The Big Deal

Marlboro BRM

It was 1972 when a Formula 1 car was first painted fully in the colours of cigarette brand Marlboro. And it was the BRMs that first appeared with the iconic paintwork. But during its two-year partnership with Philip Morris, the British squad failed to deliver the success expected from the lavish backing. One last win at the end of ’72 was a flash in the pan, before the demise set in.

Following Jo Siffert’s funeral in Fribourg, Switzerland, on 29 October in 1971, Louis Stanley continued his journey to Lausanne, 75 kilometres down the road. Stanley was married to Jean, née Owen, who along with her brother Alfred owned the Rubery Owen Group, including the BRM racing team. While Alfred was fully occupied with managing the group, Jean and Louis took care of the race team and were a constant presence at each and every Grand Prix.

Stanley’s final destination at the city on Lake Geneva was the European HQ of American cigarette brand Marlboro. There, he explained to Ronnie Thomson, Philip Morris European President, and Albert Bellow, Vice President of Marketing, why they should sponsor BRM. For Thomson, Formula 1 provided a unique stage that would quickly and effectively market the Marlboro brand in Europe. And being involved in an international sport would also help the company circumnavigate the restrictions for tobacco advertising, which varied from country to country. BRM was seen as the perfect partner as it was the only British team building its cars, engines, and gearboxes in-house, making it a more substantial prospect than the so-called garagistes and promising the best value for the planned expenditure.

BRM, meanwhile, was no longer happy with sponsor Yardley, which was not prepared to boost its backing to help pay for badly-needed engine developments. So, in November 1971, Stanley and Thomson signed a two-year deal in London, which secured over £100,000 plus win bonuses for the team. Given that an annual budget for a Formula 1 team at the time was £100,000 to £150,000, this was a top deal. It also meant the BRMs would become the first F1 cars to run the iconic red-and-white Marlboro colours. In order to make those colours as visible as possible, it was decided that there would be not three, but five cars, split into an A and a B team.

The A team was Howden Ganley, Peter Gethin, and Jean-Pierre Beltoise, the latter taking over the place left by Jo Siffert. Helmut Marko and Swede Reine Wisell, joined from time to time by Àlex Soler-Roig (Spain), Jackie Oliver (UK), Bill Brack (Canada) and Brian Redman (UK), would make up the B team. A total of nine drivers were used, a strategy focussed on quantity instead of quality that quickly led to problems which not even the Marlboro dollars could solve…

by Harold Schwarz

Photographs: Motorsportimages, The Cahier Archive, Michael Keyser, Toni Temburg

Project 400 km/h

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important motor race in the world, have always been the big stage for car brands like Bentley, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Audi and Toyota. French car makers have always been keen on success on home soil, too, such as the victories for Bugatti in the 1930s, Matra-Simca from 1972 to 1974, Alpine Renault in 1978 and Peugeot in 1992 and 1993. But there have also been smaller companies run by motorsport enthusiasts that have looked to Le Mans for a challenge, like Rondeau or Inaltera. That final group also includes WM-Peugeot, which brought a unique approach to the long-distance classic between 1976 and 1989.

Until 1990, the six-kilometre-long Hunaudières straight was a defining feature at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The two chicanes didn’t exist yet, and despite fading to the right, it was flat-out all the way. That part of the track was a normal road for the rest of the year, used by countless motorists to get to and from Tours. When in race track mode, National Road 138 was considered the fastest straight in motorsport. Even in the early 1970s, the long-tail version of the Porsche 917 reached speeds of over 360 km/h. When it began its Le Mans journey, WM-Peugeot just wanted to be a respected privateer competitor. Over time, however, the team from Thorigny in France shifted its aim to breaking the 400 km/h barrier on the ‘ligne droite des Hunaudières’.

The driving force behind WM-Peugeot was Gérard Welter. He and Michel Meunier, both from Peugeot, started out at races at Magny-Cours and Montlhéry in 1968 with a coupé based on the Peugeot 204. The cars bore the designation ‘WM P’, made up of the names Welter, Meunier and Peugeot, as well as the respective year. The WM P68 was followed by the WM P70, with a transverse 1.3-litre engine from the Peugeot 304. After appearing at the Le Mans test in April 1971, the car was used at Clermont-Ferrand and Zandvoort before Welter and Meunier ran out of money.

However, the two Frenchmen didn’t give up, and after a long break – and thanks to new sources of finance – they were able to implement their plan to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in 1976. From the outset the engineers were focussed on an aerodynamically sophisticated body that could produce high speed even with a relatively weak engine. The WM P76 ran in the GTP category – two-seater coupés weighing less than 850 kg and less than 110 cm tall, with a maximum consumption of 25 litres per 100 kilometres. The car was fitted with a more powerful version of the naturally-aspirated 2.7-litre ZNS4 V6 from the Peugeot/Renault/Volvo family. There was an all-French driver line-up of Guy Chasseuil, Claude Ballot-Léna and Xavier Mathiot. After qualifying 38th, the team’s debut race was over after 125 laps thanks to an irreparable leak in the fuel tank…

by Thomas Nehlert

Photographs: Jean-Marc Teissedre, Motorsportimages, McKlein

Opel GT Conrero Gr. 4 – Part 2

When Opel introduced the GT exactly 50 years ago, the company was already successfully competing in various European races with models like the Rallye Kadett, the Rekord Sprint and the Commodore GS. The GT was also designed with motorsport in mind, and to showcase Opel’s changing image with its sheer looks. ‘Only flying is more exciting’ was the advertising slogan for the Opel GT. Part 2 of our story about this exciting Grand Tourisme coupé covers the years 1971 to 1975, focussing on the Targa Florio races.

In 1971 GM Italia realised that the brand could get a boost from the Opel GT’s recent success in motorsport. The previous year it had been Artioli who had financed the GTs. Now GM decided to buy the two racers and ordered professional tuner Virgilio Conrero to build two more. One golden and one silver car with red interiors where found at Opel to be turned into real Conrero Group 4 GTs. The engine now had more than double the horsepower of the production version, with 183 horses generated at 7,000 rpm. The four-speed transmission stayed unmodified, but the wheels where changed to Alpina. Everything was more professional now, Conrero got a contract, and mechanics worked on the cars at all the races.

When all the GTs were ready for the new season, Conrero organised a car-and-drivers test at Monza, together with Klaus Steinmetz. The Italian programme was looking for the best Opel GT drivers from among seven candidates (six Italians and a Spaniard). The red GT that had won at Mugello was the test car (#18), 38 laps were completed, and at the end of the day, Pino Pica, Paolo Monti and Giampaolo Benedini were chosen to drive for the Squadra Conrero. At the first race, the Coppa A.C. Verona at Monza, Pica proved to be very fast, finishing second in class with an average of 172 km/h – a good start to the season.

From the beginning of the development work, Conrero had toyed with the idea of entering the GT at the Targa Florio. The Sicilian classic was the oldest race in the world – and in Conrero’s mind, just the right kind of event for the GT. The preparations hadn’t been finished in time for a start at the 1970 edition, but in 1971 all four cars were shipped to Sicily to drive the 72-kilometre track. The red GT was used only as a practice car (#54T), while the other three were entered in the race as well. The drivers were Marotta/Benedini (#52, silver), Pianta/Pica (#54, golden) and Calascibetta/Monti (#60, golden).

Things didn’t start well for the #54 GT, with front damage in practice after Pica drove into a Lancia that had crashed just in front of him. There was insufficient time to carry out proper repairs, so the car drove with the headlights in the open position and the nose was painted white. Even so, Pianta/Pica managed a respectable 25th place in practice. Calascibetta/Monti were the fastest Conrero GT crew in 23rd, while Marotta/Benedini were back in 43rd. The plan was to drive like a train in the early stages of the race, with the three GTs just behind each other. Salvatore Calascibetta, the Sicilian driver who knew the local roads best, was to be the locomotive…

More in the current issue!

by Maurice van Sevecotte/Stefan Müller

Photographs: Collection Maurice van Sevecotte, Revs Institute

Golden Comeback

Former DTM and sports car driver Harald Becker fulfilled a dream in 2018. Despite a diverse career starting from karts and working through everything from touring cars to sports racers, he never got to drive the one he wanted most: a Formula 1 car. However, thanks to Mec Auto, that all changed. AUTOMOBILSPORT accompanied Becker during his special outing at the AvD-Oldtimer-Grand-Prix at the Nürburgring.

Becker’s heart has always belonged to motorsport. At the age of 17, he got his driving licence and started campaigning a Gordini in hillclimbs. Later came karts, then Formula Ford, winning a German title in 1983. A short period in Formula 3 led to sporadic outings in cars like the BMW 320i, the Zakspeed C1/8, the BMW M1, and the Ford Sierra XR4Ti. In 1988 he moved into the DTM as a privateer, becoming a mainstay of the series until 1994. Those were the glory days of Becker’s career. To this day he gets goosebumps thinking about the packed grandstands at Hockenheim, the crowd screaming as the cars were pushed onto the grid. Other career highlights include racing Porsches in both Carrera Cup and the Supercup, the FIA GT series and the ADAC GT Masters. In 2009 he hung up his helmet.

But here’s the thing: ‘Most of those who truly have their heart and soul in motorsport never really get away from it,’ says the Black Forest native. The desire to make his Formula 1 dream come true burned even brighter. He ultimately teamed up with Stephan Kupka at Mec Auto to look for a car suitable for the Masters Historic F1 series. In the UK they found an Arrows A3 in good condition. Becker wanted some time to think it over. After all, a Formula 1 car is hardly an everyday purchase. However, another interested party was more decisive, which meant Becker’s and Kupka’s search continued. Finally, they found another A3 in the US, which Becker bought. The car is chassis number 5, one of six A3s that Arrows Grand Prix International built. The car was designed by Dave Wass and Tony Southgate. It was powered by a Ford Cosworth DFV eight-cylinder engine, remarkably common at the time. Arrows A3/5 was driven exclusively by Riccardo Patrese during its active F1 career…

by Jacob Queißner

Photographs: Motorsportimages, Mec Auto, Detlef Sauer