The Roaring Season

Terry S wrote:For the story of what happened subsequently to Hulme's Brabham see my post #3 in this thread

http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?1824-RORSTAN-TASMAN-SERIES-RACERS&highlight=rorstan

Amazing photo. Brings back memories. I had been at the railway corner and remember Hulme shaking his fist at Brownlie then bumping his car hard with the front wheel bouncing going into railway corner then further down the back straight we could see the wheels, body panels, dirt way into the air. Denny walked very slowly to the ambulance and was very pale and Brownlie,s leg very damaged. I thought Brownlie was on the ground at the back of the ambulance? How they didn't die! Good photo and at the time someone was upset at photos being taken but good to see this. Thanks.

khyndart in CA wrote:Considering the size of the roll bar and the lack of circuit safety at Pukekohe in 1968, Denny Hulme was a lucky man !
I think that is Brownlie being attended to in the background.
I can remember seeing a big cloud of brown dirt and Hulme's car somersaulting sideways from our view over on the Hill. I never realized how close they had come to hitting the power poles along the back straight. The coating of white paint would not have provided much protection !

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The last time I ever saw Bruce McLaren was when he ran out to get into the back of the ambulance
carrying Hulme, as it came around after the race. Denny was to be his new team mate after Hulme had left the Brabham Team. (Which must have pleased Jack B no end !)


K H

For the story of what happened subsequently to Hulme's Brabham see my post #3 in this thread

http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?1824-RORSTAN-TASMAN-SERIES-RACERS&highlight=rorstan

Having two consecutive Manufacturers' Championships, first and second places in the Drivers' Championship and a new engine from Repco in the works, Jack could take his pick of drivers...

And Denny was already Bruce's team mate in Can-Am, of course.

This crash actually changed history at Rennmax. Because the chassis was given to Bob Britton to replace, he had to build a jig for the BT23 whereas the previous car he'd built was a BT14, jigged up when he had the job of modifying John Harvey's car to take the Repco V8.

He often says, "I should have just gone on making the BT14, it was a better car than the BT23. But who would buy a 1965 model when there was a 1967 model there?"

I think he finally built nine cars from this jig, which included the Mildren-Waggott raced for so long by Max Stewart.

Bob much later built another BT14 for himself. It's among the many cars he's built since he ostensibly stopped building cars:

https://forums.autosport.com/topic/205074-rennmax-and-their-creator-bob-britton/

Considering the size of the roll bar and the lack of circuit safety at Pukekohe in 1968, Denny Hulme was a lucky man !
I think that is Brownlie being attended to in the background.
I can remember seeing a big cloud of brown dirt and Hulme's car somersaulting sideways from our view over on the Hill. I never realized how close they had come to hitting the power poles along the back straight. The coating of white paint would not have provided much protection !



The last time I ever saw Bruce McLaren was when he ran out to get into the back of the ambulance
carrying Hulme, as it came around after the race. Denny was to be his new team mate after Hulme had left the Brabham Team. (Which must have pleased Jack B no end !)


K H

LRA Brownlie's chassis that year ^^^ best described as the following from Old Racing Cars site..

Brabham BT18/23 ["F3-J-66"] (Laurence Brownlie): New Zealander Fred McLean was working for Charles Lucas Engineering in 1966 and while there, he fabricated his own Brabham BT18 chassis as the basis of a F3 car. Although described as a BT18, a photograph of it (on formel3guide.de) taken at Avus in June 1966 shows it had the short rear uprights of a BT15 so it may have been more accurate to call it a 1966 BT15. McLean's preference is followed here. McLean raced the car in European F3 in 1966. In 1967, he sold the rolling chassis to Laurence Brownlie who then had McLean upgrade the car with BT23 rear uprights, BT23C rear suspension, Hewland FT200 gearbox and Lockheed brakes. A short stroke 1500cc Vegantune twin cam engine was fitted for the NZ National Formula. Brownlie first raced it in a NZ Gold Star race at Pukekohe in November 1967 and then at the NZ Grand Prix in January 1968 where he was forced off the track by Denny Hulme and the car too badly damaged to repair. The engine and gearbox were sold but Brownlie confirms that the chassis was scrap.

Sorry Ray for interfering and thanks Milan for setting the record straight once again.
I actually attended this race and it was the last time that I saw both Jimmy Clark and Bruce McLaren race.

I hope Mike does not mind me using his photo here. (Thanks Mike.)


(Ken H)

Ray Bell wrote:Courage's McLaren is the burgundy-coloured car beside Palmer, is it not?

Yes it is Ray.

The photo shows the grid from row 4 back.

Courage's McLaren is the burgundy-coloured car beside Palmer, is it not?

Jan. 6th. 1968. NZGP grid photo.
Ray,
That is Jim Palmer in his McLaren M4A # 41 and Paul Bolton on the far side in his Brabham BT 19.
Car # 20 was the recently departed Laurence Brownlie in his Brabham BT 23.
The brown car is the Roly Levis BT 18 # 12 and the car on the right is the Peter Yock Lotus 33/BRM # 10.


Another scene at the same time.

Denny Hulme and Brownlie just before their awful coming together on the back straight at Pukekohe.
Both in Brabham BT 23s.






(Ken H.)

A little bit of a back-up here:


Actually the Brabham Alfa, not the Mildren Alfa. I think it's Glenn Abbey at the wheel.


Yes, a Frank Williams entry. DFV powered and bi-wings, it should have won the series.


Geoghegan's crew are in Firestone red, that would be Mick Lambert sitting on the rear wheel, and isn't that Roly Levis with them?


Is that Denny Hulme's ex-Rindt BT23?


Worth noting here that the McLaren M4A of Piers Courage is part of the picture. This car, of course, became Niel Allen's at the end of the series.

1st pic in post #34 is now owned by Nigel McDonald of Taranaki. Regularly features in Historic Muscle Cars events.
Dave Graham

Habu wrote:Baypark meeting with NB Nova - December 28th 1968?
Heres a couple more from Pukekohe:
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And this ones a personal favourite of mine
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Wow - have never looked at this thread - Pukekohe the 1960's 70's .. lots of great shots and in COLOUR - I was doing B and W [ Monochrome ] at the time with my Brownie Starlet [ had a built in flash - very smoove ].

Love the Stanton Corvette - don't remember the Lexington Colours - my pic of the car at Puke .. B and W of course.
P.S going to borrow some of the photos for my " Archives " ..



I have this as GP meeting 1968 - however, could be 1967 - Geoff Mardon was driving, and Barry Keen was in the Begg 4.7 a V8 ..
This car;

Great photos - I can't recall having seen them back when they were posted.

About Beechey's visits to Bay Park with the Nova. He first appeared at the December 30 1967 meeting when he won both his races. The car was black.

His second visit was for the November 17 1968 meeting when he crashed the car in the first race. A wheel was torn off the car so it wasn't able to run again that day.

The third time he was there was on December 29 1968 and the car was painted light blue. He had three second places on the day, beaten by Red Dawson and Spinner Black in the two scratch races and by Jack Nazer in the handicap event.

Have another look through this thread, such great shots of Pukekohe and Baypark, not to mention the host of notable cars & drivers.

It used to throw fanbelts when well-placed...

Rod Grimwood wrote:Yellow Imp, was that Roy Harrington

As I understand it, yes. Bob Homewood looked at the photo when I initially posted it in another thread and thought so. I understand that it wasnt that reliable - but recall other peope telling me that this wasnt uncommon - something to do with overheating and aluminium cylinder heads?

kiwi285 wrote:Allan - with the Pukekohe shots we must have been following each other around as some of my shots are of the same grids.

I cant take the credit for these, although I havent asked her, Im assuming they were taken by my Mum... my Dad was busy assisting Roger Hood with his Mini.

Yellow Imp, was that Roy Harrington

I love the sports car grid ones, Bobtail Cooper, U2, Lotus 23 etc.

Allan - with the Pukekohe shots we must have been following each other around as some of my shots are of the same grids.