Tim Schenken on the way to winning the Australian Hillclimb Championship at Lakeland, Lilydale in Melbourne’s outer-east on March 28, 1965…
Memory tells me the White was a JAP powered home-built device constructed by a neighbour of Tim’s in Melbourne’s North Balwyn.
Three years later he was driving works-Brabhams before his ascent to F1 with Frank Williams/De Tomaso Ford in 1970.
This post is all about the photo above. It’s the names of the MRD mechanics I’m after for my Brabham book project. Who are they guys? I need it for the photo caption.
Schenken blitzed the UK junior formulae in 1968, winning both the British Formula Ford and MCD/Lombank British F3 Championships aboard Merlyn Mk11 and Chevron B9 Ford/Brabham BT21X Ford respectively. He didn’t even join the F3 title chase until round 9 in June!
Given Tim didn’t race his new Brabham BT21X Ford until the final ’68 MCD/Lombank round on December 27 at Brands Hatch (Tony Lanfranchi, Merlyn MK14A won from Tim) I’m thinking this Goodwood testing shot above was, perhaps, just before Brands.
Don’t let the wings fool you, Ron was playing with them in various forms to determine if they had an advantage in 100bhp-screamer-F3, or not. Interesting for some, perhaps, is that the wing set up on BT21X looks a lot like that shipped to Australia attached to BT31 Repco 830 2.5 V8, Jack’s ’69 Tasman weapon of war.
While we are on the topic, this is MRD mechanic, David Luff’s shot of the ’69 model BT28 Ford F3 car in January 1969. Note that Tim’s BT21X was the prototype BT28 and was ultimately tagged BT28/1. Is this BT28/1? I dunno!
And yes, the cars raced with or without wings depending upon driver preference.
Tim’s all togged up nicely with a collar and tie to meet his new employer during the February 16, 1969 Sandown Tasman Cup round. See here:https://primotipo.com/2026/08/23/brabham-bt31-repco-take-3-by-mark-bisset/ Sandown’s old pits were heaven on a stick for teenage enthusiasts with a capacity to jump fences! My pocket money didn’t extend to such luxuries as pit passes.
Credits…
Tim Schenken Archive, David Luff, Allen Brown’s oldracingcars.com, F2 Register Fastlane
Finito…
Tim did a great job to win the AHCC in the Kart. I thought about emulating his achievement for the 2002 AHCC at Mountainview, Grafton instead of my bulkier March 77B-Cosworth YBM S/C. I tried out a 250cc Super Kart at Oran Park but its forces and headwind interfered with my helmet. Clutches might have been a problem, too.
Cannot help with the names of the mechanics.
The car with the yellow wings is definitely not BT28-1 and this photo cannot have been taken in January 1969.
At the beginning of the 1969 season Brabham/Sports Motors experimented all sorts of wing arrangements including a wing mounted on the roll hoop. The small front wings mounted on the nosecone only appeared (without rear wing) in September 1969 at the Cadwell Park race which Tim won.
This was on the second chassis (BT28-23) that Tim raced during 1969, BT28-1 having been sold to Jacques Berenger in Casablanca, Morocco.
This is in my opinion the presentation photo of the 1970 version of the BT28.
Thanks, Phil,
That’s a huge help for a few captions.
It appears (F2Index) that Tim’s last Chevron B9 drive was the November Cup at Brands on 24 November 1968, and his first race in BT21X was the Winter Cup at Brands on 27 December; he was second to Tony Lanfranchi that day.
Carrying #35 that day, I’ve a few shots at Goodwood and Brands carrying that number and using a single roll bar-mounted wing as you described.
It’s interesting how many F3 events he did in both the UK and Europe in 1969; the events chosen in Europe seem to be ‘circuits on which I need experience’ choices. He ran up the front wherever he raced…
Thanks again,
Mark
Mark, I would be interested to see photos the BT21X in December 1968 at Brands Hatch with one single roll hoop mounted wing. All photos I have of BT21X show the car either without wings or with the two front and rear high wings. I have only seen the single “central” wing on BT28-1 in March 1969 at Oulton Park. Tim won that race but the car was wingless for the race.