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17 Nov 2008, 03:20 (Ref:2336155) | #1 | ||
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Group A Alfa Romeo 75
Thought it was time to add another one of the Group A fleet.
There were a number of cars to run during the 1986/87 seasons, before Alfa pulled the plug during mid-late 1987, indeed none of the European works cars competed after Silverstone 1987, leaving a hole in the Bathurst 1000 entry list. Plenty of things to discuss, like the mass pull out, and where the cars have ended up, lets get some pics up of them as well. In the WTCC there were a number of entries, Alfa Corse, the Brixia cars, Q Racing etc... In Australia there was Colin Bonds works Caltex Alfa entry (later became a Sports Sedan) In the BTCC there were the two John West cars Alfa GB backed cars as well |
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17 Nov 2008, 13:28 (Ref:2336384) | #2 | |
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OK, I'll kick off with a quick overview of 75 activity in the ETCC
First appeared a few races into the 1986 season in V6 form. Some delay (homologation?) caused them to miss the first few races. Cars were red and white, usually 2/3 cars driven by the usual suspects from the GTV6 programme-Drovandi, Lella Lombardi, Camathias etc http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-08-03-040.jpg The Luigi entries seemed to fall b y the wayside- they turned out a couple of old GTV6s at Spa, but that was about it, other than a single car at the end of the season- possibly the debut of the turbo? In the UK, ARDT ran a pair of cars with their usual John West backing- they possibly suffered from the same delay as the ETCC cars- they were the only Alfa team to show for the Donington ETCC round, but with one of their existing GTV6s, instead of the new car. Network Alfa in Australia persevered with the GTV6 I think? I'll do this in separate posts, as 'Tenths keeps throwing me out for some reason if I try to post anything lengthy....Next stop, 1987 and the WTCC |
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17 Nov 2008, 13:40 (Ref:2336392) | #3 | |
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For the WTCC in 1987, Alfa got serious with a new Evo version of the turbo. Despite the radical bodykit, it proved to be off the pace. Although it improved as the season went on, it never matched the M3s
The main Alfa representation was: Alfa Corse- 2 cars, with a very heavyweight driver squad- Jacques Laffite, Jean-Louis Schlesser, Nicola Larini, Alessandro Nannini, a one-off for Michael Andretti at Monza- they really weren't messing about here....Just a pity the car didn't deliver.... http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-09-06-075.jpg Brixia- 2 black cars with Beretta sponsorship- Rinaldo Drovandi, Carlo Rossi, Gabriele Tarquini amongst others http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-08-02-077.jpg Albatech- a single white car for Voulaz/Cipriani http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-08-02-076.jpg Q Racing- Swedish entry for ex-Volvo man Thomas Lindstrom, shared variously with Mikael Nabrink and Steven Andskar. Another white car, often unsponsored I think, was crashed heavily during TT qualifying and not seen again. Can't find a pic Dixi Racing- Belgian (French?) squad ran a pair of cars in a mix of ETCC and WTCC races for a variety of French and Belgian drivers http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-08-02-071.jpg Alfa Corse, Brixia, Albatech and Q were all factory-backed and eligible for WTCC points as I recall. Not sure about Dixi? The 4 factory-supported teams all pulled out before the 'long-haul' leg of the WTCC- Australia/NZ/Japan ARDT ran a pair of turbos in the BTCC for Dooley & Kirby- they had a troubled season with them- I think one dirver reverted to the V6 at one point? Network Alfa ran a single Caltex-backed car for Bond- this was the only Alfa representation at Bathurst, apart from an Italian-entered Alfa 33 in the 1600 class- I think it may have been factory-backed, despite being miles off the pace of the Corollas all year? |
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17 Nov 2008, 14:02 (Ref:2336405) | #4 | |
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By 1988 it was all over- the turbo equivalency factor changed from 1.4 to 1.7 over the off-season, which would have pushed the 75 Turbo into the 'big' class against the RS500s.
Development for the national series in Italy continued, with a series of progressively wilder versions being campaigned until the 155 appeared in the early 90's.... http://www.italiaspeed.com/2005/cars...eo_75_imsa.jpg For the final season of the ETCC though, Alfa were out of the game... ....except, for some reason, former BMW team CiBiEmme fielded a single Alfa 75 at Spa- a V6, but in 3-litre form, pushing it into the top class, rather than the original 2.5 litre.... http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc...-07-31-010.jpg Despite a strong driver squad (Cecotto, Larini, Francia) it was well off the pace and didn't finish. Jon Dooley also turned out for a couple of late-season BTCC rounds with his former ARDT car- again I think in 3-litre V6 form? That's the basic history- what else can we fill in? Does anyone know the background behind the end of the WTCC campaign? I know the 75 was campaigned in other series apart from those mentioned, but who and where? (I've seen a pic of a Portuguese 75 Turbo recently). Taking a light diversion from the circuits, I think the Rothmans-backed French rally programme with Yves Loubet etc continued when the 75 replaced the GTV6. I know very little about the post-1987 cars raced in Italy, other than a few pics I've seen. What else is out there? Last edited by KA; 17 Nov 2008 at 14:09. |
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17 Nov 2008, 14:22 (Ref:2336419) | #5 | ||
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Always liked these cars
There are one or two of these period racing cars here in Holland, I will try and find out what's what. |
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17 Nov 2008, 20:30 (Ref:2336585) | #6 | ||
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The Dixi Sport cars, were in fact build by Luigi Racing. When the two parties split up during the season, Luigi continued with the pair of cars, while Dixi went with a Mercedes 190.
German team owner Frieder Nickel tried the 75 TE for the 1987 DTM with defending champion Kurt Thiim as driver, but poor performance and even worse reliability meant very little in terms of results. A M. Kopf raced a single DTM race in 1987 with another 75 TE. Here is the Portugese 75 TE: http://cvc1.com.sapo.pt/images/1987/Diapositivo32.JPG. Rufino Fontes driving. Jesper |
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18 Nov 2008, 06:40 (Ref:2336790) | #7 | |||
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Any pics of the ARDT cars?
Quote:
Network Alfa (run by Enrico Zanarini, formerly Eddie Irvine's manager, now Giancarlo Fisichella's) had threatened to pull out at the end of 1985, due to the class structure in Australia changing. In the end CAMS altered the structure to keep them interested. For 1987 the Network Alfa 75 was debuted at the Oran Park non-champ "Clash for Cash" (25th Anniversary Oran Park meeting). Bond led early but slipped back due to rain (and unsuitable tyres). During the course of the ATCC Bond rebuilt the car to RHD, but rarely got the car at the front of the grid. The only time it led a race was the early laps of the Hardie Irrigation 100 at Amaroo Park (though the only regular front runner at that race was the JPS M3s, which got bad starts). He did go alright in the early stages of the AGP support race at Adelaide at the end of 1987 against the regular top guys, but by then it was too late. I've never seen an official reason for their pullout, but one assumes with the end of the European involvement in the 75 program, Australia wasn't going to go it alone. For 1988 Bond took the Caltex money to a Sierra. Bond was supposed to run a 75 in Production Car racing in 1988, but that never materialised. Was the Bond car built in Australia, or imported? For 1988 it was sold to John Cotter and run occasionally. I remember it appearing as a Sports Sedan (with a bigger rear wing) at some point in the mid-90s. |
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18 Nov 2008, 10:23 (Ref:2336880) | #8 | |
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I think I've read somewhere (possibly '87 Bathurst Yearbook) that the Bond 75 was built by Luigi in Belgium, but then substantially reworked in Australia- think the book suggests Network Alfa were less than happy with the car as delivered.
There's some subsequent history of the car here on the 'GpA/C/SCV8- Where are they now?' thread, suggesting the car was converted to a Sports Sedan by Bob MacDonald around 1991, and written off by him at Oran in 1996 http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...t=67601&page=3 Interestingly, it also mentions a possible second 75 Turbo, entered at a couple of 1988 ATCC rounds by a Gerard Murphy- this car also being written off in a testing shunt by the team's mechanic... |
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16 Dec 2008, 08:33 (Ref:2355791) | #9 | |
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16 Dec 2008, 10:37 (Ref:2355882) | #10 | ||
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Cracking shot, just look at that spray!!!!
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16 Dec 2008, 15:41 (Ref:2356169) | #11 | ||
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That's from practice or qualifying for the opening round of the 1987 ATCC, right?
Jesper |
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17 Dec 2008, 09:31 (Ref:2356653) | #12 | ||
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Quote:
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17 Dec 2008, 16:23 (Ref:2357057) | #13 | ||
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Also what's the car over the other side going in the opposite direction, white and red it looks like?
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17 Dec 2008, 20:50 (Ref:2357222) | #14 | |
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Jesper, you are correct, pretty sure the car was owned by a guy whose surname was White. Will need to look into that and also see if I have a shot of him.
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21 Dec 2008, 07:58 (Ref:2359146) | #15 | ||
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One of thes turned up in the Alfa Romeo Championship in the UK in 1990. Not sure if it was a turbo or 3 litre, but it was an ETCC spec car driven by Piero Pesaro
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30 Dec 2008, 21:09 (Ref:2362963) | #16 | |
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Chassisnr 28
Some documentation says there are only the first(?) 25 Evo Cars (of 500) have been rebuild by Alfa Corse as original racecars. Chassinr 1, they say, has been used for testing purposes.
I saw in the forum the chassisnr of Bob vd Sluis (29?) and recently I spotted a chassisnr 28. The chassisnr 28 is stamped on a small plate and not as a nr in the chassis itself as I have seen in some original cars. Does someone know how chassisnrs 28 and 29 fits in the mentioned 25 cars? |
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30 Dec 2008, 22:49 (Ref:2363017) | #17 | |
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@75TB:
It's the Kuno Schar car that's referred to as chassisnr 029 in a previous post. Bob v/d Sluis' car has the 026 number. Even that is remarkable taking into account the 25 batch which is often mentioned in several historical data/articles. So I'm also very curious if someone can clarify this. I'm also very interested if someone can tell us more about the 75 Evoluzione Group A cars that were used in the Italian hill climbing and rallys. |
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31 Dec 2008, 16:06 (Ref:2363355) | #18 | ||
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Quote:
Here is a link to the article http://www.berlinasportivo.com/magaz.../racing75s.php |
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7 Jan 2009, 10:09 (Ref:2366897) | #19 | |
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Here are a few more shots I found of Bondy's car. Also cfound one of the Alfa 33 that ran the two WTCC rounds in Aust and for chunterer, the Gemini he was asking about(is there a Gemini thread?)
And you guys thought the first photo I posted was a wet track. Check out the track to the front left of the car. |
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25 Oct 2014, 20:35 (Ref:3468383) | #20 | ||
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Is Malscar still about? I own the ex John White Gemini he was talking about, owned in 1987 by David Sala. Pics of my car when owned by him are very thin on the ground so I'd love to see what he has!
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7 Jan 2009, 10:11 (Ref:2366899) | #21 | |
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7 Jan 2009, 10:36 (Ref:2366916) | #22 | ||
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Quote:
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7 Jan 2009, 11:18 (Ref:2366944) | #23 | ||
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...but as long it finished there was 20 WTCC points for best in class, no matter how many Corollas were in front. I think it even managed a few bonus points for overall WTCC positions as well.
In 1990 several 33s (and Alfasud Sprints) contested the smallest Group A catagory (A6) of the Italian championship fighting lady racer Tamara Vidali and her VW Golf Syncro and at times Russian driven Lada Samaras. Go figure! Jesper |
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7 Jan 2009, 11:28 (Ref:2366951) | #24 | ||
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Quote:
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8 Jan 2009, 19:38 (Ref:2367855) | #25 | |
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Pictures Alfa 75 EVO
Perhaps that some pictures already have been showed in former pages, but some will be new. In a few days I'll have some pictures of a Grp A 75 that were made somewhere in italy.
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