Australian F.Pacific 1981

[Chris Townsend]

As I work through the spread of F.Atlantic - Pacific around the world I've opted for the policy of trying to prepare the first season in each country for posting on oldracingcars.com. I've now got to Australia, and thanks to the good offices of Dave McKinney have remarkably good records assembled. The following are the missing data and I'm hoping that our Australian correspondents can help fill the gaps!

Australian GP 1981 [One of the great Atlantic races, Moreno blew off both Piquet and Jones in the year when they were battling for the world title.]

1: Moreno’s race time and speed.

2: Chassis numbers for
Costanzo’s Tiga FA81
Williamson’s Toleman [which was ex Rothengatter F2]
Cesario’s Ralt RT3

3: Which were AF2 cars apart from Cesario’s?

4: What happened to Cesario, on the basis of the ’81 results he was useful.

5: Did the Kaditcha have a model or chassis number?
Did the Galloway?

6 What happened to Mike Quinn in the race? Not mentioned in the report I have. Was this the Mike Quinn who raced FF2000 in UK in 1980 [a Delta T80 I seem to recall]

7 Peter Warren’s March 80A which didn’t show up.
Was this the ex Rob Wilson car? Any idea on chassis number and where it is now?

8 Creasey’s Birrana what engine?


Lakeside, 19 July 1981

1: Chassis number and previous history for Graham Brown’s March 76B

2: Ross Holden “Van Dieman” AF2 car? Model and chassis number? Engine? Was this a Van Diemen as built in Norfolk, or an Australian car?

3: Orphan, Elfin 700. Chassis number? Engine? Driver’s first name? AF2?

4: Finishing positions below 5th in Heat 1 and 6th in Heat 2

5: How did the scoring system for the championship work?

6: What determined grid position for second race?

Adelaide 26.7.81

1: Gary Cosser’s Elfin. Model and chassis number? Retirement reason in each heat? Laps completed?

2: Geoff Nicol March 74B. Bryan Miller, was this your car? Retirement reason? Laps?

3: Practice times from 9th downwards

Oran Park 23.8.81

1: Cosser now in a Bowin P6. Is this right? Chassis number?

2: Retirement reasons for Hamilton and Cosser in Heat 1; Bickley and Williamson in 2nd

3: What chassis number Bickley’s BT36 or are we in “Dolphin” territory here!?

4: Practice times below 9th?

Calder

1: Date?

2: Clive Millis, Hardman-BDA. An AF2 car converted to Atlantic? Model and Chassis number?

3: Joe Ricciardo in a March 74B entered by Graham Brown. Chassis number?

4: Retirement reasons for Creasey and Ricciardo in Heat 1?
Laps completed by Ricciardo in Heat 2?

5: Practice times from 11th down.

All help gratefully received

Chris

[ghinzani]

Heres ur answer on Lucio Cesario
http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=32222

[Bryan Miller]

Chris.

I will do some and then will come back with others.

1 1hr.39.2 secs. 39.8 new lap record.
2. Tiga FA811 -161
Toleman # 860
Cesario RT3-203
3. Technically the Toleman was a F2 also Creasy's Birrana 273 and old AF2 car
4. Just seemed to fade away.
5. Kaditcha chno. P2
Galloway ch.no. HG1
6. Mike Quinn is to this day a good friend, qualified 18th. at 41.4 and broke an input shaft to the gearbox during qual.??? the shaft was welded as a new unit wasn't available and the weld broke in the warmup laps.
Yes it is the same Mike Quinn that ran in the U.K. in FF2000.
7. Peter Warren March 80A -20 , still retained to this day, and about to return to Historics.
8.Ford , but whether BDA or Twin Cam can't say at this point.
Lakeside ,

Brown , this is 73B-8 .

When Brown bought both cars in to Western Australia in early 1980 at the first meeting they were entered as ,
Brown 73B/76B , and Geoff Nicol in my car as 74B/76B.

Ross Holden , yes is a proper Van Dieman , I need to check but it was if my memory is correct a F.Ford , maybe with big wheels etc.

Noel Orphan Elfin 700 Corolla # 76652.

That's all for now . What race meeting is the Lakeside event listed as.?????????????????

Regards Bryan.

[Chris Townsend]

The Holden Van Diemen would surely have to have been one of the 1976 F3 cars. I can't imagine it being an FF2000, and Firman didn't build anything bigger. Did he?

Chris

[David McKinney]

Bryan's beaten me to it with some of the stuff I could have supplied - and added a lot more besides
I can confirm that Warren's March was the ex-Rob Wilson. It's tub came from an F3 car, IIRC, but I've no idea which one. Not one of the top ones, I suspect, or I would remember

[Bryan Miller]

Ross Holden , Van Dieman , only from memory is an RF76 F.Ford 1600cc.
I have no knowledge of anything other than F.Ford 1600cc Van Diemans ever coming over here.
Bryan.

[Amonfan]

Ross Holden purchased his Van Dieman while he was on a racing holiday in the UK in early 1975. He brought the car back to Australia and raced it in the Surfers paradise round of the Formula Ford Series that year. It was later converted to F2 guise, i think even sporting ground effects in some stage of its life. He later raced a Tiga FA83 in Formula 2 trim.

Curt

[Bryan Miller]

Amonfan , if that is the case it will make it a RF74 or RF75, but as I suggested to you Chris , it started life as a F.Ford. and then was played with.
Geoff Nicol in March 74B-12 , yes my car.
Tom Bickley in a Brabham BT36 , yes is a Dolphin, I would think from this distance the ex. Chris Farrell car which you can list as #2. This was always in it's early life correctly called a Dolphin 732.
It would just about def. have to be Chris's car as mine was still sitting forlornly in Paul Englands workshop ex. N.Z.with Peter Larner and it was never used again, when I purchased the car it still had Peter's name on the side and complete with N.Z. scrut. stickers.
And the ex. Tony Stewart car was lurking around the Victorian hillclimb scene.

Bryan.

[Bryan Miller]

A further note re. the ex. Tony Stewart Dolphin # 1, many years ago the owner purchased some parts from the wreck of BT30/36 -27 in which Ian Cook was killed at Sandown.
This included the ch. pl. from the BT30/36 which reads BT30-27 , this plate is still with the Dolphin and I believe , but have not seen , that it has been altered to now read BT36-27 , by overstamping the 0 to make it a 6.
This car is still in the hands of the Rodkin familly in Victoria . Werner Rodkin was killed in a hillclimb , but not in this car.

Bryan.

[Tony C]

Gary Cossor (correct spelling) did not run an elfin at adelaide, was running the Bowin P6F (ex butterworth car) will check the details with Gary but I vaguely remember a brake disc failure at Adelaide. Will find out details on other events.

I would be interested in seeing the information compiled so far.

[Chris Townsend]

Tony

Many thanks for the offer of help. If we have a few more details on the Lakeside race [laps completed and retirement reasons] then the 81 season is about ready to post.

Chris

[Chris Townsend]

Would it be correct that the Cossor Bowin P6 is P6F-119-72?
[ex Skelton/Fergusson/Butterworth]

Ray
Any progress with Skelton's mechanic?

Also, does anyone in Aus have race reports or programmes for the 1982 F.Pacific races?

Chris

[Bryan Miller]

Chris.

Can not answer yet your question, because my Bowin records list no F2 chassis no against Skelton's name.

The P6F-119-72 is a F.Ford ch.no., a car that I can't remember him running , and as I said earlier perhaps the order was changed from a F.F. to a F2 but it retained the same no. I will have to see if I can get in contact with current owner and verify ch.no. if plate still on car.

I have all Racing Car News and also Australian Competition Yearbook , so can probably assist with much of 1982.
I presume you mean the domestic 8 round series.??????

Bryan.

[Chris Townsend]

Bryan

Sorry, yes the domestic series, and maybe the Pacific Championship round at Calder in Feb 82.
Do you have Racing Car News for '81? Clear up Lakeside

Also can you clear up these chassis numbers?
Doug MAcarthur RT4 new 1982
Costanzo Tiga FA82 [82 season car or was this an upgraded 81?]
Graham Brown March 81A used in 1983 S.E.Asian races


Chris

[David McKinney]

I'm sure Bryan will put me right, but my (hazy) recollection is that Costanzo's FA82 was his older car updated, and that Neil Crang's was the only - or at least the first - pukka FA82
Note that Costanzo had a second FA81 which, AFAIK, he did not race

[Bryan Miller]

Chris.

I know I owe you other answers , but the easy one's are Doug Macarthur RT4-280.
Graham Brown car listed in the Wanneroo round as March 81/2P , which could be chassis no. or not.
Every time Brown appears in a car various people totally out of curiosity asked about the car , but he was always very tight lipped, and that is from a few sources.
Later on he bought in an Argo JM6 I think into W.A. and the car was supposedly written off by someone.

You will have to hold fire on Alf Costanzo's Tiga's , as we are trying to sort them out at the moment,somewhere along the line Jim Hardman became involved and poss.did a new tub.
Jim Hardman worked at Modus for a fair while , but can't remember any specifics, I tryed that years ago.

Neil Crang's was FA82-200.

And David McKinney has already alluded to the problems re. Costanzo's car , just aother mystery to unravel.

I haven't forgotten Lakeside.

Bryan.

[Dan Rear]

Neil Crangs FA82, was this an update of Ian Taylors FA81 that raced in the UK Atlantic series in 1981, or completely separate?

I always thought the Williamson Toleman was the only 'proper' Lola T860 built. The T850s were the F2 versions of the previous years Toleman TG280, the T860 was the FAt version IIRC. Did any go to the States perhaps ?

Aren't I full of annoying questions !

Dan

[Chris Townsend]

This is probably one mainly for David McKinney but..

RT4-283 which is used by Grant Campbell in 82-84 seasons. Where does this come from? Is it ex Millen or McMillan in the USA in '81?

Also RT4-267 used by McMillan and also for rent-a-drivers in 83/4. Is this the car McMillan uses in 82? Is it the original magnesium tub car used by Lees at Macau in end '81?

Chris

[David McKinney]

RT4-267 was new to McMillan in '82
I don't have a note (to hand) of the pre-Campbell history of 283

Dan:
I'm 99% certain the FA82 was new for Crang who was, at that time, associated with the Tiga factory

[Dan Rear]

David

On the Tiga front, I think you're right, the Crang car was new for '82, I think he then partly owned the Company, or had very strong links with Ganley anyway.

I remember seeing both cars, ie the 82 one and the ex-Taylor 81 car at Mallory for the very poor 1982 round there. Driller Sheldon had the latter, another chap with Tiga links from his S2000 cars. Neither did very well as I recall, that year in Britain there were 3 RT4s, Alo/Duffield/Flux, and very little else, most fields had 7-8 cars. Sad way for Atlantic to end here after the glories of 73-75...

[Dan Rear]

Chris

On here some time ago, you mentioned Williamsons Toleman as being an ex-Rothengatter F2 car (another one !!). I thought I'd read somewhere that this was the one and only 'proper' F At. Toleman that Lola built, the T860.

[Camaroz]

Originally Posted by Bryan Miller

Chris.

Can not answer yet your question, because my Bowin records list no F2 chassis no against Skelton's name.

The P6F-119-72 is a F.Ford ch.no., a car that I can't remember him running , and as I said earlier perhaps the order was changed from a F.F. to a F2 but it retained the same no. I will have to see if I can get in contact with current owner and verify ch.no. if plate still on car.

I have all Racing Car News and also Australian Competition Yearbook , so can probably assist with much of 1982.
I presume you mean the domestic 8 round series.??????

Bryan.

I am currently working on the Tony Edwards Bowin project and looking for extra history and then parts. The car has a Chassis Plate: P6F2 119 73. I have seen reference to Skelton running the car as an F2 Hart with the chassis no, P6 119 72 listed.

The Edwards car is the car last run by Duane Wilson in hillclimbs.

Q. Is the whereabouts of the Skelton P6 Bowin FF known?

Q. It is looking more and more like the FF was converted to F2 and re-plated.

CCC

[prn 31]

Originally Posted by Camaroz

I am currently working on the Tony Edwards Bowin project and looking for extra history and then parts. The car has a Chassis Plate: P6F2 119 73. I have seen reference to Skelton running the car as an F2 Hart with the chassis no, P6 119 72 listed.

The Edwards car is the car last run by Duane Wilson in hillclimbs.

Q. Is the whereabouts of the Skelton P6 Bowin FF known?

Q. It is looking more and more like the FF was converted to F2 and re-plated.

CCC

That is correct.

Skelton won the 72 FF DTE Championship in his P4A.

He then took deliver of his new P6F and took it to Sandown where he practised the new car but didn't race it. He then took this car to England (Oct 72) for the FF World Cup Final at Brands Hatch and then the FF Festival at Snetterton.

Whilst in the UK he bought a Hart engine and bought the Bowin and the engine back to Australia where John Joyce converted it to F2 spec and Skelton used it to finish 3rd in the ANF2 championship.

[nistfan]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

This is probably one mainly for David McKinney but..

RT4-283 which is used by Grant Campbell in 82-84 seasons. Where does this come from? Is it ex Millen or McMillan in the USA in '81?

Also RT4-267 used by McMillan and also for rent-a-drivers in 83/4. Is this the car McMillan uses in 82? Is it the original magnesium tub car used by Lees at Macau in end '81?

Chris

Just looking at Chassis History myself and found this thread.

Ralt RT4-283. Grant Campbell Car. As per MotorAction reports at the time Grant bought this Damaged in the US and was repaired in New Zealand and first raced at December 1982 Gold Star Meeting at Pukekohe. He then used it for 83 and 84 season. Riley Hopkins drove it the following year while Grant still owned it, It was then Sold to Paul Radisich and used in 87 and 88 NZ Summer series and in a couple of Gold Star races at the end of that year by Paul and his Dad. Not sure what happened to it after that, Paul drove Swifts and Reynards after that.

Dave McMillan Ralt RT4-267. This was the car crashed at Macau in 81 by Geoff Lees. Both 267 and 269 came to New Zealand (Mike Rosen drove 269) then this was sold to Radisich Family and Paul drove this Car in Both late season NZ Races and Australia in 82 then NZ Series in 83. It then went to Australia when it seemed to be tied up with Graeme Watson ( Paul drove for him in Australia in 83)

Back to 267. McMillian used it for 82 NZ Then in US 82/83(Odd race and each year it would have done NZ Series 83/84/85/86 (Last Year that Dave raced). Yes various others drove it in NZ (Ray Lipper/Justin Revene, and maybe others as well).

If you need other info on NZ Races ( Later International and Gold Star happy to provide this). Some of the Stuff on oldracing cars is not quite correct.

[LolaT860]

Originally Posted by Dan Rear

Neil Crangs FA82, was this an update of Ian Taylors FA81 that raced in the UK Atlantic series in 1981, or completely separate?

I always thought the Williamson Toleman was the only 'proper' Lola T860 built. The T850s were the F2 versions of the previous years Toleman TG280, the T860 was the FAt version IIRC. Did any go to the States perhaps ?

Aren't I full of annoying questions !

Dan

Yes 1 went to Carl Haas. Ser# HU1. I own the car now. Just purchased from family trust. My grandfather was last SCCA member to own it. I am restoring it back to original.