<< Prev Page 2 of 2 The teams that fielded B26s in the European Two Litre Championship faced the new and works supported Alpines. The French machines were unbeatable and the closest a B26 came was 0.8 seconds on aggregate. The monocoque Chevron faired much better, dominating its class at most of the World Championship rounds. The machine's performance was further increased with the installation of the all new Hart 420R engine. It was lighter and 15 bhp more powerful than Hart's version of the BDA. This engine was first used in a works supported car that quickly earned the nickname 'Chocolate Drop' for its brown color. During the Nürburgring round of the World Championship Watson lapped the track in 7:35 during practice. That was almost seven seconds faster than the next two-litre car. 'Chocolate Drop' was robbed off the victory by a bearing failure. The best result was at Brands Hatch 1000 km where Peter Gethin and Brian Redman finished fourth overall and a full 15 laps ahead of the second two-litre car.
In 1975 the B26 evolved into the B31, which sported a slightly different bodywork. Reflecting the sorry state of international sports car racing only six were sold. It was nevertheless very successful scoring several class victories in the World Championship. The European 2 Litre Championship was cut short to just two events and the last ever race was fittingly won by a Chevron. The final evolution of the monocoque sports racer was the B36 of 1976. It sported a much longer bodywork similar to that of the contemporary Lolas. The B36 entered by the French Societe Racing Organisation Course was particularly successful. Powered by a Chrysler/Simca derived four cylinder engine, it managed to score class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1977, 1978 and again in 1980. It was the end of a long line of highly competitive sports racers. Sadly with the untimely death of Derek Bennett in 1978 a replacement for the B26/B31/B36 range was never made. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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The teams that fielded B26s in the European Two Litre Championship faced the new and works supported Alpines. The French machines were unbeatable and the closest a B26 came was 0.8 seconds on aggregate. The monocoque Chevron faired much better, dominating its class at most of the World Championship rounds. The machine's performance was further increased with the installation of the all new Hart 420R engine. It was lighter and 15 bhp more powerful than Hart's version of the BDA. This engine was first used in a works supported car that quickly earned the nickname 'Chocolate Drop' for its brown color. During the Nürburgring round of the World Championship Watson lapped the track in 7:35 during practice. That was almost seven seconds faster than the next two-litre car. 'Chocolate Drop' was robbed off the victory by a bearing failure. The best result was at Brands Hatch 1000 km where Peter Gethin and Brian Redman finished fourth overall and a full 15 laps ahead of the second two-litre car.