Mikko Kozarowitzky

Mischa Bijenhof · 8 Feb 2004, 16:06 (Ref:867177)

I'm new on this forum but some of the names are familiar to me as I am a frequent TNF-visitor. This question has been asked over there as well, but maybe some of you can help me here. I am looking for pictures of Mikko Kozarowitzky, in order to complete his profile on F1rejects. Sadly, he doesn't have any pics himself. All I found so far is one pic of his F2 Lola, a snapshot taken during qualifying for the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix, nd a very vague pic of Rodrigo Gallego, who currently runs the car in TGP. Any help will be more than welcome!

gfm · 10 Feb 2004, 22:33 (Ref:870013)

I have one or two pictures from Formula SuperVW where he features I think. Will try to post.

Mischa Bijenhof · 11 Feb 2004, 22:06 (Ref:871260)

That would be wonderful!

Teretonga · 11 Feb 2004, 22:29 (Ref:871288)

Mischa
I have some pics of Mikko in an Opert B34 in NZ in January 1977. I'll try to find them and post them for you soon.

Mischa Bijenhof · 14 Feb 2004, 00:21 (Ref:873726)

Great, I am looking forward to it! Of course, anyone who provides pictures will be given credit.

gfm · 14 Feb 2004, 21:23 (Ref:874328)

OK.
Lets try and work this out.
This is a Nurburgring SuperVW race in 1974.
Just off the rolling start, Manfred Schurti leads with Rosberg extreme left, then I can't remember, then Kennert Persson and extreme right Peter Scharmann.
Then the second row as it were, is Bertils the engine man in his home-grown car, Arpiainen and your man Kazorwitsky, with to the right of him Prinz Leopold von Bayern and someone like Bross. I'm next up about 11th but came 4th or 5th in the end as I remember.
Absolutely great racing.

Dan Rear · 17 Feb 2004, 10:03 (Ref:876697)

John, I've been meaning to ask, why were you into FSV, it was never really fashionable over here was it. Were there good 'deals' offered by VW, or were the cars as quick and cost effective as F3/FAt, was it the chance to race on the Continent, or did you have any VW connexions ?? I only ever saw FSVs over here a few times from around 75-80, they generally had small fields, and only a few well turned out cars, such as yours, the Young Modus, the occasional decent Royale or Lola. To my uninitiated eyes, FSV always seemed a bit of an 'oddball' series over here, though I accept in Europe it was much bigger.

gfm · 17 Feb 2004, 20:33 (Ref:877513)

Nice of you to ask Dan, but really, it chose me. I’d started racing FF, and Spridgets. The theoretical side of race driving caught my interest and I’d also started a sort of race tuition thing out of the Goodwood circuit using FFs. Just up the road, when I was working as a car salesman, I’d met the people involved in the Malaya Garage racing programmes and lo and behold in’73, they split up going separate ways. But the core business was run by Ian Williams who had somehow got hold of Fred Opert in the US who needed large numbers of European single seaters to sell.

Ian bought the Tui F2 project which had suffered a setback with the death of Bert Hawthorn. And that provided the basis of a really neat monocoque. Of course, the US wasn’t interested in F3, they wanted FSVs so that’s what the fledgling business in Billingshurst started to produce.

Ian had also got hold of a Broadspeed badged Shrick motor and suggested that if I was REALLY CAREFUL, I could shake down the thing at Goodwood, which we did and then suggested that we take the car to the first round of the 73 series in the UK. Long story short, we won that and the car was immediately shipped out to Opert as a brand new untried car, knowing full well that it was in good shape. The factory then produced a car for us to use and away we went.

I shall never forget ringing Ian up on a Saturday night after qualifying at Zolder for the second round of the European Gold Cup. I’d actually qualified on the front row, heavens knows how. Silence at the other end of the phone. Any way, the car was good, the money doing Silver (UK) and Gold Cups was good and we even got to go to Riverside and Leguna Seca and race in the even richer US Gold Cup. But of course in Europe we did visit some fabulous places and supported many Grand Prixs. So I was perfectly happy living out of the Transit for a few years and enjoying racing that was rich in variety and fun, and seriously hard racing of course. Perfect really.

Andrew Kitson · 18 Feb 2004, 01:10 (Ref:877830)

Fabulous stuff John.
Other Brits that spring to mind who did a decent job in FSV were Chris Barnett and Ed Jones.

gfm · 18 Feb 2004, 20:29 (Ref:878668)

Chris beat me in 74 to the UK title I remember. Ed Jones was a season or two after me.
Other Brits that ran the British series but came along to the odd Gold Cup race were Bruce Venn, Mike White, Ronnie Grant and Mike Catlow, Steve Tipping, Mark Litchfield in Crossle, Elden, Ronnie had Patrick Head's Taurus, Royales and Modus. I had Tim Rathmell and a chap called Keens as team mates and Toby St George Matthews for a season too.

Dan Rear · 19 Feb 2004, 13:26 (Ref:879340)

John, it was Tim Keen I think. When you say Mike White, do you mean Mike Young, the ZA Mike White didn't come here til 78, then went into FF2000, not FSV, or am I way off track here? Another thing that struck me about FSV in mid 70s, apart from the strange names of some of the cars, was the strange names of some drivers, eg Bruce Venn, Olly Hollamby, Mr St G Matthews. All very weird to a 12 year old !

gfm · 22 Feb 2004, 19:47 (Ref:882068)

It was Tim Keens, well done.
Mike White was Cornock's test driver at Royale for a time (around '72/'73) and an airline pilot. Quick peddler, nice chap.
Mike Young was the Modus fellow who won the UK Silver Cup in 75. I think we spent more time in Europe that year. (Excuses) Engines were getting a bit stretched by then in terms of power v. reliability.
Venn and Hollamby were mates from south London, and VolksSpares was Olly's of course and supported Vee and Beetle racing.

Dan Rear · 23 Feb 2004, 13:00 (Ref:882738)

Thanks for info John, fascinating as always. I think the 'White' chap you mention, was Peter, not Mike, who I believe was the original Royale works FF driver in 1975, before Geoff Lees came along. We all know what happened that year in FF, I always thought he, GL, was a real wasted talent.

Mischa Bijenhof · 23 Feb 2004, 21:01 (Ref:883238)

So, gently moving back to the thread title here, sorry to interrupt you folks. This info is all I have concerning Kozarowitzky's F. Atlantic campaign. I have neither full race results nor dates. Anyone?

Year: 1976, Atlantic
Category: Formula Atlantic, New Zealand for Fred Opert
Date/location ? Bay Park
Result: retired, misfire
Car + engine Chevron B43

Date/location ? NZ Grand Prix
Result: Retired, fuel pick-up
Car + engine Chevron B34

Date/location ? Manfield
Result: 8 (pitstop after damaged wheel)
Car + engine Chevron

Date/location ? Teretonga
Result: 2
Car + engine Chevron

Date/location ? Lady Wigram Trophy
Result: 3
Car + engine Chevron
4th equal with John Nicholson in championship

David McKinney · 23 Feb 2004, 23:15 (Ref:883381)

Date as follows:
Bay Park 3/1/77
Pukekohe 8/1/77
Manfeild (not Manfield) 16/1/77
Teretonga 23/1/77
Wigram 30/1/77
Car in each case Opert Racing Chevron B34 with Cosworth BDD engine

Teretonga · 24 Feb 2004, 03:42 (Ref:883548)

These NZ events were in two heats, each with it's own points counting for the championship, in effect a 10 race series. So Mikko did retire in one heat, for example, at Baypark but did he finish the other one? The prize giving was based on an aggregate result which I think tends to make the whole thing a little confusing.

David McKinney · 24 Feb 2004, 08:07 (Ref:883656)

From memory, the 1977 rounds were one race each. I've just checked the supplementray regulations for the series and can find no mention of two heats, though that system did indeed come in later

Chris Townsend · 24 Feb 2004, 09:50 (Ref:883739)

Full results for the 1977 Peter Stuyvesant series in NZ
including all of Mikko's efforts can be found at
www.oldracingcars.com

There were no heats in the series that year.
Results based in large part on David McKinney's reports for
NZ Motoraction

Chris

Mischa Bijenhof · 24 Feb 2004, 15:41 (Ref:884115)

OK, thanks a lot, I think I've got that covered now. You will find the Kozarowitzky bio and interview soon on www.f1rejects.com

Teretonga · 25 Feb 2004, 03:42 (Ref:884816)

Thats interesting dave. I was at baypark that year and I'm quite sure i remebered two heats. I'll see if I can find the old race programme somewhere (I have a collection) and check it out. I also thought Keke Rosberg dropped out of one heat and Steve Millen won one in the B35 but my memory has been known to mislead me.

David McKinney · 25 Feb 2004, 08:20 (Ref:884919)

You're probably confusing 1977 with 1978. Without checking, your recollections of Baypark accord with my memory of the second year
The first year both were in light blue Chevrons, the second time Rosberg had a red one and I think Millen's was red too
Does that spark anything?

Armco Bender · 26 Feb 2004, 07:35 (Ref:885887)

I agree with David,Millen had a light blue Chevron B34 with 'Charlie' perfume sponsorship in '77 and in '78 a red B39 with Martini sponsorship,wasn't he being filmed for some movie that year?(not Smash Palace,that was later.
Put me down for one race in '77,and didn't they also still have rolling starts?.
Wasn't Kozarowitzky touted as being the Flying Finn,next big thing etc,etc before the series started and the the other little Finn turned up and drove the wheels of him.
But damn it was 27 years ago,it does get hard to think back that far.

gfm · 26 Feb 2004, 20:46 (Ref:886677)

You're talking about KeKe (Rosberg) - surely not so little!!
The one who I really thought was hot was (forgive spelling pls) Mika Arpiannen who was super quick, then just disappeared. I'd love to know where he went. He was good.

The other that impressed me was Helmut Koinnig.

I was brand new to the game early '73 and I remember coming out of the pits last qualifying at Zolder just behind another of these blithering Kaimanns. I thought I'd get shot of who ever it was quickly and out brake him into the first left hander after the pits. Whoever it was resisted, so I tried again next right hander. Resisted again. About 5 times I tried impatiently to out jump him on the out lap, this to get one clear lap myself, and 5 times failed.
Well, who ever it was kept on resisting and next lap we were both flat out and I was still trying to get by. Never did, but he got pole and I got third!
I made it my business to find out who (the f...) it was (they were all unknown to me). It was Koinig.
The next weekend we were at the Ring and I remember he was sitting in his road car, eyes closed with his hands out holding and imaginary steering wheel, muttering his way around the circuit. I'd clocked already he was serious.

Teretonga · 27 Feb 2004, 03:44 (Ref:886955)

Now thats interesting David. Yes Millen had a light blue Chevron in 1977, but I had understood at the time (in some magazine-Robin Cutis' I think )that it was actually an ex Hans Binder B35, not a B34 like the Opert cars. I have always assumed that that was the case.

David McKinney · 27 Feb 2004, 07:20 (Ref:887013)

Correct, Terry - though I'm not sure from memory about the Binder bit
(I didn't say it was a B34!)