British Sprint Championship Round

Talbenny, 15 Oct 1978

Notes on the cars:

1. March 772/782 [10] (David Franklin): Built by March using "several second-hand components", fitted with a front radiator and March 771B nose, and sold to David Franklin in January 1978. Franklin used the car in the British Hillclimb Championship, winning the 1978 title, and in sprints. Sold to Alan Richards for 1979, and used in sprints and hillclimbs. Converted to Hart power for 1980, when it was entered by Richards as a 772P. Returned to BMW power for 1981, but Richards rarely qualified for Top 10 run-offs during that season. Sold to John Meredith for 1982, who used a 2.1-litre BMW engine. Sold to Rodney Eyles for 1983, now fitted with a BDA engine for the 1600cc class. Not seen in 1984, but Eyles returned to the "772/782" for 1985, now using a 2.5-litre Hart engine. Eyles wrecked the car in an accident at Blackpool in 1985, and later sold the wreck to brothers Roy and Doug Woodhouse, who also owned 772/6. After both brothers died, Doug's son Chris Woodhouse passed both cars to Nick Harrison (Worcester). Chassis 772/6 was reconstructed first, and by August 2025 772/10 was also nearing completion.
2. March 772 [6] (Ted Williams): New to Sandro Angeleri's AFMP-Euroracing, fitted with a Hart 420R and raced by Ricardo Zunino in F2 in early 1977, sponsored by Levi. When AFMP collapsed, the car was taken over by mechanic Tony Harvey for Zunino to drive at Vallelunga, Pau and Mugello. Then run by "March Racing" for Zunino for the last half of the season. Sold to Ted Williams (Bristol) for sprints and hillclimbs in 1978, still using a 2-litre Hart engine. Retained for 1979, when it was partly updated to 782 specification. Sold to Martin Bolsover (Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire) for 1980, and fitted with a 1600cc BDA engine and again entered as a 772/782. Bolsover fitted his BDA to a new Pilbeam for 1981, and the March was not seen in 1981, 1982 and 1983. It reappeared in 1984 when raced by Roy Woodhouse, and fitted with a turbocharged 3.5-litre Rover engine. Alan Payne (Birmingham, West Midlands) won a sprint at Curborough in June 1984, when sharing this car with Woodhouse. Raced by Woodhouse in sprints in 1985 and 1986, after which he transferred the engine into a newer March 822. When that car was wrecked at the end of 1988, he returned to the 772 for 1989, 1990 and 1991, only for the car to be comprehensively demolished at the Weston sprint at the end of 1991. The wreck remained with Roy Woodhouse and his brother Doug thereafter, and was joined by the wrecked of 772/10, acquired from Rodney Eyles. After both brothers died, Doug's son Chris Woodhouse passed both cars to Nick Harrison (Worcester). Chassis 772/6 was reconstructed, and was run by Neil Harrison at Shelsley Walsh Classic Nostalgia in July 2024. It had its first circuit race in the Jochen Rindt Trophy race at Thruxton Retro in June 2025, with Mark Harrison driving.
3. March 772/782 [10] (Terry Smith): Built by March using "several second-hand components", fitted with a front radiator and March 771B nose, and sold to David Franklin in January 1978. Franklin used the car in the British Hillclimb Championship, winning the 1978 title, and in sprints. Sold to Alan Richards for 1979, and used in sprints and hillclimbs. Converted to Hart power for 1980, when it was entered by Richards as a 772P. Returned to BMW power for 1981, but Richards rarely qualified for Top 10 run-offs during that season. Sold to John Meredith for 1982, who used a 2.1-litre BMW engine. Sold to Rodney Eyles for 1983, now fitted with a BDA engine for the 1600cc class. Not seen in 1984, but Eyles returned to the "772/782" for 1985, now using a 2.5-litre Hart engine. Eyles wrecked the car in an accident at Blackpool in 1985, and later sold the wreck to brothers Roy and Doug Woodhouse, who also owned 772/6. After both brothers died, Doug's son Chris Woodhouse passed both cars to Nick Harrison (Worcester). Chassis 772/6 was reconstructed first, and by August 2025 772/10 was also nearing completion.
4. March 762 [5?] (Allan Humphries): Allan Humphries (Bath, Somerset) raced a March 762 in sprints and hillclimbs in 1977, starting at Curborough in June. The 762 replaced a March 702 he had used earlier in the season, and at first it used the same 1600cc Ford engine. In 1978, he upgraded the 762 to a 2.1-litre Hart engine, and was highly competitive over the next two seasons. In a sprint at Lydden Hill in August 1979 he crashed heavily and the March was reported to have been "written off". Humphries bought an ex-F1 March 761 which he converted to Cosworth GAA power and ran in 1980. At the Blackpool sprint in August, Humphries recorded second best time behind Mark Williams' F1 Hesketh 308E, but the throttle stuck open as he crossed the line and the 761 was badly damaged. He rebuilt the car on a 762 tub, almost certainly the one he had damaged at Lydden, and he continued to race the 761/762 until the end of 1981. What happened next is too ugly to relate, and does not speak highly of the motor racing trade. The complete car went in one direction and the old 761 tub in another, and before long both were claimed to be the actual 761. Then one was rebuilt on a new monocoque, and both it and the replaced tub (a 762 tub remember) were claimed to be "the" 761. Then the rebuilt one spawned a complete clone, which was also claimed to be the "real" 761. One of these four went to Germany where, within a very short time, the owner claimed it had been in a museum for 20 years. If you ever decide to buy a 761, ask plenty of questions.
5. Brabham BT38 [17] (Paul Edwards): Brand new for Richard Scott at Oulton Park at the end of March 1972, and used by him through the 1972 F2 season. To Alan Padgett (Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire) for 1973, fitted with an 1850cc Cosworth BDE and used in hillclimbs. To David Baumforth (North Newbald, East Riding of Yorkshire) for hillclimbs and prints in 1974, then to John Hinley (Knowle, Warwickshire) for sprints in 1975. It was acquired by Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) for 1976, then to chef Paul Edwards (London), who used it extensively in sprints in 1977 and 1978. To Ron Cumming (Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) for libre racing in 1979, when it still had a 1800cc BDE engine. Cumming crashed the car in a race at Ingliston, probably in May 1979, and rebuilt it using a replacement monocoque supplied by Jim Stevenson. The car was then sold, less engine, to somebody in Essex. About seven years later, it was acquired by Chris Perkins (Ashbourne, Derbyshire), still in the distinctive orange-and-white livery used by Cumming in 1979 and with evidence of where the March 79B-style sidpods had been fitted, but now with a Buick V8 engine in the process of installation. Perkins's recollection is that he bought the car in the Brighton area in the mid-1980s; Autosport mentioned his purchase in December 1987.
6. March 73B [722-5] (Richard Lester): New for STP-March number two driver Niki Lauda for F2 in 1972 (won at Oulton Park in March), then for Pedro de Lamare in Torneio do Brasil. To Robert Cooper (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) for Formula Atlantic 1973, and rebuilt mid-season to 73B spec. Retained for early 1974, then sold to Dairmuid McFeeley (Clonee, Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland) for Irish Formula Atlantic in 1974, 1975 and early 1976. To John Ledlie in 1976, then sold to Richard Lester (Yoxall, Staffordshire) for sprints from 1978 to 1984. With Keith Wanklyn (Wimborne) for hillclimbs from 1985 to 1990. Via three other owners to John Gale (Sydney, NSW, Australia) 2006. Sold to Australian-resident Englishman Steve Weller (Sydney, NSW) in 2017, who moved the car to the UK.

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.

The British Sprint Championship results were originally provided by Paul Parker and Steve Wilkinson and are based on material drawn from Motoring News, Autosport and Speedscene magazines plus results sheets and programmes provided by former competitors and by the organising clubs.

The identification of individual cars is based on the Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic research work presented elsewhere on the site.

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.