1975 Tasman Series

Champion
Warwick Brown

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1974

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2021

The 1975 Tasman Series, (officially the Tasman Championship for Drivers[1]), was a motor racing competition open to Racing Cars complying with the Tasman Formula.[2] Contested over eight rounds in New Zealand and Australia beginning on 5 January and ending on 23 February,[3] it was the twelfth and final Tasman Series. The series was organised jointly by the Motorsport Association of New Zealand and the Confederation of Australian Motorsport[1] and was promoted as the Peter Stuyvesant International Series for the 1975 Tasman Championship.[2]

The series was won by Australian driver Warwick Brown in his fourth year of Formula 5000 racing with the Pat Burke Racing team, driving a Lola T332 Chevrolet. The series was resolved in a dramatic final race inwhat turned out to be the final Tasman Series race of all, at Sandown Raceway. Brown, fellow Australian Johnnie Walker and New Zealander Graeme Lawrence all sat on 30 points prior to the last race. All three struck trouble but with a sixth position Brown claimed the final point in Tasman Series history, breaking the deadlock to win the crown by one point. Race wins had been shared around with Brown and Lawrence each winning twice, with single victories going to Walker, Chris Amon who finished fifth in the points behind the winless but consistent John McCormack, and to Graham McRae and John Goss who each completed partial series runs focussed on their home country events.

In the aftermath of this series, the two legs of the Tasman Series broke apart. The New Zealand half became the Peter Stuyvesant Series and converted to Formula Atlantic in 1977. The Australian half became the Rothmans International Series.[4]

## Races

[edit]

Warwick Brown won the series driving a Lola T332 similar to the example pictured above

Additional information sourced from:[4]

Round  | Name  | Circuit  | Date  | Winning driver  | Winning car  | Winning entrant  | Report

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New
Zealand | 1  | Levin International  | Levin | 5 January  |  Graeme Lawrence | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Marlboro /Singapore Airlines / Wix Filters[5] | Report
2  | New Zealand Grand Prix | Pukekohe | 12 January  |  Warwick Brown | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Pat Burke Racing  | Report
3  | Lady Wigram Trophy | Wigram | 19 January  |  Graham McRae | McRae GM2 Chevrolet | Commercial Bank of Australia[6] | Report
4  | Teretonga International  | Teretonga | 26 January  |  Chris Amon | Talon MR-1 Chevrolet | MacCormack Racing[7] | Report
Australia  | 5  | Oran Park 100  | Oran Park | 2 February  |  Warwick Brown | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Pat Burke Racing  | Report
6  | Surfers Paradise 100  | Surfers Paradise | 9 February  |  Johnnie Walker | Lola T332 Repco-Holden | Walker Racing  | Report
7  | Adelaide 100  | Adelaide | 16 February  |  Graeme Lawrence | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Singapore Airlines[2] | Report
8  | Sandown Park Cup  | Sandown | 23 February  |  John Goss | Matich A53 Repco-Holden | John Goss Racing  | Report

## Points system

[edit]

Championship points were awarded at each round on the following basis:

Position[8] | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6

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Points[8] | 9  | 6  | 4  | 3  | 2  | 1

## Championship Standings

[edit]

| Pos[3] | Driver[3] | Car[3] | Entrant[2] | LEV  | PUK  | WIG  | TER  | ORA  | SUR  | ADE  | SAN  | Pts[3]

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1  |  Warwick Brown | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Part Burke Racing  | 2  | 1  | Ret  | Ret  | 1  | 8  | 2  | 6  | 31
2  |  Graeme Lawrence | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Singapore Airlines  | 1  | 3  | 5  | 9  | 2  | 9  | 1  | Ret  | 30
=  |  Johnnie Walker | Lola T332 Repco Holden | Walker Racing  | 4  | 4  | 3  | 4  | 3  | 1  | 3  | Ret  | 30
4  |  John McCormack | Elfin MR6 Repco Holden | Ansett Team Elfin  | 8  | 6  | 2  | 2  | 5  | 5  | DNS  | 2  | 23
5  |  Chris Amon | Talon MR1 Chevrolet | McCormack Racing  | Ret  | 7  | Ret  | 1  | 4  | Ret  | 4  | 5  | 17
6  |  John Goss | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing  |  |  |  |  | Ret  | 3  | Ret  | 1  | 13
7  |  Graham McRae | McRae GM2 Chevrolet
Matich A51 Repco Holden | Commercial Bank of Australia[6]
Ampol (Australia)  | Ret  | Ret  | 1  | DNS  | 8  | 4  |  |  | 12
=  |  Kevin Bartlett | Lola T400 Chevrolet | Chesterfield Filter Racing  | 3  | Ret  | Ret  | 3  | 10  | 6  | Ret  | 4  | 12
9  |  Ken Smith | Lola T332 Chevrolet | la Vilase Travel Agents[9] | 5  | 5  | 9  | 8  | 6  | 2  | Ret  | 7  | 11
=  |  Max Stewart | Lola T400 Chevrolet | Max Stewart Motors  | Ret  | 8  | 4  | 5  | 7  | Ret  | 5  | 3  | 11
11  |  Jim Murdoch | Begg 018 Chevrolet | Begg & Allen Ltd  | 6  | 2  | 7  | Ret  | DNS  |  | 7  | Ret  | 7
12  |  David Oxton | Lola T330 Chevrolet | Coca-Cola Bottlers (N.Z.) Ltd[6] |  |  | 6  | Ret  |  |  |  |  | 1
=  |  Baron Robertson | Elfin MR5 Repco Holden | Robertson Racing[7] | 9  | 11  | DNS  | 6  |  |  |  |  | 1
=  |  Garrie Cooper | Elfin MR5 Repco Holden | Ansett Team Elfin[9] |  |  |  |  | Ret  | 7  | 6  | 8  | 1
Pos  | Driver  | Car  | Entrant  | LEV  | PUK  | WIG  | TER  | ORA  | SUR  | SAN  | ADE  | Pts
| Colour | Result

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Gold | Winner
Silver | Second place
Bronze | Third place
Green | Points classification
Blue | Non-points classification
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple | Retired, not classified (Ret)
Red | Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black | Disqualified (DSQ)
White | Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank  | Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

### Key

[edit]

Abbreviation  | Circuit

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ADE  | Adelaide
LEV  | Levin
ORA  | Oran Park
PUK  | Pukekohe
SAN  | Sandown
SUR  | Surfers Paradise
TER  | Teretonga
WIG  | Wigram

## References

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1. ^ a b Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1975, pages 80 to 83
2. ^ a b c d Official Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, February 16th 1975
3. ^ a b c d e Tasman Series, Australian Competition Yearbook, 1976 Edition, pages 64 to 81
4. ^ a b Allen Brown. "Tasman Cup (F5000) races « Formula 5000 « OldRacingCars.com". Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
5. ^ Tasman Rd. 1, Racing Car News, February 1975, page 28
6. ^ a b c Tasman Rd. 3, Racing Car News, February 1975, page 6
7. ^ a b Tasman Rd. 4, Racing Car News, March 1975, page 30
8. ^ a b Tasman Series 1975, www.sergent.com.au Retrieved 23 November 2015
9. ^ a b Official Programme, Sandown, February 23rd 1975