Molson Quebec Formula B 1970
Several more Formula B cars arrived in Quebec for the 1970 Molson series. Jacques Couture and David McConnell had a pair of new Lotuses entered by the new Jim Russell Racing Driver School which had just opened at Mont Tremblant, with Counture as director and chief instructor. The Lotuses were described as "69Bs" but were 59s fitted with the latest 69 bodywork. Three Brabham BT29s had also been acquired, for defending champion Peter Roberts, Fred Opert agent Brian Robertson and Ken Huband. Eligio Siconolfi had acquired Bill Brack's Lotus 41C and there were also a McLaren M4A, a Chevron B15B, a Lotus 59, a Brabham BT16 and a Crosslé further down the grids.
Six races counted towards the 1970 Molson championship, five at Mont Tremblant and one at Trois-Rivières. Couture advertised his new driving school with four wins with one also doing to teammate McConnell and the other to Robertson. Robertson would also prove key to the development of formula racing in Canada as he became the main importer of racing cars through the 1970s.
As in 1969, Formula Fords made up a large proportion of the grids and Ian Coristine was again quickest of these in his Royal Bank team Merlyn MK17, followed by teammate Ian Motley. Jean-Pierre St Jacques' locally-built Magnum Formula Ford also scored points. To illustrate the changing shape of Quebec racing, 40% of the Molson grids were Formula Bs, a little over 50% were Formula Fords and less than 10% were Formula Vees.
The races
24 May 1970 > Mont-Tremblant
28 Jun 1970 > Mont-Tremblant
01 Jul 1970 > Rockcliffe Airfield
02 Aug 1970 > Mont-Tremblant
23 Aug 1970 > Mont-Tremblant
06 Sep 1970 > Trois-Rivières
20 Sep 1970 > Mont-Tremblant
04 Oct 1970 > Mont-Tremblant
Molson Championship (Quebec Region Formula Cars) events shown in bold
1970 Molson Championship (Quebec Region Formula Cars) table
| 1 | Jacques Couture | Lotus "69B" - Ford twin cam | 89 pts | |
| 2 | Peter W. Broeker | "Stebro" (Chevron B14) - Ford twin cam | 75 pts | |
| 3 | Brian Robertson | Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam | 69 pts | |
| 4 | David McConnell | Lotus "69B" - Ford twin cam | 66 pts | |
| 5 | Peter Roberts | Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam | 45 pts | |
| 6 | Eligio Siconolfi | Lotus 41C - Ford twin cam | 32 pts | |
| 7 | Ian Coristine | (Formula Ford) Merlyn Mk17 | 21 pts | |
| 8 | Ian P Motley | (Formula Ford) Merlyn Mk17 | 20 pts | |
| 9 | Tom Moore | EM Mk 1 | 17 pts | |
| 10 | Maurice Beauregard | (Formula Ford) Lotus 61M | 13 pts | |
| 11 | Wilson Southam | (Formula Ford) Merlyn Mk 11A | 9 pts | |
| 12= | Roy Folland | (Formula Ford) Titan Mk 6 | 8 pts | |
| 12= | Jean-Pierre St Jacques | (Formula Ford) Magnum Mk1 | 8 pts | |
| 12= | Tom Kreglewski | (Formula Ford) Lotus 61 | 8 pts | |
| 15 | Ken Huband | Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam | 4 pts |
Note that Peter Roberts scored a total of 49 points so it appears that he had to drop his lowest score, the four points he scored in the 6 September race. Some out-of-region drivers participated, notably Bruce Jensen who was fourth in the opening race and fifth on 2 August in his Brabham BT21C, and Al Justason who was fifth in the 24 May and 20 September races in his Brabham BT23F.
Please email Allen if you have any material on Canadian racing during this period.