crash at Vila Real on 1 July 1973. It is believed to have worn the HU47 chassis plate for the rest of 1973. Its history in 1974 is not yet known, but it is quite likely to be the car raced by Ruedi Jauslin (Muttenz, Switzerland) that season. In early 1975, HU64 was imported by the ROC team (Annemasse, France, just over the Swiss border from Geneva). How HU64 was used by ROC is not yet known, but it may well have been one of their 1975 Le Mans cars. In 1976, it is believed to have gone to Antonio Puigdellivol (Andorra) for European hillclimbs, still with a ROC engine. Puigdellivol raced his car again in 1977. It seems that HU64 returned to the ROC team for 1978 and became a hire car, used in French hillclimbs by Bernard Verdier, Albert Dufrène, and Noel Del Bello. In 1979, it was acquired by Philippe Vizet, who raced it for three seasons, then sold it, still with its ROC engine, to Gérard Godenèche, who raced it from 1982 to 1984. Later owners were Alain Denis in 1987, who co-owned it with Gilles Lécluse from 1990 onwards. Acquired by Jean-Claude Bertrand (Luxembourg) in 1996 and restored by MEC Auto to BIP livery. To Guido and Günther Diefenthal (Germany) 1999, then to Rodrigo Gallego (Portugal) by 2009. In the museum at Stavelot in December 2012, still bearing Gallego's name. Raced by Tom Zurstrassen in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
4. Lola T294 [HU67] (Manrico Zanuso): 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.
5. Chevron B31 [75-04] (Ian Grob): New for Ian Grob for 1975 and entered by KVG Racing for Grob and John Hine at long-distance events. To Tony Charnell for 1976, and entered by Mogil Motors Ltd in British sports car events. Charnell retained the B31 for 1977 but with the RAC Championship cancelled, he moved into long-distance events, competing in the Dijon 500 km, the Monza 500 km, the Le Mans 24 Hors, and the Le Castellet 500 km in July. Retained again for 1978 and raced at the Dijon 320 km and at Le Mans, but crashed very heavily on the Mulsanne Straught. The car snaped left just after the brow, hit the kerb, leapt onto a section of guardrail, flattening it, vaulted through a hoarding and ended up amongst the trees, thoroughly destroyed. Charnell got out without a scratch or a bruise! HE built up a new Chevron B36 for 1979.
6. Chevron B23 [B21 72-3] (Peter J Smith): Sold new to Peter Smith and raced by him and co-driver David Welpton through 1972 and 1973 primarily in distance events across Europe but also in some short British events. Updated to B23 specification for 1974 and raced by Smith with various co-drivers including Rupert Keegan. Co-drivers in 1975 included John Turner. The car was replaced by the ex-KVG/John Hine Chevron B31 for 1976 and was sold to Ray Petry (Boston, MA) for SCCA racing and then for the new Can-Am series that started in 1977. Ray used an ex-Rondel 1840cc BDE engine that he'd bought from Tony Cicale. Raced in Can-Am 1978 to 1980. Ray later sold the car to dealer Mike Gue of Essex Racing, who sold it to Canada. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Lola T292 [HU58?] (Georges Morand): Acquired in May 1973 by Jean-Louis Lafosse to run in 2-litre racing as part of Ecurie Filipinetti, who also ran Lafosse's Gitanes-backed 3-litre Lola T282. The project was badly effected by the death of Georges Filipinetti. Lafosse retained the car for the 1974 season and after an unsuccessful run with Osella, moved to the ROC team and raced the T292 at Mugello in September fitted with one of ROC's Simca engines. The car appears to have become part of the ROC equipe and was raced by Xavier Lapeyre at Jarama in October and is believed to have stayed with ROC through 1975. Then likely to be the "ex-Filipinetti" Lola T292 with which Georges Morand won the 2-litre class at Le Mans in 1976. After that it appears to have gone via Heini Mader to Michel Elkoubi and been used in French national races in 1977, for example at the Treffort hillclimb. It was rebuilt for Le Mans again in 1978 as one of Elkoubi's two Pronuptia entries. However, it is unclear which of the #24 and #25 entries it was and, because of this, its later history has not yet been determined.
8. March 75S [U2] (John Lepp): 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.
9. Chevron B26 [74-08] (TBA): After the closure of Red Rose Racing, Roger Hire struck a deal to run works-assisted Chevron B26s in 1974 under the name Forge Mill Racing. John Lepp ran the main car and Rafael Barrios joined the team to run a second B26, now positively identified as chassis 74-08. This car only raced once in 1975 but was then bought by Robin Smith to be used in endurance and Interserie in 1976. Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) acquired it for Can-Am in early 1977 and raced it for three seasons, winning the Pacific Coast title in 1978 and the last BSR title at the Run-Offs. It went to John Graham in Canada for the 1981 season and then to Luc Behar-Bannelier for 1982. The B26 was sold to Gil Baird for Thundersports in England in 1983 then to Richard Piper for another three seasons during which time it was converted to DFV power before moving to Ireland in the late 1980s where it stayed for nearly 15 years. It was sold back to the US again around 2003 and has raced in US vintage racing.
10. Lola T294 (Oscar Desentis): At some stage during 1975, Roger Heavens started running a second Lola T294. This is the car raced by Manrico Zanuso at Brands Hatch 22 Jun 1975, shared by Zanuso and Alois Müller at Zeltweg a week later and probably raced on other occasions during 1975. Heavens is known to have later sold two Lola T294s to France and this car explains the second sale. However, the origins of this second car are not yet established. One possibility is the Oscar Desentis Lola T292 as Desentis raced a Heavens-entered car at Spa in May 1975.

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.