Chevron B40 car-by-car histories
Gerard Godenèche in his Chevron B40 at Châtel-Guyon in August 1979. Copyright Fabrice Batifol 2024. Used with permission.
Chevron's steady improvement in Formula 2 continued with the Chevron B40 in 1977, which gave the marque its first wins in F2 since 1972. Riccardo Patrese, Keke Rosberg and Lamberto Leoni were the star names.
After the success of the Chevron B35 in Formula 2 and the Chevron B34 in Formula Atlantic and Formula 3 in 1976, Derek Bennett designed an evolutionary series of cars for 1977: the B38 for F3, B39 for Atlantic and B40 for F2. The new cars' bodywork was similar to the B34/B35 series but with a revised nose, a small perspex screen at the top of the cockpit bodywork and an air intake on the engine cover. Suspension was again entirely orthodox, with double wishbones at the front, and transverse links, bottom wishbones and twin radius rods at the back.
Chevron's new star in 1976 had been Riccardo Patrese, who won the European F3 title in Trivellato Racing Team's B34, and he stayed with Chevron to race a new B40 in Formula 2 in 1977. In January 1977, Keke Rosberg dominated the New Zealand Formula Pacific series in one of Fred Opert's B34s, and he also signed to drive a B40 in F2 for Fred Opert Racing. Other early sales were a works-supported car to be run by Ardmore Racing for Ray Mallock to drive, and two to Fred Stalder's Societé Racing Organisation Course in France. Opert bought two more B40s for guest drivers, and a couple were sold to Japan. Trivellato also bought a development car to be fitted with Ferrari's V6 engine and after a difficult start this car scored a surprise win at Misano driven by Lamberto Leoni.
Both Patrese and Rosberg proved to be highly competitive in the F2 series. Patrese scored three successive second places at Mugello, Rouen and Nogaro in June and July, and Rosberg then won at Enna, the marque's first F2 win since 1972.
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
Brian Henton in the Ardmore Racing ICI/Newsweek Chevron B40 at Donington Park in October 1977. Copyright Paul Fairbanks 2022. Used with permission.
New to Creighton Brown's Ardmore Racing and run as a works-supported car for Ray Mallock using Hart 420R engines. Guy Edwards then acquired ICI/Newsweek sponsorship to share the drive. It was also driven by Patrick Tambay at Pau and Rouen, Clay Regazzoni at Misano, Derek Daly at Estoril, and Brian Henton at Donington. Used by motorcycle racing star Giacomo Agostini in early 1978 as he prepared to move to car racing. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Ray Mallock, Guy Edwards, Patrick Tambay, Clay Regazzoni, Derek Daly and Brian Henton. First race: Silverstone (R1), 6 Mar 1977. Total of 11 recorded races.
New to Trivellato Racing Team for Riccardo Patrese to drive in F2 in 1977 with works Rosche BMW engines. Patrese started the season in a B35. After the Estoril F2 race in early October, the B40 was taken to Japan for the JAF Suzuka Grand Prix in early November, which Patrese won. Subsequent history unknown, but this is likely to be the "works" Chevron B40 raced in Japan in 1978 by Lamberto Leoni, Piercarlo Ghinzani, and Patrick Gaillard.
Driven by: Riccardo Patrese. First race: Vallelunga (R5), 15 May 1977. Total of 9 recorded races.
Shown in Chevron records as sold to ROC in France, the first of two Chevron B40s sold to Fred Stalder's Ste Racing Organisation Course in 1977.
See 'the Michael Pignard car', as this was the first of ROC's two cars to appear.
Elio de Angelis in the Chevron B40-Ferrari at Donington Park in October 1977. Copyright Paul Fairbanks 2022. Used with permission.
Used as a works test car, then to Trivellato Racing Team, fitted with a Ferrari Dino engine for Lamberto Leoni, who won at Misano. Loaned to Scuderia Everest for Elio de Angelis at Donington Park at the end of the season. Retained by Everest as a spare car for 1978 and tested by Beppe Gabbiani with Renato Armaroli's V6 engine in February. It was then the spare car for de Angelis at the opening race, back with its Ferrari engine. Then converted to BMW power, and used by various drivers that season. The Ferrari engine was refitted for Clay Regazzoni to drive in South America at the end of 1978. Apparently sold by Everest to Rosario Parasiliti at the end of 1978 and retained thereafter in his MOGAM museum in Catania, Sicily.
Driven by: Lamberto Leoni, Elio de Angelis, Gianfranco Brancatelli, Giancarlo Martini, Miguel Ángel Guerra, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Marco Micangeli and Clay Regazzoni. First race: Enna-Pergusa (R10), 24 Jul 1977. Total of 9 recorded races.
Hans Royer with his Jim Beam Chevron B40 at Donington Park in October 1977. Copyright Paul Fairbanks 2022. Used with permission.
New to Fred Opert Racing and raced by Wink Bancroft (Newport Beach, CA/Costa Mesa, CA) with Hart 420R engines in Formula 2. Bancroft had trouble adapting to European racing, and failed to qualify for six of his 12 races. He also raced the car in two Shellsport G8 races in August and September. The car was raced by Austrian Hans Royer in the final F2 round at Donington Park, with sponsorship from Jim Bean. Then to Werner Ruckelshausen who drove it in Austrian national events in 1978. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Hugh "Wink" Bancroft, Hans Royer and Werner Ruckelshausen. First race: Silverstone (R1), 6 Mar 1977. Total of 11 recorded races.
Keke Rosberg in his Opert Chevron B40 at Donington Park in October 1977. Copyright Paul Fairbanks 2022. Used with permission.
New to Fred Opert Racing and raced by Keke Rosberg with Hart 420R engines in Formula 2 in 1977. Dick Bennetts was Opert's mechanic on this car, which like Opert's other two B40s was run out of the Chevron factory. When Rosberg could not appear at Rouen due to a clash with the Gimli Formula Atlantic race, Opert ran the car for Alex Ribeiro, the ex-works March F2 driver who was then having a dreadful time in F1. In Rosberg's other absence, the car was raced by Arturo Merzario at Misano. To Yves Martin for French hillclimbs in 1978, then to Gerard Godenèche for 1979 and 1980, retaining its Hart engine throughout. History then unknown until acquired from someome called Rodrigues in the Marseille area by Simon Hadfield and Marcus Pye in April 2001. Restored by Hadfield, and raced in European F2 and HSCC Derek Bell Trophy races by Hadfield and Pye in 2003 and 2004. Sold to Ian Rimmer (Bedford) in October 2006. From Rimmer to Terry Fisher late 2008, and raced by him in HSCC Historic Formula 2 in 2009, and at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 2011, where he crashed. Rebuilt and raced by Fisher at Silverstone in July 2019. Still with Fisher in January 2022.
Driven by: Keke Rosberg, Alex Dias Ribeiro, Arturo Merzario, Yves Martin and Gerard Godenèche. First race: Thruxton (R2), 11 Apr 1977. Total of 40 recorded races.
Shown in Chevron records as sold to Le Mans Co for Tetsu Ikuzawa. Raced by Ikuzawa in Japanese Formula 2 in 1977, using BMW engines. Used again by Ikuzawa for one race at the beginning of 1978. This is almost certainly the car converted to Formula Pacific specification and raced by Satoru Nakajima in the Japanese Formula Pacific series in 1980 and early 1981 using Toyota engines. Subsequent history unknown, but in 2014 a Chevron B40 was acquired from "a guy who used to work at Kojima" by Warwick Mortimer in New Zealand. This car had the chassis plate "40-77-07" but was said to be "ex-Hasemi" and had been Nissan-powered and then BMW-powered. Sold by Mortimer Motorsport to Spencer Wilkinson (UK) in 2015. Still with Wilkinson in September 2017.
Driven by: Tetsu Ikuzawa and Satoru Nakajima. First race: Suzuka (R4), 22 May 1977. Total of 15 recorded races.
Martin O'Connell in his Chevron B40 at Thruxton in March 2013. Copyright Keith Lewcock 2013. Used with permission.
New to Fred Opert Racing and used for guest drivers in Formula 2 in 1977, using Hart 420R engines. Its primary driver was to be Jacques Laffite, who drove it at Hockenheim, Pau and Nogaro. Alan Jones drove it the 'Ring, and then American Gregg Young hired the car for Mugello and a few other races. When Young was committed to a Formula Atlantic race, Maurizio Flammini took it over for the Rouen race with Gulf sponsorship. It was also driven by Alex Ribeiro at Misano, Eje Elgh at Estoril with Marlboro backing and Tiff Needell at Donington Park with Unipart support. Retained for 1978, and raced by Alan Prost at Pau in May. Sold to Paul Gibson later in 1978, and used in libre at Croft. Retained by Gibson for 1979, then to Ron Harper (Middlesbrough) for libre and Aurora in 1980, and for libre in 1981. Sold to Peter Himsworth (Ware, Hertfordshire) late 1981 but reportedly little used. Sold to Richard Ames (Cirencester, Gloucestershire) for sprints in 1984 and 1985, and again for 1986, when he used a 2.5-litre Hart engine. To David Keer (Woking, Surrey) for 1987 and used in speed events, mainly in South West England. Then to Chris Hill (Hertfordshire) for sprints in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Sold to Ray Rowan (Walsall, West Midlands) who used it at two events in 1992, in the new 2-litre class, and raced once by his nephew Martin O'Connell at Thruxton's 25th anniversary meeting in 1993. To John Crowson (Horsforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire) in 1998 and used in Historic F2 in 2003. Repainted to Opert's blue livery in 2007 and raced by Richard Evans at Oulton Park in August 2007, then by Crowson from 2008 to 2011. To Sandy Watson and raced by Martin O’Connell using a BDG engine from 2012 onwards. Raced by O'Connell at Donington Park in April 2021.
Driven by: Jacques Laffite, Alan Jones, Gregg Young, Maurizio Flammini, Alex Dias Ribeiro, Eje Elgh, Tiff Needell, Alain Prost, Paul Gibson, Ron Harper, Richard Ames, Chris Hill and Ray Rowan. First race: Hockenheim (R3), 17 Apr 1977. Total of 71 recorded races.
Shown in Chevron records as sold to Le Mans Co in Japan with a Nissan engine. This must be the car run by Kojima Engineering for Masahiro Hasemi in Formula Pacific specification with Nissan LZ14 engines in late 1977. Retained by Hasemi for the Formula Pacific series in 1978 and 1979. Used again for a couple of races at the beginning of 1980, when Hasemi was struggling to develop his new March 802, and then raced by Kazuyoshi Hoshino in one race at the end of the season. Subsequent history unknown. Note that the car acquired by Warwick Mortimer from Japan was said to be ex-Hasemi and had a Hoshino sticker on the nose, indicating it was this car, but carried the chassis plate 40-77-07.
Driven by: Masahiro Hasemi and Kazuyoshi Hoshino. First race: Fuji (R6), 7 Aug 1977. Total of 19 recorded races.
Shown in Chevron records as sold to ROC in France, the second of two Chevron B40s sold to Fred Stalder's Ste Racing Organisation Course in 1977. However, other sources say 40-77-10 went to Japan and that ROC's second car was 40-77-12.
See 'the Jean-Pierre Jaussaud car', as this was the second of ROC's two cars to appear.
There is some uncertainty over which customer's car was chassis number B40-77-12. Tim Colman's records at Chevron Heritage show that it was the car sold to KWS for Klaus Ludwig to drive (see the KWS car). However, other sources record Ludwig's car as B40-77-14 and say that 40-77-12 went to ROC.
To add to the uncertainty, Pierre Haverland (Liege, Belgium) recalls buying a Chevron B40 in France in late 1997 which had the chassis plate 40-77-12. This car had been part of the Stadler/ROC team, had since been used with a BDA engine and was fitted with a B42 cockpit surround. He fitted an alloy BDG engine and used it from 1998 to 2000, before selling it in 2001 to Karl Sauerbier (Holland).
This chassis number has been associated with the car sold to KWS for Klaus Ludwig to drive (see the Klaus Ludwig car, but Tim Colman's records at Chevron Heritage show that car as B40-77-12.
Franz Guggemos mentioned in 2008 that Helmut Kalenborn had acquired B40-78-14 in 1979 and sold it to Willy Markwalder in the 1990s. This clashes with the Ludwig car being bought by Iain McLaren in 1978 and remaining in Scotland well into the 1980s.
Mystery Chevron B40s in 1977
New to Fred Stalder's Ste Racing Organisation Course and fitted with a ROC Chrysler-Simca engine for Michel Pignard to race in French course de côte (hillclimbs) in 1977. First run by Albert Dufrène at Ampus in March, the opening round of the European hillclimb championship, as Pignard was driving his Group 6 Chevron B36 at that event. Pignard won six of his first seven events in the B40, beaten only by the Ralt RT1/77 of Christian Debias, but when Pignard took the Chevron to the European F2 events at Pau, Rouen and Nogaro, he could not even qualify. The engine was broken at Nogaro, so Pignard borrowed a Chevron B29 for a mid-week hillclimb at Tancarville, then took over Jean-Pierre Jaussaud's circuit-racing B40 at Chamrousse a few days later. Pignard evidently stayed with the ex-Jaussaud car, as Gérard Pillon borrowed Pignard's early-season car at Limonest-Mt Verdun in September, and Laurent Ferrier drove it in the F2 race at Estoril in October.
Pignard is believed to have driven the ex-Jaussaud car in 1978, retaining this car as a spare. After 1978, the subsequent history of this car remains unresolved, but it is likely to have been the Daniel Boccard car.
Driven by: Albert Dufrène, Michel Pignard, Gérard Pillon and Laurent Ferrier. First race: Hébecrevon, 3 Apr 1977. Total of 15 recorded races.
As well as the car raced by Michel Pignard at Pau, Fred Stalder's Ste Racing Organisation Course had a second car available at Rouen in June for Jean-Pierre Jaussaud. Also driven by Jaussaud at Nogaro, where he failed to qualify. Jaussaud did not appear again, but his B40 was used by Pignard at Chamrousse in July, and at Limonest-Mt Verdun in September. This is likely to be the car Pignard failed to qualify for the Estoril F2 race in October. Pignard stayed with ROC in 1978 and started the season with a car that was said to be the same B40 but with B42 modifications. For now, it is assumed he used the ex-Jaussaud car through that season. This could then be the "B42" acquired from ROC in 1979 by Jean Lapierre in 1979. After its live in French hillclimbs, this car was bought from Jo La Spisa by Pierre Haverland (Liege, Belgium) in late 1997, when it was red-and-silver with B42 cockpit bodywork. Haverland rebuilt the car, fitted an alloy-block BDG and raced it in historic F2 from 1998 to 2000, winning one race at Spa. He sold it in 2001 to Karl Sauerbier (Holland).
Driven by: Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Michel Pignard. First race: Rouen-les-Essarts (R8), 26 Jun 1977. Total of 25 recorded races.
Klaus Ludwig's KWS Chevron B40 at Donington Park in October 1977. Copyright Paul Fairbanks 2022. Used with permission.
John McCartney in his Chevron B39 at Harewood in September 1987. Copyright Steve Wilkinson 2022. Used with permission.
New to KWS Autotechnik for Klaus Ludwig in the BRSCC F2 Trophy at Donington Park in October 1977, where both Autosport and Sport Auto are clear that the car was using a Hart 420R engine, not a BDA-based engine. Believed to be the car raced by Willi Deutsch at the Nürburgring in April 1978, but this remains unclear. Bought from Ludwig by Iain McLaren (Broxburn, Scotland) in damaged form and "painstakingly rebuilt" for libre and Aurora racing in 1978. To Bob Leckie (Aberdeen, Scotland) for hillclimbs and libre in 1979, then Bob Milne (Aberdeen, Scotland) for libre in 1980, then Martin Dunn (Evanton, Scotland) for libre at Ingliston in 1981. Sold next to George Coghill, who fitted the Chevron-Hart with a Lotus Esprit body for Scottish GT racing in 1982 and 1983. The car returned to "unclothed" form in 1985, when Coghill fitted a 3-litre Ford V6 engine for Scottish libre racing, the Hart 420R having blown up. The car had a 1700cc BDA engine in it when Coghill sold it to someone in the north of England, and recalls taking a Vixen in trade. This must be the 1700cc Chevron B40 entered by John McCartney at Harewood in September 1987, then with a 1990cc Hart engine at Harewood in May 1988, but a month later he was running the B53 instead, with a BDG engine. Retained by McCartney until November 1996 when it was sold to Nick Crossley (Sussex). The car is said to have been restored by Foxcraft Engineering in 1995/6. At some point sold by Crossley to John Ruston and Gareth Burnett (Newmarket, Suffolk), and raced by Burnett in Euro F2 and HSCC Derek Bell Trophy races in 2006. Burnett raced it again in the DBT in 2008. Sold in 2018 to Richard George (Marsh Green, Kent), who took it to Paul Fox of Foxcraft again to be rebuilt.
Driven by: Klaus Ludwig, Wilhelm "Willi" Deutsch, Iain McLaren, Bob Leckie, Bob Milne, Martin Dunn, George Coghill and John McCartney. First race: Donington Park (R13), 30 Oct 1977. Total of 41 recorded races.
Chevron B40s in 1978
As the 1978 season began, 40-77-01 went to Giacomo Agostini in Italy but was not seen later in 1978; 40-77-02 was probably in Japan; 40-77-03 was almost certainly still with the ROC ream in France; 40-77-04 was retained by Trivellato Racing in Italy; 40-77-05 went to Werner Ruckelshausen in Austria; 40-77-06 had gone to Yves Martin in France; 40-77-07 was in Japan; 40-77-08 was retained by the Opert team for a while before being sold to Paul Gibson; 40-77-09 was in Japan; 40-77-10 was almost certainly still with the ROC ream in France; and the KWS car was sold to Iain McLaren in Scotland during the season. So the only missing cars were Giacomo Agostini's 40-77-01 in Italy and Fred Opert's 40-77-05.
The situation in Japan was confusing as Lamberto Leoni drove a "works" #1 B40-BMW at the JAF Fuji Grand Prix on 3 May, and then Piercarlo Ghinzani and Beppe Gabbiani drove B40-BMWs entered as #1 and #2 at Suzuka on 21 May. Then at Suzuka on 2 July, Naohiro Fujita drove a #9 B40-BMW and Masami Kuwashima a #66 B40-BMW. Patrick Gaillard drove the #1 car at Suzuka in September and then at the JAF Suzuka Grand Prix in November, Nico Nicole drove a #23 B40-BMW and Masao Segawa a #21 B40-BMW, which he then retained for 1979. One of these two cars is likely to have been 40-77-02, but the other remains unidentified.
The only unidentified Chevron in Europe in 1978 was Sandro Cinotti's car, which was reported to be a "year old" car, suggesting a B40, but photographs show to have been a B42. As Segawa's car arrived in Japan after the close of the 1978 European season, it is included with the 1979 mystery cars.
This leaves Agostini's 40-77-01 to explain the second unidentified B40-BMW in Japan or (perhaps) Sandro Cinotti's BMW-engined car.
Chevron B40s in 1979
The main movements of Chevron B40s in 1979 were in Japan, where the two unidentified B40-BMWs from 1978 appear to have stayed in the country to join 40-77-07 and 40-77-09 which had been in Japan from new. Masao Segawa's was the first to appear, still in F2 BMW specification, at the end of 1978, and this was followed by the Central 20 team's Formula Pacific car for Haruhito Yanagida at the opening race of 1979. Kazuyoshi Hoshino then drove a similar car in June but there is a strong possibility that Hoshino's car was the ex-Tetsu Ikuzawa 40-77-07, as this car was used by Satoru Nakajima at one race in October and was very probably the same car he then used in 1980. So it would appear that Segawa and Central 20 had the two unexplained B40-BMWs that had raced in Japanese F2 during 1978.
There was also a degree of confusion in France, where three B40s were now competing in hillclimbs. The ROC team had bought two B40s (40-77-03 and 40-77-10), and it is believed that both of these were used by Michel Pignard in 1978, while Yves Martin ran his separate ex-Opert chassis 40-77-06. In 1979, Daniel Boccard raced one B40, said to be the ROC team's reserve car and therefore likely to be 40-77-03, and Jean Lapierre appeared later in the season with a second ex-ROC B40, now BMW-engined, that was presumably Pignard's main car, so B40-77-10. Both Boccard's and Lapierre's cars were regularly referred to as B42s, but there is no evidence that ROC acquired a B42 so these are likely to be the team's two B40s updated. Meanwhile, Gerard Godenèche took over Martin's B40-77-06.
Meanwhile, in Austria, Werner Ruckelshausen's 77-05 had gone missing after 1978, so it a strong contender to be the car acquired by German Helmut Kalenborn in 1979 and raced by him in 1980.
Masao Segawa raced a Chevron B40 at the JAF Suzuka Grand Prix at the beginning of November 1978, using a BMW engine. Raced by Segawa through the 1979 Japanese F2 season. Then to Kiyoshi Misaki and rebuilt for Formula Pacific with a Toyota engine. Misaki only appeared three times in the Japanese series, but then raced the car in the Macau and Selangor Grands Prix in November. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Masao Segawa and Kiyoshi Misaki. First race: Suzuka (R7), 5 Nov 1978. Total of 10 recorded races.
The Central 20 Racing Team ran a Chevron B40 with Nissan LZ14 engine in the 1979 Japanese Formula Pacific series for Haruhito Yanagida. The same team ran the B40-Nissan again for Fumio Muto in 1980. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Haruhito Yanagida and Fumio Muto. First race: Tsukuba (R1), 1 Apr 1979. Total of 12 recorded races.
Kazuyoshi Hoshino raced a Chevron B40 with Nissan LZ14 engine in four rounds of the 1979 JAF Formula Pacific series, winning two of them, and at the Macau Grand Prix in November that year.
Driven by: Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Satoru Nakajima. First race: Fuji (R3), 3 Jun 1979. Total of 4 recorded races.
Daniel Boccard raced a Chevron B40 in French hillclimbs from June 1979 into 1983 and perhaps later. Although it was usually described as a B40 with ROC engine, some reports in Echappement called it a B42, a B47 or even a B49, and some said it had a BMW engine. In July 1981, Echappement called it "l'ancienne Chevron B42 de réserve de l'ecurie ROC", implying it was one of the two ROC B40s used by Michel Pignard and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in 1977, as ROC never bought a B42. After racing the car up to the end of 1979, Boccard withdrew for 1980. He returned with the Chevron in 1981 and 1982, but the engine blew up at Treffort in September 1982. Boccard fitted a BMW engine for 1983.
Driven by: Daniel Boccard. First race: Crèmieu, 17 Jun 1979. Total of 22 recorded races.
Jean Lapierre (Montélimar, Drôme, southeastern France) raced the ex-Fredy Canin Chevron B35 with ROC engine in French hillclimbs in 1978 and 1979, latterly described as a B40. In September 1979, he acquired an ex-Michel Pignard Chevron B40 from Ecurie ROC, which now had a BMW engine and was described as a B42. ROC had at least two B40s for Pignard, and Daniel Boccard also had an ex-Pignard B40 at much the same time. Lapierre continued with the 'B42'-BMW into 1980. To Jean-Noel Krafft (Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Rhône-Alpes) in 1981, when it had a 1600cc Ford engine. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Jean Lapierre, Robert "Jimmy" Mieusset and Jean-Noël Krafft. First race: Sisteron-Saint-Geniez, 19 Aug 1979. Total of 23 recorded races.
Chevron B40s in 1980
By this stage, of the eleven B40s believed to have been built, 77-01 and 77-02 appear to have joined 77-07 and 77-09 in Japan; 77-03, 77-06 and 77-10 were all in France; 77-08 and the ex-KWS car were both racing in libre in Britain; 77-04 was in a museum in Italy; and 77-05 had last been seen in Austria in 1978.
In French course de côte, Daniel Boccard was not seen in 1980 in his B40-ROC (likely to have been B40-77-03) but would return in 1981; Jean Lapierre continued to run his B40-BMW (likely to have been B40-77-10) in 1980 before it went to Jean-Noël Krafft for 1981, and Gerard Godenèche continued to run his B40-Hart chassis B40-77-06.
Chevron B40s from 1981 onwards
In Japan, Satoru Nakajima appeared at the start of the season in his chassis 40-77-07, and after he moved to a new March 81A, Fumiyasu Sato in a similar car. Also, Isao Hanasato appeared with an unidentified Chevron B40 with Formula Pacific Nissan engine. The most likely candidates for his car are the Hasemi team's 40-77-09, the mystery car of Central 20 Racing Team, and the mystery car of Kazuyoshi Hoshino. As both Hoshino's and Hanasato's were entered as B40/B42s, Hoshino's may be the likelier option.
In France, Daniel Boccard (probably B40-77-03) and Jean Noël Krafft (probably B40-77-10) continued to race their cars in 1981, but Gerard Godenèche's B40-77-06 had disappeared after 1980.
Fumiyasu Sato raced a Chevron B40 with a Toyota 2T-G engine in the JAF Formula Pacific series in Japan in 1981. Satoru Nakajima had been racing his Toyota-engined B40 (chassis 40-77-07) until the race before Sato's first appearance. Nakajima then acquired a March 81A so the Chevron may have been sold to Sato. However, Kiyoshi Misaki had also raced the ex-Masao Segawa B40 with Toyota engine up to the end of 1980, so that is also a possibility. Nothing more known.
Driven by: Fumiyasu Sato. First race: Fuji (R3), 12 Apr 1981. Total of 3 recorded races.
Richard Evans in his Chevron B40 at Oulton Park in August 2009. Copyright Richard Crawford 2022. Used with permission.
Mike Sidgwick reportedly bought a Chevron B40 from Vin Malkie in 2003. Sidgwick raced the car in HSCC Derek Bell Trophy races in 2006. To Richard Evans for HSCC F2 and DBT from 2007 to 2010, then to Steve Tandy for HSCC F2 in 2011. To Chris Lillingstone-Price for 2012, when it was said to be "ex-Opert" and chassis 77-05. Raced again by Lillingstone-Price in 2016 and 2018, then sold to Frazer Gibney for 2019. Raced again by Gibney in 2021.
In addition to the above, unknown Chevron B40s were driven by Lamberto Leoni, Beppe Gabbiani, Piercarlo Ghinzani, Naohiro Fujita, Masami Kuwashima, Patrick Gaillard, Nico Nicole, Helmut Kalenborn, Isao Hanasato and Michel Chaboy.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Dan Rear, Steve Wilkinson, Jeremy Jackson, Kevan McLurg, David McKinney, Adam Ferrington, Simon Hadfield, Chris Townsend, Ian Rimmer, Franz Guggemos, Bryan Miller, Michael Ferner, Marcus Pye, Marc Devis, Tim Colman, Pierre Haverland, Chris Lillingston-Price, George Coghill, Wisu Willimann and Werner Ruckelshausen. Also to Paul Fairbanks, Steve Wilkinson, Keith Lewcock, Richard Crawford and Fabrice Batifol for the use of their photographs.
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
These histories last updated on .