Nice cutaway drawing of the Ferrari 625, one of the Scuderia’s 1954 Grand Prix car’s for the new 2.5 litre Formula…
The design was based on the very successful Type 500 which swept the board in 1952 and 1953, the engine an enlarged version of the 2 litre unit of 1952/3, later modified with a new head, developed circa 235bhp@7000rpm.
Spa 1954 Fazz butt shots; #6 is the later in the season, more bulbous and not so fast ‘553’ of Gonzalez, the car in front the more svelte and generally quicker ‘625’ of Maurice Trintignant. Cars both 2.5 DOHC 4 cylinder powered. Maurice was 2nd in the race won by Fangio’s Maser 250F, Froilan equal 4th in the ‘625’ he shared with Mike Hawthorn after the car pictured failed. (unattributed)
The De Dion tube was located by twin radius arms and a central guide pin, front suspension was by wishbones and a transverse leaf spring with Houdaille shock absorbers. The 4 speed gearbox was located under the seat, the wheelbase was 85 inches, the simple car weighed circa 1430 pounds dry.
Alberto Ascari DNF engine Ferrari 625, on loan from Lancia, and Froilan Gonzalez 3rd, Ferrari 553 (here he is in the 553 he started, his placing was scored in the 625 he shared with Umberto Maglioli) from Louis Rosier’s 8th Maser 250F and winner Fangio’s Mercedes W196 1954 Italian Grand Prix. (unattributed)
Jackie Stewart jumps his Ken Tyrrell ‘Equipe Matra International’ MS80 Ford during the German Grand Prix on August 3 1969…
In a marvellous GP season Jackie triumphed over friends and rivals Jochen Rindt, Lotus 49, Jacky Ickx and Piers Courages’s Brabham BT26’s, the Kiwi McLaren twins Hulme and McLaren and Chris Amons fast but unreliable Ferrari.
Jean-Pierre Jaussaud with his Matra MS2 Ford prior to the start of the Zandvoort Trophy, 29 August 1965 DNF. Kurt Ahrens won the race in a Brabham BT16 Ford (Revs Institute)
Matra had raced in the the ‘junior’ F3 and F2 formulae as well as in endurance racing since 1965. From the very start the single-seaters used sophisticated monocoque chassis with technology borrowed from Matra’s aerospace arm in having its fuel contained directly in box section pontoons which were sealed with a polymer resin.
MS80 tub being assembled at Velizy in early 1969. Note the lateral bulkheads referred to in the text, immensely strong, it looks heavy but wasn’t (Ludvigsen)
The competition used bag tanks, the advantage of the Matra approach was that that each pontoon had lateral bulkheads greatly improving both the strength and torsional rigidity of the tubs. Results weren’t initially great but soon the French crowd had blue coloured cars to cheer, Jean Pierre Beltoise taking a notable first win at Reims.
Jabby Crombac, the famed French racing journalist introduced Matra boss Jean Luc Lagardere to Ken Tyrrell. After Jackie Stewart test drove a modified F3 Matra fitted with a 1 litre BRM F2 engine and was blown away with its traction, he raced the cars in 1966, the year Jack Brabham swept the board in F2 with his Honda powered cars.
Jacky Ickx racing his Tyrrell Matra MS7 Ford F2 car during the 1967 German GP, DNF with suspension failure. Denny Hulme won the race in a Brabham BT24 Repco (unattributed)
For 1967, the new 1.6 litre F2 formula commenced. Matra Ford FVA powered cars won many races driven by Stewart, Jacky Ickx in the other Tyrrell entered car and the works Matras driven by JPB, Henri Pescarolo and ‘Johnny’ Servoz Gavin. Ickx won the title driving both MS5 and the later MS7 chassis.
Matra’s Grand Prix program was the result of a happy confluence of events…Race success meant it was ready and keen to step up and in reality it could afford to do so from its own group resources. The French government had just created a state owned oil company ‘Essence et Lubrificants Francaise’ or ELF. The marketing decision was taken that motor racing sponsorship and success would be the best way to promote the company rather than traditional mass media advertising. Further, the French Government, aware of Matra’s success to date saw GP racing success via Matra as a means of restoring French national prestige.
The Beltoise/Pescarolo Matra MS630 prior to the 1967 1000Km of Paris at Montlhery DNF, race won by the Ickx/Hawkins Mirage M1 Ford (unattributed)
And so Elf agreed to support Matra (and an amazingly successful driver support program over the decades to come), the government kicked in about £800,000. Doug Nye wryly noted that the nominated engineer, former Simca technician Georges Martin saw a racing car for the first time at that years 1967 London Racing Car Show! He proved to be a fast learner mind you!
Over at Ockham in Surrey Ken Tyrrell was evolving his own Grand Prix Racing planswhich in essence evolved around several factors. His own team infrastructure, based at his timber yard were ‘up for it’ having raced successfully in the junior classes for over a decade. Jackie Stewart had tired of BRM with whom he entered F1 in 1965, but ’65 was his best season, the teams H16 was uncompetitive despite every effort to squeeze pace and reliability from the spectacular, ambitious, heavy beast. Stewart himself had absolute confidence in Ken and his team and was looking for a new ’68 drive.
Walter Hayes confirmed to Ken that Cosworth would sell Ford DFV’s engines to him for the ’68 season, Colin Chapmans exclusivity agreement being broken by Hayes with Colin’s reluctant agreement.
Matra agreed to sell Ken a variant of their V12 chassis designed around the DFV’s compact dimensions. This was an incredibly smart decision by Matra and perhaps the government, a lot of expectation had been created around the Matra V12 program in the media, to the extent the V12 took a while to be competitive, and it did, another car with a proven engine/driver would help ease the pressure. Finally Ken secured Dunlop and Matra support to fund his ambitious program, and so was created a combination which won the World Drivers and Manufacturers titles within 2 years.
JPB in the V12 Matra MS11 at Spa in 1968. He was 8th in the race won by Bruce McLaren’s McLaren M7A Ford, Stewart was 4th in an MS10 Ford (Heritage Images)
Matra’s first F1 cars were the Ford powered MS9 and 10 raced by Stewart in 1968,from Monaco the Velizy outfit entered the MS11 powered by their own 3 litre V12. The evolution of these V12 F1 cars I wrote about a while back, click on this link here to read about them, the focus of this article is the Ford engined cars;
Jackie Stewart during the 1968 South African GP in the MS9 Matra prior to its Ford Cosworth conrod failure, Jim Clark won his final GP in a Lotus 49 Ford , 1 January (unattributed)
The prototype of the 1968 MS9 was a modified ’67 F2 MS7 chassis to which a DFV was bolted directly to the monocoques rear bulkhead. The difference between this prototype and the MS9 was that the latter car had a lightweight frame extending from the monocoques rear bulkhead to a fabricated suspension pickup diaphragm fitting around the gearbox.
The structure wasn’t designed to take suspension loads but rather to keep the suspension settings in place when engine changes were effected. Chassis designer Bernard Boyers’s approach was practical, in the case of the Lotus 49 and all of its ‘copyists’ the car had to be wheel aligned and brakes bled after a ‘Cossie engine change.
JPB in his MS10 during his guest drive at the ’68 Spanish GP. Note the MS 10 monocoque and bulkhead above his knees, DFV and brakelines atop the top radius rods (unattributed)
JPB guesting for the injured Stewart at the 1968 Spanish GP, he qualified and raced 5th, the race won by Hill’s Lotus 49 Ford (unattributed)
The cars monocoque was as described earlier, rocker arm top and lower wishbone suspension with coil spring/damper units were used at the front and single top link, inverted lower wishbone, twin radius rods and coil spring shocks again at the rear. In short all ‘period typical’. Uprights and hubs were donated by the MS630 endurance racer, the gearbox the robust Hewland DG300 5 speed transaxle.
JYS on the way to winning the ‘International Gold Cup’ at Oulton Park on 17 August 1968, Chris Amon was 2nd in his Ferrari 312 and Jack Oliver 3rd in his works Lotus 49B Ford (unattributed)
This hybrid was tested and raced in South Africa, JYS popped it on the front row and lead Clark before it’s DFV swallowed a valve. The car, short of tankage given it’s F2 derivation, would have needed a quick stop prior to the races conclusion.
The definitive 1969 MS10 had an extra fuel cell between the driver and engine made its debut in the Brands ‘Race of Champions’. Whilst fast the cars issues were around the weight of its endurance derived suspension and wheel hardware which affected the cars sprung/unsprung ratio. There were then some problems of durability in lightened components. Stewart lost the Spa lead when the fuel pumps didn’t pick up the ELF he needed to complete the race.
Front row of the French GP at Rouen on 7 July 1968. The nose of Jochen Rindt’s Brabham BT26 Repco, the much maligned ‘860 Series’ Repco V8 was fast whilst it held together DNF, with JYS in the middle in his MS10 Matra 3rd and victor Jacky Ickx, Ferrari 312 (Schlegelmilch)
A lighter FG400 Hewland box was fitted at Rouen but the car, despite its aerospace parent was behind in the evolution of wings realtive to some other teams.
But at the Nurburgring in streaming wet conditions it all came together; Stewart’s wrist damaged in an F2 Matra at Jarama was ok, the midships mounted wing worked as did the Dunlop wets and Jackie drove superbly taking Matra’s first GP win.
Stewart won again at Oulton Park and at Watkins Glen and was in with a title shot in Mexico, tank sealing polymer detached and jammed his DFV’s fuel pump with Graham Hill taking the ’68 drivers, and Lotus the manufacturers championship. By any objective assessment 1968 was an amazing season for GP ‘newbees’ Tyrrell and Matra, the experienced Stewart delivering in spades.
JPB in the 4WD Matra MS84 trailing Jo Sifferts Lotus 49B, both Ford DFV powered thru the fields on Northhamptonshire during the ’69 British GP at Silverstone (Schlegelmilch)
For 1969 some insightful decisions were taken by Matra with a view to winning the title…
They redesigned the V12, the new ‘MS12’ appeared in the MS120 chassis in 1970. Whilst the V12’s were raced in their ’69 endurance program they were withdrawn from F1, the focus of the ’69 program the Ford powered cars.
Tyrrell would therefore race 2 cars in ’69 driven by JYS and JPB, the conventional rear drive MS80, a new car designed by Bernard Boyer. In addition an ‘MS84’ Cosworth powered Matra 4WD using the British Ferguson transmission was designed and built. Stewart wanted the cars available for wet races of which there were several in 1968. It’s a story for another time but the belief at the time was that the tyres of the day even with the growing downforce provided by wings would not provide sufficient grip/traction given the potency of the 3 litre engines and in particular the punch of the DFV. 4WD was being used successfully at Indy at the time, whilst duly noting the particular nature of that circuit. The Ferguson GP car and its system is described in this article;
Boyers’s starting point for his new car were the deficiencies of the MS10. These were its mid-ship fuel tank which was inadequately stressed compromising the chassis’ overall stiffness. There was too much front suspension camber change for tyres growing in width, this resulted in lots of understeer and instability under braking. The inboard front suspension mount caused the shocks to overheat and finally at the rear inadequate toe control caused toe steer as the wheel prescribed its arc as the suspension moved up and down.
Boyer applied the same monocoque fuel tank construction system even though it would be outlawed by mandated bag tanks from 1970. His ‘one season’ car had its tanks ‘Coke Bottle’ style in bellied tanks getting the fuel load around the cars centre of gravity. The fuel tanks were baffled by the addition of polyurethane foam. The tub was a ‘full monocoque’ in that the scuttle was fully stressed (not open like the MS10) , the oil tank was moved from its MS9/10 forward mounting to a spot between the drivers shoulders and the DFV.
Ken Tyrrell’s team fettle one of the MS80’s during the Italian GP weekend in ’69. Hewland FG ‘box, note the twin parallel lower links mentioned in the text, single top link and coil spring/damper complete the rear suspension package (Schlegelmilch)
Front suspension went to conventional if slightly less aerodynamic upper and lower wishbones rather than the top rocker deployed in 1968. The suspension geometry was and always is determined by the needs of the tyres. The Dunlops for 1969 were 13/15 inches in diameter front/rear. Parallel lower links first used by LenTerry/BRM were used at the rear to get better toe control, brakes at the rear were mounted inboard next to the Hewland FG ‘box reducing unsprung weight.
In terms of the cars aero, and their would be much change in 1969, broad front wings either side of the nose would trim the front/rear balance of a tall strut upright mounted rear wing. The DFV at the time developed about 430bhp @ 9500rpm, when first tested at Montlhery the car weighed 535Kg, 15 less than the MS10.
1969 GP Season depth…Ickx Brabham BT26A 1st with Stewart 2nd and Rindt DNF in Matra MS80 and Lotus 49B and Denny Hulme’s papaya yellow McLaren M7A DNF, all of those cars Ford Cosworth DFV powered (unattributed)
The most competitive packages of 1969 were Stewart’s Matra MS80 Ford and the similarly powered Brabham BT26 of Jacky Ickx and the Rindt/Hill Lotus 49 twins, especially Jochen…
Rindt left Brabham after a year of BT26 speed and Repco ‘860 Series’ quad cam V8 unreliability. Ickx won 2 1969 GP’s (Germany and Canada) with the mildly updated, but Cosworth powered BT26, a car in which Jochen may well have taken the ’69 title had he stayed. Not that his Lotus 49 lacked speed, he finally won his first GP late in the season at Watkins Glen but the prodigiously fast Austrian wasn’t easy on a car and it’s preparation let him down. The surprise of the season was Piers Courage’ speed in the year old, and converted from Repco power ex-works BT26, the BT34 ‘Lobster Claw’ wasn’t a great design but Ron Tauranac never built an F1 dud?! Don’t mention the Trojan I guess!
The McLaren M7A’s were quick all year. Bruce had reliability and consistency, Denny had speed and DNF’s, a bad run of reliability. Bruce took the Can Am drivers title in ’69 in the M8B Chev and Denny won the season ending Mexican GP, which was some sort of reward for the M7, a typically simple, beautifully engineered McLaren.
Stewart on the way to MS80 victory on the majestic Clermont Ferrand road circuit during the ’69 French GP (unattributed)
The ‘other Kiwi’, Chris Amon was consistently top 5’ish on Saturday despite the Ferrari V12 giving away considerable power and torque to the ubiquitous DFV, but the car was way too unreliable to allow a sustained attack on a race let alone the title. He ‘chucked’ Ferrari around the time of Monza after one engine breakage too many. The new Flat-12 failed, again, behind him at Modena, a decision to leave Maranello (in F1, he still drove the factory 512S sporty in 1970) he forever rued as that engine quickly became a GP great of the seventies.
Chris Amon and JYS from the ’69 Monaco front row. It was a tough year for Chris and Ferrari, both had pace but the Fazz was hopelessly unreliable. Amon and Stewart both DNF at Monaco, the race won by Hill’s Lotus 49B Ford (Schlegelmilch)
The conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing is that 1969 was a season of great depth, there were plenty of car/driver combinations who were contenders for the ‘69 crowns as the teams set off from Europe for Kyalami at the seasons outset…
The MS80 was tested at Montlhery but didn’t do too many miles so Tyrrell elected to race MS10 to a win in South Africa in Stewart’s hands.
Jackie Stewart leading the ’69 Spanish GP at fabulous Montjuic Park, Barcelona. MS80 racing a full GP with high wings for the last time, wings banned over the Monaco ’69 weekend (unattributed)
Another victory followed for the MS80 upon its race debut in the ‘Brands Hatch International’ and a championship win at Montjuic Park, Barcelona in the Spanish Grand Prix. This is the famous race in which both Lotus 49 rear wings failed precipitating an instant ‘high wing’ ban by the FIA mid way through the following Monaco GP weekend. Click on this link for an article about those events;
Hill won at Monaco for the final time, both MS80’s retired on the same lap when cracked gearbox universal joints, discovered pre-race failed during the tough on transmissions event.
Jackie won at Zandvoort, the cars evolved aerodynamically with neat wing-cum-engine covers and JPB reinforced his speed in a front running car by running 2nd to JYS in a glorious win for Matra at Clermont Ferrand, a sensational road course.
Stewart in his MS80 1st, Rindt DNF in helmet beside his Lotus 49B Ford with champion Graham Hill’s 7th similar car behind in the Zandvoort pitlane in June 1969 (Heritage)
Jackie then won the British GP at Silverstone after a titanic dice with Jochen and after overcoming a practice crash caused by a bit of loose kerbing puncturing a front Dunlop. Dunlop, Firestone and Goodyear were involved in a war for F1 supremacy at the time, Ickx’ superior Goodyear G20’s a big part of his Nurburgring success.
JYS prior to the ’69 German GP 2nd, MS80 (Schlegelmilch)
At Monza Ken Tyrrell counselled JYS to fit an ultra tall 2nd gear to avoid an extra change on the last lap run to the line of a typical Italian slipstreaming battle; in the event that made the difference, JYS narrowly pipping Rindt’s Lotus to take the race and the ’69 titles. The Mosport, Watkins Glen and Mexico City races went to Ickx, Rindt and Hulme.
And so ended the race career of MS80 but not before Ken Tyrrell gave ‘it one last shake’…
Matra’s lack of sales success with its Type 530 road car was largely due to lack of a decent dealer network. Whilst powered by a Ford V4, Lagardere’s attempts to sell the car via Fords network fell on deaf ears. Undeterred, Matra designed a new car powered by a Simca engine, such car would be sold through its dealers but only on the basis that Matra end it’s relationship with Ford in F1 terms. A modified for 1970 MS80 was out despite Tyrrells overtures.
Upon Lagardere’s insistence JYS tested his MS80 DFV against the new for 1970 MS120 V12 at Albi but the canny Scot was convinced the DFV was still the engine to have. And so a series of events unfolded which saw JYS race Tyrrell run March 701 DFV’s until Derek Gardner’s MS80-esque Tyrrell 001 appeared in August 1970, cars which yielded drivers and constructors titles in 1971 and 1973.
JPB Matra MS120 at the Osterreichring in 1970 6th (unattributed)
Mind you JYS in a Matra MS120 is a tantalising 1970 thought!
JPB and Henri Pescarolo raced the MS120 that year, both worthy drivers, JPB a GP winner but that car was definitely a race winner in the little Scots hands in 1970. As it was Matra didn’t win another GP, albeit the V12 did win a race or two in Ligiers some years later, an updated MS80 in 1970 for sure would have given Rindt, Brabham and Ickx a run for their money.
JYS at Monaco in 1969, MS80, no wings, this shot during the race (unattributed)
The dominant equipe of 1969, Tyrrell’s Matra International at Silverstone with Beltoise’ MS80 and MS84 4WD (Patrick Jarnoux)
Etcetera…
(Matra)
JPB heads into Druids Hill at Brands during the ’68 British GP, Matra MS11 V12 (unattributed)
Stewart at Zandvoort 1968. A win in his MS10 Ford from JPB’s MS11 which was over a minute and a half behind (unattributed)
Stewart on his way to a marvellous Nurburgring victory in 1968, Matra MS10 Ford (unattributed)
JPB in the Monaco pits during 1969. Its early in the weekend, his MS80 still has its wings (unattributed)
Stewart at Clermont in 1969, compare and contrast the MS80 neat engine cover come rear wing with the high strut mounted wings of the early season, a quintessential Matra MS80 shot . JYS won from JPB, a second in arrears of his team-leader (unattributed)
References and Photo Credits…
Doug Nye ‘History of The Grand Prix Car’, ‘Matra MS80’ in Profile Publications, oldracingcars.com- always a primary reference source for me, checkout Allen Brown’s pieces on all of the F1 Matras; https://www.oldracingcars.com/f1/matra/
Rainer Schlegelmilch, Getty Images, Patrick Jarnoux, Karl Ludvigsen
Tailpiece: JYS enters the Nurburgring circuit from the paddock, 3 August 1969, MS80 Ford…
Some say this is the best view of modern Grand Prix cars, it’s not only ‘crusty curmudgeons’ who are subscribers to that theory either…
Personally the cars of every era appeal to me, mind you the technology of the current crop is beyond my ‘non physics’ brain! It’s the sound of the things, or lack thereof which gives me the shits! There is, or was, nothing on the planet like the visceral, primeval scream of an F1 engine in anger. Till the present. When the sounds of the cars in a GP weekend’s supporting races or demos surpass that of the main event you know things are ‘Daffy Ducked’!
The artistic shots are of the Lotus Team, Pastor Maldonado above and Romain Grosjean below during Abu Dhabi qualifying at Yas Marina during the November 2015 GP weekend.
The Lotus E23 Mercedes were Q 15 and 13 respectively with Grosjean 8th in the race won by Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes F1 WO6, Maldonado DNF.
A few images from the French Grand Prix with the focus on Jacques Villeneuve…
It was a Schumacher race but a Jacques season win, his second in F1. He won 7 events and the title in his Williams FW19 Renault, Frentzen a distant 2nd in the drivers chase in the other Williams.
It was the season in which Schumacher was disqualified from the Drivers Championship for one ‘attempted homicide’ on another driver too many, the FIA proved they weren’t completely pissweak after all. Schumacher collided with Villeneuve in the season ending European GP at Jerez, the assault upon Jacques an attempt to win the title in accord with the ‘whatever it takes’ mantra of Senna and Schumacher.
At Magny Cours Jacques qualified and finished 4th, Schumacher Q1 and 1st in the race in his Ferrari F310B from Heinz Harald Frentzen and Eddie Irvine in the other Fazz. It was the days of the 3 litre Formula, all of the cars mentioned powered by V10’s, marvellous cars…
Dick Seaman and Herr Heck in their Mercedes’ at Crystal Palace in 1937…
This promotional shot dated 7 October preceded the ‘International Imperial Trophy’ race, ‘the first international road race organised in London’ on 9 October. The event was the decider of the 1937 ‘BRDC Gold Cup’ between B Bira and Ray Mays ERA’s.
The cars above are Seaman’s Mercedes W125 GP car and Heck’s 1903 Mercedes Tourer. Seaman, a works Mercedes driver was back in the UK having contested the 1937 Donington GP a week earlier. He retired from the Leicestershire event after a collision with Muller’s Auto Union having started on the outside of the front row, Bernd Rosemeyer’s Auto Union Type C won the thrilling race.
Seaman did not contest the International Imperial Trophy race but was scheduled to thrill the crowds with some demonstration laps in his Mercedes. The race was significant as the first ever live BBC TV outside broadcast of motor sport.
BBC man in evidence as one of the Maserati 4CM’s and an Austin passes. Interested to know both driver names and the name of this corner if any of you can help? (Imagno)
The entry included Britain’s best plus the Scuderia Ambrosiana, which fielded Maserati 4CMs for Count Piero Trossi, Count Johnny Lurani and a Maserati 6CM for Luigi Villoresi. Private Maseratis were driven by Robin Hanson and Peter Aitken (6CM’s) and Archie Hyde (8CM). They were challenged by the ERA’s of Ray Mays , Arthur Dobson, B Bira, Ian Connell, Peter Whitehead and Charlie Martin.
It looks a bit chilly! L>R: Trossi, Senor Rovere, Lurani and Villoresi with one of the Ambrosiana Maserati 4CM’s (David Savill)
During Thursday practice Mays blew his ERA’s 1100cc engine, becoming a non-starter and effectively giving the ‘Gold Star’ to Bira by 3 points.
Leiff Snellman reported the race in 8w.forix.com thus; ‘The race was run in two heats plus a final and raced as a handicap event with Hyde and his 3 litre Maserati starting from scratch, the 1.5 litre Maseratis and ERA’s having a 10 seconds advantage and the Austins, MGs and the MG-Riley having a 50 seconds advantage’.
‘Winner of the first 10 laps heat was Maclure (Riley) followed by Dobson (ERA), Lurani and Whitehead. Villoresi retired with an engine problem. Trossi (Maserati) won the second heat after a tough fight with Martin (ERA) and B Bira (ERA) who finished second and third with Goodacre (Austin) fourth’.
Top left; Seaman, Bira, Trossi. Top right Trossi Maserati 4CM (David Savill)
Unidentified gaggle of cars during the meeting (Central Press)
Between the races Seaman jumped into the ‘Benz W125 and carefully did several laps in 2 min 4s, about the same speed as the cars during the heats. Many of the spectators must have heard stories about the spectacular show by the German cars the week earlier and were as thrilled by the speed, wheel spin and noise from the ‘Silver Arrow’ as the Donington crowd had been.
Seaman practices his W125 at Crystal Palace prior to raceday, the slippery nature of the surface evident from the gloomy English day (Getty)
‘Twenty cars started in the 15 laps final to fight for the £150 first prize.The race became a great duel between ERA drivers Bira and Dobson who left the rest of the field behind. Bira won by half a car length while Dobson received the Jarvis Trophy for the fastest lap. Goodacre’s Austin finished third. The Scuderia Ambrosiana cars were unable to challenge for the lead with Trossi an early retirement and Villoresi and Lurani having problems to follow the ERA’s. Villoresi finally finished in fourth place’.
Bira the happy winner (Central Press)
The Mercedes W125 went on display at the Mercedes-Benz showrooms in Park Lane, as was Rosemeyer’s car at the Auto Union showrooms.
Credit…
Fox Photos, Imagno, David Savill, Central Press
Leif Snellman’s Crystal Palace article in 8w.forix.com
Harry Schell on the limit of adhesion in his ‘Yeoman Credit’ Cooper T51 Climax at Madgwick Corner, Goodwood…
Harry Schell was a press-on kinda driver wasn’t he? Here the Franco-American is delighting the ‘Glover Trophy’ spectators with some delicious Cooper T51 drifts…
The 1960 event was held on Easter Monday, 18 April. Harry was bang on the pace too, equal 2nd quickest in practice with Stirling Moss in a similar car. Chris Bristow demonstrated his undeniable pace though, he was on pole by a couple of tenths and finished 3rd in the race behind Moss, the winner Innes Ireland in his factory Lotus 18 Climax, the quickest of 1960’s GP grid. Harry’s engine popped on lap 20 of the 62 lap 162 Km race…
Credit…
GP Library, National Motor Museum
Tailpiece: Harry telling a naughty joke by the look of it, Crystal Place, July 1955…
Stirling Moss, Schell and Mike Hawthorn during the ‘London Trophy’ meeting which Mike won the feature race in a Maserati 250F from Harry’s Vanwall.
(National Motor Museum)
Mike won his heat in the Moss’ family 250F chassis #2508, Harry his in Vanwall ‘VW2’ and Mike the final. Moss was contracted to Mercedes Benz that year, this non-championship 30 July event not one in which Benz entered their W196’s.
The ever innovative Derek Gardner with an ‘aero-tweak’ being tested on Francois Cevert’s Tyrrell 002 Ford during Italian GP practice at Monza on 10 September 1972…
This huge sleeve over the exhausts is cowled from the oil coolers back, the idea being to harness the exhaust gas energy to entrain air through the sleeve and enhance airflow and hence better cooling thru the oil rads.
Francois hadn’t done too many laps when the ‘prophylactics’ parted company with the car at very high speed, bouncing their way into lightweight schrapnel around the famous autodrome, fortunately ‘002’ was well clear of any following cars at the time!
The shot below shows a standard ‘006’ rear end to give an idea of how the car appeared sans ducts.
Ken Tyrrell and Jackie Stewart discuss the sublime weather before Francois is sent on his way. These cars evolved a lot throughout 1972/3, the Tyrrells arguably (Lotus 72 pace duly noted!) the quickest cars of the era from the time ‘001’ first raced at Oulton Park later in 1970 until Stewart’s retirement and Cevert’s death at Watkins Glen at the end of 1973.
Date and place unknown, 1973 Tyrrell 006 Ford, Cevert up (unattributed)
Monza 1972 wasn’t a good race for the ‘Boys in Blue’ at all though, JYS popped a clutch on the line and was lucky not to get ‘whacked up the clacker’ at a million miles an hour and Francois’ engine ‘popped’ on lap 14. Emerson Fittipaldi took the race and the ’72 title in his Lotus 72D Ford.
FC looking very ‘chillaxed’ prior to the ’73 British GP at Silverstone, Tyrrell 006 Ford (unattributed)
You might find this story about Cevert’s early career of interest if you haven’t already seen it;
I wrote an article a while back about Team Tyrrell and innovation…
Have a read of it if you haven’t, its amazing just how ‘edgy’ Ken’s boys were over the years given their resources relative to bigger, better funded teams;
Roll on into mid-1973 and Derek was considering his overall design and aero alternatives for his 1974 car…
Here Francois is testing ‘005’ during British GP practice at Silverstone in mid July, JYS did a few laps in the same car carrying #42. It looks remarkably cohesive for a car designed originally with a totally different bluff nose aerodynamic concept!
Compare and contrast the ‘normal’ bluff nose Tyrrell ‘006’ Cevert races here in front of James Hunt’s March 731 Ford at the British GP, Silverstone in 1973, with the ‘005’ chisel nose he tested in practice above. Hunt was a splendid 4th, Cevert 5th, Revson took his first GP win in a McLaren M23 Ford (unattributed)
It was a good year until the US GP, JYS took his third title in the ‘low polar moment of inertia’, short wheelbase, twitchy but very quick in both Stewart and Cevert’s hands, Tyrrell 005/006 cars.
Click on this link for a short story about those cars;
Gardner had a pretty handy additional test pilot in Chris Amon who was contracted the drive the spare Tyrrell 005 in the end of season North American GP’s at Mosport and Watkins Glen.
Chris was always rated as a test-driver by all he raced with from Ferrari’s Mauro Forghieri ‘down’.
Amon raced ‘005’ in side radiator/chisel nose spec in Canada. He didn’t race it at Watkins Glen after Francois’ fatal accident on the Saturday resulted in Ken Tyrrell withdrawing the teams cars for the race, which would have been the retiring Stewart’s 100th GP.
Chris Amon 10th in Tyrrell 005 Ford in the Canadian GP, Chris has ‘modified’ the cars nose during the race. JYS was 5th in 006, Cevert DNF after a collision with Scheckter, Peter Revson won the race in a McLaren M23 Ford (unattributed)
Derek Gardner tested the ‘chisel nose, side radiator’ aerodynamic approach pioneered by the Lotus 56 at Indianapolis in 1968.
After the history making changes at the 1973 seasons end Derek Gardner threw out the conceptual approach he had decided upon for 1974.
The proposed car was to be a ‘highly strung thoroughbred’ from which maestro’s Stewart and Cevert could extract every ounce of performance. His change was to a much more forgiving chassis attuned to the developmental needs of ‘cub drivers’ Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler for 1974, his ‘007’ design was the very effective result.
(unattributed)
Tyrrell 007 Ford cutaway above. The design comprised an aluminium monocoque chassis, Ford Cosworth 3 litre DFV V8, Hewland FG400 5 speed transaxle, disc brakes inboard front and rear, wishbone front suspension with coil spring dampers, rear suspension by single upper link, lower parallel links, radius rods and coil spring/damper units anf adjustable roll bars.
Tailpiece: The ’74 Tyrrell 007 Ford in Depailler’s hands, Swedish GP in which he was 2nd and Scheckter’s 1st, winning the South African’s first GP. Evolution of Derek Gardner’s aero thinking clear from ’73-’74, mind you he went back to a bluff nose for his outrageous P34 6 wheeler for 1976…
(unattributed)
Credits…
Rainer Schlegelmilch, Doug Nye ‘History of The GP Car’
John Surtees races his North American Racing Team Ferrari 158 to second place at Watkins Glen on October 4, keeping alive his ultimately successful 1964 title chances…
Enzo Ferrari was in a spat with the Italian governing body at the time over its refusal, Ferrari having failed to build the minimum number of cars, to homologate the sports/racer Ferrari 250LM as a Sportscar. The result of which forced entrants to race it as a Prototype, a category in which it was not competitive and not designed for; putting aside the lucky, outright 250LM Le Mans win for Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt in 1965!
Test session for the Ferrari 158’s, one of which is in NART colors, on 15 September 1964. John Surtees in drivers overalls, Technical Director Mauro Forghieri to his left, mechanic Giulio Borsari in the white cap. Modena Autodrome (GP Photo)
Not that the Italian autocrat was going to let principle, as he saw it, get in the way of practicality.
There were Grand Prix World Championships to win so rather than race in traditional racing red he ‘relinquished his entrants licence’, the cars, works cars in every way, shape and form being entered by Ferrari’s concessionaire in the US, Luigi Chinetti’s N.A.R.T at both the final two 1964 championship rounds at Watkins Glen, New York State and in Mexico City.
Surtees second placings in both races gave him the Drivers title and Ferrari the Manufacturers from Graham Hill’s BRM P261 by 9 points.
‘Honour’ and title won, the Ferrari’s raced on in Italian Racing Red and the 250LM as a prototype, much to its private entrants chagrin.
Surtees ready for the off, Modena 15 September 1964 (GP Photo)
The Vic Berris cutaway above is terrific in showing the semi-monocoque ‘aero’ construction Ferrari used for years whereby aluminium sheet was riveted and glued to a frame, let’s call it a spaceframe underneath.
Etcetera…
Lorenzo Bandini being attended to in the Spa pits during the June 1964 Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Great shot of the engine and gearbox and bulkhead in between- note also inboard rear discs and calipers. #10 is the nose of the Surtees 158.
It wasn’t a great weekend for the Ferrari boys, both retired with engine dramas, John in the lead after completing only three laps and Lorenzo after eleven- Jim Clark won in a Lotus 25 Climax.
Photo Credits…
For all shots ‘Grand Prix Photo’ except Vic Berris cutaway drawing
Lex Davison #4 lights up his Dunlops with Bib Stillwell and David McKay on the front row of the ‘Victorian Trophy’ grid, Calder Raceway on 13 March 1963…
They finished in this order, Lex’ ex-McLaren Cooper T62 the winner from the Stillwell and McKay Brabham BT4 Climaxes. David’s was a ‘little’ 2.5 litre FPF, the other two were toting big ‘Indy’ 2.7 litre engines.
In a season of consistency Stillwell won his second Gold Star, Taswegian John Youl won at Warwick Farm and Mallala, Davo won at Calder, Bathurst and Sandown but only Sandown was a championship round so the Melbourne motor dealer took the second of 4 Gold Stars on the trot, 1962-1965.
Calder Victorian Trophy grid 1963 from the front, Davo, Stillwell and McKay (John Ellacott)
Tale of the Cooper T62 #’CTA/BM/2’…
It’s a sad tale too. This car was successful, winning races in the hands of both Bruce Mclaren for whom it was built and for Lex Davison who raced it next. But for those around the car there was much tragedy, so its an interesting tale if not a happy one. Rocky Tresise died at its wheel, not much has been written about the young Melburnian, Davo’s protégé. The point of the article is largely to right that a little, if you can add more to Rocky’s story I am interested to hear from you to flesh it out further.
Perth hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1962…
The Lord Mayor, like so many before and after him globally saw the games as a way of putting his city on the map and expediting the development of much needed infrastructure.
The event was tiny by the standards of Commonwealth and Olympic games today; 35 countries sent 863 athletes to compete in 9 sports but the event was huge in the context of the cities small population of around 500,000 people.
The games were the first to have an athletes village, till then competitors had been housed in hotels and billeted in private homes. As a fan of Perth’s City Beach I was astounded to learn the area was largely bushland until 65 acres were developed for the village in advance of the games. Now it’s a great place to live beachside and an easy train ride into town.
At the time the Australian Grand Prix didn’t have a permanent home, the event was rotated around the countries six states. This was good and bad.
Good in the sense that spectators/competitors had a chance to see/participate in their home race every few years but bad in the sense that no one circuit owner/promoter could set up ‘infrastructure’ knowing they had one or two big events they could plan their revenues and therefore capital outlays around. This ‘sharing arrangement’ applied until the first F1 AGP in Adelaide in 1985, which became Albert Park when the nasty Victorians ‘nicked the race’ from SA.
Perth circa 1964 (unattributed)
It made good sense to have the AGP in Perth at the time of the games to get along a decent crowd of locals and overseas visitors.
The ‘Games, held from 22 November-1 December were noted for ‘heat, dust and glory’. The opening ceremony was 105 degrees fahrenheit, (40.5 centigrade) the heat continued throughout the competition. The army were pressed into service ferrying constant supplies of water to parched competitors.
The 18 November 1962 AGP was held at Caversham, an ex-military airfield circuit in Perth’s Swan Valley, 20 km north-east of the city centre and was also scorching hot.
The circuit hosted two AGP’s in 1962 and 1957, that race was won somewhat controversially by Lex Davison’s Ferrari 500/625, co-driven by Bill Patterson, again in scorching heat. To this day many pundits believe the race was won by Stan Jones Maser 250F who took the chequered flag but subsequently the win was given to his great friend and Melbourne rival after ‘lap countbacks’ and protests
In order to secure some world class competitors Brabham and McLaren were paid to attend, both brought cars intended to compete in the Antipodean summer internationals which traditionally commenced in New Zealand early in the new year.
The Brabham BT4 and Cooper T62 were variants of the respective marques 1962 F1 cars, the BT3 and T60, both powered in that application by the Coventry Climax 1.5 litre FWMV V8.
For ‘Tasman’ use, actually Formula Libre at the time, both cars were fitted with 2.7 litre Coventry Climax FPF 4 cylinder engines, CC’s 2.5 litre very successful 1959/60 World Championship winning engine taken out to 2.7 litres. These ‘Indy’ engines were originally developed for Jack’s first Cooper mounted Indianapolis appearance in the Memorial Day classic.
Brabham and Stillwell take to the Caversham track, AGP weekend 1962. Brabham BT4 and Cooper T53 (Terry Walker)
‘The History of The Australian Grand Prix’ relevant chapter was written by Graham Howard. He records that Jack and Bruce started the race very evenly matched; Jack ‘popped’ his 2.7 Climax in practice, Bruce lent him his 2.5 spare, indicative of the great friendship between two guys who were also fierce competitors particularly on ‘their home turf’ during the annual Tasman races.
For McLaren’s part, Bruce had his Cooper handling beautifully having tested the car at Goodwood prior to his trip but then John Cooper grabbed the springs fitted to it for Monza F1 use leaving Bruce with a skittish, twitchier chassis than was his optimum.
So, Bruce had a bit more ‘puff’ than Jack, the alcohol fuelled 2.7 FPF giving around 260bhp to Jack’s 230 but Jack had the sweeter handling car- the scene was set for a fascinating contest.
Whilst the entry was ‘skinny’ the race promised to be a close one and so it was.
Other entries included the Coopers of Davison T53, John Youl T55, Bib Stillwell T53 and Bill Patterson, the latter somewhat hamstrung by driving an older T51.
Stillwells Cooper T53 cruising the Caversham paddock (oldracephotos.com)
Local enthusiasts who raced were Syd Negus’ Cooper T23 Holden, E Edwards TS Spl and Jeff Dunkerton’s Lotus 7.
Small field shown in this start shot, fortunately the torrid duel between Brabham and McLaren made up for the paucity of competitors. Brabham then dark green Coopers, Patterson’s white one, Davo’s red Cooper and similar colored BRM P48 Olds of Arnold Glass, then the front engined Cooper T23 Holden of Negus, green TS Spl of Ted Edwards and finally the green Lotus Super 7 of Jeff Dunkerton, the last sports car to start an AGP. Note the State Governor’s Roller in the foreground (Lyn Morgan/Terry Walker)
The race only had 10 starters, Perth is a long way from the east coast where most of the Gold Star contenders were based. The balance of the field was made up of WA competitors. Indicative of the change in the nature of AGP fields is that this race was the last for a front engined car (the appearance of the Ferguson in 1963 excepted), the last for an air-cooled and Holden engined cars.
Brabham’s brand new BT4 Climax at Caversham, this car the first of many very successful ‘Intercontinental’ Brabhams; the Coventry Climax powered BT4/7A/11A won a lot of races in Australasia (Milton McCutcheon)
Even though the field was small the race settled into an absorbing battle between McLaren and Brabham at the front. The thrust and parry continued for over 40 laps, the gap varying between 2 and 8 seconds as attack and counter-attack was staged.
Lex with a big smile for the cameras! Cooper T53 Climax 2.7 ‘Lowline’ . The T53 was the works only ’60 GP car and sold to customers for ’61 (oldracephotos.com)
The race went on with Jack unable to get past Bruce but opportunity arose when Bruce ran wide lapping Arnold Glass for the second time.
Jack focused on Bruce, Glass took his line for the next corner, he and Brabhamcollided, the latter racing an ex-Scarab aluminium Buick V8 powered BRM P48. Arnold finished but JB was out on lap 50 leaving Bruce to take a popular win.
McLaren takes the plaudits of the crowd on his victory lap, Caversham 1962 (Terry Walker)
Youl was 2nd after an interesting battle with Stillwell 3rd, 4 seconds behind, Patterson 4th, then Glass in the BRM and Negus the first of the locals in the Cooper T23 Holden.
McLaren takes the plaudits of the crowd and the Governor, McLaren manager/journalist Eoin Young is the ‘blood nut’ in glasses behind the governor (Terry Walker)
With that Bruce and Jack returned to Europe for the finish of the season and then returned in January to race the cars in the annual Australasian summer series of races.
Bruce McLaren shows racer/journo/team owner David McKay his new T62 toy, McKay could not race having damaged his ex-McLaren Cooper T55, famously demolishing a marshalls ‘dunny’ after an off into Warwick Farm’s infield. Front wishbone suspension, Alford & Alder uprights, big oil reservoir for the CC FPF and aluminium side fuel tanks all clear (Peter Longley/Terry Walker)
Cooper T62 Climax…
The Cooper was conventional for its day the T60 F1 chassis was laid out by Owen Maddocks after discussion with Bruce and John Cooper.
The T62 was built on the T60 jig by Tommy Atkins team at his Chessington ‘shop, Harry Pearce and Wally Willmott did the work. The rear frame was designed to take a P56 BRM 1.5 litre V8, the plan was for Bruce to drive it in non-championship F1 races Cooper themselves were not interested to contest.
When the engine was late, Atkins shelved the project and instead modified its frame to accept a 2.7 litre ‘Indy’ Coventry Climax FPF engine and Colotti T32 5 speed transaxle for ‘Tasman’ use.
Bruce and David again, rear frame detail and big 58DCO Weber fed 2.7 litre CC FPF engine, circa 260bhp on alcohol (Terry Walker)
Suspension was upper and lower wishbones and coil spring/shocks at the front and rear. There were adjustable roll bars front and rear, rack and pinion steering and disc brakes all round clamped by Girling BR/AR calipers front/rear. Wheel diameter was 15 inches.
#10 McLaren Cooper T62, Tony Maggs Lola Mk4 and Davison Cooper T53 on the ’63 Longford grid preliminary race (Ellis French)
McLaren raced the car that summer in the Antipodean Internationals
He took Kiwi wins at Wigram and Teretonga in January and then Sandown and Longford in Oz.
He was third at Warwick Farm and retired at Pukekohe, Levin and Lakeside. Bruce then sold the car, which had won five of its nine starts to Lex and headed back to Europe.
1963 AGP at Warwick Farm 10 February 1963; #2 Surtees Lola Mk4a 2nd #5 David McKay Brabham BT4 4th #10 McLaren Cooper T62 3rd, Brabham won the race in his BT4 (Howard)
1963 Internationals and Gold Star…
As stated in the first paragraphs of this article, Bib Stillwell won the second of his four Gold Stars with consistent performances in his Brabham BT4 all year. Lex showed plenty of speed in the T62 winning the Victorian Trophy at Calder and Bathurst 100 but neither were Gold Star rounds that year. Sandown was another T62 win, a hometown one and a championship round in September.
Jack Brabham won the AGP at Warwick Farm, the race held on 10 February whilst the ‘Tasman’ drivers were in the country, a pattern which continued for years, making the race much harder, and prized, to win by locals. Bruce was 3rd in the T62 with John Surtees 2nd in his Lola Mk4A.
McLaren won, as stated in the T62 at Longford and Sandown before selling the car to Lex and John Youl took two great wins in his Geoff Smedley fettled Cooper T55 at Mallala and Warwick Farm, the final 2 races of the Gold Star championship.
Davison with ‘Bathurst 100’ victory laurels 15 April 1963, the Cooper T62 looks superb, his cars always beautifully presented and prepared by Alan Ashton and the rest of the crew (John Ellacott)
Lex T62 ahead of Stillwell’s Brabham BT4 during the Victorian Trophy, Calder 11 April 1963 (‘stan patterson’)
Lex had 1963 Gold Star speed if not reliability. In the ’64 Tasman Series, he contested the Sandown, Warwick Farm and Longford rounds for DNF/8th/6th in the T62.
Bruce returned to the Antipodes with a 2 car team in 1964, the so-called ‘first McLarens’ were Cooper T70’s designed by Bruce, albeit built in the Cooper ‘shop. Bruce took 3 wins, Brabham 3 as well in his new BT7A but greater consistency gave Bruce the title.
Denny Hulme was Jack’s teammate in the Brabham BT4 Jack used the previous year, the car Davison would later purchase at the series conclusion.Tim Mayer showed great speed and promise in the other T70 but sadly lost his life in an accident at Longford.
oopsie! Lex having a moment in the T62 at Sandowns turn 1 or Shell Corner, in front is Frank Matich and behind Jack Brabham both in Brabham BT7A Climaxes. AGP which Brabham won, 9 February 1964, the other two both DNF (Howard)
Lex joined the ‘circus’ for his home race, the AGP at Sandown on 9 February but was out with piston failure in the T62 on lap 29, Jack won the race.
Davo was 8th and 2nd local home behind Stillwell at Warwick Farm, Brabham again taking the win.
He didn’t contest the ‘Lakeside 99’ in Queensland but was 6th a little closer to home at Longford in early March, this time Graham Hill won in a Brabham, David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce BT4.
Longford ‘South Pacific Trophy’ grid 2 March 1964; #2 Brabham BT7A, Hill in the red winning BT4 and Matich in the pale BT7A, then Stillwell on row 2 in the dark BT4 with Lex alongside in the red T62 and the rest (Geoff Smedley)
Lex started the ’64 Gold Star series in the Cooper but soon ‘got with the strength’ and bought one of Ron Tauranac’s ‘Intercontinental’ Brabhams, the marque pretty much had a stranglehold on the domestic competition from this point for the next few years. From 1963-68 to be precise.
Cooper T62 (right) and new Brabham BT4 with Davison team engineer Alan Ashton’s Ford Mainline ute towcar. ‘The BT4 was JB’s works car then Denny Hulme’s winning the AGP and Tasman Champs then to Davo and later John McCormack’s first ANF1 car. This is the BT4’s first run at Calder by Davison still in factory colors, after this meeting ’twas painted red (Terry Walker/Denis Lupton)
Stillwell again won the Gold Star, his well developed and beautifully prepared Brabham BT4, the national championship now run to the Tasman 2.5 litre formula.
He was more than quick enough to take the title with a win at Lakeside and strong placings elsewhere including an excellent 2nd to Brabham at Sandown in the AGP contested by the internationals on 4 February.
Lex won at Mallala in his new Brabham BT4 with Rocky Tresise finishing third at Warwick Farm in Lex’ Cooper T62, the nearly 1 hour race great preparation for the internationals Tresise was to contest that summer. The quicker 2.5’s of Matich and Stillwell didn’t finish the race but Rocky finished in front of Lex who was 4th. Leo Geoghegan and Greg Cusack were 1st and 2nd in Ford/Lotus 1.5 powered Lotus 32 and Elfin FJ respectively
Rocky Tresise…
Davo raced the Brabham from the 13 September Lakeside round giving Rocky Tresise, an up-and-comer and neighbour some races in the now second-string T62 during 1964.
Rocky’s first exposure to motor racing was as a 15 year old Melbourne Grammar schoolboy attending a Fishermans Bend meeting in 1958 with a mate whose family knew David McKay. The Scuderia Veloce chief was racing his Aston DB3S at the meeting.
Tresise was hooked ‘the noise, the smell and the excitement really got me in and from then on I bought every motor magazine I could get to try to learn more about motor racing’ he said in an AMS article about him in June 1964.
Rocky Tresise in 1964 aged 21 (AMS)
Rocky worked as a ‘servo’ pump attendant and on a farm in his school holidays to get together sufficient money to buy a car when he turned 18, his MGA contested 52 races at Sandown and Calder in 1962 having started in sprints and hillclimbs.
In 1961 the Davisons moved to Clendon Road, Toorak, one of the best streets in Melbourne, the Tresise family were the neighbours.
Chris Davison, Lex’ son and a racer himself recalls; ‘We grew up at Killara Park, the farm at Lilydale my grandfather established, dad used to commute into Collingwood each day where the shoe factory was. (Paragon Shoes) As we got older and needed to be closer to Burke Hall (Xavier Junior School) in Kew dad bought a house at 81 Clendon Road, Toorak just over the road from St Johns Toorak’.
‘Rocky had obviously heard via the grapevine we were moving in and on the very first night, the first night as we sat down to dinner there was a helluva racket, an engine being blipped and revved next door. Dad said ‘what the hell is that?’ and went next door to investigate, so they literally met the first night we moved into Clendon Road! Rocky’s furious blipping and revving of the engine was to let dad know there was a racer next door’
‘Rocky was a terrific bloke, i was 13/14 and liked him a lot. I often travelled with he and his girlfriend Robyn Atherton between race meetings. Rocky’s dad died some years back and Lex quickly became someone Rocky looked up to. A bit of a father figure and as time went on dad spoke of Rocky as his protege. Dad was famous for his Dame Nellie Melba (Australian opera singer) like retirements and comebacks but he knew his time to retire wasn’t too far off. The one of these i remember most was during one of the Albert Park meetings when we had Stirling Moss staying with us, we spent the whole weekend on a boat in the middle of Albert Park Lake so dad wouldn’t be tempted to get involved!’.
Tresise scoots thru The Esses in the Triumph 2000 Mk1 he shared with Lex at Bathurst in 1964 (autopics)
Rocky, having gained useful experience, but not winning any races in his stock car, realised he would not be competitive without extensive and expensive modifications to the MGA.
RT had met Jack Hunnam racing a Morris 850 in the same team during the 1962 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island, Hunnam sold Rocky his Lotus 18 Ford FJ, Hunnam was moving up to an Elfin.
The MG was sold, his road car an A Model Ford, his goal of an open-wheeler the important next step was a choice made with Davo’s advice. Rocky’s first race in the car was at Calder in January 1963, he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory touching wheels with another and having it aviate over the top of his Lotus.
In another race a rear suspension failure resulted in a spin, these mechanical problems were typical of his 1963 but he worked hard at night at Hunnams to better prepare the car whilst Lex assisted with advice on race craft, lines and so on. His first success, a 3rd in the 1963 Australian FJ championship. Tim Schenken later bought the Lotus which was an important part of his ascension.
After that success Rocky managed 4 wins and a 2nd from 5 starts in FJ events. By this stage he was working fulltime as a hardware salesman for the family business. Chris Davison did some research and identified WP Tresise & Co Pty. Ltd. with outlets in Flinders Lane, Melbourne and Lower Malvern Road, East Malvern as the family company.
On April 9 1964 Tresise (real name Rodney) was given the ultimate 21st birthday present when Lex gave him an Ecurie Australie pocket emblem as a welcome to the team, he was to drive the Cooper T62 at the 19 April Victorian Trophy Sandown meeting.
‘Dad wasn’t an easy bloke, he was a stickler and a tough disciplinarian so he would have had Rocky under a tight rein and insisting on him doing as he was asked. The famous occasion was when Rocky ran off at the bottom of Conrod at Bathurst during the 500 and arrived back at the pits…’what about getting the car son!’ was dads response!’
During lunchtime on the Friday before the April Victorian Trophy meeting Lex drove the circuit with Rocky in his DB4 Aston. They stopped at various points to discuss lines, gear change and braking points and then played ‘follow the leader’, Lex in the Brabham, Rocky the Cooper.
Tresise got his times down to mid 14’s, the lap record then was Brabham/McLaren’s 1:8.1. Tresise ‘I thought I’d be frightened of the car, but I wasn’t. Even when it’s sitting still you know it’s tremendously fast, everything is so functional but the biggest thing about it is it’s fantastic acceleration’ he quipped.
Spencer Martin was having his second start in the Scuderia Veloce Brabham Climax both of the young drivers performed well albeit Rocky fluffed a gear off the grid causing engine failure later in the race.
In the 15 lap feature he was last into Shell Corner, having botched a change but got his times down to the mid 12’s, up to 5th by lap 4 and on lap 10 3rd behind Stillwell and Lex after Frank Matich retired from the lead. On lap 13 the engine popped but 1:12.3 was good after only half an hour behind the wheel of what was one of the fastest single-seaters on the planet at the time. These 2.7 litre FPF Climax engined cars were quicker than the 1.5 litre F1’s of the day.
Lex Davison had this to say of Tresise in his AMS column; ‘…he has had over 60 starts. This is more than Bib Stillwell, Bill Patterson, Doug Whiteford, Stan Jones or myself had in our first 10 years of racing. His driving has improved gradually and after the usual errors of youth, over-confidence and inexperience he has developed a businesslike and earnest approach to driving racing cars’.
During 1964 Davison and Tresise shared a Triumph 2000 in the Bathurst 500 finishing 8th in class D, the race was won by the Bob Jane/Harry Firth Ford Cortina Mk1 GT.
In November 1964 Tresise borrowed Ian Kaufman’s ex-works Frank Matich driven Elfin for the Victorian 1500cc Championship, the final of five rounds of the Lucas/Davison Trophy Series. Rocky was 4th outright and won the 1100cc class in the race taking out the 1100cc championship, the car prepared by Lou Russo ‘in such good shape that some of the 1500cc cars couldn’t get near it’, the Australian Motor Sports race report said.
Hunnam won the series from Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 27, Tresise was 5th in the pitscore and Lex presented Geoghegan and Rocky their trophies. Interestingly AMS records Alan Jones racing Stan’s Cooper T51 Climax in a special handicap race ‘Alan handled the big car well to come 2nd’ to Bib Stillwell’s Cooper Monaco Buick.
Ecurie Australie in the Warwick Farm paddock during the Hordern Trophy weekend, December 1964. L>R Jon Davo, Lou Russo, Lex, Alan Ashton, Rocky, Peter Davo and Warwick Cumming, Brabham BT4 left and Cooper T62 right (Chris Davison Collection)
As stated earlier Tresise contested the ‘Hordern Trophy’ at Warwick Farm over the weekend of 5/6 December 1964.
Rocky finished third in the Cooper T62, the nearly 1 hour race great preparation for the internationals Tresise was to contest that summer. The quicker 2.5’s of Matich and Stillwell didn’t finish the race but Rocky finished in front of Lex who was 4th. Leo Geoghegan and Greg Cusack were 1st and 2nd in Ford/Lotus 1.5 powered Lotus 32 and Elfin FJ respectively.
Rocky in the T62 at Warwick Farm during the ‘Hordern Trophy’ 1964 (Bruce Wells)
He may not have been the youngest driver in the field but Davo could still make a car dance; here left on the front row in Brabham BT4 alongside Clark’s Lotus 32B and Hills Brabham BT11A, NZGP Pukekohe 1965 (Jack Brabham with Doug Nye)
1965 Tasman Series…
The ’65 Tasman was won convincingly by Jim Clark’s Lotus 32B Climax, who started his amazing 1965 season with a bang. That year he won the Tasman, Indy and his second F1 World Championship.
Lex raced his Brabham BT4 in the season opening NZ GP at Pukekohe starting off the front row and proving their was very much still ‘life in the old dog’ starting alongside Hill and Clark and ahead of all the rest including Brabham, Gardner, McLaren, Phil Hill and others. It was an amazing performance which deserved better than a DNF with overheating on lap 33.
He chose not to race the remaining Kiwi rounds, shipping the car back to Oz, direct to Sydney where Ecurie Australie, Lex in BT4 and Rocky in T62 contested the ‘Warwick Farm 100’ on 14 February.
Rocky has the Cooper T62 on tippy-toes as he finesses the big,powerful car around the technically challenging ‘Farm circuit 14 February 1965 (Bruce Wells)
Clark won the race, Rocky was 9th, 3 laps behind Clark with Lex withdrawing on lap 3 with a broken steering wheel, not the first time that had happened to him! Rocky’s was a good performance, he was behind the 1.5’s of Roly Levis and Leo Geoghegan but he still lacked miles in the car.
Tresise ahead of Bib Stillwell during the Tasman ‘Warwick Farm 100’, Cooper T62 and Brabham BT11A, Bib first resident local home in 4th 14 Feb 1965 (Bruce Wells)
Racing in this company and finishing was a fillip to his confidence. It was only his third meeting in the car. The top 6 were Clark, Brabham, Matich, Stillwell, Hill G and Jim Palmer, drivers of vast experience and calibre…
Lex in the Brabham BT4 at Warwick Farm during his last race, a broken steering wheel the cause. Thats the Ecurie Australie badge to the right of the mirror. He died at Sandown 6 days later (Bruce Wells)
Sandown Tasman Meeting, 20 February 1965…
The teams then pointed their trucks south down the Hume Highway, from Sydneys western outskirts horse racing venue to Melbournes eastern outskirts horse racing facility, Sandown Park.
During that tragic weekend Lex Davison died when his Brabham left the circuit on a Saturday practice session in an undemanding part of the track, the gentle right hand kink on the back straight, he went over a culvert and hit the horse racing perimeter fence coming to rest some distance further on in the circuit infield.
Chris Davison, a racer himself; ‘Dad had done a few ‘Nellie Melba’s’, retired and come back. He’d had some warnings about his heart from the doctor. What is probable is that something happened to his heart, maybe not an attack as such but he may have momentarily blacked out, the car following him, Glynn Scott, said the car turned inexplicably left and we lost him as a consequence of the collision itself. Days later his badly damaged helmet was delivered home to Clendon Road by a couple of policemen, I’m still not sure where it is now after all these years’.
I don’t propose to go into this further, the salient facts above are sufficient.
The result was that one of Australian motor racings greatest, a titan since the 1940’s was lost.
Rocky’s Cooper was of course, withdrawn from the meeting.
Chris Davison; ‘I really like this photo with all the Davo clan and a young Rocky. Taken at the Vic Trophy Race at Calder in 1963. That’s me wearing Dad’s cap and Richard with Rocky at the back wheel’ Cooper T62 (autopics)
The impact of Davison’s death cannot be overstated in Melbourne at the time…
Lex was a four time AGP and the inaugural Gold Star title winner, a well known sportsman in a city obsessed with sport. He was a successful, respected businessman, Paragon Shoes, the business his father started was an employer of a large number of people. A good looking athletic bloke, his wife Diana was an attractive woman so they cut a fine figure as a couple in Melbourne at a time it was small. It was big, very sad news for the broader populace let alone the Davison family and extended network.
Enthusiasts of a particular age remember what they were doing when they heard the news on 20 February 1965, it was one of ‘those’ events in ones lifetime.
Aussie GP driver Tim Schenken, a Melburnian provided a personal perspective in a MotorSport interview ‘…in 1964 Rocky Tresise was selling his Lotus 18 because he was joining Lex Davison’s team. I borrowed the money from my dad to get it. Now I was in a proper racing car started attracting a bit of attention at Calder, Winton, Tarrawingee and Sandown…’
‘Then out of the blue Lex Davison called. He was a major figure of course and a real hero of mine. He told me he was going to retire and Rocky Tresise was going to take over his big single-seaters. He’d watched me in the Lotus 18 and wanted to put me in his Elfin. (Lex had paid a deposit on a new Elfin 100 ‘Mono’ 1.5 Ford) It was unbelievable for me’. Barely a week after Lex’ conversation with Tim, Lex died at Sandown and then Rocky the weekend after that at Longford.
‘Because of Lex’s status in Australia, there were hundreds of people at his funeral in Melbourne’s St Patricks Cathedral including Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren. I’d never been to a funeral before and it was dreadful. On the coffin was a chequered flag his helmet and gloves. I didn’t know anyone, I just hung around on the edge of it, very muddled about it all’.
‘It was terrible, Lex and Rocky dying on consecutive weekends. It just stunned everybody. The thing was the weekend after Rocky’s crash I was due to run for the first time under the Ecurie Australie banner at Calder in my Lotus 18. The newspapers got hold of it and were speculating about whether it would be three fatal crashes in 3 weekends. I went to see Diana Davison and she pleaded with me not to race at Calder. I was under a lot of pressure not to drive; I felt I couldn’t talk to my parents about it but all I wanted to do was to go racing. I was a very confused boy’, Tim raced the Lotus at Calder entered in his own name, the transmission broke on the startline.
Frank Matich, left and Rocky at Warwick Farm during the Hordern Trophy meeting in December 1964 (autopics)
Australian Grand Prix, Longford 1 March 1965…
Chris Davison ‘Longford was usually one of ‘my’ races as a kid so i knew the place well. A few days after dads funeral which was huge, it was like a State funeral so many people attended, the city was brought to a standstill, i was still numb just trying as a kid to absorb what had happened. It was like looking outside watching people going about their daily lives and wondering why they didn’t see what you are going through, that things weren’t the same at all’.
‘Rocky and dads team; Alan Ashton, Lou Russo and Warwick Cumming came to the house to see the family and find out if they should race the car the following weekend at Longford. To go or not to go was the call we had to make. Over all these years when this question comes up i ask people what you would do, what would you have decided was the right thing? Most say ‘race on in Lex’s honor’ which is of course what we decided’.
And so the scene was set. Ecurie Australie crossed Bass Straight on the overnight ‘Princess of Tasmania’ voyage. After berthing in Devonport the team took the short drive to Longford, a picturesque village 25km from Launceston, Tasmania’s ‘northern capital’ in the Apple Isles northern midlands.
The race was always held on a long weekend and was well supported by non-motor racing type Taswegians as a major sporting event on their calendar, over 30000 attended the ’65 event.
This 1964 documentary footage captures the essence of the place and its inherent dangers in a modestly powered sedan, let alone a GP car, click here to see and enjoy it;
Overseas visitors to Oz doing a ‘motor racing tour’ should include Longford amongst your ‘must visit’ circuits. Other circuits/ex-circuits whilst itinerary planning are Phillip Island and Albert Park in Victoria, Mount Panorama at Bathurst NSW, and the Lobethal and Nuriootpa road courses in SA’s Barossa Valley. Lobethal is amazing. Checkout the Adelaide GP street circuit whilst you are in town of course.
Middle of the grid before the ‘Examiner Trophy’ preliminary race. Stillwell #6 Brabham BT11A, Matich BT7A and Frank Gardner in the yellow Mildren BT11A with Rocky in the red Cooper T62 in the row behind (Stephen Dalton)
Rocky hadn’t raced on the demanding, dangerous, fast, over 100mph average speed and technical road circuit before. Lex wasn’t there to guide him. Its intriguing to know who looked after him in terms of getting his head around the circuit and his approach to it that weekend with all of the tragedy of the week before at the forefront of his mind. He was a very brave young fella of great character to race.
He practiced and started the preliminary race ‘The Examiner Road Racing Championship’ without incident. Bruce won from Jack and Graham Hill, Rocky was 10th.
He had misgivings about contesting the main race ‘The South Pacific Trophy’ on the Monday though.
‘Racing Car News’ and ‘History of The Australian GP’ journalist Ray Bell recalled on The Nostalgia Forum in 2015 ‘Rocky did have some serious misgivings about driving in the race. He’d been talking to (Tasmanian racer) Lynn Archer earlier in the day. Lynn told him if he didn’t feel like driving he should tell the team and pack the car away, but it was his decision and nobody else could make it for him’.
The Ecurie Australie Cooper T62 is pushed onto the grid for its last fateful race in Rocky’s hands 1 March 1965 (oldracephotos.com)
Start of the AGP Longford 1965. Graham Hill BT11A on the right gets away well with Brabham BT11A in the middle and winner McLaren Cooper T79 at left. #8 is Clark’s Lotus 32B, #7 Gardner’s Brabham BT11A, #11 is Phil Hills Cooper T70, #3 Matich BT7A and Stillwell alongside Frank in the dark BT11A, Tresise in #12 T62 is to Bibs left with Bob Jane in the light colored Elfin Mono Ford 1.5 beside and behind Rocky #15 is Jack Hobden’s Cooper T51 and #9 Bill Patterson’s light coloured Cooper T51 (Howard)
In terms of the Grand Prix itself, Bell summarised it thus; ‘ It was a stinking hot day, we saw the greatest race I ever saw. A contest that had four World Champions (Phil and Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Jim Clark) and a multi-times second placegetter (not to mention Tasman Champion, Bruce McLaren) at each others throats for the whole distance…Phil Hill had his last open-wheeler race, it was more than that to him. It was the best race he ever drove in his opinion and when I reflect on what I saw that day it certainly was a great drive’.
The road narrows beyond Mountford Corner as the cars pass the end of the pits which is where the accident ocurred. You can see from the start shot above how wide the circuit is in that start/finish/pits area of the track
Rocky‘…had trouble all weekend getting first gear out of Mountford. The first time he got it right (that is selected and used 1st gear from the tight corner) was at the end of that first lap, then he came boiling out of the hairpin passing 1.5 cars one after the other. Tragically that’s why he ran out of room (where the circuit narrows). I’d met Robin d’ Abrera just a few weeks earlier, he was with Peter Bakalor whom I’d known for a year or two. He was really enjoying being with the other photographers and following this important series for Autosport.’
‘So for Anthony Davison, the family representative that day, a young man, (17) after running across to the crash site and learning of Rocky’s death, he had that to deal with before, an hour or so later, having to present the new trophy named in his fathers honour to Bruce McLaren’ the race winner in his Cooper T79. Jack was next, 3 seconds behind in his BT11A and Phil Hill a further second back in Bruce’ Cooper T70.
Bruce McLaren won the tragic ’65 AGP in a great drive, Cooper T79 Climax. Two motorcyclists also perished at Longford that weekend, an incredibly black one for the sport (Howard)
The Davison family ordeal was far from over though, Bell; ‘The night of the race Anthony, Peter and Jon (Davison) flew back to Essendon Airport, Melbourne and went straight to the Tresise home. There Rocky’s older brother and sister were waiting to hear what happened to their brother. The older brother asked Jon (a decade later a leading F5000 racer) ‘He kept his foot down when he should have backed off’ said Jon. It was that simple. The road has narrowed as he ranged alongside Glynn Scott (Lotus 27 Ford 1.5), with two wheels in the dirt the car lost traction, skewed sideways and started the crazy flight that took the lives of Rocky and Robin d’Abrera’.
Chris Davison; ‘I didnt go to Tasmania that year in all the circumstances of course but i can still recall arriving home from rowing practice on the Monday evening (of the South Pacific Trophy in which Tresise died) and a friend of the family giving me the news about Rocky’s accident. I was devastated, the team, dad, Rocky dead. It was just too much for a kid to absorb, tragic on so many levels. Rocky had two other brothers, one was an army officer, David, Ian the other brother was at the races decades later when David Purley raced here in the LEC sponsored Lola T330 F5000, he had some sort of connection with that company. Rocky was special, he was kind and generous to me, gave me space that was sometimes hard to get with my older brothers dominating the space’.
As to the future of the Tresise family little is known, Chris; ‘Rocky’s mother was Val Tresise, she married some years after Rocky was killed…a man from Western Victoria, or Penola in South Australia, i think his name was Arch de Garris. Rocky’s fiancé was Robyn Atherton and sadly I have no idea what happened to Robyn after Rocky was killed. I guess I was too young to really understand what was happening in those difficult years after both Lex and Rocky were killed, and by the time I was 17, I just wanted to get on with my own life, so I went bush as a jackaroo at Hay and lost contact with many people. The person who was all knowledgeable on these matters was my mother and sadly she has taken all this knowledge with her’.
Anything i say at this point would be trite or superfluous. I am very thankful to Chris for discussing and sharing his recollections of this quite extraordinary fortnight in the lives of the Davison and Tresise families.
The remains of the Ecurie Australie Brabham and Cooper were advertised and bought by Victorian racer Wally Mitchell who used some of the components to build the ‘RM1 Climax’ sportscar.
Mitchell crashed the car at Symmons Plains on 12 March 1967 suffering burns which claimed him, he died on 18 April, to make the story even more macabre.
Prior to his demise historian Stephen Dalton advises his uncle, John Dalton had done a deal with Mitchell to acquire the T62 bits, these components passed to John after delicate discussions with his distraught widow.
Dalton; ‘I remember it under my uncles house at Olinda during the September school holidays of 1978, I was earning some money tidying things up to put more MG stuff under there! I was 13 and didn’t know the sad history of the car at the time’.
‘The car remained a crumpled wreck until the mid to late eighties when a new chassis was built by Charlie Singleton, the car was displayed in chassis form at one of Paul Sabine’s Classic Car Shows in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Things went pear shaped financially and John sold it in the early 1990’s. By the time it was displayed Roger James had ownership and perhaps Richard Bendell was involved. I think Gary Dubois built the body for it’.
The car was sold to the ‘States in the early 1990’s and has been sold a couple of times since when I saw it at Sandown Historics in 2014, but I’m not sure who owns it’, but it seems the car is now owned by an American enthusiast.
Bruce McLaren winning the 1962 AGP at Caversham in the Cooper T62 Climax (oldracephotos.com)
The Cursed Car?…
Its a fact that a whole swag of people closely associated with the Cooper T62 died before their time, not just the obvious four; McLaren, Davison, Tresise and Wally Mitchell. Later owners or part owners John Dalton and Roger James died early, so too Paul Higgins a respected Melbourne journalist ‘attached’ to the Davison team who was murdered along with his wife in gruesome circumstances twenty years ago.
The above are facts not the stuff of a fictional thriller. For those of us a little superstitious the reality is that some cars shouldn’t be rebuilt, but buried. Perhaps this is one such car…
Etcetera…
Cooper T62 upon completion at an early Goodwood test in late 1962 prior to shipment to Fremantle, WA (Mike Lawrence)
McLaren in the Lakeside paddock in early 1963, Tony Shelly behind (B Williamson)
Alan Ashton aboard Lex’ T62 at Mallala, Gold Star round 14 October 1963. Behind is Stillwell’s Cooper Monaco and Pat Hawthorn’s Aston Martin DBR4, blue #16 is Mel McEwin’s Elfin FJ Ford. John Youl won this race in a Cooper T55 (Kevin Drage)
Credits and Bibliography…
Chris Davison who was very generous with his time and insights into a very difficult part of his life as a young teenager
‘History of The AGP’ by Graham Howard and Ors in particular the 1962 and 1965 chapters written by Howard and Des White
‘The Nostalgia Forum’ threads in relation to Lex and Rocky in particular the contributions/insights of Ray Bell and Stephen Dalton
‘Australian Motor Sports’ June 1964 issue, the Melbourne ‘Age’ newspaper 20 February 1965
‘MotorSport’ interview with Tim Schenken
Stephen Dalton Collection, Chris Davison Collection John Ellacott, Terry Walker, oldracephotos.com, Milton McCutcheon, Peter Longley, Ellis French, Geoff Smedley, Ron Lambert Collection, Denis Lupton, Geoff Smedley, autopics.com.au, Murray Lord, Bob Williamson
Tailpiece: Davo in the best of company: Graham Hill’s Brabham BT4, Davison’s Cooper T62 and the white nose of Jim Palmer’s Cooper T53 Climax, Longford 1964
Jackie Stewart’s BRM P261 is pushed onto the Longford grid by Jimmy Collins and Stan Collier on 5 March 1966…
The race is the Launceston Examiner Trophy, the preliminary Longford Tasman round race, and Jackie is being moved onto pole.
Stewart won the main race, the South Pacific Trophy on the Monday from his teammate Graham Hill and Jack’s Brabham BT19 Repco- the new Repco ‘620 Series’ V8, 2.5 litres in Tasman spec, having its third race and gearing up for his successful world championship assault that year.
For the BRM boys it would be a more character building F1 year, mind you, Jackie took a great Monaco GP win in his nimble 2.1 litre P261 against the new 3 litre GP cars that May.
Stewart glides his BRM into Mountford Corner. Note the crossflow ‘inlet between the Vee’ spec of this P60 engine- the more ‘typical’ engine had the exhausts within the Vee (oldracephotos.com.au/DKeep)
The 1966 Tasman Series was a BRM rout.
The 1930cc P60 versions of the 1.5-litre P56 V8 engined cars won seven of the eight rounds- JYS took four victories and the title (Wigram, Teretonga, Sandown, Longford) Graham Hill two (NZ GP Pukekohe, AGP Lakeside) and Richard Attwood one (Levin). Jim Clark won the other round, the ‘Warwick Farm 100’ in his Climax FPF-engined Lotus 39.
The days of a Coventry Climax FPF winning the Tasman were over. From 1966 to 1970 the 2.5 Tasman Series was dominated by ‘multi-cylinder’ V6 and V8 engines of F1 and F2 extraction.
JYS and Eric Reece, Tasmanian Premier (HRCCT)
Lindsay Ross of oldracephotos captured the feeling at the time, ‘After his win at Longford in 1966, a lot of Tasmanians were now aware of Jackie Stewart and I, along with no doubt many other enthusiasts, began following his career.’
‘The podium shot has him shaking hands with Tasmanian Premier ‘Electric Eric’ Reece, who was the driving force behind Hydro-Electric power in the state. He also made sure the Longford roads were laid with the finest hot mix bitumen available. Ron MacKinnon of the Longford Motor Racing Association has the microphones- he owned much of the land around the Longford track.’
Jim Clark, Lotus 39 Climax in front of his fellow Scot at The Viaduct in 1966 (oldracephotos.com.au/DKeep)
Etcetera…
(HRCCT)
Brabham accelerates away from Mountford in BT19, surely the most photographed single-seater in 1966. The chassis was Brabham’s weapon in Tasman and GP competition pretty much all year.
Note the long inlet trumpets of the RB620 2.5-litre V8. Longford was the new RB620’s third race- a 3 litre unit was used in the non-championship South African GP at Kyalami, and another of 2.5 litres in capacity for the Sandown International in Melbourne the week before Longford. All three events in BT19- BT19-1 is still owned by Repco.
(HRCCT)
The next group of shots are all on the exit of Mountford- the corner onto the straight past the pits, here Clark’s Lotus 39 FPF from Hill’s BRM. The BRM’s solo are #2 Hill and #3 Stewart.
(HRCCT)(HRCCT)(HRCCT)
And another podium shot from a slightly different angle.
Stewart wheels his BRM into the left-hander under the famous Longford Railway Viaduct- a tricky, fast on approach, downhill corner with minimal run-off area should the pilot goof. Note the spectators on the hill and alongside the railway line at the top.
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