A closer look at the Lyons' Gurney Eagle
Any historic race class, but especially one for highlystrung single seaters, relies on the passion of owners and drivers to keep obsolete racers on the track and being used in the manner for which they were intended. When it comes to Formula 5000, is there a family more dedicated to the cause than the Lyons? Each year, they arrive en-mass from their UK home; Frank and Judy, with son Michael as the frontrunner in the family equipe, a car each, and adding a welcome touch of international flavour to our local F5000 series.
With engine failure taking Michael’s Lola out of the running for the Ruapuna round of the series and the title up for grabs, Frank did the fatherly thing and handed over the Eagle. In the hands of a hungry young driver, what was a midfield car, suddenly jumped to the front of the grid and at the same time made him the third of the Lyons clan to have driven it. When Frank first laid eyes on it, he rated it as “the nicest car I had ever seen” and he wanted it, but it took some time before finally, eight years ago he was at last able to add it to the stable. Judy drove it for four years before switching to a Lola and then Frank took over the Eagle.
The F7A appeared in 1974, five years since Dan Gurney’s All American Racers had last appeared in F5000. In this time they had finally pulled the pin on their Formula One operation and climbed to the heights of Indy victory. This new car was designed as a joint Formula 5000/Formula One exercise with backing from Jorgensen Steel. Dan Gurney wanted to build the entire car from the sponsor’s titanium; Jorgensen’s reply was along the lines of, “We’ve given you our name and our money, we’re not giving you the damn car as well!”
Four chassis were constructed, three used by the works AAR team in the hands of Brent Lunger and Elliot Forbes-Robinson. The fourth chassis (the Lyons’ car), was sold to privateer Francisco Mir’s California-based outfit for the 1974 USA Formula A/5000 series in the hands of several drivers, including Lella Lombardi, the Italian lady Formula One driver, as well as AAR works driver Forbes-Robinson. At the end of the season, the car went to
Mike Koslowski where it was seen in the 1975 and 76 seasons, the last years of the formula as a serious race class in North America.
During the 1980s chassis 7A4004 disappeared from sight before Ian Giles bought it, had it restored and ran it in historic Formula One events in the UK in the early 2000s. It was here that Frank Lyons first saw and raced against it, taking an instant shine to the car and starting the long and involved conversations that eventually ended with him being able to purchase it.
He describes the Eagle as a very rewarding car to drive, backed up by Michael’s winning of the Ruapuna round in the car, which was literally the first time he had ever sat in it. The cockpit is very wide and roomy for a single seater and the controls are all exactly where the driver needs them. It would be interesting to see how the car would have gone if it has been fitted with a Cosworth DFV and run in Formula One as originally intended, although Frank feels the chassis is a little too heavy to be fully competitive in F5000.
In the 1970s, a F5000 engine would produce around 400hp. These days the same engine is easily putting out at least another 100hp and this increase in power, combined with the better grip provided by modern tyres, have made for some reliability issues in running these cars now, the transmissions especially being the weak point. This is the main reason why rolling starts are used for F5000 in deference to input shafts which would not take well to a standing start. While it may take away a little of the spectacle from the races, we spectators are not the ones having to pay the bills to fix broken gearboxes and as well as this, there is the safety issue of having a car breaking on the start-line, with a full field charging towards it. This seems to be a very sensible precaution.
To bring three cars half-way around the world is a major commitment but one which the Lyons are happy to make. Frank feels this is a very safe class to compete in; Historic Formula 5000 has now been running on three continents for 20 years and in this time there has only been a single fatality. The worldwide 5000 community is a close bunch which the Lyons enjoy being part of. They feel the class is more about the cars than the drivers, seeing them on the track and being enjoyed by drivers and spectators alike. This is one of the reasons why they keep coming back and boosting the quality and quantity of our fields. We look forward to seeing them here for the 2014/15 Formula 5000 series; Michael has a championship to defend and I am sure the local frontrunners (Ross, Smith and Proctor) all would love the opportunity to exact their revenge!