GR55 and GR55B
The Gould GR55 marked a departure from using Ralt F3 chassis and all major components were designed and manufactured "in house". However, in terms of aerodynamics and general chassis philosophy it was very much an evolution of the GR51. The GR55 was originally fitted with a Nicholson-McLaren 3.3 Litre V8 derived from a Ford Cosworth XB 2.65-litre Champcar unit but enlarged and naturally aspirated rather than turbo-charged. The GR55 was originally campaigned by Adam Fleetwood and he duly took back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004 before graduating from the British Hillclimb Championship to go circuit racing.
In 2005 Gould introduced the GR55B, externally the GR55 and GR55B are near identical, however the GR55B was the result of extensive finite element analysis work (FEA) which resulted in every part of the car being scrutinised to reduce weight and refine the GR55. The result was a car that was 25 kg lighter than its predecessor now fitted with a 3.5-litre version of the Nicholson-McLaren engine. The GR55B went on to dominate the championship in the hands of Martin Groves, winning the title 3 times in succession (2005, 2006 & 2007) and then he came back to claim a 4th title in 2010 using the same car after being defeated in 2008 & 2009, an achievement unique in hillclimbing.
Both the GR55 and GR55B have become very popular with competitors in the British Championship with a variety of engines being installed in GR55 chassis, including f1 derived Cosworth HB 3.5-litre and Judd 4-litre V8 engines. Also more recent modifications have included F1-style paddle shift sequential gears and traction control.
The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become too expensive, and was dominated by works-run cars with factory engines; the hope was that Formula 3000 would offer quicker, cheaper, more open racing. The series began as an open specification, then tyres were standardized from 1986 onwards, followed by engines and chassis in 1996. The series ran annually until 2004, and was replaced in 2005 by the GP2 Series.
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industries. Cosworth is based in Northampton, England, with facilities in Cottenham, England, Silverstone, England, and Indianapolis, IN, US.
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers.
Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles.
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of Double Four Valve, the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had four valves per cylinder.
The British Hillclimb Championship (BHC) is the most prestigious hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. The British Hill Climb Championship was held every year from 1947 to 2019, and resumed in 2021. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Graeme Wight Jr. is a Scottish racing driver, best known for his success in hillclimbing, where he has won two British championships.
Peter Westbury was a British racing driver from England. He participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring no championship points. In 1969 he raced a Formula 2 Brabham-Cosworth, driving in his first Grand Prix in the 1969 German Grand Prix. He finished ninth on the road, fifth in the F2 class. The following year he failed to qualify for the 1970 United States Grand Prix driving a works BRM, after an engine failure.
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better success in other categories of competition, including Formula Two, Formula Three, IndyCar and IMSA GTP sportscar racing.
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The '5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich and Chevron.
Formula Holden was an Australian open wheel racing category introduced in 1989.
Judd is a brand of racing car engines built by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Engine Developments was intended to build engines for Brabham's racing efforts, and became one of the first firms authorised by Cosworth to maintain and rebuild its DFV engines, but has since expanded into various areas of motorsport.
Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the Ralt name. Tauranac won the 1954 NSW Hillclimb Championship in the Ralt 500.
The Tasman Series was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 over a series of races in New Zealand and Australia. It was named after the Tasman Sea which lies between the two countries. The Tasman Series races were held in January through to late February or early March of each year, during the Formula One off season, taking advantage of winter in the Northern Hemisphere to attract many top drivers to summer in the south. The Tasman Cup was the permanent trophy awarded to the winning driver.
The McLaren MP4/1 was a Formula One racing car produced by the McLaren team. It was used during the 1981, 1982 and 1983 seasons. It was the second Formula One car to use a monocoque chassis wholly manufactured from carbon fibre composite, after the Lotus 88, a concept which is now ubiquitous. The MP4/1 was first entered in a Formula One race at the third grand prix of the season in Argentina.
Four-wheel drive (4WD) has only been tried a handful of times in Formula One. In the World Championship era since 1950, only eight such cars are known to have been built.
The McLaren 650S is a British sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It was announced in February 2014 as a new model, but based on the existing MP4-12C with 25% new parts, and was formally unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.
Michael Roy Pilbeam is a British motorsport designer and engineer known for his work with BRM, Lotus, Surtees and his own company, Pilbeam Racing Designs. An early design was the experimental four wheel drive Formula One BRM P67 of 1964. As of 2014, Pilbeam's company continued to produce hillclimb cars and sports prototype chassis for endurance racing.
The Gould GR55, and its evolution, the GR55B, are open-wheel race cars, designed, developed and built by British company Gould Racing, specifically for the British Sprint Championship, since 2003.
The Gould GR37 is an open-wheel race cars, designed, developed, and built by British company Gould Racing, specifically for the British Sprint Championship, since 1994.
