38 replies to this topic

[richie]

The late Raymond Baxter commentated on the race for the BBC in 1972.

Can the film still be sourced?

[Barry Boor]

Probably one of the many items that Gary C was told had been thoughtlessly hurled into a skip many years ago....

[David M. Kane]

What a great concept that race was. Hmm...what a great concept for a race...you know what I mean.

[richie]

Who is Gary C?

[Gary C]

how rude!!! LOL

[john aston]

A skip probably the best place for the 50,000 tape.I was there and exciting it wasn't - I seem to remember it went on for bloody hours and ..err.. not much else really.Attended GP same season same circuit and recall wonderful race though.

[Barry Boor]

Ah yes, John. The two races that the Connew should've but didn't!

[Gary C]

I still know someone who has access to the BBC archive, I'll ask him to check again for footage of this race.

[richie]

Sorry to offend Gary.

Look forward to hearing some news from the archives.

[drivers71]

I've just dug out my old photos from the Rothmans £50,000 at Brands Hatch 1972 (and scanned some for the Paddock/Track photos threads) and must agree with John that it was a huge anti-climax. What was a great idea on paper turned out to be a real dogs dinner of an event, with poor support from the F1 teams; though there were some pretty good performances by a few F2, F5000 and sports cars. The spectacle was summed up, for me, by the celebrity tractor race (I think for the first 10 drivers on the grid?). One lap of what was then the 'Club' circuit, which was interminable! I seem to remember Jody Scheckter cheated by taking a severe inside grass line through Clearways, to win?
The most memorable moment of the weekend by far, for my wife and I, was checking-out of our weekend hotel (which had also hosted two of the major 'teams') and being told there was no charge!
(Hope enough time has elapsed since then, to avoid any proceedings)

[Ruairidh]

Does anyone have any pictures of the Green/Yellow color scheme that the Lotus 72 turned up in?

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by Ruairidh
Does anyone have any pictures of the Green/Yellow color scheme that the Lotus 72 turned up in?

Pardon? It ran in normal JPS livery, despite the Rothmans title sponsorship. BRM ran in Marlboro colours too.

Looking at the colour section in Motor Sport, the only green and yellow car visible is David Prophet's old M10B.

[Ruairidh]

Originally posted by Vitesse2

Pardon? It ran in normal JPS livery, despite the Rothmans title sponsorship. BRM ran in Marlboro colours too.

Looking at the colour section in Motor Sport, the only green and yellow car visible is David Prophet's old M10B.

Agreed it ran in normal JPS livery in practice and in the race.

But my understanding is that it turned up in a green/yellow paint scheme of a Brazilian coffee sponsor. It was also entered by Worldwide Racing as a Lotus 72 IIRC and only changed color and had the entry renamed a John Player Special the day before practice. I'm not sure of why - probably because the Rothmans race was outside the terms of the Lotus-John Player deal and Chunky wanted extra for his car to be in black and gold - but have heard this from a number of folks.

I'm going to check Michael Oliver's excellent Lotus 72 book tonight.

[Gary C]

I'vre never heard of a yellow and green 72! And there certainly isn't a picture of one in Michael's book.

[Andrew Kitson]

Yes it did turn up in green & yellow, sponsored by Cafe do Brasil. On the first day of qualifying it reverted to black & gold when JPS decided to back it for the event.

[Andre Acker]

I would really like to see a photo of this green and yellow Lotus 72 !
It seems a good subject for a different model car.

Anyone has got that photo ?

VBR.
André Acker, from ... Brasil.

[Andrew Kitson]

It was chassis 72D/5 with an extra 3 gallon tank behind the roll over bar. I too would like to see a picture, the contemporary reports all mention this green & yellow car.

[Ruairidh]

Michael Oliver references this on page 105 of his Lotus 72 book. Looks like the folks at Imperial tobacco - at first - didn't want JPS in a race sponsored by a rival but had a late change of heart. I apologize to Colin Chapman for my initial thought that he saw the chance for extra sponsorship spondoollees. I've pm'd Michael to see if he can add anything to this.

[alansart]

I seem to remember the BRM's being called P160P's. The 'P' standing for pregnant due to the bulging sidepods which held the extra fuel.

[Barry Boor]

No possibilities of modifying the PC.1 to take extra fuel.

Had we been fortunate enough to have survived practice and actually taken part in the race, we had organised and elaborate and technically complex method to put extra fuel in the car.

It could be called the fuel replenishment system but we called it a funnel and churn!

[arttidesco]

I've just dug out my old photos from the Rothmans £50,000 at Brands Hatch 1972 (and scanned some for the Paddock/Track photos threads) and must agree with John that it was a huge anti-climax. What was a great idea on paper turned out to be a real dogs dinner of an event, with poor support from the F1 teams; though there were some pretty good performances by a few F2, F5000 and sports cars. The spectacle was summed up, for me, by the celebrity tractor race (I think for the first 10 drivers on the grid?). One lap of what was then the 'Club' circuit, which was interminable! I seem to remember Jody Scheckter cheated by taking a severe inside grass line through Clearways, to win?
The most memorable moment of the weekend by far, for my wife and I, was checking-out of our weekend hotel (which had also hosted two of the major 'teams') and being told there was no charge!
(Hope enough time has elapsed since then, to avoid any proceedings)

From page 40 of from Tommaso Tommasi's Brands Hatch to Indianapollis comes this picture of Jody Scheckter leading the riveting Brands Hatch celebrity tractor race :-)

Who would have guessed nearly 40 years later Jody would become a leading Organic farmer ?

Edited by arttidesco, 08 July 2010 - 13:41.

[D-Type]

From page 40 of from Tommaso Tommasi's Brands Hatch to Indianapollis comes this picture of Jody Scheckter leading the riveting Brands Hatch celebrity tractor race :-)

Who would have guessed nearly 40 years later Jody would become a leading Organic farmer ?

How organic is his farm? Does he plough using dobbin-power, or ox-power, for that matter, given his S African heritage?

(I'll steer clear of the oxen/ Afrikaaner/ Van de Merwe jokes on this thread)

[arttidesco]

It's got some pretty convincing animals see for yourself :-)

[arttidesco]

Here is a proper link doh! :-)

[pete53]

I had high hopes for the Rothmans 50,000. I recall the London Evening News, and scribe Sue Baker, hyping up the event for about 12 months before hand. And it was an admirable idea to bring something different to the sport. But, as already noted, the hoped for Can-Am cars, World Sports Car runners, Indy cars etc. never materialised leaving a melange of F2 & F5000 entries, the odd sports racer, plus a handful of decent F1 cars. I have to say I remember little of the race itself, which probably is indicative of its excitement level. It was 118 laps in distance.

Does anyone recall why the hoped for entries never happened - poor start money? a clash with other events? or just a meaningless event for many potential competitors?

As for the Lotus 72 livery, this is what Motoring News had to say.. "We carried a story last week telling our readers that the car would be specially entered as a Lotus 72 with sponsorship from Cafe do Brasil. Well the car actually got itself painted up in its new livery and was waiting to go the evening before first practice ... the next morning it was repainted as a John Player Special with not a trace of yellow or green.." MN suggested a last minute change of mind by John Player who decided they wanted to sponsor the car after all.

[arttidesco]

As for the Lotus 72 livery, this is what Motoring News had to say.. "We carried a story last week telling our readers that the car would be specially entered as a Lotus 72 with sponsorship from Cafe do Brasil. Well the car actually got itself painted up in its new livery and was waiting to go the evening before first practice ... the next morning it was repainted as a John Player Special with not a trace of yellow or green.." MN suggested a last minute change of mind by John Player who decided they wanted to sponsor the car after all.

Wonder if a shrap eyed TNFer with a camera snapped the Cafe do Brasil sponsored Lotus 72 ?

[alansart]

The poster for the race was good. Had it on my bedroom wall for years

[bill p]

Wonder if a sharp eyed TNFer with a camera snapped the Cafe do Brasil sponsored Lotus 72 ?

That would be a scoop! Probably nearly as much a Holy Grail as a photo of Sir Stirling practising the UDT Ferrari 250GTO on that fateful Easter weekend

[arttidesco]

That would be a scoop! Probably nearly as much a Holy Grail as a photo of Sir Stirling practising the UDT Ferrari 250GTO on that fateful Easter weekend

Well here is to wishing for a holy grail or two :-)

[Lee Nicolle]

From page 40 of from Tommaso Tommasi's Brands Hatch to Indianapollis comes this picture of Jody Scheckter leading the riveting Brands Hatch celebrity tractor race :-)

Who would have guessed nearly 40 years later Jody would become a leading Organic farmer ?

One of the times when taking to the grass would truly be an advantage !

[arttidesco]

One of the times when taking to the grass would truly be an advantage !

True Goodyear would have probably chocked at the expense of developing slicks or even the humble Grand Prix S tyres in sizes suitable for tractors

[john winfield]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but here's a little bit of footage:

 

[dolomite]

http://genome.ch.bbc...11c214c632e0802

Olympic Grandstand

BBC One London, 28 August 1972 10.00

2.55, 4.30, 5.45*
Motor Racing from Brands Hatch
The Rothmans 50,000
The richest motor race ever held in Britain brings together the world's top drivers in a unique event over 118 laps of the famous Brands Hatch circuit.
Sports cars, as well as Formula One cars, will be on the grid for this open race in which total prize money is �£50,000 and L20,000 awaits the winner.
Commentators MURRAY WALKER
BARRIE GILL

[SEdward]

I was at this race and remember it being a crashing bore. I got fed up of seeing Emerson win races at BH in 1972!

 

Edward

[Dick Dastardly]

I too was there, some 6 weeks or so after the GP......don't recall much action other than Emmo winning by miles from Redman in the McLaren. Can't remember who was 3rd....

[Alan Cox]

Can't remember who was 3rd....

http://www.oldracing...php?RaceID=R572

[WonderWoman61]

Can anyone remember the race numbers for the tractor race?

[d j fox]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I ( very) vaguely recall mention of a proposed race entry by STP for Richard Petty in a NASCAR Plymouth being rejected as " unsuitable"???
Can anyone with 1972 Autosports confirm that?

Edited by d j fox, 26 December 2024 - 02:09.

[68targa]

Can anyone remember the race numbers for the tractor race?

 

There were six Ford  5000 tractors.  #1 Fittipaldi - #2 Graham Mcrae. Not sure who the others were.