Sana RD9 and RD11 car-by-car histories
Terry Perkins in the Sana RD9 at Thruxton in August 1976. Copyright Andrew Scriven 2010. Used with permission.
Designed by ex-Amon designer Gordon Fowell and fabricated by John Thompson, the Sana RD9 and RD11 were built for Formula Atlantic and F3 respectively in 1976. They are unfairly remembered mainly for a catastrophic attempt at F3, but proved competitive in Formula Atlantic.
Gordon Fowell was a successful industrial designer who had also designed the Gitane GT car in the early 1960s. Despite having not proven himself with any other racing cars, he was chosen to design the Goral Tecno F1 car in 1973, and then the Amon F1 in 1974. He was then commissioned by Graham Eden to design a Formula Atlantic car for 1976. Graham Eden Racing had run Eden's Formula Atlantic Brabham BT40 for Cyd Williams for the previous three seasons. The construction of the car was outsourced to John Thompson, the ex-McLaren fabricator whose TC Prototypes company had built the F1 Amon and before that the monocoques for the 1973 Ferrari 312B3. The resulting Sana RD9 was well engineered and very light, with a low monocoque and very angular wedge-shaped bodywork.
Williams only had time for a few laps of Silverstone to test the car before the first race of the 'Indylantic' season at Brands Hatch on 4 April. The new car impressed onlookers and Williams proved it was competitive by qualifying sixth of the 18-car field. He got away well, taking second place behind the Modus of Richard Scott, which had jumped the start, and was sitting on the tail of the Modus on lap 19 when Scott slid wide and let him through. At the same moment, Tony Trimmer in the factory Lola T360 got alongside the Sana and muscled his way into the lead. Williams second place was a great start for the Sana. He was again impressive in the Shellsport G8 race at Brands two weeks later, qualifying tenth - the third fastest Formula Atlantic - before retiring with an ominous oil leak. At the next Indylantic race, again at Brands, he qualified fifth and was running in third place when he lost fourth gear, falling back to fifth at the finish.
Suitably encouraged, Fowell then had a second car built by Thompson for Terry Perkins to use in Formula 3. This Sana RD11 was completed just in time for the Monaco GP but handling was dreadful, and Perkins was well off the pace. Perkins then took over the drive of the Harrisons of Birmingham Formula Atlantic RD9, starting with the Croft Indylantic round the Monday after Monaco. After two driveshaft breakages in practice, he retired when a carburettor nozzle fell off. The somewhat spectacular Perkins gradually slipped further back down the grids over the following races, but did finish second overall at Knockhill in August. Richard Scott also drove the car at Thruxton, but his chances were ruined by a cracked radiator.
The RD11 then returned to the fray, having been bought by Cal Withers and converted to Formula Atlantic form. Cyd Williams drove it in Shellsport races and David Winstanley was given a chance in libre races. The Sanas only head-to-head meeting was at Oulton Park in October, where Nick May had replaced Perkins in the Eden Sana RD9 and Williams was in the Withers of Winsford RD11. Williams led heat 2, the first time the Sana had led a race, but retired from the final after hitting a back marker. May was struggling meanwhile with spongy brakes in the RD9.
Eden fitted the RD9 with a 2-litre Cosworth BDG for Group 8 in 1977. Nick May raced it at the first event, but then Tony Rouff took over. Sadly, the Sana was consumed in a workshop fire on Friday 1 April, which also destroyed Eden's brand new Yamaha 750 motorcycle. Magnesium wheels also caught fire, and it took three hours for the fire to be brought under control. The plans and designs were also incinerated, bringing an end to the Sana project.
With the destruction of the Sana RD9, all that remained was the RD11 with Withers of Winsford in Cheshire and an incomplete tub and parts still at John Thompson's factory at Northampton. The former disappeared from view, but the latter was bought up by northern Formule Libre racer Andy Barton and built up into the "Sana JTB2", replacing the Chevron B35 he had wrecked at Ingliston in May. He fitted his usual 2-litre BDA engine, and won his first three libre races in the car. He refashioned it for 1978 as the "Barton JTB3" and continued to win regularly in it. In late May, he tried out the rebuilt Chevron again, only to crash it for a third time. He then bought an ex-Ian Scheckter March 77B from the factory and the Barton-Sana was loaned out to Warren Booth and Cameron Binnie later that season. It was sold to David Muter for 1979, and he used it regularly in Formule Libre until early 1982.
Cyd Williams in the brand new Sana RD9 at Brands Hatch in April 1976. Copyright Ted Walker 2007. Used with permission.
New to Graham Eden Racing for the British Formula Atlantic in 1976, sponsored by Harrisons of Birmingham. Raced at two 'Indylantic' races and one Shellsport Group 8 race by Cyd Williams, then Terry Perkins took over the drive until September. Richard Scott also drove the car once, at Thruxton. In October, Nick May took over the drive. After the cancellation of Indylantic, Eden fitted the car with a 2-litre Ford BDG engine for Group 8 racing in 1977. After May drove it in the first race, Tony Rouff took it over for the second. Just a week later, the car was destroyed in a fire at Eden's workshops.
Driven by: Cyd Williams, Terry Perkins, Richard Scott, Nick May and Tony Rouff. First race: Brands Hatch (R1), 4 Apr 1976. Total of 18 recorded races.
New for Terry Perkins to drive at the 1976 Formula 3 Monaco support race, but it suffered severe problems with its brakes and Perkins did not qualify for the final. It was then sold to Cal Withers, of Withers of Winsford Limited, and converted for him to Formula Atlantic specification at John Thompson's factory by David Winstanley. It was entered for Cyd Williams to drive in Indylantic and Shellsport G8 races, and for Winstanley in Formule Libre. Not seen again after November 1976. Winstanley was under the impression it was sold to Andy Barton, but Barton said he bought a tub and parts directly from John Thompson. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Terry Perkins, Cyd Williams and David Winstanley. First race: Monte Carlo, 30 May 1976. Total of 5 recorded races.
David Muter spinning the Barton JTB3 at Ingliston's Caravan Corner in 1979. Copyright Iain Nicolson 2021. Used with permission.
In May 1977, Andy Barton (Newcastle upon Tyne) bought a Sana tub and parts from John Thompson, who had fabricated the San RD9 and RD11. He built these up with his usual 2-litre BDA engine as the Sana JTB2 and raced it with great success in Formula Libre in 1977 and 1978. For 1979, it was sold to David Muter (Seghill, Northumberland), who raced it in libre in 1979, 1980, 1981 and early 1982. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Andy Barton, Warren Booth, Cameron Binnie and Dave Muter. First race: Croft, 10 Jul 1977. Total of 73 recorded races.
At some time in the early 1990s, Bill Oliver bought a Sana as a rolling chassis with gearbox and fitted it with a 4-litre Rover engine, using it in sprints and occasional hillclimbs until he sold it in 1996. Although Oliver could not recall who he sold it to when quizzed by Hillclimb historian Steve Wilkinson, Bob Egginton's recalled that a Rover-engined Sana was acquired by Roger Hurst in the mid-1990s and Egginton made some structural repairs to it for him. Hurst sold it to Richard Parkin, who sold it as a rolling chassis to Greg Mills in South Africa. He also sold Mills a 5-litre Rover engine from a Pilbeam MP58 that he was breaking. Mills later described acquiring the remains of a Sana "in the rafters of a shed in the English midlands" which comprised "a battered monocoque, four corners and some tatty bodywork". Mills had the car restored to Formula 5000 specification by Michael Budd, and the car was taken to Australia in March 2012 to run at the Phillip Island Classic and the Australian Grand Prix support race. The car was then advertised in the UK in 2013 when it was said to be the ex-F3 Sana RD11.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Dan Rear, Steve Wilkinson, Ian Hebblethwaite and Simon Hadfield for their assistance. I ams also grateful for the recollections of Bob Egginton and the late David Winstanley (died 2014), both posted on TNF in 2008, and those of the late Cal Withers (died 2020) posted on Facebook in 2017.
Coverage of the Sanas in the weekly motor racing magazines was quite thin, but Autosport 13 May 1976 p5 mentioned the forthcoming Terry Perkins car.
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