Australian Grand Prix

Longford, 1 Mar 1965

All cars are 2.5-litre Tasman unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Cooper T70 [FL-1-64] (Phil Hill): New for Tim Mayer to drive as a Bruce McLaren Motor Racing entry in the 1964 Tasman Cup. Mayer finished second at Levin and Teretonga, and third at Pukekohe. For Warwick Farm, he swapped cars with team leader Bruce McLaren, and McLaren then took FL-1-64 to second place at Warwick Farm and at Longford, winning the Tasman Championship by six points from his great rival Jack Brabham, Retained for the 1965 Tasman Cup to be driven by Phil Hill but raced by McLaren at Pukekohe after he damged his new T79 in the Heat. Hill toook three podium finishes in this car. Sold to Bill Patterson and entered for John McDonald in Australian Gold Star events in 1965, in the 1966 Tasman series and in Gold Star again in 1966. Sold to Don O'Sullivan prior to the Internationals in February 1967, but he failed to qualify at Lakeside or at Warwick Farm. O'Sullivan then raced it in Western Australia, primarily at Caversham, in 1967. It was sold to Gordon Stephenson (Perth, WA) in February 1968 and he raced it eight times that season. In March 1969, he sold it to Ken Jones (Hamilton Hill, WA), and it passed from Jones to Ken Barnard (Sydney, NSW). Barnard sold it to Richard Berryman (Melbourne, Victoria) in 1974. Remained with Richard Berryman until 1985 when it passed to his son Adam Berryman (Melbourne, Victoria). An extensive restoration began in 2001 which was finally completed in early 2010. Raced by Adam in the NZ Motor Racing Festival in January 2010, at Winton in August 2010, and at Phillip Island and the Australian Grand Prix historic demonstration in 2011. Now numbered FL/2/64.
2. Brabham BT6 [FJ-9-63] (Roly Levis): Brabham Racing Organisation for Denny Hulme in Formula Junior in 1963. To Alec Mildren Racing, fitted with a 1500cc Ford twin cam engine and raced in Australian national racing by Frank Gardner in 1964. To Roly Levis in November 1964 for New Zealand racing in 1965 and 1966. Entered by Levis for Bill Stone in 1966/67 then sold to Stone who raced it again in 1967/68. Sold to Gerald 'Jiggs' Alexander in September 1968 and raced in the 1968/69 and 1969/70 seasons, after which Alexander stripped the car with the intention of restoring it. However, it remained in this state until 1999 when it was sold to Ian McDonald (Australia) who restored the car and ran it in Australian historic racing from 2001 onwards. Sold to Ed Holly (Sydney, NSW) in July 2006 and raced in the Tasman Revival series from 2006/07 to 2012/13. Sold to Mark Shaw (Edinburgh, Scotland) early 2017, and raced by him at Monterey and Watkins Glen later that year.
3. Cooper Mk IV 'T51' [F2-9-60] (Jack Hobden): Delivered to J Youl (Australia) according to the Cooper Register.
4. Brabham BT4 [IC-1-62] (Kerry Grant): New for Jack Brabham to drive at the November 1962 Australian GP. Used by Brabham in the New Zealand Internationals in January 1963, winning at Levin, then sold to Dave McKay's Scuderia Veloce for the Australian International races the following month. Raced by Graham Hill for McKay in the 1964 Tasman series, winning the Longford race in March. To Len Southward's Lesco Racing Team for Kerry Grant to drive during the 1964/65 season, and for Neil Whittaker in 1965/66. Sold to John McCormack (Davenport, Tasmania) and raced on through the next three seasons. From McCormack to John Blanden (Adelaide, South Australia) in 1978 and extensively rebuilt. To Ken Messenger (Adelaide) March 1982, then to Art Valdez (Torrance, CA) in 1986, and remained in his collection for many years, until sold to a UK consortium in 2017.
5. Brabham BT2 [FJ-3-62] (Geoff McClelland): Built at MRD by Frank Gardner and raced by Gavin Youl as a factory entry in European FJ in 1962. Taken to Australia at the end of the European season, and raced by Youl in the Australian Formula Junior Championship race at Catalina Park in late October. Sold to Geoff McClelland (NSW, Australia) 1963 and raced in Australia as a FJ and later with a 1.5-litre engine in ANF1.5. To Phil West (NSW, Australia) 1966 December and raced in ANF2 - Mike Barker (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia) March 1968 - Peter Roach (Victoria, Australia) 1970 - Doug Hicks (Victoria, Australia) 1972 and fitted with 1300cc Toyota Corolla engine for ANF3; also driven by Peter Jones. Later to Alan Smith (Tasmania, Australia) 1974 and driven by Geoff Bantick in 1978 and 1979. In November 1993, Denis Lupton purchased the car for Jim Russell (Victoria, Australia) and started a full restoration to its original FJ spec. To Nick MacDonald (Australia) 1995 who completed the restoration and raced the car in historic events between 2001 and 2003. To Graham Brown (Queensland, Australia) in 2003 and raced consistently in Australian until 2013 when he sold it to Grant Craft, who raced it in 2013, 2014 and 2016, and at the Phillip Island Classic in March 2017.
6. Brabham BT2 [FJ-8-62] (Barry Collerson): Either a replacement for Frank Gardner's FJ-2-62 at some unknown point during the 1962 season or a new identity given to the car when it was shipped to Australia at the end of the European season. Sold to Alec Mildren, who entered it for Gardner to race in Australian national racing in early 1963. Then to Len Deaton later in 1963. To Barry Collerson for 1964 and 1965, then Kevin Pinkstone 1966. Then to further Australian owners John Mellen 1969, Peter Taylor and Brian Morrow 1972, John Hilliar 1973, Spencer Bates 1977, Tony Galletly 1980, Bryan Miller 1982, Tony Moodie 1991 and Ken Hastings 1992. While with Hastings it was damaged and rebuilt with a new frame. Then sold to John Streets in the US 2001 then to Dave Zurlinden (Monterey, CA) in 2003 and raced to the end of 2008. To John Dowson (Tunbridge Wells, Kent) September 2009. Sold to Chris Chilcott (Aberdeen, Scotland) in February 2015, together with the damaged original frame.
7. Brabham BT4 [IC-2-62] (Lex Davison): New for Jack Brabham to drive in the Australian Internationals in February 1963. Then left with Repco over the Australian winter and used by Denny Hulme in the 1964 Tasman series. Sold to veteran Australian Lex Davison for the 1964 Australian Gold Star but heavily damaged in the accident that took Davison's life at Sandown Park early 1965. Sold with all Davison's equipment to Wally Mitchell and some parts used in the RM1 sports car in which Mitchell was later killed. The frame of the Brabham was not used in the RM1 and this was sold to Fred Wheelhouse and rebuilt as a complete car. Owned by David Sternberg in Tasmania in 1968 and probably the "rebuilt Brabham Climax" that Dave Powell Jnr raced in Tasmania in 1969. Then unknown until reported to be owned by Austin Miller (Launceston, Tasmania) in 1983. Still with Miller in 1995 but by 2000 it had moved to the UK and was owned by John Coombs, who sold it to Frank Sytner. Raced by Sytner from 2001 to 2008 and then sold to David Jacobs (Boulder, CO) and raced in the US until sold to Terry Rush in New Zealand in February 2011.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.