Richard Meaden’s throwaway line about one of the works MGC GTS cars being driven by ‘the less-than-stellar’ pairing of Craig Hill and Bill Brack at Sebring in 1969 does both of them a serious disservice.
Bill Brack was the Canadian distributor for Lotus and a BMC dealer in the Toronto area, who competed successfully in Minis, a Lotus 47, ex-Graham Hill Lotus 42B Indycar and Lotus 70. He won the Player’s Challenge Series in 1973 and ’74 and, when the series was upgraded to Formula Atlantic, he won it two more years in a row. It took some kid named Gilles Villeneuve to finally beat him to the championship.
Craig Hill is also a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Having cut his racing teeth on dirt tracks and asphalt, he was the Canadian Formula B champ in 1969 and ’70 and graduated to the Player’s Challenge Series in a Lotus 69B and then a Brabham BT 40, and finally a March 75BT in Formula Atlantic.
Meaden’s research must have come solely from the results sheet because, in qualifying, Hill and Brack were almost four seconds faster than Hopkirk and Hedges. Yes, sister car ‘699F’ finished 26 laps ahead, but I cannot imagine that was all due to driver talent.
Canuck champs
Richard Meaden’s throwaway line about one of the works MGC GTS cars being driven by ‘the less-than-stellar’ pairing of Craig Hill and Bill Brack at Sebring in 1969 does both of them a serious disservice.
Bill Brack was the Canadian distributor for Lotus and a BMC dealer in the Toronto area, who competed successfully in Minis, a Lotus 47, ex-Graham Hill Lotus 42B Indycar and Lotus 70. He won the Player’s Challenge Series in 1973 and ’74 and, when the series was upgraded to Formula Atlantic, he won it two more years in a row. It took some kid named Gilles Villeneuve to finally beat him to the championship.
Craig Hill is also a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Having cut his racing teeth on dirt tracks and asphalt, he was the Canadian Formula B champ in 1969 and ’70 and graduated to the Player’s Challenge Series in a Lotus 69B and then a Brabham BT 40, and finally a March 75BT in Formula Atlantic.
Meaden’s research must have come solely from the results sheet because, in qualifying, Hill and Brack were almost four seconds faster than Hopkirk and Hedges. Yes, sister car ‘699F’ finished 26 laps ahead, but I cannot imagine that was all due to driver talent.