Ferrari 246T, Lotus 49 Ford, Lotus 49 Ford, Brabham BT24 Ford, and a Mildren Mono Alfa T33: Amon, Rindt, Hill, Courage and Gardner. Pukekohe NZ GP front couple of rows, January 4, 1969…
We didn’t know it at the time, but the 1969 Tasman Cup was the last for 2.5-litre cars, The Real Tasman in the minds of many. 1970 2.5-F5000 mix duly noted.
When Jim Clark appeared in a Gold Leaf Team Lotus machine during the Levin Wigram Tasman round the year before, it was the start of big bucks in ‘European Racing’. F1 was getting bigger, the season was getting longer with summer testing in the south of France and South Africa, and the drivers were ‘more valuable’. One couldn’t afford to put one’s GeePee programme at risk killing a driver on water-skis or the race track in Australasia.
Jim Clark was dead, killed at Hockenheim in a Lotus 48 Ford FVA on April 7, 1968. BRM were in F1 disarray, still struggling to throw off the shackles of the H16 debacle. Team Lotus came, with 49 Ford DFWs for just-minted World Champ Graham Hill, and fastest-kid-on-the-block, Jochen Rindt. BRM understandably stayed at home to get themselves sorted; in that regard, they failed!
Scuderia Ferrari came too, or rather a triumvirate. Ferrari provided two Dino 246Ts with you-beaut four-valve 2.4-litre V6s, Chris Amon brought along his good self and Ace-mechanic and friend Bruce Wilson, while David McKay/Scuderia Veloce handled the on-ground logistics and team management.
Scuderia Veloce are the Ferrari Sydney dealer and McKay was an extremely capable ex-driver, journalist and auto-entrepreneur. Quite who paid for what has never been clear – by all means send me a copy of the contract if you have it – but the mix of Scuderia Ferrari, Shell and Firestone had enough lolly in the kitty to pop Derek Bell in the second car.
Jochen had a marker to put down, and did so big-time! He had been in GP racing since 1965 and finally had a car worthy of him. It wasn’t to be Hill’s happiest Tasman or Grand Prix season in any respect.
The other extremely capable Sydney ex-driver and auto-entrepreneur was Alfa Romeo Man Alec Mildren. His two cars were powered by 2.5-litre variants of Alfa Romeo/Auto Delta’s Tipo 33, twin-cam, fuel injected V8. He fielded a new monocoque designed and built by Len Bailey/Alan Mann Racing for Frank Gardner that used Brabham BT23 components: uprights/brakes, steering rack, wheels etc.
This gorgeous machine became an Oz Icon – The Yellow Submarine – driven by FG in this Tasman, and then Kevin Bartlett, and others, all of whom won in it even when it was a granny. KB’s car was the BT23D Alfa Gardner raced in the ’68 Tasman and with which Bartlett won that years Gold Star. They only had three engines, so KB only did the Australian rounds.
Leo Geoghegan’s ex-Clark ’66 Tasman Lotus 39 #R12 was a veteran by 1969 but ongoing development of it by John Sheppard and Leo kept it towards the front and it was now equipped with Repco-Brabham Engines latest and final Tasman 2.5 V8 730/830 crossflow, SOHC, injected V8.
Similarly equipped was Jack Brabham’s F3 based Brabham BT31, although ultimately Brabham did only the Sandown round. It was a pity, as the very light, small car proved its competitiveness in its only gallop.
Climax 2.5 FPF-engined machines by then were also-rans, the other locals running FVAs and Lotus-Ford twin-cams didn’t have the puff to stay in the top half of the field and there were enough good 2.5s to make fast-reliable 1.6-litre runs not enough to bag a podium.
Speaking of which, McLaren M4A Ford FVA ’68 Longford winner, Piers Courage, was back with a bang. His Tasman 1968 solo run with the help of Les Sheppard provided a Ctrl-Alt-Delete reboot of his career. He had teamed up with F3-Travelling-Circus buddy Frank Williams to run a Ford DFW-powered ’67 Brabham BT24 #3 in the Tasman and was on the money throughout, winning the Teretonga round. The pair went one better in ’69 Grands Prix, running at the front all year with a ’68 Brabham BT26 converted to run a Cosworth DFV instead of the RBE 860 that first occupied the aft area. They were set to take on the world, let’s leave 1970 alone.
Practice…
The Dinos of Amon and Bell positively gleamed in Auckland’s sunlight as the punters gazed upon them. Bruce Wilson had the cars early enough to pull them down and painstakingly assemble them with the time the Scuderia mechanics didn’t have. After the one-car learning expedition the year before, Ferrari was ready to boogie.
And so it proved during practice. Thursday was largely early sorting but Amon and Courage were the early quicks. Rindt wasn’t far behind – had he tested a 49 before heading down south? – while Hill and Gardner arrived late. Bell popped the nose of his car through railing early on, and an engine change was required of Chris’ car which was suspected of having a slipped cylinder sleeve.
Friday was business day with Rindt getting down to a 58.4 while wrestling with gear selection problems, including breaking the lever. Hill did a 58.8, winged-Courage a 59-dead then Amon pulled a 58.2 out of the bag to get pole. Jochen tried to better this but broke the gear lever again.
Next came Bell 59.6, wingless Gardner 60.6, Graeme Lawrence, McLaren M4A Ford FVA, Roy Levis, Brabham BT23 Ford FVA and Geoghegan, 63.5.
The Leo Geoghegan and Frank Gardner wingless machines out of Sydney: Lotus 39 Repco-Brabham 830 and Mildren Mono Alfa Romeo T33 2.5 V8.
Race…
The start of the race was fiery in a different way. Bryan Faloon’s Brabham BT4 Climax was set ablaze by an errant spark and an overfilled fuel tank. Bryan was scratched but had mild burns to his hands. In amongst this excitement, the Team Lotus mechanics replaced Jochen’s tach, which wasn’t operating. Then, as the minute board went up, Gardner’s Mildren was pushed to the side of the track with a duff fuel pump.
Twelve months before, his new Brabham BT23D Alfa won the ’67 Hordern Trophy at Warwick Farm just before Christmas, the car was fully sorted before it lobbed in NZ. They were not as far advanced with the Mildren Mono, staggering was a complete lack of wings. The car grew them as the series progressed but FG gifted his rivals time, he was the only front running 2.5 racing sans wings.
When the flag dropped in front of a great crowd, it was Amon, Rindt, Courage and Hill. Chris was a couple of car lengths ahead of Jochen at the end of lap 1 from Courage, Bell, Hill, Geoghegan, Levis, Lawrence, then the elderly Brabham Climaxes of Red Dawson BT7A and Dennis Marwood BT?, and then the amazing Graham McRae in his very fast, small, clever, Brabham based, McRae S2 Lotus-Ford 1.5.
Rindt passed Amon on lap 2 and by lap 4 was two-sec clear of Chris, then came Courage, a bit of a gap to Bell and Hill, then a bigger one to Leo Geoghegan’s wingless Lotus 39 Repco who had a 10 second gap from Levis, then Lawrence, Dawson, McRae and David Oxton, Brabham BT18 Lotus-Ford 1.5.
By lap 6, Chris and Jochen were rounding up the tail-end-Charlies without difficulty, but Piers Courage wasn’t so lucky and lost a lot of ground on the right-hand sweeper out of Pit Straight.
Rindt tigered to try to clear away from Amon and did the fastest race lap of 58.9 on lap 9, doing 160mph through the timing traps on the back-chute. While this was going on, Graham Hill passed Derek Bell before the Londoners’ hard work came to nothing on lap 13 when a front-suspension ball joint broke. Simultaneously, Frank Gardner joined the fray, Glen Abbey having sorted or replaced the errant fuel pump.
So…it was Rindt, Amon, Courage, Bell, then Geoghegan back a bit, then Lawrence, Levis, Dawson, McRae and Oxton.
The race was starting to look like a cruise-and-collect copybook first Lotus win for Austria’s finest but then he ran wide on some oil on the approach to the hairpin and ceded the lead to Amon as he sorted his misdemeanour. Courage remained third, Jochen regained some ground but he had lost his clutch and the wing feathering device wasn’t doing its thing on the straights, so began to lose a second a lap.
Rindt remained clear of Courage despite that – 24 seconds clear by lap 40 – who in turn had a good gap from Derek Bell, who too had a good margin from Leo G.
With eight of the 58 lap/100 mile race to go the order was Chris Amon, Ferrari 246T, Jochen Rindt, Lotus 49 Ford DFW, Piers Courage, Brabham BT24 Ford DFW, Derek Bell in the other 246T, Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 Repco-Brabham, Graeme Lawrence, McLaren M4A Ford FVA, Roy Levis Brabham BT23 Ford FVA, Red Dawson, Brabham BT7A Climax and David Oxton Brabham BT18 Lotus-Ford 1.5.
And so it remained until the finish.
Winners are grinners…
A suitably big smile on Christopher Arthur Amon’s face as he does a victory lap with the winners sash around his neck, back-to-back NZ GP victories.
246T/69-0008 was sold by Ferrari to Graeme Lawrence after the Tasman, he did well in it throughout the South Pacific inclusive of the 1970 Tasman Cup win, the little car had just enough pace and more reliability than the F5000s that year.
Chris Amon (1943-2016), Frank Gardner (1930-2009), and Piers Courage (1942-1970). Aged 26, Chris was already a six-year F1 veteran, maybe not such a big deal now, but his extreme youth on entry to Grand Prix racing was rare back then.
Etcetera…
To Wing, or Not To Wing…That is The Question…
1968 was the start of it in Grand Prix racing at least, the earlier Chaparral contribution is hereby duly noted. Courage – BT24 Cosworth DFW above – practised with them on and off, and raced with them on. Those wings – note the mount directly atop the rear uprights – look very much like a works-Tauranac fabrication(s) to me.
A couple of shots of Graham McRae’s McRaes, topics for another time.
David Oxton, ex-Silvio Moser Brabham BT16 Lotus-Ford. Later an F5000 and F Pacific front-runner, Oxton won NZ’s Gold Star from 1972-74 and in 1981-82.
Credits…
Peter Bruin via Chris Denby, Tony Growden, Stewart Oliver, Peter Levet via Milan Fistonic, Doug Shaw, Warner Collins, Jeff Copsey, Bob Homewood, Kevin Lancaster, oldracingcars.com
Finito…
primotipo... 