TriumphTR6

Triumph TR6 Racing

No source read records a works team rallying or racing the TR6. In America the importer backed it in the Sports Car Club of America's national races, through Kas Kastner's competition department and Bob Tullius's Group 44, and in 1975 and 1976 it won the D Production championship; in Europe private owners entered it in rallies and races.

A dark blue Triumph TR6 with a hardtop and white stripes, number 234, at speed on the Nuerburgring.
A TR6 with its hardtop, number 234, at speed on the Nürburgring in May 2014, at a track day of today, not a period race.Justin LaBerge, CC BY 2.0

The TR6's racing with the maker's backing was American. Triumph's importer backed it in the national races of the Sports Car Club of America from its first season. It took seven seasons and a change of class before a TR6 won the national championship, and the next year it won again. The results below come from the importer's owners' newsletter and the racingsportscars database. Group 44's TR6 has a page of its own, and so has Paul Newman, who drove it to the title of 1976.⁠1​2​3​4​5

The cars and teams

Three teams ran TR6s for British Leyland in America. Triumph's own US Competition Department at Gardena, California, under Kas Kastner, prepared TR-6s for the West in 1969 and 1970, for Jim Dittemore and Lee Mueller, on the widest rims the rules allowed. In the East, Bob Tullius's Group 44, of Falls Church, Virginia, raced one with Quaker State's backing. When Kastner left Triumph at the end of 1970, Kastner-Brophy Inc. took on a TR-6, a Spitfire and a GT-6 for British Leyland, with Carl Swanson among the drivers. Private owners raced TR-6s too, among them Stan Trumbower, 11th in the class's championship race of 1972.

The TR6 raced in C Production, with its injection. American TR6s were sold with carburettors, but Severson writes that the American organisation in time persuaded the SCCA to accept the Lucas injection for racing.⁠1​6​3​7​8​9​2

A red Triumph TR6 race car, number 41, with a roll cage and white bonnet stripes, on a circuit kerb with a tyre wall behind.
Racing today: a TR6 prepared for historic events, number 41, with a roll cage and bonnet (hood) stripes, at Winton, Australia, in 2011.jason goulding, CC BY 2.0

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C Production, 1969–74

The first national win came in its first spring. At Sears Point on 29 and 30 March 1969, Dittemore's Kastner-prepared TR-6 won after the Porsche 911S that crossed the line first was disqualified, and by May Tullius had won three nationals in a row in the East; at Road America in June Group 44's co-founder, Brian Fuerstenau, won in the car Tullius usually drove. The class's championship race, the American Road Race of Champions, was another matter. In 1969 Tullius crashed out there after a Porsche hit him, and in 1970 the first three were all Datsun's new 240Zs; in C Production the TR6 never won it.

In 1971 Mueller, now with Kastner-Brophy, was outgunned in his division, the importer admitted, though it later listed him as the Southern Pacific Division's C Production champion of the year. Tullius, hurt early in 1972, came back late in the season: in October his TR-6 stood on British Leyland's stand at Earls Court, and in November he was 2nd at the championship race, behind Bob Sharp's 240Z. In 1974 John McComb took over Group 44's car for the rest of the season.⁠10​11​12​13​14​15​16​17​9​18​2

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D Production champions, 1975–76

For 1975 Group 44's TR-6 changed class, to D Production, and to the standard carburettors, with McComb as British Leyland's team driver for Triumph. At Nelson Ledges on 26 July a sixth win in a row made McComb the Northeast Division's champion, and at Brainerd on 7 September, with its injection back on, it ran in a round of the Trans-Am as the smallest-engined car in the field, the importer noted. "Nobody believed us when we told them the TR-6 would finish in the top five at the Pepsi Trans-Am at Brainerd," McComb said afterwards, as the importer reported him.

At Road Atlanta on 2 November McComb led the D Production final from start to finish, won by 2.2 seconds from Lee Mueller's Jensen-Healey, the champion of the two years before, at an average of 148.7 km/h (92.4 mph), and set a lap record of 1 minute 36.3 seconds; Jim Ray was 3rd in another TR-6. It was the car's ninth win of the year, and the importer's reporter set it against the team's record:

Group 44 had qualified TR-6s for six straight Sports Car Club of America national championship run-offs. Six times they'd gone home empty handed. Not this time – the seventh.

Lyman Gaylord, Triumph Newsletter, October–November 1975

In 1976 British Leyland raced its new TR7 in D Production, and the TR6 beat it. At Road Atlanta on 31 October Paul Newman, from pole position, won the title in the TR6 that had won it the year before, 0.84 seconds ahead of Mueller's TR7, with Tullius 5th in another TR7. The importer's editorial afterwards lamented that the TR7 had missed the title "by less than one second of time – to a TR6!" In the International Motor Sports Association's GTU class, Dennis Wilson raced a TR6 in 1976 and 1977, the last results racingsportscars records.⁠19​20​4​21​5​22​6​2

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Europe, and racing today

In Europe the TR6 raced as a private car. Two French crews took TR6s on the Tour de France automobile in September 1969: Warein and Brun finished 27th, and Roger Barbara and Carpentier retired. Barbara was 9th at Montlhéry that October, and a French enthusiast site, tr5passion.com, credits him with 3rd overall in the Marathon de la Route at the Nürburgring that year. Hans Hargarten, of a German team, finished 4th in the GT class at Zolder, in Belgium, in August 1970.

TR6s still race and rally, in historic events like the ones in the pictures, though no car pictured here is known to have raced when it was new.⁠2​23

A dark blue Triumph TR6 with four spot lamps, rally plates and the number 70, parked on brick paving under a blue sky.
A TR6 prepared for historic rallies, number 70, with four spot lamps, in the Netherlands in April 2019.Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
A white Triumph TR6 with start number 12 and a luggage rack, seen from behind on a mountain road during a classic rally.
Rallying today: a white TR6 on a mountain road in the 550 Challenge, Mallorca, October 2021.Koldo Zuazaga, CC0

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Results

A yellow year marks a win.

  • 1969

    SCCA National, Sears Point 1969

    29 March 1969, Sears Point, USA. Jim Dittemore: 1st in C Production⁠10

  • 1969

    American Road Race of Champions 1969

    30 November 1969, Daytona, USA. Jim Dittemore: 3rd in C Production⁠13​24​2

  • 1970

    American Road Race of Champions 1970

    29 November 1970, Road Atlanta, USA. Bob Tullius: retired: clutch⁠14

  • 1971

    American Road Race of Champions 1971

    28 November 1971, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 9, T. J. Kelley: 5th in C Production⁠16​2

  • 1971

    American Road Race of Champions 1971

    28 November 1971, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 12, Lee Mueller: retired: lost power after 16 laps⁠16​2

  • 1971

    American Road Race of Champions 1971

    28 November 1971, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 44, Bob Tullius: did not start: injured in a practice accident⁠16​2

  • 1972

    American Road Race of Champions 1972

    November 1972, Road Atlanta, USA. Bob Tullius: 2nd in C Production⁠9​2

  • 1972

    American Road Race of Champions 1972

    November 1972, Road Atlanta, USA. Carl Swanson: 6th in C Production⁠9​2

  • 1973

    SCCA Runoffs 1973

    4 November 1973, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 72, Jim Ray: 7th in C Production⁠25​2

  • 1973

    SCCA Runoffs 1973

    4 November 1973, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 44, Bob Tullius: retired: brakes⁠25​2

  • 1974

    SCCA Runoffs 1974

    3 November 1974, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 4, John McComb: 4th in C Production⁠26​2

  • 1975

    SCCA race, Nelson Ledges 1975

    26 July 1975, Nelson Ledges, USA. John McComb, in Group 44 Triumph TR6: 1st in D Production⁠20

  • 1975

    Pepsi Trans-Am, Brainerd 1975

    7 September 1975, Brainerd, USA. No. 4, John McComb, in Group 44 Triumph TR6: 3rd overall⁠20​4​2

  • 1975

    SCCA Runoffs 1975

    November 1975, Road Atlanta, USA. John McComb, in Group 44 Triumph TR6: 1st in D Production⁠4​6

  • 1976

    SCCA Runoffs 1976

    31 October 1976, Road Atlanta, USA. Paul Newman, in Group 44 Triumph TR6: 1st in D Production⁠5​6

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Sources

Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  • Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
  1. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1969, Feb 1969, the Competition Department's TR-6; the Competition Department at Gardena; the rims, "maximum size allowed under SCCA rules". Primary
  2. racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR6 – All Results", all TR6 results; entrants and drivers, 1969–77; ARRC 1969, 1972; Runoffs 1973, 1974; Brainerd 1975; IMSA 1976–77; Tour de France 1969; Montlhéry 1969; Zolder 1970. Database
  3. Moss Motoring, "Bob Tullius, Group 44 Inc.", 5 Apr 2009, Group 44; Group 44: founders, base, sponsors. Reference
  4. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October–November 1975, Oct–Nov 1975 (vol. 21 no. 6), pp. 1–2, the 1975 title; pp. 1–2, the Runoffs and Brainerd; Gaylord, "Group 44 had qualified TR-6s …"; McComb, "Nobody believed us …"; p. 2. Primary
  5. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1976, Sep–Oct 1976 (vol. 22 no. 5), pp. 1–3, the 1976 title; pp. 1–3, the 1976 Runoffs; pp. 1–3; results p. 3. Primary
  6. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012, the SCCA homologation of the injection; TR in twilight: the two titles; TR in twilight. Reference
  7. Moss Motoring, "Kas Kastner – The legend and the legacy", 30 Nov 2011, Kastner-Brophy, 1971. Reference
  8. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1971, Feb 1971 (vol. 17 no. 2), p. 3, Kastner-Brophy's TR-6, Spitfire and GT-6. Primary
  9. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1972, Dec 1972 (vol. 18 no. 12), p. 2, Stan Trumbower; p. 2, the 1972 ARRC; p. 2. Primary
  10. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, April 1969, Apr 1969 (vol. 15 no. 4), p. 3, Sears Point; p. 3. Primary
  11. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1969, Jun 1969, Cumberland, Tullius's third straight win. Primary
  12. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1969, Jul 1969, Road America, Fuerstenau. Primary
  13. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1969, Dec 1969 (vol. 15 no. 12), the 1969 ARRC; pp. 1–3. Primary
  14. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1970, Dec 1970 (vol. 16 no. 12), the 1970 ARRC; p. 2. Primary
  15. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1971, Sep 1971, national wins to 6 September 1971. Primary
  16. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November–December 1971, Nov–Dec 1971 (vol. 17 nos. 11–12), the 1971 divisional champions: Lee Mueller; p. 4; p. 3. Primary
  17. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1972, Nov 1972 (vol. 18 no. 11), Tullius's season; the London show. Primary
  18. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August 1974, Aug 1974 (vol. 20 no. 8), p. 1, McComb takes over. Primary
  19. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February–March 1975, Feb–Mar 1975 (vol. 21 no. 2), p. 5, McComb, team driver, D Production. Primary
  20. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August–September 1975, Aug–Sep 1975 (vol. 21 no. 5), p. 4, Nelson Ledges; Brainerd; p. 4. Primary
  21. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January–February 1976, Jan–Feb 1976, the TR7 in D Production. Primary
  22. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November–December 1976, Nov–Dec 1976, the editorial: "by less than one second of time". Primary
  23. Frédéric Reydellet (racing history), tr5passion.com (group): "En bref / Summary", "Identification", "Lucas injection", "Options", "Technical spec", "Colours", "TR5 Ginevra", "Racing history", TR5 Passion, Racing history page: Roger Barbara and the 1969 Marathon de la Route. Reference
  24. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1970, Jan 1970 (vol. 16 no. 1). Primary
  25. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1973, Nov 1973 (vol. 19 no. 10), p. 2. Primary
  26. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1974, Nov 1974 (vol. 20 no. 11), p. 2. Primary

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