Photos: The Bill Pottinger Collection - Part 2

[Grant Sprague]

GOOO BILL ....... love it ......nothing has changed ....... you are trying very hard just like all of us such a cool pik big brother

[Steve Holmes]

Another of the very dramatic shots Bill was very good at capturing, by leaning out from the inside of a high speed corner as race cars hurtle by at speed.

Here is Leo Leonard in the quite ungainly looking Begg F5000, about to have Niel Allen blast by in the McLaren M10A. No doubt someone here with far me knowledge than me could confirm if this is actually from practice or qualifying, rather than the race? I can't seem to find any mention of Leonard in either the starting grid order or race results. Did the Begg fail in practice, or did it not qualify?

By the way, this is the Lady Wigram event in 1970.

[ATTACH]21227[/ATTACH]

[woody]

Wigram field.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Woody, wow I'm staggered by how quickly you get these posted on the site!

[Grant Sprague]

Gee Lewiji [Leo] looks young there , I do remember the car getting built , I was probably 13 0r 14 , orange, some of the parts were off Brents Begg after he got killed , well the engine & G/box , I understand the car had trekka front suspension parts ?? Great pik thanks guys ...

[Michael Clark]

The #26 McLaren was a 10B- despite what the book says. It also refers to a Mildren-Alfa.

By the way, this Begg is currently on Trade Me

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Michael, I was being lazy, I had it in my head the 10B was released in 1970, but it was '69 as you say.

[Steve Holmes]

Woah there boy! Peter De Lore spears off at the Teretonga Elbow.

[ATTACH]21277[/ATTACH]

[Imp Wagon]

What a great thread. I absolutely love all these amazing old shots. The "whites of their eyes" ones are incredible!!

[Oldfart]

Think the last photo might be more "the puckering of the ..." than whites of the eyes

[Michael Clark]

I first became aware of Pete de Lore in the 1970 (March or April) driver ratings. Allan Dick always had a good eye for both talent and throwing a curve ball - Avon Hyde is still proving what ARD was telling us 43 years ago.

By the way Steve - you weren't being lazy. The 10A was the 1969 F5000 McLaren - Niel Allen got a very early B - the 1970 model. The Old Racing Cars could tell anyone interested just how early.

[Steve Holmes]

Nice shot here of Piers Courage, in the BRM in 1967 at Teretonga, which Courage also signed for Bill. Here is Bill's description of this one:

"Piers Courage tests the third (spare) BRM during practice for the 1967 Teretonga International. Courage started the race from 5[SUP]th[/SUP] place behind Clark,Hulme,Gardner and Attwood. Courage ran as high as 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] in his first Tasman drive for BRM before retiring with a broken engine on lap 52. Jackie Stewart missed this race due to tyre-testing in South Africa".

Bill, was this your first season photographing?

[ATTACH]21302[/ATTACH]

[bp photos]

[quote="Steve Holmes"]Nice shot here of Piers Courage, in the BRM in 1967 at Teretonga, which Courage also signed for Bill. Here is Bill's description of this one:

"Piers Courage tests the third (spare) BRM during practice for the 1967 Teretonga International. Courage started the race from 5th place behind Clark,Hulme,Gardner and Attwood. Courage ran as high as 3
rd in his first Tasman drive for BRM before retiring with a broken engine on lap 52. Jackie Stewart missed this race due to tyre-testing in South Africa".

Yes Steve, this was my first year of motorsport photography at the tender age of 14. Courage is accelerating in this photo and so the nose is raised. Being the spare car it did not have a number.
ESY arranged the autograph for me.The noise of the BRM V8 was amazing.

[John McKechnie]

Bill- Your pix of Grady diving the Team Cambridge Monaro -#131 and #132 on my thread-from Wigram are absolutely superb. Those 2 pix we have next to the car and have been the biggest help in recreating the correct flare on the 4 wheel arches. Also your shots are so clear I can see exactly where the stripes start and finish and get the correct width. I am having a rear wing made using these pix, the fabricator is also impressed that he can use these.
All in all at your age of 17 (?) you and your brilliant camera have made life so much easier for me now. You were born for this task.

[bp photos]

Re #93 Thanks John, pleased to hear the pix are of use. I enjoyed taking the photos and can still see the moments captured in the photos quite clearly. Bill P.

[Steve Holmes]

A mechanic tweaks Bruce McLaren's BRM while Bruce keeps a watching eye. This is prior to the start of the Teretonga round of the 1968 Tasman Series. Jim Clark is pictured in the lower right corner.

[ATTACH]21755[/ATTACH]

[woody]

Field for the 68 Tasman race.

[Steve Holmes]

Great stuff Woody! Many thanks. Thats a massive field of cars!

[Steve Holmes]

I love this one. George Begg gets his driver Geoff Mardon and the Begg FM2 ready for action.

[GD66]

It's worth mentioning that before Moore, Briggs and Mauger, Geoff Mardon was third in the world speedway championship in 1953.