Oulton Park and Kyalami.

[Chaswin]

The 1969 Oulton Park Gold Cup (14/04/1969) was open to F1, formula 5000 and Formula 2 cars. This is the F5000 5-litre Lola T142 [SL142/36] - Chevrolet Traco V8 entered by Alan Fraser Racing Team and driven by Keith Holland. It finished in 8th position, one minute down on the winner. This was the car's first race, having been purchased by Alan Fraser UK on the 25/02/1969. The car was still being raced in September 2017, having been bought by John Peskett (Leicester) in 1978. The car was unused and stored until the car was featured on the TV program 'Salvage Squad' broadcast in March 2002 when a team led by Lee Hurst restored the car for Peskett.

[Chaswin]

Another Lola T142 in the 1969 Oulton Park Gold Cup - in this case F5000 SL142/31, driven by Willie Forbes and finished in a very pale yellow. Willie Forbes UK bought the car on the 19th March 1969 and this may have been only its second race. It seems to have retired after a spin on the second lap. In the photo it has no rear wing which may be why it retired. It was eventually wrecked in testing at Croft in March 1972.

[Steve Holmes]

This is such an epic collection Charles. I'm really enjoying it.

The Roy Pierpoint Camaro was written off at this event and never raced again. It had been introduced partway through the 1969 season, replacing the teams Falcon Sprint, and leading up to this race at Oulton Park, had won the last two BSCC races.

The Bill Shaw team salvaged what they could from the wreck and built another Camaro, which I believe was sold to Martin Thomas.

I probably took this photo at the 1969 BSCC Touring Car race held on the 16/08/1969. In which case #86 is the Alan Mann Racing Ford Escort Twin Cam of Australian Frank Gardner. He finished second to the Falcon Sprint of Britain Dennis Leech. There were two Camaro's in the race. Bill Shaw's 1968 Camaro retired due to an accident, whilst the Camaro of Mike Kearon finished 25th of 26 finishers. Unfortunately the results I have only have race numbers for 4 cars so I'm not sure which one this is, although I suspect it is the Bill Shaw car.

Attachment 70660

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, what an amazing photo! I wonder what became of these cars.

Some heavy metal at Kyalami in around 1970. Holden Monaro GTS accompanied by Sunbeam Tiger. 5 litres of GM power vs 4.5 litres of Ford power. On a cool down lap after a race with the marshals getting ready to sweep the track. Attachment 70506

[Chaswin]

Thanks for the info about the Shaw car Steve. Must have been quite a crash.

There are still quite a few of those vehicles from Kyalami around in historic car racing in SA, something I've not really had time to get involved with. That's something I intend to remedy next year.

Incidentally, Johannesburg is at an altitude of 5,500 feet and that, plus the heat, ensures that local cars don't rust. My daily driver (I'm now retired) is 21 year old Ford Fiesta that's done 230,000 kms without anything even resembling rust. My "weekend special" is a 19 year old Alfa Romeo GTV 3 litre V6 / 24 valve. It looks pretty new when its cleaned up! Never been restored and now has 186,000 kms on the clock!

[Chaswin]

Mini's were quite popular race cars at Kyalami back in the 1970's. This one has so many sponsor decals on the side that the series sponser's logo (the Star newspaper) had to be placed on the roof.

[Milan Fistonic]

Thanks for the info about the Shaw car Steve. Must have been quite a crash.

This is how Motoring News described Pierpoint's crash.

Leech, again showing class, continued to fend off the determined attacks of Pierpoint, and then on lap 14 he saw the most horrifying sight in his mirror. Pierpoint lost control of Bill Shaw’s red Camaro as he breasted the rise by the water tower. The car smashed head-long into a tree, bounced off it and hit another tree backwards. Quite how Pierpoint escaped with only a broken nose from the dreadful wreckage we will never know.

[Chaswin]

Thanks Milan - I can only assume that Pierpoint lost control at the top of Clay Hill. In the 1960's there was a building at the top of Clay Hill with a flat roof that was used as a viewing area, looking down Clay Hill towards Knicker Brook. No idea if it was actually a water tower, though. The building no longer seems to be there today.

[Chaswin]

A pair of what look like Alan Mann Racing Escorts heading down the back straight into Knicker Brook. Late 1960's.

[Chaswin]

Ford Capri's were popular racing saloons in the early 1970's at Kyalami. In Class B the 3 litre was a major competitor, whilst Class A was dominated by Capri Perana's. The Perana was a Ford Capri fitted with a 5 litre Mustang V8.

Here are a few examples.

[Chaswin]

I took this photo at Oulton Park on March 1th, 1968. Its a Formula Ford Merlyn Mk II, driven by Aussie Tim Schenken. This was the year that he won the British FF championship. He also won this race.

[Chaswin]

Oulton Park 1969 International Gold Cup. (16/08/1969) Trevor Taylor in the TS Research and Development entered Surtees TS5 F5000 car. He finished in fourth place.

[Chaswin]

A couple of photos showing the evolution off F1 wings in 1968 and 1969. The first photo shows a Lotus mechanic working on Jackie Oliver's Gold Leaf Lotus 49 at Oulton Park in 1968 with Graham Hill's sister car in the background, together with the Lotus 62 sports car. This was the peak of the ungainly high wings that made F1 cars look rather silly. In May 1969, Graham Hills car nearly killed him at the Spanish GP when the wing collapsed at high speed and Hill bounced off the armco, fortunately leaving him uninjured. As a direct result of Hill's crash, the high wings were banned following the Spanish meeting. The second photo shows Jackie Stewarts Matra MS80 at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in August 1969. This now sports a properly triangulated, cross braced and much lower wing that does not look as though it was about to fall off.

[ERC]

Good stuff Chaswin - and for the BRM pics on the ORMA site.

[Chaswin]

Thanks EAC, I don't think there are too many of us left who saw both the "skyscraper" wings and their replacement in races back in the 1960's. IRO BRM, unfortunately I only have 3 or 4 BRM specific photos with me in SA.

[Chaswin]

Not sure if this was a concours or just an organised display of pre-war vehicles, but some interesting examples.

Rolls Royce.



Bentley.



Alvis.

[Chaswin]

Jo Siffert's Yardley BRM in the South African GP at Kyalami on the 6th March 1971. There were 3 BRM's entered, but none finished. Pedro Rodríguez was forced to retire from fourth place when his bodywork started to melt and the hot air began burning his feet. The heat also took its toll on Jo Siffert, whose engine overheated and Howden Ganley (in his first F1 GP), who was taken ill with heat exhaustion.

[Chaswin]

Two of the McLarens competing in the 1971 South African GP at Kyalami. Number 11 is Denny Hulme's M19A, while number 12 is Peter Gethin's M14A. A third McLaren was driven by Jo Bonnier.

[Chaswin]

A Bugatti Type 35 splashing its way round Oulton Park's Old Hall corner in the rain.

[Chaswin]

If you visited Oulton Park in the late 1960's and you were hungry - not a problem!
Prices in Pounds/Shillings and Pence of course.
Also a map of the circuit which is still fundamentally the same.

Incidentally, the programme that I took this image from is from a splendid web site that has programmes from across the world and is well worth a visit. This is their "circuit" index. https://www.progcovers.com/motor/circuits.html