New Zealand 1977 Atlantic

[Chris Townsend]

Here are the results I have for Bay Park, round 1
Race times and speeds, Fastest lap, the other places and reasons for retirement would all be wonderful. Any advance on chassis numbers also. I've detailed my sources where possible. Where they are not mentioned they are usually the unreliable Vercoe's attributions.


Bay Park 3.1.77
1 Steve Millen Chevron B35 [35.76.06]-BDA Hart (ex Opert, was Keegan's Macau car A/S 6.1.77 p.5)
2 Bruce Allison Ralt RT1 [39]-BDA Hart [Ralt sales register]
3 Dave McMillan Ralt RT1 [34]-BDA Hart [Ralt sales register]
4 John Nicholson Modus M4 [022/54]-BDA Nicholson [Bryan's car]
5 Richard Melville March 76B [14]-BDA Swindon (Shierson) (Brambilla's Trois Rivieres car MN 10.2.77) [David McKinney]
6 Andrew Miedecke Lola T360 [AU1]-BDA [Bryan et al]
7 Dave Oxton Chevron B29 [29.75.30]-BDA (the ex Redman TAS car MN 10.2.77 p.7)
8
9 Graham Baker Birrana 274 [16]-BDA
10 Ross Stone #22 Cuda JR3-BDA Nicholson
11
12
13
14
15
R
R
R
R Mikko Kozarowitzky Chevron B34 [34.76.25]-BDA Hart (Opert)
R gearbox Tom Gloy Tui BH2-BDA Nicholson
R 4 electrics Keijo Rosberg Chevron B34 [34.76.12]-BDA Hart (Opert) ([34.76.19] as spare)
21 start (MN 6.1.77)


? Phil Sharp Modus M3 [047]-BDA Nicholson [|Modus sales records]
Albert Poon Chevron B34 [34.76.37]-BDA Swindon
Beng Saswanto Lola T460 [HU15 [Vercoe]]-BDA Swindon (ex Wentz MN 10.2.77 p.7)
Howard Wood March 75B- (ex Musetti MN 10.2.77)
Ken Smith March 76B [20]-BDA Nicholson (Shierson) [David McKinney]
Alan Crocker March 74B [1]-BDA Swindon (ex Wentz MN 10.2.77)
Dave Saunders March 75B (May have 722/1 underneath it...)
Rex Hart Surtees TS15 [04]-BDA (ex Lawrence MN gives 04 as the Lawrence car in previous season)
Ivan Tighe Elfin 642-BDA Hart
Enno Buesselman Elfin 622/72-420-BDA
Wolfgang Prejawa Birrana 274

[Bryan Miller]

Chris, Ivan Tighe Elfin 622is ch.no.73-428

I thoght Iwould try this out , it may clarify some cars .
March 732/9, Via Ken Smith to OZ. by 1974.

March 74B-1 , as per David McKinney. to Ken Smith 1988 , purchased and in OZ. circa 1990.

March 733/76B unknown. please see thread just posted on
Chevron B29 s.

March 77B-30 , Yes now still in OZ.

March 77B Brett Riley. ????????????????? Kevin,s??????

March 77B no. unknown Dave Saunders , again see related thread on Chevron B29s.

All above in order from Dave McKinney,s list.

[Chris Townsend]

Forgot the grid for Bay Park as far as I have it:

Rosberg 54.1
McMillan 54.3
Allison 54.4
Millen 54.5
Gloy 54.6
Kozarowitzky 54.6
Melville 54.6
Nicholson 54.6
Smith 54.8
Baker 54.8
Oxton 54.8

[Bryan Miller]

Chris, can you switch off , and Iwill fax 6 pages from Australian Racing Car News which will help a lot for N.Z. 1977.
Bryan.

[Chris Townsend]

Bryan

Unplugging right now!

Chris

[Chris Townsend]

Bryan

Holy Toledo!
This is most useful. Unfortunately can't read the results boxes for Bay Park and Pukekohe. If you have photocopier could you enlarge them?

Immediate question from reading first few pages: Was the Peter Hughes car the ex-Lawrence BT29-23 [originally run by Evan Noyes in FB and the Tasman]?

I think this would give us enough material to get Allen to post.

Chris

[Bryan Miller]

Chris , that will solve a few problems , not a bad report really , if somebody had done ch.no. we would be just babout there.
I have already looked up 1978 nearly as good , but already 1 question comes up , March Racing is the ent. for Danny SULLIVAN in 77 , in 78 he is there again but this time by himself and I don't know if it is the same car.
Bryan.

[Bryan Miller]

Chris, it's easier tonight for me to type in as I don't have enlarging facilities.

Yes same car BT 29-23 , this car has just been offered for sale on a U.K. site , on behalf on it's owner of many years in N.Z. OWNER IS DAVID SHARP . He has had it since at least 1988 as I was in the same race as David at Oran PK.
Bryan.

[Chris Townsend]

Bryan

Holy Toledo!
This is most useful. Unfortunately can't read the results boxes for Bay Park and Pukekohe. If you have photocopier could you enlarge them?

Immediate question from reading first few pages: Was the Peter Hughes car the ex-Lawrence BT29-23 [originally run by Evan Noyes in FB and the Tasman]?

I think this would give us enough material to get Allen to post.

Chris

[Armco Bender]

March Racing is the ent. for Danny SULLIVAN in 77

Danny Sullivan didnt come here in the '77 series he was here in '78,the car was entered as a 'works' car but I think that was because Giltrap was the March dealer for this area.
The other thing to remember with NZ dates is the opening round each year at Baypark was usually held in the last weekend of December,and the next round at Pukekohe was in the first week in January,so the first 2 races were in different years.

if somebody had done ch.no. we would be just about be there

Dave McKinney should be able to do all those for you,he did them all for Motoraction back then.

Didn't the Hughes Brabham run a different motor(from the BDAs),something like a Fiat?.The car had a full width nose something like a March with a front radiator.

Graeme Lawrence drove the Saswanto Lola at Pukekohe.

[Bryan Miller]

Armco, sorry my goof , Danny not in 77 , what threw me was one entry under March Cars , then next under Danny Sullivan.[U.S.A.] Coutts March.

Where did Grahame Lawrence get his 77B from and where did it go , he talks about it in the National Union Travel Series in N.Z. as Rothman's Team Malaysia 77B.
any clues??????????

[Armco Bender]

Coutts(Cars)=Giltraps

I could be absolutely wrong but I don't think Lawrence ever raced that March in NZ,he drove it in the Asian Series.I assumed it was owned by someone in Asia.

[Bryan Miller]

Armco, I just pulled the magazine out and it was the Union Travel Gold Star N.Z. series that had Andrew Miedecke in it . The race where Lawrence first says he started was at Pukekohe , looks like April/May 1978.
Final points for the series were Ross Stone 57, and down in 10th. was Lawrence.

Does that help.
Bryan.

[Bryan Miller]

BAYPARK. RESULTS.

1 Schollum Bros. Steve Millen Chevron B34 69.38.6
2 Bruce Allison [Ralt R.T. 1 ] 69.38.9
3 Team McMillan . Dave McMillan [ Ralt R.T.1 ] 69.48.0
4 Nicholson Racing. John Nicholson [Modus M4 ] 69.50.0
5 Doug Shierson, Richard Melville [March 76B ] 69.51.3
6 Andrew Miedecke [ Lola T360B ] 69.53.2
7 Oxton Motors David Oxton [Chevron B29 ] 70.29.7
8 Anderson Racing . Howard Wood [ March 76B ] 74 laps
9 Bramwell Scaff.Graham Baker [ Birrana ] 74 laps
10 Dricon. Ross Stone [ Cuda ]73 laps.

then followed Dave Saunders [73] Albert Poon [73] Ben Saswanto [72] Ivan Tighr [71] Ken Smith [71].
Did not finish.
Kozarowitzky 53-laps-fuel pickup ,Gloy 49laps - gearbox,
Busselman 43 laps-brakes ,Prejawa 42 laps - misfire Rosberg 4laps -fuel pickup Hart 3laps-oil cooler.
Did not start
Sharp, crashed in practice, Hughes-engine failure in practice, Crocker ,car arrived late.

75 LAPS--99.87 MILES/160.1 KMS.

[Bryan Miller]

Graeme Lawrence , in Aust. Racing Car News in period was a column written by Lawrence himself and at another point by Donn Anderson in Auckland. This column was titled Kiwi Kapers.
In June 1976 Lawrence writes he had just rec'd call from Rothmans Malaysia offering him a brand new March F.Atl.for 6 races in S.E. Asia . He went straight up with his brother to Kuala Lumpur to prepare car for 1st. race i.e. Malaysian G.P.on April 25 [hell of a delay in race reports ]. At this time it is a 76B . I wonder if it accidentally became a 77B the next year in N.Z.and this is the car he ran in N.Z. Initally it ran an F.V.A., but they also had a B.D.M. to use .
B.D.M. [fuel injected B.D.D.s ] were allowed in S.E. Asia.


RESULTS PUKEKOHE [58 LAPS 101.5MI/163.3 KMS.]

1 Fred Opert Racing, Keke Rosberg [Chevron B34 ] 64.45.4
2 Team Tui ,Tom Gloy [Tui B.H.2 ]65.10.1
3 Doug Shierson , Richard Melville [MARCH 76B] 65.39.3
4 Nicholson Racing , John Nicholson [Modus M4]65.41.0
5 Oxton Motors , David Oxton [Chevron B29]66.05.5
6 La Valise Travel , Ken Smith [March 76B ] 57 Laps
7 Team McMillan , Dave McMillan [Ralt R.T.1]57 Laps
8 Andrew Miedecke [Lola T360B ] 56 Laps
9 Beng Saswanto , Graeme Lawrence [Lola T460] 56 Laps
10 Albert Poon [Chevron] 55 Laps

Then followed Alan Crocker [55] , Ivan Tighe [52] ,Howard Wood [50] , Ross Stone [49] .

Did not finish : Allison [40 laps gearbox] , Sharp 29 laps [crashed] ,Hughes [25 laps- ignition ], Kozarowitzky [, 16 laps - ignition] , Millen [12 laps - head gasket], Baker [6 laps - gearbox]

Did not start : Busselman [ crashed in practice ] Saunders [DITTO ] , Hart [DITTO] , Prewaja [ ignition].

[Chris Townsend]

Bryan

Thanks for the clarification on results. Will start entering all this up tomorrow morning.

Also, I've always been curious about that 76B that Lawrence drove in S.E.Asia. With the FVA engines, was that more of a libre formula that they were running there? When did those races go to an Atlantic/Pacific format?

Chris

[Bryan Miller]

Chris, have you seen the book , Colour and Noise , 40 years of the Macau Grand Prix , by Philip Newsome.
I helped Philip in a very small way and he sent me an autographed copy which was very good of him.
It went Formal at one stage but I will have to re-read to find out when,but it was really for a long time Formula Pacific , so in say 1980we have entries for Chevron-Nissan and March- Nissan eng cars ,same in 1979, same in 1980,81,82,with March-Nissan 81A , Ralt-Nissan RT4.
I am looking at book and checking as I type , never seems to have been in pure F.Atl. form as you or I know it .
Me , I don't want to know about tracking ch.no. s on RT-4 ex Japan with Nissan eng.
Even as late as 1973 we still have Porsche 906 and Datsun 240Z in race together with Vern Schuppan Mach 722 , Sonny Rajah March 712, and John Macdonald B.T.40 on the front row.
The cars are interwoven into Aust. and N.Z. a lot,and we will bump into them in our ch.no. tracing.
E.G. one of the cars here is Chris Farreel's March 73B EX. s.e. asia, for Grant Schwartz .
One of Macdonalds B.T. 40 s is here , he had 2 , etc.etc.

[Bryan Miller]

Diff. thread , but Kevin rang yesterday.He is sorted on the 772 , Ilet him advise on other thread.

[allenbrown]

I have one small contribution to make on New Zealand F/Atl. Dick Willis owns one of the BT36-based Dolphin cars, the third built, and notes:

Car 3; My car, After trying to sell it for several years it was eventually acquired by Paul England, noted Australian hillclimber, engine builder etc. it was fitted with a BDA and a wide March type nose and driven by Peter Larner in the NZ Stuyvesant series in 1978, but without much success as it was well and truly outdated by then. After that it went to Queensland but was not raced again until Bryan Miller rescued it c. 1992. I have some recollection, that, during Paul England's ownership it was sometimes referred to as the Braham England.

I guess Bryan probably already knew this!

Allen

[Bryan Miller]

Allen, thanks yes is rather familiar , I tracked down the car after about the 10th. refusal to sell the BT 35-8 to me , but I never gave up and in 1999 finally got it.
Re. Dick Willis's reply , actually the car did not come up for sale,[ we bump into the car in 1976 in the A.G.P.driven by none other tan Andrew Miedecke],after this it was purchased and run for afew races by Ken Shirvington , who was convinced to sell by Paul England to put Peter Larner and a B.D.A. in for the 1978 N.Z. series, after return it sat forlornly in England's workshop untill about a year later when the son of a customer of England's saw it , took to Queensland to race , but in the ensuing years only managed to dismantle and put in the barn mezzanine from where the bought it down 2 days before I came to pick it up.
When I purchased it ,it still had on it the N.Z. scrutineering stickers and Peter Larners name on the side.
It will be interesting to see if David McKinney has a ch.no. recorded against the car , as I believe the plate off BT36 ch.no.BT30-27 was supposed to have been borrowed to go to N.Z.

[David McKinney]

No, nothing listed
I seem to remember Paul England being unforthcoming on the subject, and if there was a plate it must have been well hidden!

[Bryan Miller]

David , if some time in the future you can look and see what chassis numbers you recorded for the Nicholson/Frankievic , and the Sharp/ Emson Modus it would be appreciated.
Given Historic Racing Cars in N.Z.called out 47 for Sharp and 66 for Nicholson ,all of which I had read before purchasing mine , Icould never figure out how it came about , and finally decided that whoever recorded my no. must have read it correctly and perhaps it was a typo as instead of double 2 we have double 6.
Any way that's my best guess.

Bryan.

[Kevin Miller]

I now have evidence from three independant sources that my car ch.pl.772-05, tub 773:36 is in fact the ex-Brett Riley car. Here's how it was.
Brett Riley takes delivery of 77B in NZ on 12th Dec '77. Runs car possibly in the last races in '77, then '78 and '79. Tub damaged in prang at Teretonga in '79 and tub replaced with mine, 773:36. Car sold around 1980 to Tom Donovan. Reconfigured with ground effect sidepods and other 'attachments' and campaigned as Odlins car after his sponsor. Repainted jungle green colour (Odlins timber / hardware supplier sponsors colour). Not that successful as the car did a lot of porpoiseing,(later thought to be caused by too soft spring rates). Car ran with 1800cc cosworth. Car won the '84 and '85 NZ hillclimb championship. Car put back to Atlantic form with 1600cc back in, prior to selling to Stuart McChesney in '85, who also hillclimbed the car. Stuart sells car to Kenny Smith around '87? Rumoured to have run as the Desire Wilson car but I was told there was no truth in this rumour. Kenny Smith sells to John Mackinlay (Christchurch) around '93, without engine and "in desperate need of restoration". John does a significant rebuild and runs it in classic events from '94 to '96 with a BDG. Car then sold to Garry Cliff (Magnum Motors-Christchurch) in Nov. '96. who runs it a couple of times. Car then exported to OZ for Peter Finlay in August '98. Appears at a hill climb or two and then I buy it off him in May '99 basically the same as it was after restoration in '93 but with 'Pinto' motor, not BDG and once again in need of a 'little' TLC. Car currently sitting in my garage being restored to Atlantic BDD specification.
N.B. Two sources of information told me it came out the back door of the March factory. This is not to suggest that there was anything sinister, just that it was built up from various F2, F3 and FA bits lying around towards the end of the '77 season and possibly does not show up in the March records. I was given a tub no. when delivered to Brett Riley but I am still trying to confirm this and other nitty gritty details.
Cheers.

[Armco Bender]

So after all that it was the Riley car.It certainally wasn't a great car when run as the Odlin.Did Riley run it in F3 in the UK before bringing it out here for the '78 series?.

[Chris Townsend]

Armco

Brett Riley's March 773 which he ran with Starz sponsorship was advertised at the end of that season as chassis 773-10. I don't know what happened to that car, but it doesn't look as though the two are related.

Chris