Tasman Series 1973

Tasman Series 1973

1973 Season

Round 1 Pukekohe : 20th New Zealand Grand Prix Round 2 Levin : 14th Levin International

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Tasman Series 1973

Round 3 Wigram : 22nd Lady Wigram Trophy Round 4 Teretonga : 16th Teretonga International Rounds 5 - 8 Australia

TASMAN CHAMPIONSHIP, 1973

Driver Graham McRae John McCormack Frank Matich
Steve Thompson Alan Rollinson

Nat NZ Aust Aust UK UK Aust Aust USA Aust

NZ Aust JPN NZ NZ

P
3 9

L
9 6

W
9

T
3

SP
6 1 9

WF
4 1 6 9

S
9 6 3

A
9 4 6

Points *
40 29 27 22 21 17 10 9 8 4 3

3 4 1 9 4

4 6 4

Max Stewart Warwick Brown

Sam Posey Johnnie Walker David Oxton Kevin Bartlett Noritake Takahara Dexter Dunlop Garry Pedersen Bob Muir Ken Smith Garrie Cooper

4 2 3

4 1

6 6 3 2

2 3

2 2

2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

1 2 1

Aust NZ Aust

* Drivers counted all races. Points: First 9, second 6, third 4, fourth 3, fifth 2, sixth 1 P Round 1 Pukekohe L Round 2 Levin W Round 3 Wigram T Round 4 Teretonga SP Round 5 Surfers Paradise WF Round 6 Warwick Farm S Round 7 Sandown A Round 8 Adelaide
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1973 Season

1973 Season
THE 1973 SERIES

Graham McRae in the McRae-Chevrolet GM1

When Graham McRae returned to New Zealand for the start of the 1973 Tasman Series he had just one immediate ambition, to become the first person to win the Series three years in a row. Only one person had won the series three times before, the great Jim Clark, but his wins in 1965, 1967 and 1968 had been broken when he was defeated in 1966 by the rapid and reliable 1.9 litre BRM's of Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill. McRae's mount for 1973 was the McRae GM1 Chevrolet, a development of the Leda which had taken him to victory in 1972. It was a known quantity, fast, and reliable. For motive power McRae had switched from the Swiss-built Morand Chev engines to the British Alan Smith developed Chevs. McRae had just returned from the USA where he had won the rich L&M series in GM1001. This car was now in the hands of Dexter Dunlop, while McRae himself used a chassis, GM1005, the car he had used for the European championship.

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1973 Season

Graham McRae

The man most expected to give McRae the strongest opposition was Frank Matich. Also driving a car bearing his own name, the Matich A50 Repco, the former Australian Sports Car Champion was fresh from his dominant victory in the Gold Star, Australia's driving championship, in the same car. With the full backing of Repco behind him with the supply and service of his Repco Holden engines, Matich had the skill, the car, and the engines, to beat McRae. Johnnie Walker was also going to come to New Zealand to make a two car team, but in the end he only did the Australian rounds. Their next most likely opponent was Max Stewart. A proven, fearless, and hard-charging driver who settles for nothing less than first, Stewart had a brand new Lola T330 at his disposal. The car was a works car and Lola test driver Frank Gardner was in attendance to see that Stewart settled into the car quickly. Like McRae, Stewart was using Alan Smith Chev engines. The US contingent was the smallest for some years, but Evan Noyes was back for the third time so knew what it was all about. He had bought a McRae GM1 Chev, chassis 002, and felt that he had the right car-engine combination. He was accompanied by Sam Posey. Sam came to the Tasman with a big reputation and experience in many spheres of the sport, F5000 racing in the US, Indianapolis, and even Le Mans in a Ferrari. He was driving a Surtees TS11B backed by the Champ Car organisation with a good budget and some strong Bartz engines.

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1973 Season

From England came Alan Rollinson, one of the top names of British and European F5000 racing and he too was running what was felt to be the top car, a McRae GM1 Chev, chassis 007. Along with him came his 24 year-old cousin Steve Thompson. Steve was relatively new to F5000 but his Chevron B24 (which he drove for the first time at Pukekohe) had shown great promise in the hands of Brian Redman in England. The car was owned by Alan Brodie, sponsored by Servis Washing Machines and had three Race Engine Services Chev engines along to keep it mobile. Apart from those already mentioned, local hopes were placed on such people as Kevin Bartlett in his now rather old Lola T300 Chev, David Oxton in the latest New Zealand built Begg FM5 Chev, Johnnie Walker in a Matich A50 Repco similar to Matich's, Warwick Brown with sponsor and friend Pat Burke having obtained the ex-Bob Muir Lola T300 Chev that had been created out of the Niel Allen wreck and sponsorship from Target Discount Stores at the last moment, John McCormack in the Ansett Team Elfin MR5 Repco, and Dexter Dunlop with a McRae GM1 Chev.

1973 New Zealand Gold Star Champion David Oxton

There was no separate class for cars under 2-litres, and they are well and truly outgunned these days by the full F5000s, but some still chose to run them. Graeme Lawrence, the former Tasman Champ who had been out of action since his terrifying crash in the 1972 New Zealand Grand Prix when his Lola T300 was destroyed and he was lucky to escape death, was using the second half of the series to sort his brand new Surtees TS15 and to get himself back on form for the South East Asian series later in the year. Canada's David McConnell with his Surtees TS15 was back for another go. This car was actually Carlos Pace's F2 championship car and the prototype TS15.
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1973 Season

Japan's 20-year-old Noritake Takahara had a Brabham BT36 fitted with a 1.8 Cosworth FVC. He had won many races in Japan and was really along for the experience. One interesting fact was that he was running Bridgestone tyres on his car, which was a first for single-seaters in New Zealand.

Tasman Champion 1973, Graham McRae

Back to 1973 Series

Round 1 Pukekohe

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1973 Pukekohe

1973 Round 1 Pukekohe

Round One: PUKEKOHE

20th New Zealand Grand Prix

The first round of the 1973 Tasman Series was held at Pukekohe as the 20th New Zealand Grand Prix on 6th January 1973 on a hot sunny day. The circuit had been modified slightly from the previous year, by the addition of two chicanes, put in to slow the speeds down, following last years fatal accident of Bryan Faloon, when he tangled with Graeme Lawrence. One chicane was down the back straight and the other was at the top of Rothman's, just before entering the front straight. They were very artificial, having been made up of railway sleepers, tractor tyres and concrete kerbing. They certainly slowed the cars down, but were very damaging to cars when hit. In spite of some stirring performances in rounds of the Australian Gold Star during 1972, few people paid much attention to the chances of Elfin-Repco driver John McCormack in the Tasman Series. He first gave notice of his intensions when he clocked third fastest practice time for the New Zealand Grand Prix, behind Matich and McRae, and ahead of Max Stewart. During practice, Radisich had a substantial oil leak caused by cracked head
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1973 Pukekohe

and was to be allowed a back row grid spot if he completed a reasonable number of laps on the morning of the race. After practice, the make-up of the grid, alternating rows of two, was as follows:- Matich and McRae, McCormack and Stewart, Rollinson and Thompson, Oxton and Brown, Bartlett and Noyes, Posey and McConnell, Smith and Pedersen, Dunlop and Cameron, and Takahara and Robertson at the rear. On race day, during the race morning practice, Radisich had a coming together with Oxton at the approach to the Rothman's chicane. Radisich's McLaren was beyond repair, not allowing him to start the Grand Prix, while Oxton's crew had a major job to get his car ready in time. The start of the race was a bit hectic, because it was a rolling start and the chicane had to be negotiated. When it got started, Matich leapt ahead of the field, with McRae leading the chasing bunch. Meanwhile Oxton was still in the pits and two laps would go by before he got started. Down the back straight, McRae had closed the gap by the first chicane, and was climbing all over Matich as they braked for the Rothman's chicane. They came out side by side where there was only room for one and a half cars and Matich lurched over the kerbing thumping down hard on the other side. By the time he regained control, the field had passed him. McRae was also slightly affected and before he knew it, McCormack was through to the lead. Once ahead McCormack was not going to be easily dislodged. He was determined to win that race. Matich went into the pits for suspension repairs. After watching McCormack go by ten times, he was ready to go, but was further delayed with a flat battery. After he did get going, he hit a kerb in his efforts to catch up, and from that point on he just cruised around for the rest of the race. Back up the front, McCormack had a two second lead on McRae, with Stewart very close behind. Stewart was the first to fall foul of the newly installed chicanes, as he clipped one of the sharp kerbs and had to pit with damaged suspension. Noyes joined him in the pits, but his trouble was with the fuel injection. He got going after three laps, but it wasn't long before he parked the car for the rest of the race.

Bartlett leads Takahara

At five laps, McCormack was holding a 2.5 second advantage over McRae, Bartlett was third with the battling group of Rollinson, Thompson, Brown, Posey, Dunlop, McConnell, Pedersen and Smith trying to keep him in sight. Smith pitted on the next lap to have his fuel injection tweaked. Oxton then hit the chicane and undid all the good work his crew had done to get him in the race.

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1973 Pukekohe

Garry Pedersen in the Begg-Chevrolet FM4

Cameron went out on lap 11 with a shattered flywheel while Bartlett had his Chev develop massive overheating which caused him to retire after 17 laps. At around one third distance McRae made his move on the leader. He steadily closed the gap and was all set to try for the lead when he too clipped one of the chicane kerbs and he lost a lap having two wheels replaced. Unknown to watchers at the time, McCormack had lost third gear and was having to over-rev his Repco engine in second gear in many places. His lap times slowed and Rollinson began to close in. Brown had developed a crack in his manifold and his engine had gone 'off song', while Thompson was unable to stay with his newly inspired cousin, Rollinson. Dunlop was then flagged off for supposedly traveling too slow. He believed others behind him were doing the same and when they weren't penalised, he protested to officials after his arrival at the pits. Officials eventually allowed him to rejoin, but his anger was taken out on the accelerator as he got underway and he broke a driveshaft. Robertson retired on lap 40 after depositing a large amount of oil on the track. McConnell was also experiencing problems and made a quick visit to the pits with transmission problems. Posey's drive came to an end on lap 44 when his throttle slides became jammed open with the cement dust that had been applied to the Robertson oil slick. He had to use the earth bank at the exit of the esses to brake the Surtees.

Matich in the Matich-Repco

The last thirteen laps of the race were enlivened by Rollinson's efforts to get past McCormack. McCormack seemed to have more urge from his Repco than Rollinson had from the Chev, but the lack of third gear more than made up the difference and the Elfin driver had to use a lot of road to keep the McRae at bay. Graham McRae had worked his way back up to third, but made a quick visit to the pits with a rough sounding motor.
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1973 Pukekohe

While he was in there, Thompson moved up a place. McCormack won the race by just six tenths of a second from Rollinson in a finish that had the crowd on their feet. Thompson was third, a lap behind, while McRae was fourth, two laps behind the leaders and just ahead of Garry Pedersen in the Begg FM4 Chevrolet, while Ken Smith in the March 722 was a whole six laps down on the leaders after a number of pit stops. Warwick Brown had actually covered more ground, but his Lola's engine expiring after running out of fuel just four laps from home and he lost third place to Thompson. McRae himself was lucky to score. His engine was growing steadily worse and would not have taken him much further.

Alan Rollinson in the McRae-Chevrolet GM1

20th New Zealand Grand Prix Date: 6th January 1973 Venue: Pukekohe 58 laps of 2.816kms (163.33kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1 2 3 4 5 Ret 6 7 8 Ret N/C

John McCormack Alan Rollinson Steve Thompson Graham McRae Garry Pedersen Warwick Brown Ken Smith Noritake Takahara Dave McConnell Sam Posey Frank Matich

Aust UK UK NZ NZ Aust NZ Jpn Can USA Aust

Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Begg FM4 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 March 722 / Cosworth 1930cc 4cyl Brabham BT36 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl Surtees TS15 / Hart 1975cc 4cyl Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8

58 58 57 56 56 54 52 52 49 44 43

67m 41.8s 67m 42.4s

Out Of Fuel

Throttle Not Classified

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1973 Pukekohe

Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret

Baron Robertson Dexter Dunlop Kevin Bartlett Evan Noyes Kelvin Cameron David Oxton Max Stewart

NZ NZ Aust USA NZ NZ Aust NZ

March 722 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Brabham BT23C / Cosworth 1791cc 4cyl Begg FM5 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McLaren M10B / Repco 4994cc V8

40 40 17 15 11 5 3

Engine Flagged Off Overheating Fuel Injection Flywheel Accident Suspension Accident

DNS Frank Radisich

Fastest lap: G. McRae, 67.7 sec.

Back to 1973 Series

Round 2 Levin

21st NZGP 1974

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1973 Levin

1973 Round 2 Levin

Round Two: LEVIN

14th Levin International

The second round of the Tasman Series was held a week after Pukekohe on 13th January 1973 at Levin. Lawrence was still waiting for his Surtees to arrive and had to sit out the race once again. There were no chicanes at Levin, so everybody settled into recording quick times straight away. Matich was initially the quickest at practice, before being overhauled by Stewart. But it wasn't long before McRae, who had been experimenting with different diameter and width tyres, posted a time 0.3 sec quicker than anybody. McCormack, winner of the Grand Prix a week earlier, was having all sorts of trouble with suspension, and with minimal practice time, only managed to qualify fifteenth on the grid. The line-up on the grid, in alternating rows of two, was as follows:- McRae and Stewart, Matich and Brown, Bartlett and Rollinson, Posey and Oxton, Thompson and Dunlop, McConnell and Smith, Radisich and Noyes, McCormack and Pedersen, Takahara and Cameron, and Robertson at the rear.

Warwick Brown in the Lola-Chevrolet T300.

The warm-up on race morning saw drama for both McConnell and Robertson as engine problems forced both to abandon racing for the day. There were more dramas on the grid as Rollinson had a leaking fuel bag in the McRae, but despite a hasty patch-up by his team, the leak continued and he withdrew on the opening lap. A week after Pukekohe, it seemed that McCormack's luck had had a sudden reversal. After all his problems at practice, he didn't make it to the end of the back straight on the opening lap and was out with a broken throttle cable. Levin is Graham McRae's home circuit and he is virtually unbeatable there in front of his staunchest fans. This race was no different and he led from start to finish. Heading into the second lap, McRae was being chased by Stewart, Matich, Brown, Bartlett, Posey, Oxton, Dunlop and Thompson. Hard driving Max Stewart chased McRae

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1973 Levin

from close quarters, but as they swept into Lake Bend on the second lap, Stewart speared off and hit the bank when a front suspension upright broke. Matich was now holding second and appeared to be no threat to McRae, but was having trouble staying clear of Warwick Brown who had taken no time at all to grow accustomed to the difficult Lola and was showing great form.

David Oxton in the Begg FM5.

Thompson passed Dunlop on lap 3 and Pedersen moved up to eleventh after passing Smith on lap 18. Around the halfway point, Posey got a puncture and pitted. When he got going again he had dropped to eleventh. Pedersen was having handling problems and this allowed Smith to re-pass him on lap 36. On lap 40 Pedersen spun at Cabbage Tree and stayed there for ages before he eventually got re-started many laps down. McRae continued to increase his lead. Posey had moved up to ninth, but Noyes had to pit on lap 49 to have his throttle reconnected. He was only able to complete two more laps before retiring, even though he was officially classified as tenth. Takahara also had a spin at Cabbage Tree, but managed to recover, although a number of laps down. Posey's progression continued to happen and by lap 50 he had take sixth from Dunlop, while Thompson retired with a burst radiator. On the very next lap, Posey's engine blew in a big way, depositing oil all over the track. Matich eventually eased away from Brown, but was half a minute behind McRae at the finish. Brown was lapped by the winner just before the finish line, and fourth went to Bartlett who had to fight off challenges from first Posey, and then from Oxton in the Begg, who eventually placed fifth only seconds behind the Australian. Sixth was Dexter Dunlop's McRae GM1 Chev. McRae now had the lead in the series with twelve points to nine for McCormack, and six each for Rollinson and Matich.

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1973 Levin

Sam Posey in the Surtees TS11 followed by Dave McConnell's Surtees TS15.

14th Levin International Date: 13th January 1973 Venue: Levin 63 laps of 1.92kms (120.69kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1
2

Graham McRae
Frank Matich

NZ
Aust Aust NZ NZ

McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8

63 63 62 62 62 60 60
59

47m 09.1s 47m 38.7s

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Ret

Warwick Brown Kevin Bartlett

David Oxton

Aust Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Begg FM5 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Dexter Dunlop Ken Smith Frank Radisich Noritake Takahara

Evan Noyes

NZ NZ Jpn
USA NZ UK

March 722 / Cosworth 1930cc 4cyl McLaren M10B / Repco 4994cc V8

Brabham BT36 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Brabham BT23C / Cosworth 1791cc 4cyl

53 51 51 50
50

Ret Sam Posey Kelvin Cameron Garry Pedersen Max Stewart Ret Steve Thompson

USA Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Begg FM4 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Engine Radiator Suspension Throttle Fuel Leak Engine

NZ
Aust UK NZ

42 1 0 0 0

Aust Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Ret John McCormack Ret Alan Rollinson DNS Baron Robertson

March 722 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl

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1973 Levin

DNS Dave McConnell

Can

Surtees TS15 / Hart 1975cc 4cyl

Engine

Fastest lap: G. McRae, 43.3 sec. (Record)

Back to 1973 Series

Round 3 Wigram

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1973 Wigram

1973 Round 3 Wigram

Round Three: WIGRAM

22nd Lady Wigram Trophy

Race winner McRae in the McRae-Chevrolet GM1.

The third round of the Tasman Series was held at Wigram on the 20th January 1973 on another hot day. The circuit had been modified slightly, resulting in faster lap times. The hairpin had been changed into a fast left-hand sweeper, and Hanger Bend became a little tighter. The pits had also been moved and improved. Since Levin, Matich, Noyes, Brown and Posey had fitted new engines to their cars. Cameron and Robertson didn't have that luxury and set about rebuilding their Cosworth engines from scratch. Stewart had rebuilt the severely damaged Lola that hit the dirt bank at Levin. Practice was again no surprise as to who was the fastest. McRae was half a second faster than Stewart. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the time of Evan Noyes, who was running a very new Bartz V8 Chevrolet that had been tuned to perfection. With this he qualified third. At the end of practice, the grid, alternating rows of two, was as follows:- McRae and Stewart, Noyes and Bartlett, Matich and Brown, McCormack and Oxton, Thompson and Posey, Rollinson and Pedersen, Dunlop and Cameron, Radisich and Doyle, Takahara and Robertson, and Heney at the rear. The efforts of Cameron and Robertson to rebuild their Cosworths came to nothing when Cameron blew his again during the race morning practice and Robertson's let go on the race's warm-up lap, both therefore registering as non-starters. The race got underway with Stewart getting the better of the jump and leaving McRae and the others quite a way back. McCormack continued his run of bad luck by spinning at the sweeper and dropping to the back of the field. He rejoined and managed to make up eight places in three laps, but then he experienced gearbox trouble and after eight laps was forced to retire.
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1973 Wigram

Doug Heney in the ex-Lawrence McLaren-Cosworth M4A.

On lap 2 Posey pitted with a rough sounding Chev. He sat in the pits for about seven laps before rejoining. Brown managed to pass Bartlett on lap 7, but this was probably because Bartlett was having problems and he immediately pitted for new plugs. Noyes was still running in third place when his clutch gave way on lap 11. Two laps later Rollinson was also out with an over-heating engine. Brown suddenly found himself in third position. Posey was still had a rough sounding engine and after completing 18 laps he called it a day. After 20 laps Stewart was still leading comfortably and Brown was catching McRae. On lap 21 Brown actually caught McRae unawares and passed him. It took McRae a further seven laps before he could get the position back by out-braking him at Hanger Bend. Meanwhile up the front, on lap 36, Stewart had something come adrift in his Chev and he was forced to coast back to the pits, thereby ending his race. This left McRae in front with a 1.6 sec gap over Brown, who was 37 secs in front of Matich and Thompson.

Garry Pedersen with an unfortunate blow-up 3 laps from home in the Begg-Chev FM4.

Matich had a spin, caused by suspension bothers and a broken rear aerofoil stay, and that put him behind Thompson, while Brown found it difficult to challenge McRae anymore as his throttle was sticking open and closed at varying intervals, and he had also lost third gear. But McRae's run was not perfect, his tyres had gone off and his motor was running warm. They all did manage to maintain their positions to the finish, with Oxton and Dunlop filling the last points scoring positions. The only exception was Pedersen, who unfortunately blew his engine just three laps from home.

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1973 Wigram

Kelvin Cameron's ex-Robertson Brabham-Cosworth BT23C.

McRae now had 21 points, with Brown on 10, Matich and McCormack on 9, Thompson on 8 and Rollinson on 6. 22nd Lady Wigram Trophy Date: 20th January 1973 Venue: Wigram Airfield 47 laps of 3.43kms (161.1kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1 2 3 4 5 6
Ret

Graham McRae Warwick Brown Steve Thompson

Frank Matich David Oxton

NZ
UK Aust NZ NZ

McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

47 47 47 46 46 45 44 43 43 42 41 39 36 18 13 11 8 0 0

52m 33.8s 52m 58.4s

Aust Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 Begg FM5 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Begg FM4 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

53m 24.9s

Dexter Dunlop Garry Pedersen Kevin Bartlett Frank Radisich Neil Doyle Noritake Takahara Doug Heney Max Stewart

NZ
Aust

Engine

7 8 9 10 11
Ret

Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McLaren M10B / Repco 4994cc V8

Begg FM2 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Brabham BT36 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl

NZ NZ Jpn NZ

McLaren M4A / Cosworth 1598cc 4cyl

Aust Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 USA Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8
UK USA Aust NZ NZ McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8

Engine Engine Engine Clutch Gearbox

Engine Engine

Ret Sam Posey Ret Alan Rollinson Ret Evan Noyes Ret John McCormack DNS Baron Robertson DNS Kelvin Cameron

March 722 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl

Brabham BT23C / Cosworth 1791cc 4cyl

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1973 Wigram

Fastest laps: W Brown 1 min 5.7 sec

(Record).

Back to 1973 Series

Round 4 Teretonga

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1973 Teretonga

1973 Round 4 Teretonga

Round Four: TERETONGA

16th Teretonga International

The fourth round of the Tasman Series was held on 28th January 1973 at Teretonga on a very wet and windy day. Practice saw the usual domination by McRae, but not by as much as he had shown in the earlier rounds. Evan Noyes had a very troubled practice, suffering failures with engine, driveshaft and brakes. This led to a hard thump into a dirt bank. Evan was so frustrated by these events that he decided to pull the plug on the series and packed up and went back to the US. After practice, the grid layout, alternating rows of two, was as follows:- McRae and Stewart, Bartlett and Matich, Thompson and Brown, Oxton and Rollinson, Posey and McCormack, the gap where Noyes would have been and Pedersen, Radisich and Dunlop, and Takahara at the rear. As race day dawned there were black clouds in the sky but the rain held off and held off. As the race time neared it still hadn't rained but looked more threatening than ever. Tyre choice was going to have a major impact on the race. Some chose wets, McRae chose to run on grooved slicks. Those who chose to run on dry tyres made the wrong decision for the rain began to fall just before the starter's flag fell. As the field trailed around on the rolling lap the heavens opened but the start was made anyway and it was Stewart who got the jump on McRae once again. Bartlett, Matich, Thompson, Oxton, Posey, McCormack and Brown followed. Posey got by Oxton on the opening lap, but the person making the moves was Thompson in the Chevron. His Firestone wet weather tyres were handling the conditions perfectly. On the first lap he got past Matich and then took Bartlett on the second. On lap three he passed both McRae and Stewart and was six seconds ahead by lap 5. Posey moved into fourth ahead of Bartlett but was 6 secs behind McRae, who was a second down on Stewart. It was not too hard to tell those who were on wets because moving through the field quite well and staying on the track were Pedersen, Takahara, Thompson, Posey, McCormack and Rollinson. On lap 6 Oxton became the first spinner and dropped to the rear of the field. On the next lap Matich did the same, dropping to tenth. On lap 8 Posey took both McRae and Stewart to take second and began chasing Thompson up front. Stewart was all at sea, spinning off, and having to stop for wet weather tyres. McRae was also in trouble, as was Brown, who both spun off the circuit. Despite an on-off misfire, Rollinson was also working his way up the field. Steve Thompson looked to have things all his own way when suddenly his engine stopped on lap 9. His electrics were being affected by all the water. He made it to the pits with a malfunctioning coil. It was replaced and by the time he returned to the track, he was in fourth place. Matich spun again at Castrol, this time ending up in a ditch and terminating his race. Oxton also had another spin two laps later but managed to get going again, as did Stewart. Posey was now 18 secs ahead of McRae, who was struggling to stay on the track. Behind him were Rollinson, Thompson, McCormack, Pedersen, Bartlett, Takahara, Brown, Oxton and Dunlop. On lap 15 Thompson was again suffering from water in the electrics and lost more time while rectifying the problem. Radisich was the next to retire and on lap 20 Pedersen came into the pits with a detached radius arm. This took a while to fix and he was sent back out ten laps later, any chance of a result well gone. Also on lap 20, both Bartlett and Brown had spins and they decided they could not go one with dry tyres, so they headed to the pits for a change. The same happened to McRae on lap 22 and he also changed to wets.

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1973 Teretonga

Heading for the half-way point, the positions were Posey with a 30 second lead over Rollinson, who couldn't make much impression on the leader as he was suffering water in his electrics too, McCormack was next and Takahara, who had been just cruising around staying on the track, found himself in fourth. Posey now had a problem when his left front tyre deflated, so he dashed into the pits for a replacement on lap 30, but his crew didn't have a spare wet tyre to put on, so they had to re-inflate his existing tyre and send him back out. He was now 26 seconds behind Rollinson and started pulling him back in at over two seconds a lap. By lap 54 he was back in front, but with his tyre almost flat again, he had to go back to the pits. This time his crew had managed to procure a new tyre and it was fitted with Posey returning, to be back in second, 30 seconds down. With only about seven laps to go, he did not have enough time to catch Rollinson again. Meanwhile, Stewart had been making steady progress back through the field after changing to wets. When he got up to McCormack, McCormack let him through, believing that he was just unlapping himself after being passed during his spin and pitstop. Rollinson crossed the line first with Posey 26 seconds behind. Stewart was flagged at third, ahead of McCormack, with a very happy Takahara taking his first points scoring position at fifth, and then the unlucky Thompson, who had been the quickest car in the conditions taking sixth. McCormack lodged a protest against Stewart's number of laps, as most believed he had only completed 60 laps, but the protest was dismissed and the positions stood. The series points now stood at 21 for McRae, Rollinson on 15, McCormack 12, Brown 10, Matich and Thompson 9 each. 16th Teretonga International Date: 28th January 1973 Venue: Teretonga Park 62 laps of 2.575kms (159.65kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NC

Alan Rollinson Sam Posey Max Stewart John McCormack Noritake Takahara Steve Thompson Warwick Brown Kevin Bartlett
David Oxton

UK

McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

62 62 61 61 60
58

73m 43.7s 74m 10.2s

USA Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Aust Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8
Aust Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 Brabham BT36 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl

Jpn
UK Aust NZ

Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Begg FM5 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Begg FM4 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Aust Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

57 56

Graham McRae Dexter Dunlop Garry Pedersen

NZ
NZ

NZ NZ
Aust USA

36 19 9 0 Accident

Ret Frank Radisich Ret Frank Matich DNS Evan Noyes

McLaren M10B / Repco 4994cc V8

Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

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1973 Teretonga

Fastest lap: M Stewart, 64.1 sec.

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Rounds 5 - 8 Australia

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

1973 Rounds 5-8 Australia

Round Five: SURFER'S PARADISE

Matich and Walker lead the opening lap.

After the fast and furious four rounds in New Zealand, the teams then made the long trek across the Tasman to Australia and north to Surfers Paradise. The already overworked crews are at their busiest during and after this hop and Frank Matich was hoping to be able to take advantage of this fact to be able to step into a brand new Matich A51 at the circuit. Unfortunately the car was not ready in time and Matich was little better off than the rest. Lawrence's Surtees had finally arrived from England and had been assembled for this meeting, but Oxton and some of the other New Zealanders had abandoned the series. Noyes and McConnell, had also disappeared from the scene, but there were some Australians to take their place. Johnnie Walker in the Matich A50 Repco, Garrie Cooper's Elfin MR5 Repco and Gary Campbell's Lola T330 Chevrolet. Matich seems to have a dramatic recovery when he returns to Australian soil and this year was no different. He dominated practice, then led the race from start to finish. McRae had missed a gear at the start and was back in the midst of a spectacular battle for second involving Walker, Stewart, McCormack and Bartlett. McCormack had to pit for a check after having been off the circuit. Campbell and Rollinson both went out with overheating in the hot Queensland sun. McRae battled to the head of his group to take second, ahead of Walker, Bartlett, Stewart, Posey and Thompson. Bartlett then stopped with a puncture, giving Stewart the clear run he needed to catch and pass Walker, while Thompson stopped out on the circuit with overheating problems. Behind Matich, the victor, came McRae, Stewart, Walker, Posey and McCormack. The meeting had been marred by the near-disastrous crash of Warwick Brown when a tyre on his Lola suddenly deflated on a warm up lap just before the race. The bouncing and rolling Lola destroyed itself at some 120mph, but Brown was fortunate enough to survive with broken legs and other less serious injuries.

Cooper having an off in the Elfin-Repco.

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

Lawrence makes a return in the Surtees TS15.

Date: 4th February 1973 Venue: Surfers Paradise 50 laps of 3.21kms (160.5kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Frank Matich

Aust

Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

50 50 50 50 50 49 47 47 47 46 42 22
22 10

58m 19.9s

Graham McRae Max Stewart Johnnie Walker Sam Posey John McCormack Graeme Lawrence Noritake Takahara Dexter Dunlop Kevin Bartlett

NZ

Aust Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Aust Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 USA Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8
Aust Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8

NZ Jpn
NZ Aust UK UK Aust Aust

Surtees TS15 / Hart 1927cc 4cyl

Brabham BT36 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Ret Steve Thompson Ret Alan Rollinson

Ret Ret Garrie Cooper Gary Campbell

Overheating Overheating
Overheating

DNS Warwick Brown

Aust Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Accident

Fastest Lap: F Matich, 1m 08.0s

Round Six: WARWICK FARM

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

Steve Thompson celebrates his win.

After Surfers, McRae had 27 Tasman points to Matich's 18 and most people felt that Matich would take his usual Warwick Farm win and close the gap, perhaps equal McRae if the Champ didn't finish, but it was not to be. Once again it was the rain which upset the calculations, and once again it was Steve Thompson, his Chevron, and his Firestone tyres which stood out. Thompson was quickest on the wet practice day and just walked away with the race with a minimum of fuss. Walker and Stewart were fighting out second in the opening laps, followed by McRae, Posey and Matich, in a position most unfamiliar to him on his home circuit. Just past one-third distance Stewart spun in the Esses in his efforts to get past Walker, while Matich meanwhile had found his wet weather feet and passed first Posey then a few laps later McRae as well. His team-mate Walker let him through to second when the time came, then applied himself to covering 'the boss' from the rear. He was mainly intent in keeping McRae as far down the list as possible to give Matich a chance to gain on series points.

Walker leads Stewart down the back straight.

He tried damned hard too, but McRae was not giving in. As Thompson lapped Max Stewart and charged under the chequered flag for his first Tasman win, with Matich 90 secs in arrears, McRae was attacking Walker down the far end of the track. The two went into Creek Corner too fast and spun in unison. Stewart on his slow down lap could have passed them, but it would have done him no good, as he had already been flagged off. McRae out fumbled Walker in the race to get back onto the circuit and reached the finish in third place, with Walker fourth, Stewart a lap down in fifth, then McCormack took sixth in a desperate last post battle with Posey that saw them both slide off the circuit after the finish line, tangled together. Once again McRae had retained his lead by a handy margin. The score now read McRae 31, Matich 24, Thompson 18, Rollinson 15 and McCormack 14.

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

Steve Thompson has a wet win in the Chevron-Chevrolet B24.

Date: 11th February 1973 Venue: Warwick Farm 45 laps of 3.62kms (162.9kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1
2

Steve Thompson
Frank Matich

UK Aust

Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

45 45 45 45 44 44 44 42 41
41

1hr 14m 35.0s

3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10

Graham McRae Johnnie Walker Max Stewart John McCormack Sam Posey Kevin Bartlett Graeme Lawrence
Tony Stewart

NZ

Aust Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 Aust Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8
Aust Aust Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Surtees TS15 / Hart 1927cc 4cyl Dolphin England McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

USA Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 NZ

Aust NZ UK Aust Aust

11 12

Dexter Dunlop Errol Richardson

Garrie Cooper

40 40 31 Battery
Accident

Aust Wortmeyer SCV / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Ret Alan Rollinson

DNS Gary Campbell

Fastest Lap: Steve Thompson 1m 37.5s

Round Seven: SANDOWN

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

Matich leads on opening lap with McRae coming on the inside.

The penultimate round at Sandown Park in Victoria proved to be the clincher for McRae. Matich and McCormack put on a brilliant display to lead from McRae with Stewart fourth, Rollinson fifth, then Walker and Bartlett, but it was not to last. Matich had a leaking radiator which spilled glycol-water mixture under his rear wheels and made the car difficult to drive. McCormack had already succumbed to McRae's onslaught and the crowd were treated to an all-to-brief dust up between Matich and McRae, before Matich had the first of four spins that were to put him out of contention for a major place.

McCormack's Elfin MR5 leads Max Stewart's Lola T330 and Frank Matich's Matich-Repco A50.

McCormack drove with great verve but was unable to hold McRae and was 30 seconds off the pace at the finish but in a well earned second. Stewart came through to third, while Matich managed to stay as high as fourth, backed up by Walker in fifth, then Sam Posey in sixth ahead of Thompson.

Rollinson leads Cooper, Walker, Thompson and Bartlett.

Date: 18th February 1973 Venue: Sandown 52 laps of 3.1kms (161.2kms)

Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1 2 3 4

Graham McRae John McCormack Max Stewart

Frank Matich

NZ
Aust Aust

McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8

52 52 52 52

55m 32.3s

Aust Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

5 6 7 8 9
Ret

Johnnie Walker Sam Posey Steve Thompson Graeme Lawrence Dexter Dunlop
Stan Keen

Aust Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 USA Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8
UK Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Surtees TS15 / Hart 1927cc 4cyl McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

51 51 51 49 48
38

NZ
NZ Aust Aust UK Aust Aust

Ret Kevin Bartlett Ret Alan Rollinson

Ret Ret Garrie Cooper Bob Muir

27 9
4 1

Fastest Lap: Frank Matich 1m 02.6s

Round Eight: Adelaide Raceway The final race at Adelaide International Raceway was almost a complete reversal of the recent races. In fact the wheel had almost turned full circle and the series ended as it had started, with the favourites retiring and the outsiders coming to the fore. John McCormack scored another popular win, this time in front of a crowd from the city that had fathered the car he drove. McRae had ended the series on an ignominious note when he burnt out his clutch almost before he had left the line. Matich on the other hand led for more than three-quarters of the race only to have his fuel pressure drop and he had to pit for fuel. The car then proved reluctant to restart. Trying to make up the leeway from the fifth place to which he had dropped, Matich slid off the circuit just before the short back straight and damaged his suspension in the ditch. Posey had already gone out with a spectacular blow-up and Rollinson had been given the signal to close in on the new leader McCormack. It was almost like a repeat of round one for those who were unable to make it, but McCormack kept cool and held a seven-tenths of a second lead to the flag. Thompson was third, Stewart, who had earlier stopped with the gearbox jammed in fourth, placed fourth, followed by Bob Muir in the McLaren, while the Elfin MR5's of Garrie Cooper and Stan Keen, Repco and Ford powered respectively, took sixth and seventh placings.

The start of the race at Adelaide.

Date: 25th February 1973 Venue: Adelaide Raceway 71 laps of 2.41kms (171.11kms)
Result Driver Nat Car Laps Time

1 2 3

John McCormack Alan Rollinson Steve Thompson

Aust UK UK

Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Chevron B24 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

71 71 69

1hr 1m 6.9s

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1973 Australia Tasman Races

4 5
6

Max Stewart Bob Muir

Garrie Cooper

Aust Aust
Aust

Lola T330 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

69 68
68

McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

Elfin MR5 / Repco 4994cc V8 Elfin MR5 / Cosworth 1790cc 4cyl Surtees TS15 / Hart 1927cc 4cyl Lola T300 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 Surtees TS11 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8 Dolphin England Matich A50 / Repco 4994cc V8 McRae GM1 / Chevrolet 4995cc V8

7 8 9

Stan Keen Graeme Lawrence Kevin Bartlett

Aust NZ
Aust Aust

68 66 60 58 42 8
7

Ret Frank Matich Ret Sam Posey Ret Dexter Dunlop

Ret Tony Stewart

Suspension

USA
NZ Aust

Ret Johnnie Walker Ret Graham McRae

Aust NZ

6 0 Clutch

Return to 1973 Series

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