(R Kaleda)
Kevin Bartlett awaits the start of the Country Club GT Trophy at Warwick Farm on 18 September 1966…
Magic shot from the collection of the late racer Ray Kaleda- that’s Glenn Abbey with the hand on the roof and Bob Jane’s Jaguar E Type Lightweight to the left, with Spencer Martin at the wheel- thanks to Glenn Moulds for identifying the meeting date and the race itself. I wrote an article a while back about the development of the Alfa TZ1/2; https://primotipo.com/2014/11/04/alfa-romeo-tz2-sebring-12-hour-1966/
Niel Allen’s Lotus Elan 26R entering the Farm’s Pit Straight but its a different meeting- Fred Gibson is at the wheel
(G Moulds)
(R Kaleda)
The front row- Niel Allen, on pole from Martin and Bartlett, the splash of red behind is Andy Buchanan’s Ferrari 250LM. That’s John Sawyer, Bob Jane Racing Team Manager in the blue trousers and shirt keeping an eye on Spencer. Click here for a piece on the Jag Lwt and Elan 26R; https://primotipo.com/2018/04/15/perk-and-pert/
(B Caldersmith)
First time down Hume Straight it’s Martin, Allen, Bartlett and Buchanan almost side by side, the Fred Gibson Lotus Elan and Brian Foley in the first of the Cooper S’.
Andy Buchanan in the Ferrari 250LM vacated by Spencer Martin at the end of 1965 and looking pretty as a picture as always. Car #3 is Ron Thorp’s AC Cobra. Piece on the Scuderia Veloce/David McKay LM here; https://primotipo.com/2014/07/03/pete-geoghegan-ferrari-250lm-6321-bathurst-easter-68/
(B Caldersmith)
Martin with a touch of the opposites out of Creek Corner ahead of Allen, the pair finished first and second followed by Kevin Bartlett’s TZ2, Andy Buchanan, 250LM Brian Foley’s Cooper S Lwt and Ron Thorp in his wonderful AC Cobra.
(B Caldersmith)
All concentration, Spencer was busy that weekend, he also raced the Jane Lotus Cortina but the Tasman Brabham BT11A Climax was left back in Brunswick.
Here he is on the exit of Polo sandwiched between Shepparton’s finest- Bryan Thompson in his ex-Beechey Mustang and Bob Beasley’s Cooper S. This Touring Car feature was won by Pete Geoghegan’s Mustang from Brian Foley’s Cooper S, Thompson, Beasley and Martin.
(unattributed)
(B Caldersmith)
Martin and Allen continue their race-long dice whilst lapping Noel Riley’s Honda S600- Noel Riley was a race and rally driver of some note as well as a handy race and rally engineer inclusive of a stint with Frank Matich during the F5000 years in his CV- not to forget the business he had with Colin Bond for a bit.
Etcetera…
Peter Manton’s Neptune Racing Morris Cooper S is not in this race but in the same batch of shots- too good a shot to waste in any event. Story about him here; https://primotipo.com/2017/11/29/mini-king-peter-manton/
Credits…
Ray Kaleda Collection, Peter Windsor, Glenn Moulds Collection, Rob Bartholomaeus
Tailpiece…
(P Windsor)
Kevin Bartlett chews the fat circa with Glen Abbey? 1966 in Alec Mildren’s Warwick Farm compound- TZ2 and the Brabham BT11A Climax whilst a grinning Fred Gibson in jeans and polo shirt wanders past. Magic.
Finito…
primotipo... 
Thanks Mark, more great pix.
In the last photo, I think KB is sitting on the front wheel of the BT11A. The race number on the nose of the TZ2 appears to be a reversed 6.
It’s funny, I’ve seen this photo a number of times before, but didn’t twig to the image being reversed.
Martin
Martin,
Yes, I’ve used the shot, one of Peter Windsor’s, before. You are right too- great spot! Do you have the technology to flip it and send to me so I may re-post by any chance?
Mark
A couple of corrections re the photo of the Jaguar overtaking the Honda..
It’s Ken Brian’s Honda S800. Noel did not race with the hardtop whereas Ken always did.
Noel Riley, While a talented race driver never rallied. I think you are confusing him with Bob Riley.
The last photo – the chap with the EH judged his parking just right!
Yes Graham,
Are they tramp rods or some such I can see underneath?
Mark
Mark,
Thanks to the Racing Car News report on the meeting, I can address most of your questions.
Martin won the Country Club GT Trophy from Allen, Bartlett, Buchanan, Foley and Thorp.
Martin is mentioned as a competitor in the Touring Car races in the Bob Jane Lotus Cortina but it does not seem that the team’s Repco Brabham contested the Formula Libre race.
Peter Manton is not reported as being a competitor in the Touring Car races so the above photo of his Cooper S must be from another meeting.
Rob
Thanks Rob,
What a cracker of a race it would have been to see- I would have had my money on KB before the off, but I’ve never been shy about my particular bias there! I will update the verbiage accordingly. I popped a photo of Spencer in Bob’s Lotus Cortina up on my primo FB page not so long ago- I must find it and include it in this piece, on the balance of probabilities it may well be the same meeting.
And yep, the Manton shot was definitely a different meeting, the Kaledas were not sure exactly when.
Thanks again.
m
Rob,
Found the Lotus Cortina shot and dropped it in- do Bryan Thompson and Brian Foley make it potentially the same meeting? Back on our GT390- when did Bob sell the Lotus Cortina and buy the GT390? date of death of his Mustang 289 was November 1965 from memory??
Just trying to understand the ‘phasing’ of these cars.
M
Mark,
That very photo was published as part of the RCN report on the Country Club GT Trophy meeting but the caption indicates that the Cooper S is being driven by Bob Beasley, not Brian Foley. I assume that it’s from the main Touring Car race, which seems most likely from the report. The result was Geoghegan from Foley, Thompson, Beasley and Martin.
Rob
Cheers Rob,
Too funny on the same photo, its one I found floating on the internet, unattributed as so many of them are, and a top shot too- an unusual WF angle. I’ve changed the caption to Bob Beasley, the ID’s were in response to the FB post, I didn’t realise he was a touring car guy, I thought his racing was in sportscars before his Bowin P4 FF days- Clubmans and Lotus 47 ring bells.
Mark
Mark,
I don’t have any information on exactly when Bob Jane sold his Improved Production Lotus Cortina or when he bought his second Mustang but I can tell you that he drove the former at the Sandown Tasman round on 26 February 1967 and debuted the latter at Calder on 19 March 1967. (Both thanks to Racing Car News). I don’t have any reference from the time to confirm November 1965 for the demise of his first Mustang. I’ll have to get back to you on that.
On the subject of Jane’s Mustangs, I can’t help but think that the best way to differentiate the three cars is to refer to them by model year, i.e., ’65 Mustang, ’67 Mustang and ’68 Mustang. What do you think?
Rob
Mark,
More on Jane’s Cortina. I have now discovered that he had the car at the 1967 Longford Tasman meeting on 4-6 March but did not race it due to “steering ailments” experienced during practice. (Racing Car News again!)
Rob
Thanks for the notes on the history of Bob’s cars- and yes ’65, ’67 and ’68 are good broad descriptors.
Mark
Mark,
Re your question above (in your comment of 14 March) re the demise of Bob Jane’s ’65 Mustang, I can confirm that it was at Catalina Park on 7 November 1965. According to the Racing Car News meeting report a “rear axle housing split in half” whilst chasing the Mustangs of Geoghegan and Beechey, pitching the car into a series of rollovers, with the Mustang finishing up over the safety fence. Bob only suffered a grazed arm, but I would say that he would have been pretty sore the next morning!
Rob
Thanks Rob,
He very much had Lady Luck riding with him that day, thank goodness- his only ‘Biggie’ I think?
Quite an extraordinary business and racing life, as we have said before.
Mark
What ever happened to the Mildren TZ2? They seemed to only race it for a short time.
was it the car that Max Brunninghausen later raced?
I wrote a story called a Tale of Two TZs five years ago. Mildren sold the TZ2 at the end of 1967 to Roy Compton who thought he could convert it into a road car and thought better of it. He swapped the TZ2 for Max Brunninghausen’s TZ. Max raced it throughout 1968 with a best result of third at the Macau Grand Prix – it was painted white. It went to Denis Cribbin for 1969 and was eventually painted red. Somewhere in the mix Bob Skelton had a drive as well.
After Cribbin sold in in 1970 it eventually went to Alfa collector Royce Fullard who sold it abroad in 1989 for a lot of money. It now resides in the US.
Of course this TZ2 was the Autodelta prototype #750112 that raced unsuccessfully at the 1966 Targa Florio and Le Mans and was the only one built in alloy – all the others were fibreglass.
Paul
Thanks Paul, Terry,
I must do a trawl of photos of both cars over time and pop them into that existing article- Lynton certainly has quite a few. I do recall seeing the TZ in bits in Nick Langford’s workshop at Castlemaine in the early eighties, not that he did anything with it. Marvellous cars.
Mark