BMW County Championship
Discussion
I think it was Spike Anderson and Ken Brittain that did the F2 engines when they traded as Racing Services (Engines) Limited that were based in Twickenham near the Riverside studios. They used to do a lot of Formula 2 engines in the seventies, engines being supplied to many famous drivers such as Graham Hill, Jodie Scheckter, Emerson Fittipaldi, and many many more. Tom Walkinshaw was an early client and remained one until 1982. Spike Winter has one hell of a history and prior to his partnership with Ken Brittain he was senior engineer at the John Willment Racing team and prior to that he was with Frazer Nash and once used to mechanic for Sir Stirling Moss. I know Spike Winter heads are really sought after in e3 CSL racing circles. Sadly Spike Winter died back in May but I am hoping to speak with Ken Brittain and see what he can tell me about his time with TWR. I know someone who bought some hand-made steel billet crankshafts from him that were made by Allen and took the 2.3 out to a 2.8 and cost about £1000 each back then! Evidently he had some great stories to tell.
I didn't know that. I was under the impression that the engines were supplied by BMW to TWR as part of his role as BMW competitions manager uk. True the engine work was carried out by third parties in the early TWR days, I havn't really made any headway in that part of the research yet. I think this carried on even after Allan Scott joined for the Jaguar era. I know that some of the early Jag engine work was carried out by Ron Beaty.
The problem with all this digging is that it keeps making the hole that much bigger.
The problem with all this digging is that it keeps making the hole that much bigger.
e21Mark said:
Is that the ex County Car used in the Willhire 24hr?
It is indeed the Willhire car. Previously used as the 'Grampian' car in the county challenge run by John Clark.Nice to see that picture Gregor as I've been in that car around that time (only as a passenger though as was just a kid at the time), it was road legal and I remember my dad once driving it at Ingliston circuit on a test day.
The background to the car in the Willhire is that it was driven by Andrew Jeffrey (a good mate of mine) with John Clark plus two others (maybe Hamish Irvine?) the car finished really well up the results and when the car in front of them got excluded, they all thought they'd gained another place (2nd maybe?) that was until they also got excluded later!! (hence not shown in the results). 24 hrs of flat out hard work just to be excluded!
Not sure what technicality exactly they got excluded on, maybe because the County Challenge spec was beyond what was allowed in production saloon spec even though they had tried to put it back to prod-saloon spec so it would be eligable.
Gregor do you have any more pics of it from the Willhire?
Hi Mark,you mentioned Barry Sheen in your first post - he took part in a race at Ingliston,putting the car on pole position and leading the race from start to finish!
If my ageing memory is correct,the race wasn't that great.What I definetly remember is that Barry finished comfortably ahead of the chasing pack - eyebrows were most certainly raised!
There was much talk of his car not being quite the same as the others,this of course was denied - but as someone who witnessed the race,it did look a little suspicious.
I think I still have the race programme somewhere,if I find it I'll post more info.
The only driver I remember competing that day was Barry Williams - not many people leave him for dead in an identical car - except Barry Sheen!
If my ageing memory is correct,the race wasn't that great.What I definetly remember is that Barry finished comfortably ahead of the chasing pack - eyebrows were most certainly raised!
There was much talk of his car not being quite the same as the others,this of course was denied - but as someone who witnessed the race,it did look a little suspicious.
I think I still have the race programme somewhere,if I find it I'll post more info.
The only driver I remember competing that day was Barry Williams - not many people leave him for dead in an identical car - except Barry Sheen!
rallycross said:
The background to the car in the Willhire is that it was driven by Andrew Jeffrey (a good mate of mine) with John Clark plus two others (maybe Hamish Irvine?) the car finished really well up the results and when the car in front of them got excluded, they all thought they'd gained another place (2nd maybe?) that was until they also got excluded later!! (hence not shown in the results). 24 hrs of flat out hard work just to be excluded!
Not sure what technicality exactly they got excluded on, maybe because the County Challenge spec was beyond what was allowed in production saloon spec even though they had tried to put it back to prod-saloon spec so it would be eligable.
Gregor do you have any more pics of it from the Willhire?
My late father raced the car in the Willhire too - it was him, Andrew, Hamish and John (who owned the car).Not sure what technicality exactly they got excluded on, maybe because the County Challenge spec was beyond what was allowed in production saloon spec even though they had tried to put it back to prod-saloon spec so it would be eligable.
Gregor do you have any more pics of it from the Willhire?
Funnily enough they were asked to enter the race to add to the numbers, finished second on the road, the winners got excluded so they thought they had won and then they got excluded too!! Dad was due to drive his Capri with Graham Scarborough but the money fell through at the last minute so John asked Dad to share the BMW.
I don't have any more photos but I do have a two and half hour video that was filed at the time featuring lots of footage of the car, interviews with my late father, the late Tony Lanfranchi, David Yates and Graham Scarborough and the podium presentations.
As an aside, my Dad raced the car again in the a Monroe prod saloon race at Silverstone in the September and he finished 6th after Tony L decided to have a bit of a spin with him!!
e21Mark said:
I was fortunate enough to meet Barry Sheene back in the late 80's. He was one of my boyhood heroes.
I'm please to say that that my name is on that Brands programme!We were the only BMW Dealership-driven car in the series (there was a limit to how many rounds one driver could do).
It was sad that it did become a bit of a destruction derby, but the stakes were high. Some very good 'names' couldn't afford to be seen in '6th' place and most saw it as an opportunity to impress Mr Walkinshaw. I think we ended up top 5 first year, but were a little bruised & disallusioned towards the end of the second ..
both of us went on to drive for Tom subsequently.
It was a great series and certainly the social exercise of having dealers and customers together was a significant lesson learnt. Tom you'll remember, was very good at the advantages that racing bought to a manufacturer's brand image.
DulonMike said:
e21Mark Did you get anywhere with results etc of the Couny Championship. I'm writing up the sequel to my Gold Cup book and the 4th april 1980 results would be very beneficial to the completeness of the tome! Regards Mike Allen
Hi There, I own the engine and gearbox from the John Clark Grampian Car if anyone is Interested? Euan.Euan wands said:
Hi There, I own the engine and gearbox from the John Clark Grampian Car if anyone is Interested? Euan.
Hi I remember going in that car as a passenger as a kid, do you know what happend to the car (how did you end up having the engine and box?) just out of interest....Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff