Need info about the Formula 5000 series
Robert Kacsich
In the 1970s I was too young to follow all the various racing
series, so now I want to learn more about them. I have a few
questions about the Formula 5000 series:
* I know that there was a North American F5000 championship,
and also a British championship. Was there also a European
championship, or even a World Championship?
* When was the last race held for each of the series?
* What type of cars were used? I believe that they were using
single-seaters with 5-litre engines. I also know that in the
British series some (or all?) drivers were using one or
two-year-old F-1 cars, equipped with 5-litre engines. BTW,
at the 1976 Brands Hatch F-1 GP two drivers tried (but failed)
to qualify with such cars, using F-1 compliant engines:
Divina Galica (Surtees TS 16/04) and Mike Wilds (Shadow DN 3B/5).
* Were most of the cars in the British F5000 series F-1 cars
with 5-litre engines?
* Were such F-1 cars also used in the North American F5000
series? If so, have they been successful?
* Divina Galica was quite successful in the British series. Did
she ever win a race there?
* In 1990 I watched on Eurosport a programme called "Wheels".
It showed a F5000 race at Brands Hatch in 1977, I think in
July. There was a big crash at the end of the first lap at
Clearways, and the commentator of that programme said it was
David Purley, who had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance.
I first mistook this for Purley's Silverstone F-1 crash, but it
was definitely Brands Hatch. If you still have the Autosport
copies of that year, could you please take a look there and
tell me if the driver was really David Purley and what injuries
he sustained. If it was Purley, then it would be remarkable
that he had two very bad accidents within a few weeks' time.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Let me know if there is
web page dealing with the F5000 series.
As a final note, I would like to add that in 1976 a F5000 race
was held at Long Beach, as a practice round for the organizers
of the F1 GP, and many of the F-1 stars competed in that race
to "learn the track".
Robert Kacsich
Vienna University of Technology, Austria
e912...@stud1.tuwien.ac.at http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9125767
Casey Annis
In article <559saf$f...@news.tuwien.ac.at> e912...@stud1.tuwien.ac.at (Robert Kacsich) writes:
>From: e912...@stud1.tuwien.ac.at (Robert Kacsich)
>Subject: Need info about the Formula 5000 series
>Date: 31 Oct 1996 09:42:39 GMT
F5000 was a stand alone series based predominantly in the US and Britain
although similar series were run in Australia and New Zeland.
The cars were purpose built formula cars similar in design to F1 cars of the
era, but were not (For the most part) re-engined f1 cars. Cars such as the
lola T-332, 140, and 400 competed against Gurney eagles, Chevron B-24's &
B-28's, Shadows, Surtees, McRae's, Talon's, etc.
The formula as it stood in the US, was very similar to the F1 formula of the
time in terms of wheelbase, wings, etc. with the exception that the cars ran
on fuel-injected, small block (302) chevy V-8's (For the most part, some cars
ran with little success with the ford and Buick/Rover V8's).
I believe the series got it's start in the US in the late 60's as Formula
continental or FA in SCCA. Starting with tube frame cars with the small block
V8 and weber downdraft carbs. As the years progressed FA/ F5000 became the
premier formula car class in the US. By the mid to late 70's, F5000 cars were
often times much faster than F1 cars due to similar chassis technology but
larger displacement engines with far superior torque. In fact, during this
period there was a match race at , Ibelieve, Brands Hatch each year known as
the Race of Champions, which pitted F5000 cars against F1's (The only time
these series ever competed against each other, although the F5000 participants
were predominantly English F5000 Racers). One year, Ican't remember which one,
this race was one quite handily by Peter Gethin in a Chevron B-24 F5000 car.
As far as the Long Beach Grand Prix goes, the innaugrual LBGP (which
incidently was the first auto race I ever attended as a child, and started me
on this insane pursuit of cars and speed!!!) was a F5000 feature race. While
several of thedrivers either had experience in F1 or would go on to compete in
F1 it was solely a F5000 race. That year, 1975/76 turned out to be the high
water mark for F5000 in the US, it saw the largest most competitive fields
ever seen in American open wheel road racing up to that time. That innuagrual
LBGP was won by Brian Redman in a Lola T-332 sponsored by Boraxo soap. The
following year the LBGP hosted it's first F1 race. And as they say, the rest
is history.
Casey Annis
A J Samuels
In article <559saf$f...@news.tuwien.ac.at>, Robert Kacsich (e912...@stud1.tuwien.ac.at) writes:
>In the 1970s I was too young to follow all the various racing
>series, so now I want to learn more about them. I have a few
>questions about the Formula 5000 series:
>
>* I know that there was a North American F5000 championship,
>and also a British championship. Was there also a European
>championship, or even a World Championship?
I believe there was a separate European championship in the early
70's. There was never a world championship.
>
>* When was the last race held for each of the series?
Not sure about the European one but I think it died out in about
'74. The British championship lasted until the end of '75, after
which F1, F2 and Atlantic cars were allowed in to boost the grids.
In this form it was known as the 'Shellsport Group 8 Championship
which lasted through 1976 and 77. This was then replaced by the
British F1 championship in 1978, which admitted F1 and F2 cars
only.
>
>* What type of cars were used? I believe that they were using
>single-seaters with 5-litre engines. I also know that in the
>British series some (or all?) drivers were using one or
>two-year-old F-1 cars, equipped with 5-litre engines. BTW,
>at the 1976 Brands Hatch F-1 GP two drivers tried (but failed)
>to qualify with such cars, using F-1 compliant engines:
>Divina Galica (Surtees TS 16/04) and Mike Wilds (Shadow DN 3B/5).
>* Were most of the cars in the British F5000 series F-1 cars
> with 5-litre engines?
The F5000 cars were pretty much all purpose-built, although the
March ones were heavily based on their F1 cars of the time. As
well as the American 5 litre V8's, the Cosworth 3.4 litre GA V6 was
eligible and was used quite extensively in the British series. As
noted above, F1 cars/engines were allowed in from '76 onwards.
>* Were such F-1 cars also used in the North American F5000
> series?
Not as far as I know.
If so, have they been successful?
>
>* Divina Galica was quite successful in the British series. Did
>she ever win a race there?
Don't think so, but she came close a few times in '77.
>
>* In 1990 I watched on Eurosport a programme called "Wheels".
>It showed a F5000 race at Brands Hatch in 1977, I think in
>July. There was a big crash at the end of the first lap at
>Clearways, and the commentator of that programme said it was
>David Purley, who had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance.
>I first mistook this for Purley's Silverstone F-1 crash, but it
>was definitely Brands Hatch. If you still have the Autosport
>copies of that year, could you please take a look there and
>tell me if the driver was really David Purley and what injuries
>he sustained. If it was Purley, then it would be remarkable
>that he had two very bad accidents within a few weeks' time.
I don't recall this at all. Certainly Purley wasn't racing in the
'77 championship, after winning in '76 he concentrated solely on
his F1 team the following year.
>
>
>Any help will be greatly appreciated. Let me know if there is
>web page dealing with the F5000 series.
>
>As a final note, I would like to add that in 1976 a F5000 race
>was held at Long Beach, as a practice round for the organizers
>of the F1 GP, and many of the F-1 stars competed in that race
>to "learn the track".
Actually this race was held towards the end of '75, I think.
AJ
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Peter G. Olivola
In article <cannis.64...@smtplink.coh.org>,
Casey Annis <can...@smtplink.coh.org> wrote:
>
>I believe the series got it's start in the US in the late 60's as Formula
>continental or FA in SCCA. Starting with tube frame cars with the small block
>V8 and weber downdraft carbs. As the years progressed FA/ F5000 became the
>premier formula car class in the US. By the mid to late 70's, F5000 cars were
>often times much faster than F1 cars due to similar chassis technology but
>larger displacement engines with far superior torque. In fact, during this
>period there was a match race at , Ibelieve, Brands Hatch each year known as
>the Race of Champions, which pitted F5000 cars against F1's (The only time
>these series ever competed against each other, although the F5000 participants
>were predominantly English F5000 Racers). One year, Ican't remember which one,
>this race was one quite handily by Peter Gethin in a Chevron B-24 F5000 car.
Not quite.
You've forgotten the Questor GP held on the road course at Ontario Motor
Speedway and won by Jackie Stewart. The fastest F5000 car was Mark Donohue
but he wasn't very close. Mario Andretti in a F1 moved up from the back to
finish quite high, but I don't remember the details well enough. There is
an interesting anomaly surrounding this event. The last turn, exiting the
infield onto the oval produced several different lines, but only one was the
fastest. Theory said it shouldn't be, but Jackie Stewart figured it out
first.
--
oliv...@netcom.com (Peter Olivola)
John Napper
This is largely from memory, so apologies in advance for any errors
(which I'm sure will be picked up by somebody).
In 1968, 2 new single seater formulae started in the USA, Formula A
and Formula B. I'm not sure which organisation was responsible but
both series were strictly road circuits, no ovals. In 1969, Formula A
was imported to Europe where it was renamed Formula 5000. Formula B
later followed and was renamed Formula Atlantic. Eventually the
european names were used worldwide.
F5000 cars were similar to F1s but powered by 5 litre stock-block
V8 engines, usually Chevrolet. Some people tried Ford engines and
there was at least on car running an enlarged Rover (ex Buick) V8
but I believe Chevrolets were the only engines that ever won any races.
The first cars announced were from Lola, Surtees (the TS5 was the
first Surtees car to actually bear his name) and Cooper. This was the
final Cooper design and was not a success.
When the European series started, McLaren joined in with a semi-works
M10 (derived from the M7 F1 car) for Peter Gethin which dominated the
championship and many customer cars were raced in following years.
Lotus produced their first wedge-shaped non-turbine car, the 70
with a rear mounted radiator which suffered from overheating and was
subsequently altered to a front radiator with little race success (I
don't think the Ford engine helped either).
Round about 1970 the Tasman series changed to F5000 rules and the
dominant chassis were the locally built McRae and Elfin cars. Graham
McRae moved to Britain and took over Len Terry's Leda company to
build his F5000 cars which sold very well and were very competitive.
There was no British series but the European F5000 championship included
a large number of British races. F5000 was more popular here than
in mainland Europe which preferred Formula 2.
Lola supplied cars throughout the history of F5000 and often produced
the top car. Chevron also did quite well and Trojan had a brief spell
of competitivity in 1973.
Throughout the history of European F5000, there were a number of
Non-championship F1 races where depleted fields were made up by F5000
cars. The 1973 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch has a place in history
as the only F1 race to be won by a F5000 car (Peter Gethin's Chevron)
which inherited the lead after most of the F1s retired. James Hunt
came second having his (and Hesketh's) first ever F1 race in a Surtees
TS9B F1 car.
F5000 died off in Europe after David Purley totally dominated the 1976
championship in a Formula 2 March fitted with a Cosworth modified Ford
V6 (Essex block) of 3.4 litres. F5000s were necessarily big and heavy
so the much lighter March had better acceleration off the line and far
superior cornering ability and ran rings round the opposition.
Unfortunately this led to a decline in interest as the propper F5000s
were no longer competitive. The series was then replaced by a British
championship called Group 8 (by now the F5000 series was European in
name only as the overseas races gradually dropped off the calendar -
curiously there were one or two British Group 8 races in mainland
Europe). This started in 1977 and involved F5000 and
old F1 cars as you mentioned. Group 8 lasted 2 or 3 years before
giving way to the British F1 championship (the Aurora series) which
lasteduntil the early 80's before dieing from lack of support.
The race you saw on Eurosport must have been a Group 8 round and the
accident sounds like the one which killed Brian McGuire on 29 August
1977 at Brands Hatch. Perhaps the commentator was comparing it with
Purley's F1 accident the previous month.
Davina Galica achieved her personal moment of glory when she became
the only woman to win an F1 race at Thruxton in a very wet race in
1978 or 1979. I think the car was a Surtees TS14 but I may well be
wrong on this.
The US F5000 championship was replaced in 1977 by a revival of the
Can-Am series, this time for F5000 cars fitted with full-width sports
car bodywork (but still single seaters). This continued until 1986
when there were only 4 rounds although I suspect entries may have been
dropping for some time as the 1983 Elkhart Lake race was won by
John Fitzpatrick in a Porsche 956.
I don't know how long the Tasman series lasted but I belive it just
faded away round about the end of the '70s.
I will see if I can find out more over the weekend.
John Napper
Pete Fenelon
Robert Kacsich (e912...@stud1.tuwien.ac.at) wrote:
: In the 1970s I was too young to follow all the various racing
: series, so now I want to learn more about them. I have a few
: questions about the Formula 5000 series:
: * I know that there was a North American F5000 championship,
: and also a British championship. Was there also a European
: championship, or even a World Championship?
Yes, there was a UK-based European championship.
: * When was the last race held for each of the series?
In the UK and USA, F5000 finished in about '75. Can-Am was revived in the
USA based around F5000-style cars with enclosed-wheel bodies. The Tasman
series in Australia and New Zealand was run to F5000 rules until 1980.
: * What type of cars were used? I believe that they were using
: single-seaters with 5-litre engines. I also know that in the
: British series some (or all?) drivers were using one or
: two-year-old F-1 cars, equipped with 5-litre engines. BTW,
: at the 1976 Brands Hatch F-1 GP two drivers tried (but failed)
: to qualify with such cars, using F-1 compliant engines:
: Divina Galica (Surtees TS 16/04) and Mike Wilds (Shadow DN 3B/5).
Nope. Not so; these were F1 cars which ran in the Shellsport "Group 8"
British F1/F5000 series. F1s and F5000s competed together only in some
non-championship races -- one in Spain in the late 60s and a few in Britain
in the early 70s.
F1 cars which were converted to F5000 included the works McLaren M19s,
which were converted by a number of privateers (somewhere there's a photo
of a very young me in the cockpit of one of them! -- like, I was about 7!)
Other notable F5000 cars:
McLaren M10, M18 and M22 -- basically similar to the M7/M14 F1 cars.
M25 was an abandoned M23-alike.
Surtees built a number of F5000s including the TS5 (derived from the Leda)
There were a number of Pallisers and McRaes...
John Cannon had an F2 March 722 converted to take an Olds F85-based engine
(occasionally termed a Leyland 'cos it formed the basis of the Rover V8 --
as well as the Repco :)) March later built a number of cars based on their
F1 chassis to run the Cosworth GA V6...
There were a number of Chevrons, including the B24, which beat an F1 field
at the Race of Champions in the hands of Peter Gethin -- the B24 was a
favourite car of mine when I was a kid, the B30 and the B37.
Lotus built an unsuccessful F1 car (the 70).
Lola built some of the true classics, especially the T330 series...
There were a number of Eagles, at least one Shadow and various other
American cars...
In addition, Cooper built a few unraced cars just before they closed down
and some F1 Coopers were converted.
Oh, and there were a number of Australian cars like the Mildren, the Elfin
and a few others.
: * Were most of the cars in the British F5000 series F-1 cars
: with 5-litre engines?
No. Most of them were proper F5000 chassis. The US Formula A series used to
allow five-litre stockblocks OR 3 litre racing engines; Skip Barber (who now
owns the successful racing school) bought a March 711-DFV for precisely this
purpose.
Later in the life of the formula, rules were relaxed slightly to allow
smaller-capacity DOHC engines in; a lot of cars in the British series later
started using the 3.4 litre Cosworth GA V6.
: * Were such F-1 cars also used in the North American F5000
: series? If so, have they been successful?
: * Divina Galica was quite successful in the British series. Did
: she ever win a race there?
: Any help will be greatly appreciated. Let me know if there is
: web page dealing with the F5000 series.
No, I must create one. It was a favourite formula of mine.
pete
--
Pete Fenelon, 39 Broadway, Fulford, York, YO1 4JP, UK Tel.: +44 1904 670334
pete.f...@zetnet.co.uk "I could tell you, but only at consultancy rates"
Roger Virgo
pete.f...@zetnet.co.uk (Pete Fenelon) writes:
>Robert Kacsich (e912...@stud1.tuwien.ac.at) wrote:
>In the UK and USA, F5000 finished in about '75. Can-Am was revived in the
>USA based around F5000-style cars with enclosed-wheel bodies. The Tasman
>series in Australia and New Zealand was run to F5000 rules until 1980.
Australia not only ran the Tasman series but also their premier domestic open
wheel series the 'Gold Star' to F5000 rules prior to adopting formula Pacific.
>F1 cars which were converted to F5000 included the works McLaren M19s,
>which were converted by a number of privateers (somewhere there's a photo
>of a very young me in the cockpit of one of them! -- like, I was about 7!)
In Australia Kevin Bartlett ran a F1 Brabham, BT34 I think.
John McCormack won the Gold Star driving a F1 McLaren M23 (again I'm not 100%
sure of the M number) with a 5 litre Leyland P76 engine. For those who missed
the Leyland P76, it was designed by Leyland to compete head on with the 6cyl
and V8 offerings from local manufacturers Ford, GMH and Chrysler. It failed
miserably, although it contained some notable features such as an aluminium
block for the V8. It was this car that forced the closure of Leyland in
Australia.
>Other notable F5000 cars:
>There were a number of Pallisers and McRaes...
Another downunder car from NZ was the Begg series of chassis's.
>Lola built some of the true classics, especially the T330 series...
I remember a lot of Aussies being really disappointed with the new T440? and
reverting back to the earlier T330's.
>There were a number of Eagles, at least one Shadow and various other
>American cars...
I remember seeing a documentry with James Garner and an American driver called
Scooter something or other. They teamed togther to run a F5000 in North America
some of the footage showed some colossal accident involving half the field in
one race, unfortunatly I do not know where or when.
>Oh, and there were a number of Australian cars like the Mildren, the Elfin
>and a few others.
Frank Matich built a series of successful Matich F5000 race cars.
>Later in the life of the formula, rules were relaxed slightly to allow
>smaller-capacity DOHC engines in; a lot of cars in the British series later
>started using the 3.4 litre Cosworth GA V6.
I think Alan Jones showed some of his future promise in this series with a
March 3.4 litre Cosworth?
Maybe I should dig out some of those old programs...
Roger and out...
--
Roger Virgo Information Systems Division
Email: r...@BarwonWater.Vic.Gov.Au Barwon Water
Phone: +61 52 262597 61-67 Ryrie St Geelong
Fax: +61 52 218236 Victoria 3220 Australia
Pete Fenelon
Roger Virgo (r...@barwonwater.vic.gov.au) wrote:
: John McCormack won the Gold Star driving a F1 McLaren M23 (again I'm not 100%
: sure of the M number) with a 5 litre Leyland P76 engine. For those who missed
: the Leyland P76, it was designed by Leyland to compete head on with the 6cyl
: and V8 offerings from local manufacturers Ford, GMH and Chrysler. It failed
: miserably, although it contained some notable features such as an aluminium
: block for the V8. It was this car that forced the closure of Leyland in
: Australia.
The P76 engine is actually basically the Olds F85/Repco/Rover V8 block
stretched a little more ;)
: I think Alan Jones showed some of his future promise in this series with a
: March 3.4 litre Cosworth?
He did -- March 76A-GA, sponsored by Thursday's nightclub. Chris Cramer ran
a very similar car in the RAC Hillclimb championship (where a *LOT* of F5000
kit ended up).
John Napper
There doesn't seem to be too much documentation on F5000 but I have
found quite a good article in a 1972 vintage race programme which I
shall attempt to precis for you.
It seems that Formula A in the USA was originally for 3 litre racing
engines (well that's what it says here but I've no idea what engines
or cars were used or when it started, there can't have been much in
the way of ex-F1 cars available then) but in 1968 the SCCA also admitted
5 litre pushrod production engines of which at least 5000 had been
manufactured in a year (no problem in the states!). Chassis were built
by Eagle and Lola whose T140 (it says here) was, in effect, a single
seater T70.
John Webb of Motor Circuit Developments (now known as Brands Hatch
Leisure) and Nick Syrett of the BRSCC were looking for a big-power
formula to help train drivers for F1 and adapted Formula A for Britain
in 1969 under the new name of F5000. It differed from Formula A in not
allowing 4WD or 3 litre racing engines. To guarantee sizeable fields
2 litre F2 cars were initially allowed to make up the numbers and
8 races were announced. The formula quickly took off and the series
expanded to 12 rounds with one race each in Ireland, Belgium, Holland
and Germany. This, now European, championship was sponsored by Carreras
cigarettes under there Guards brand. Cars used in Europe in 1969 were
the Lola T142, McLaren M10A, Surtees TS5 (actually designed by Len Terry
of Leda) and the Cooper T90 of which only 2 were built.
Various engines were eligable but only the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 power
unit ever won anything. Initially, most were imported from Traco or
Bartz but Vegantune built some here and Alan Smith later produced his
own race winning versions after initially looking after the imported
units.
The chjampionship was won by Peter Gethin who won 4 races in his semi
works McLaren. Trevor Taylor was second, also winning 4 race in his
works Surtees (modified by big John as the season progressed) and Mike
Hailwood was third with one win in his semi works Lola. There was also
a non-championship race at Jarama won by Keith Holland's Lola.
Also competing were ex-F1 cars with 5 litre engines, 2 Lotus 43s and
a BRM P83. This article also mentions an ex-hillclimb car, the 4.5 litre
Hepworth-Oldsmobile which was 4WD (As the same article earlier said
this feature was banned I am puzzled by this).
For 1970 there were 20 races in Britain, Belgium, Holland, Ireland,
Italy, Sweden, Austria and Germany. Lola had a new car, the T190
while the Mclaren and Surtees cars were updated. They were joined by the
Lotus 70 and LedaLT20.
For 1970 fuel injection was banned as were new 4WD cars (the original
statement must have been wrong on this subject). Ford engines from the
Boss 302 Mustang appeared but were a disaster although this unit won
some races in the states. Gethin won the title with 8 wins from
13 starts in his M10B which earned him a works McLaren F1 drive which
is why he failed to complete the season. His place was taken by Reine
Wisell who won 3 races before being signed for the Lotus F1 team
following Rindt's death. Howden Ganley finished second in the
championship with a string of good finishes in his M10B. This was
clearly the car to have and Mike Walker won 2 races in his and Graham
McRae's M10B took 1 win. Frank Gardner made major revisions to the Lola
T190 suspension and incraesed the wheelbase from 88" to 97.5" which
turned the car into a winner late in the season, good enough for third
in the championship. He won one race and
Hailwood won 2 more in his Lola. Surtees only win fell to Trevor Taylor.
In 1971 there were 17 races, still sponsored by Carreras but now under
the Rothmans brand. Hailwood was now driving a works Surtees TS8
(derived from the TS7 F1 car which was all Surtees own work). Gardner
started the year with the Lola T192 which was later replaced by the
all-new T300, a side radiator wedge which set the style for all
following F5000 Lolas and was based on the F2 T240 monocoque.
Gardner won 3 races in each of the Lola designs to take the title.
Hailwood managed 4 wins for second and Mike Walker took third in his
Lola T192 despite no race wins. Graham McRae ran a much modified M10B
to take 3 wins. He had been expected to race a new McLaren M18 but this
was late appearing. Brian Redman won 1 race in his M10B and Alan
Rollinson won 1 in a Surtees TS8. Tony Dean campaigned a 5 litre engined
ex-F1 McLaren M7A with little success. Trevor Taylor drove the works
Leda LT25.
Around this time, a chap named Tony Kitchener built a one-off F5000
car which was both ugly and uncompetitive (and not mentioned in this
article). For 1972 he heavily modified a McLaren M10A which he called
the Kitchmac but was no more succesful despite the talents of Keith
Holland.
Graham McRae took over Leda and the new car was known as the
Leda LT27/McRae GM1 jointly designed by McRae and Terry, this proved
very effective and he won races in Europe as well as taking the F5000
title in the USA and the Tasman championship down-under (He also won
this title in 1971 in a McLaren and 1973 in a McRae). McLaren, Surtees,
Lola and new boys Chevron all won races in 1972. The works Surtees TS11
driven by Gijs van Lennep was a side radiator car derived from the TS9B
F1 car. Also new for 1972 was the March 725, basically an F2 car fitted
with a Rover V8. Teddy Pilette was driving a McLaren M22 which I think
formed the basis of the 1973 Trojan. Trojan (formerly Elva) built all
the McLaren customer F5000 and CanAm cars and marketed F5000s under
their own name when McLaren decided to quit the formula at the end of
1972.
As this programme is from August 1972 I can go no further, except to
add that in my previous post I said David Purley drove a 3.4 litre V6
March in the 1976 F5000 series. In fact this should have been a Chevron
and 1975. Thesimilarly engined March of 1975 was driven by Alan Jones.
It appeared late in the season and totally dominated. It was 1976 that
Group 8 (combined F5000 and year-old F1) came in and Purley won that
title in his Chevron. Group 8 lasted 2 years before becoming the
British F1 as I mentioned earlier.
That should do for now. I will try to find out a bit more on 1972-5
and the overseas championships and post further if neccesary but other
contributors seem to have got the US and Antipodean series quite well
covered already.
John Napper