VIN: the John Woolfe / Racing Team VDS Lola T70 Mk3B GT chassis SL76/146
History of chassis SL76/146
Chassis SL76/146 was sold new to John Woolfe.
Woolfe was a British privateer who, together with his business partner, Arnold Burton, ran John Woolfe Racing, a major UK retailer of high performance automotive parts.
Having raced a Lola Mk1 and TVR Grantura between 1959 and 1962, John Woolfe returned to motor sport for the 1968 season. He purchased a used seven-litre Cobra which, for 1968, was replaced with a Lola T70 Mk3 GT (chassis SL73/102) and a Chevron B12.
For 1969, chassis SL76/146 was purchased along with a McLaren M6B.
However, before Woolfe’s latest Lola was delivered, Porsche stunned the racing world when they unveiled the 917 at Geneva in March 1969.
The 917 was a state-of-the-art five-litre Prototype that would contest the same Sports class as the T70 on account of Porsche vowing to built the 25 units required for homologation.
John Woolfe was the first customer to put his name down for a 917; it would be delivered in time for the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Prior to Le Mans, Woolfe’s new Lola made its debut at the Oulton Park Tourist Trophy on May 26th. Finished in Woolfe’s signature colour scheme of blue with two yellow centre stripes, Richard Attwood was recruited to drive but failed to finish as a result of clutch failure.
The Le Mans 24 Hours then took place over the weekend of June 14th and 15th.
Unfortunately, John Woolfe fatally crashed his 917 on the opening lap.
Having taken off at great speed without fastening his seatbelt, Woolfe was swept along by faster drivers and lost control coming over the hump through the kink before Maison Blanche.
Getting two wheels on the grass at over 150mph, the Porsche slid wide and Woolfe couldn’t catch it.
The 917 hit the guard rail, flipped onto its roof and continued down the road before breaking in two and catching fire.
Poor John Woolfe was thrown from the car and died in the helicopter as he was rushed to hospital.
Despite the fatal crash, chassis SL76/146 made three more appearances for John Woolfe Racing over the remainder of 1969. It failed to finish the Wills Trophy at Croft with Digby Martland at the wheel (overheating) and then didn’t make the grid for the Swedish Grand Prix at Karlskoga after Richard Attwood crashed in practice.
Attwood subsequently claimed fifth overall and fourth in the Sports class at the Anderstorp Nordic Challenge Cup race at Anderstorp.
During the next four weeks, SL76/146 was sold to Racing Team VDS in Brussels.
Founded in November 1964 by Count Rodolphe van der Straten Ponthoz, Serge Trosch and Lionel William, Racing Team VDS quickly became one of the top privateer racing teams in Belgium. Funding came principally from Count van der Straten who was heir to the Belgian brewing dynasty that made Stella Artois.
Racing Team VDS started out with Mini Coopers before beginning a collaboration with Autodelta that saw the Belgian outfit compete with Alfa Romeo GTAs, TZ2s and various iterations of the Tipo 33 sports car.
As their three year association with Autodelta was coming to an end for 1970, Racing Team VDS acquired the ex-Woolfe Lola.
Now painted red with a white and blue centre stripe, SL76/146 debuted at the end-of-season Paris 1000km which took place around the Montlhery circuit. Drivers Teddy Pilette and Gustave Gosselin qualified ninth but retired with fuel-injection trouble.
During the 1970 season, Racing Team VDS contested over 20 races with the Lola.
Highlights included fourth overall and a class win at the Buenos Aires 1000km Temporada event plus outright victory at the Vila Real 500km. Teddy Pilette was ever-present behind the wheel.
Racing Team VDS ran a dramatically curtailed sports car programme in 1971 as they switched focus to Formula 5000 racing.
The five-events contested by the Lola in 1971 most notably yielded a sixth overall and fourth in class at the Spa 1000km World Sportscar Championship race. Elsewhere, SL76/146 failed to finish at the Le Mans 24 Hours for the second year in a row.
The T70’s final period outing came at the 1971 Paris 1000km, but Gosselin span into the barrier when lying fifth. Externally the damage didn’t look too bad, however, a broken upright brought the car’s front line career to an end.
Notable History
John Woolfe Racing, London
Blue with Yellow stripes
26/05/1969 BSC Oulton Park Tourist Trophy (R. Attwood) DNF (#33)
13/07/1969 BSC Croft Wills Trophy (D. Martland) DNF (#4)
17/08/1969 IND Swedish GP, Karlskoga (R. Attwood) DNS (#4)
14/09/1969 NDC Anderstorp (R. Attwood) 5th oa, 4th S class (#27)
Sold to Racing Team VDS, Brussels
Red with White and Blue stripes
12/10/1969 IND Paris 1000km, Montlhery (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNS (#2)
11/01/1970 TEM Buenos Aires 1000km (T. Pilette / N. Garcia-Veiga) 4th oa, 1st S class (#50)
18/01/1970 TEM Buenos Aires 200 mile (T. Pilette / N. Garcia-Veiga) DNF (#50)
22/03/1970 IND Jarama (T. Pilette) DNF (#68)
12/04/1970 IND Le Mans Test (T. Pilette) 4th oa, 3rd S5.0 class (#4)
19/04/1970 IND Zolder 500km (T. Pilette) DNF (#??)
25/04/1970 WSC Monza 1000km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) 16th oa, 10th S5.0 class (#16)
10/05/1970 IND Fassberg (T. Pilette) 10th oa, 3rd SRP2.0+ class (#??)
17/05/1970 WSC Spa 1000km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#35)
24/05/1970 IND Paris GP, Montlhery (T. Pilette) 2nd oa (#9)
31/05/1970 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNS (#46)
14/06/1970 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#4)
21/06/1970 IND Montlhery Coupes de l'ACIF (T. Pilette) 1st oa (#9)
28/06/1970 INT Norisring (T. Pilette) DNF (#16)
05/07/1970 IND Vila Real 500km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) 1st oa, 1st S5.0 class (#5)
11/07/1970 INT Croft (T. Pilette) 6th oa, 4th SR2.0+ class (#8)
09/08/1970 IND Swedish GP, Karlskoga (T. Pilette) 12th oa (#5)
16/08/1970 IND Wunstorf (T. Pilette) 3rd oa, 3rd SRP2.0+ class (#6)
23/08/1970 INT Keimola (T. Pilette) 5th oa (#6)
13/09/1970 IND Imola 500km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#9)
20/09/1970 INT Thruxton (T. Pilette) 7th oa (#20)
11/10/1970 INT Hockenheim (T. Pilette) DNF (#70)
18/10/1970 IND Paris 1000km, Montlhery (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#8)
18/04/1971 IND Le Mans 3 Hours (T. Pilette) DNF (#8)
09/05/1971 WSC Spa 1000km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) 6th oa, 4th S5.0 class (#31)
30/05/1971 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#54)
13/06/1971 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#5)
17/10/1971 IND Paris 1000km, Montlhery (T. Pilette / G. Gosselin) DNF (#2)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
