New Zealand Grand Prix

Pukekohe, 10 Jan 1970

All cars are 5-litre F5000 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren M10A [300-10] (Frank Matich): New to Frank Matich (Cremorne, Australia) late 1969. Raced in the 1970 Tasman series, taking four pole positions and winning at Pukekohe and Wigram. Damaged in an accident during a preliminary race at the Singapore GP in March 1970 and replaced with a new M10B. The M10A was repaired, fitted with a Repco Holden engine and sold to Don O'Sullivan, who was entered by Team Matich in the 1971 Tasman series. O'Sullivan crashed at Teretonga and the car was destroyed. Parts were later used in O'Sullivan's Gardos F5000 car.
2. McLaren M10A [300-05] (Ron Grable): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-05.
3. Mildren 'Mono' (Kevin Bartlett): Designed by Len Bailey and built by Alan Mann Racing for Alec Mildren Racing in Australia in late 1968, when it was raced by Frank Gardner using one of 2.5-litre Alfa T33 V8 engines from the team's Brabham BT23D. Raced by Gardner in the 1969 Tasman series, then by Kevin Bartlett in the 1969 Gold Star series. Later in 1969 it was fitted a Waggott TC4V engine, and Bartlett used it in this form in the 1970 Tasman and the 1970 Gold Star. It was sold to Bob Muir at the end of 1970 and raced by him through 1971 and early 1972, both with his 2-litre Waggott engine and with a Ford twin cam engine for Southeast Asian events. Then to Ray Winter and used in ANF2 in 1973 and 1974. Winter used the car again on occasion in 1975 and 1976. Later on, when the new single-cam Australian F2 was introduced, the old Mildren was raced in that category by Greg Ferrall. Then unknown until acquired by Lionel Ayres and restored. The car was retained by Bruce Ayres after his father Lionel's death in 2013.
4. Lola T190 [190/F1/2] (Ulf Norinder): New for Ulf Norinder and raced in the 1970 Tasman series. Then raced in the UK 1970 but crashed in practice for R4 Zandvoort 19 April 1970 and rebuilt on the 11th T190 tub as 190/F1/2-2. Raced again by Norinder for five more races then raced by Tony Lanfranchi at two races but crashed on the warm-up lap at the Oulton Park Gold Cup on 22 August. The car broke its back on landing and was not seen again. Presumed destroyed.
5. McLaren M10B [400-02] (Niel Allen): New to Niel Allen (Australia) late 1969, and raced in 1970 and 1971 Tasman series. To Kevin Bartlett for 1971 Australian Gold Star and 1972 Tasman 1972, then to US for at least one race in 1972. Then unknown until bought by Gil Cameron, and raced in Australia from 1975 to 1977. Donated parts to Tony Edmondson's Alfetta Chev sports sedan, and the remainder of the car stored at Elfin during the 1980s. Subsequent history unknown, but later owned by Llynden Riethmuller (Sydney, NSW) in 2007. After Riethmuller's death, sold to Alan Hamilton in 2011, and restored for historic racing. More information about McLaren M10B 400-2
6. Lola T142 [SL142/42] (Derrick Williams): See full history: Lola T142 SL142/42.
7. Begg FM2 [2] (Pierre Phillips): Built for 1969/70 season. Begg Engineering: raced by Pierre Phillips in the NZ Tasman rounds, then Graham McRae (who won a Gold Star race at Timaru) then Leo Leonard for last 1969/70 Gold Star race. Works for 1970/71 season. Then sold to Peter Hughes (Auckland, NZ) for 1971/72 season. According to Graham Vercoe's book 'Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand', Hughes' car "fell off a hoist, breaking the chassis". Vercoe adds that it was owned by Peter Kidd "for a time", and at the time of writing, 1991, it had been with Colin Thompson (Wanganui, NZ) "for many years". Subsequent history unknown.
8. McLaren M4A ["14"] (Frank Radisich): Graeme Lawrence acquired a F2 specification McLaren M4A after he left the Chequered Flag F2 team which was identified in its logbook application and NZ registration papers as chassis number 'M4A-14', implying it was chassis 200-14. Raced by Lawrence from Pukekohe in November 1968, appearing in the 1969 Tasman series and winning the Singapore and Selangor GPs in April. The car passed to Frank Radisich later in 1969 and was raced by him in the 1970 Tasman series. Then owned by Wayne Murdoch in 1971-72 but not raced. To Neil Heney in August 1972 and raced by Doug Heney in club events in 1973, then to Jon Warring for hillclimbs in 1974 and then to Ross Calgher (Waitara, New Zealand) for national racing from 1975 to 1977. Sold by Calgher to George Begg in March 1977 and he sold it to Andrew Cunningham in 1983. Retained to 1990 and then may have passed to Australian ownership until acquired by Peter Herbert (Auckland, NZ) in 1999.
9. Brabham BT6 [FJ-12-63] (Brian Pellow): Denis O'Sullivan in Formula Junior in 1963. Retained for Formula 3 in 1964, now entered by Baldyne Engineering. Appears to have moved to Motor Racing Stables after O'Sullivan acquired at F2 Brabham BT10 around August 1964 and was raced by John Tomlinson at Brands Hatch 13 Sep 1964. Sold to Ken Sager and fitted with a 1500cc Ford engine for New Zealand racing in 1965 and 1966. During its time in New Zealand, it was often referred to as a 1964 car, implying a BT9. Sold to Grahame Harvey mid-1966 and retained for 1967. Then to Tim Bailey and fitted with a 1500cc Fiat engine for 1968. To Brian Pellow for 1969, still with the Fiat. Retained by Pellow for 1970, but now with a 1600cc Ford. By October 1970, Peter Mahoney was driving "the old Pellow" Brabham in Formula Ford. This car was sold to Frank Gilbert (Auckland) and raced as a Formula Ford for two seasons. Graham Vercoe's book 'Historic Racing cars of New Zealand' claims that the car was a BT9, and that a replica frame was built by Pellow and that it was the replica frame that became the Formula Ford. Writing in 1991, he said that the original 'BT9' frame was owned by John Wigston.
10. McLaren M10A [300-06] (Graham McRae): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-06.
11. Eisert JE67 (Dennis Marwood): New for Skip Hudson to drive at the 1965 Indy 500 as J Frank Harrison's #96 Harrison Special. The new car got on track on 13 May, at which point the older 1964 car was renumbered from 96 to 93. Hudson was a successful sports car racer, but was unable to pass his rookie test when an engine blew, so Al Unser took over the drive but he made no attempt to qualify the car. Unser then drove the car through the 1965 USAC season, but only once finished inside the top 10. The 1965 car was retained for the opening races of the 1966 season, driven by Unser at Phoenix and by Billy Foster at Trenton. It then became the team's #93 entry, and was only seen again at Fuji, where Jerry Grant finished tenth. Greg Weld failed to qualify the car for the 1967 Indy 500, after which it was sold to Don Wilcox, who raced it at Pikes Peak and made an unsuccessfiul attempt to qualify at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. The old car was ideal for the SCCA's new Formula A, so was sold to Stew McMillen (Libertyville, IL) who raced it in SCCA Nationals, winning twice, and in Pro races. At the end of 1968 he took it out to New Zealand, racing it at Baypark Raceway in December, before it was leased to Dennis Marwood for the 1969/70 season. It returned to the US later in 1970 and was acquired by Bill Tempero (Fort Collins, CO), who fitted it with wedge-style bodywork and raced it in Pro races and SCCA Nationals in 1971, then in Midwest Division Formula A in 1972. It was later converted for street use by brothers Wayne and Steve Huntley in Nebraska and was also used as a show car by Fred Bosselman in the late 1970s or early 1980s, probably at his Bosselman Truck Plaza in Grand Island, Nebraska. In the early 1990s it was acquired by Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) who has restored it to 1965 colours but still with the later, squarer bodywork.
12. Brabham BT10 [IC-6-64] (Wayne Murdoch): Having driven a late-season Brabham BT6 for Scuderia Veloce in 1964, Greg Cusack bought a new Brabham BT10 which carried the non-standard plate 'IC-6-64' and fitted it with a 1500cc Ford twin cam engine for ANF1½ in 1965. The car probably came via Brabham's Australian agent Alec Mildren Pty Ltd. Cusack retained this for the first few months of 1966 and then sold it to Don Macdonald for racing in New Zealand in 1967 and 1968. It then went to Wayne Murdoch for the 1968/69 season and he returned with the car for the 1970 Internationals but it was then described as a BT18. The car was then acquired by Frank Radisich, converted to Formula Ford spec and sold to Peter Mahoney who raced it from 1971 to 1973. It may then have been the "BT18" raced by Ron Duirs in the 1973/74 and 1974/75 seasons. Then unknown until acquired by Richard Armstrong (New Zealand) as a rolling chassis in 1977, who planned to turn it into a hillclimb car with a Lotus-Ford twin-cam engine, but other commitments put paid to those plans. The car has remained in storage with Richard ever since, and, in 2017, his intention was to restore it to NZ National Formula specification.
13. Brabham BT16 [F2-9-65] (Graham Watson): Silvio Moser's F2 car in 1965, entered by Martinelli-Sonvico Racing. Used briefly as a second car early 1966 then apparently to Ken Sager, fitted with a 1500cc Ford twin cam and raced in the 1966/67 season in New Zealand. It was sold to Dave Oxton (Glenfield, Auckland) for 1967/68, and retained for 1968/69, still in the 1500cc class. Enlarged to 1600cc for 1969/70 and sold to Graham Watson. Graham Vercoe's books say that it was owned by Brian Faloon after Watson. According to New Zealand historian David McKinney, it was converted to Formula Ford specification and raced by Ross Atkins from 1971 to 1974, then by Terry Moon, then Davey Waugh in the 1976/77 season, and Warren Elleray in 1978. To David Manton in 1980, and retained by him for some years until restored to 1600cc National Formula spec and run in historic events by Gray Mathias in the early 1990s. Offered for sale in Seattle in 1992, and believed to have been owned by Grant Clearwater more recently. Subsequent history unknown.
14. Begg FM2 [1] (Geoff Mardon): Built for 1969/70 season. Begg Engineering: raced by Graham McRae in 1969/70 Gold Star series (debut Pukekohe Oct 1969) and later Geoff Mardon in New Zealand Tasman rounds. Then sold to Neil Doyle (Ashburton, NZ) and used in New Zealand Gold Star races in 1970/71, 1971/72 and 1972/73. Sold to Peter Rhodes, then bought by George Begg for spares. Chassis sold to John Gobbe (Christchurch, NZ), and history then unknown until acquired by Stuart Lush (Auckland, NZ) in 1993. Fully restored and first seen at a Lady Wigram Trophy memorial meeting in November 1998. Presumably the car raced by Stuart McDonald in the first Tasman Revival race in late 2003. Raced by Judy Lyons in the Tasman Revival series in January 2006. Raced by Kerry McIntosh (Auckland, NZ) at Phillip Island in March 2008, and in the Tasman Revival series in 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, but crashed at Hampton Downs in Jan 2012. Next seen when raced by McIntosh at Taupo Jan 2017, and Pukekohe Nov 2017.

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.

Sources include Autosport, Motoring News, the F1 Register books and Graham Vercoe's books "Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand" and "The Golden Era of New Zealand Motor Racing".

The start point for the 1970 Tasman results was Bruce Sergent's site which contains full reports on all these races. The 1970 results were then augmented by practice times and other information on R1 Levin and R2 Pukekohe (both in Autosport 15 Jan 1970); R3 Wigram (Autosport 29 Jan 1970); R4 Teretonga (Auto News Vol 3 No 14 9 Feb 1970 and Autosport 29 Jan 1970); R5 Surfers Paradise (Auto News Vol 3 No 15 23 Feb 1970 and Autosport 19 Feb 1970); R6 Warwick Farm (Auto News Vol 3 No 16 9 Mar 1970 and Autosport 26 Feb 1970); and R7 Sandown Park (Auto News Vol 3 No 16 9 Mar 1970 and Autosport 26 Feb 1970). Additional qualifying times have been provided by Milan Fistonic.

Individual sources for this event

There were no preliminaries for this race.