McRae GM1 #003 - Cars of the MSC Tasman Revival F5000 Series*
Originally built for Leda Cars, the McRae GM1 #003 saw very little racing, most of it in the Rothmans F5000 championship in the United Kingdom in 1972 and 73.
Initially it only competed in four rounds of the 1972 series, driven by three different drivers – Trevor Taylor, Brett Lunger and Jock Russell. A fifth placing by Jock Russell at Silverstone in August was the best result of the season in which Graham McRae was also competing, winning several races.
Russell raced the car on a more regular basis in 1973, also competing with McRae who by now was driving the #015 chassis. (Fourteen cars were produced but no #013 was assigned to any chassis). Incidentally by the end of the season McRae had switched to the new McRae GM2 chassis. Russell had a number of mid-field results with his best placing an eighth at Oulton Park in 1973
The 1972 UK F5000 champion was Gijs van Lennep (Surtees TS11), with Teddy Pilette (Chevron B24) winning in 1973
The car was reportedly stored from 1973 until 1999 when Noel Butler obtained the it. Roy Lane purchased the car in 2000 and restored it with Peter Burson then buying it, shipping it to New Zealand where it now competes in the MSC Tasman Revival Series.
*Over the 2009 Christmas and New Year break we will look at a number of cars that make up the grid of the 2009/10 MSC Tasman Revival Series
