OldRacingCars.com

Can-Am Challenge Race

Lime Rock, 6 Jul 1985

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Bruce MacInnes Lola T333CS [HU11] - Chevrolet V8
#1 Claridge Racing
17 16m 53.37s
92.406 mph
2 Rick Miaskiewicz Frissbee GR3 - Chevrolet V8
#22 (not on entry list)
17 16m 59.346s
3 Fabio Mancini (Sports racing) 2-litre Osella PA9B/84 [126] - BMW M12/7
#2 [Fiorano Sports Cars] (see note 1)
17
4 Peter Greenfield (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Ralt RT4/82 [334] - Hart 420R
#41 Greenfield Industries (see note 2)
17
5 Jeremy Hill (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Photon JH2 [March 78B-15] - Hart 420R
#00 Hill Racing (see note 3)
17
6 Lou Sell (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [17] - BMW M12/7 Mader
#5 Lou Sell Racing
17
7 Joe DeMarco Lola T300 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8
#88 Demrac Engineering
16
8 Bill Tempero (Can-Am) 6-litre Longhorn LR02 [2] - Chevrolet 366 ci V8
#15 Tri Pak-Bell Racestar
16
9 Bill Vincent (Can-Am 2l) 2.3-litre Yorkshire KV5 - Mazda 12A twin rotor
#10 104 Octane Boost
16
10 Horst Kroll Frissbee-Lola T330 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#37 Horst Kroll Racing (see note 4)
16
11 Mauro Lanaro (Can-Am 2l) 1.7-litre March 74B/77B [10] - Ford BDD
#74 Lanaro Racing (see note 5)
16
12 Randy Zimmer (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Rondel M1 [201] - Mazda 13B twin rotor
#14 Output Improvements (see note 6)
16
13 Tony LaRosa (Sports racing) 2-litre Osella PA9 [110] - BMW M12/7
#32 Grand Prix Auto (see note 7)
14
14 Diego Montoya Frissbee - Chevrolet V8
#82 [B & T Racing]
13
15 Oma Kimbrough (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 812 [9] - Hart 420R
#8 Le Café, N.Y.C (see note 8)
12
16 Tod Tuttle Chevron B51 [51-80-01] - Chevrolet V8
#51 A.D.I. Racing (see note 9)
8
17 Dennis Ehrie (Can-Am 2l) 2.3-litre Wise (Brabham BT40) [BT40-25] - Mazda 12A twin rotor
#35 Stanley Steamer
7
18 Bruce Langson Frissbee-Lola - Chevrolet V8
#70 LASER 7000
5
19 Mark Rose Lola T332 [T330 HU16] - Chevrolet V8
#9 Texas American Race Teams (see note 10)
5
20 Robert Meyer Frissbee-Lola T333CS - Chevrolet V8
#33 Meyer Racing
4
21 Rod Cusumano Frissbee-Lola T333CS - Chevrolet V8
#7 Will Petroleum
4
22 John Gunn Phoenix 85 - Chevrolet V8
#39 Holly Racing
3
DNS David Locke (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Cicale-March 77B - Hart 420R
#12 - (see note 11)
Did not start
DNS Mike Engstrand Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8
#77 Brian Taylor Racing (see note 12)
Did not start
  Michael Canan Wolf-Canan [Lola T300 HU5] - Chevrolet V8
#3 Mike Cannon
On entry list
  Jim Gradel Lola T332 [T330 HU16] - Chevrolet V8
#9 Texas American Racing Teams (see note 13)
On entry list
  Cliff Dawson (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [2] - Hart 420R
#11 Dawson Racing
On entry list
  Robb Woltring Frissbee - Chevrolet V8
#17 Sheppard McNulty
On entry list
  Clive Bush 'Frissbee' - Chevrolet V8
#18 Lafayette Racing (see note 14)
On entry list
  Jim Gustafson Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
#27 G Team (see note 15)
On entry list
  Roman Pechmann (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU34] - Hart 420R
#56 -
On entry list
  Frank Sanchez Lola - Chevrolet V8
#67 Innovation Racing
On entry list

All cars are 5-litre Can-Am unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Lou Sell (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [17] - BMW M12/7 Mader 47.15s
2 Horst Kroll (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola T330 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8 48.09s
3 Rick Miaskiewicz (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee GR3 - Chevrolet V8 48.732s
4 Rod Cusumano (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola T333CS - Chevrolet V8 48.908s
5 Peter Greenfield (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Ralt RT4/82 [334] - Hart 420R 49.159s
6 John Gunn (Can-Am) 5-litre Phoenix 85 - Chevrolet V8 49.818s
7 Robert Meyer (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola T333CS - Chevrolet V8 50.218s
8 Bruce MacInnes (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU11] - Chevrolet V8 50.72s
9 Fabio Mancini (Sports racing) 2-litre Osella PA9B/84 [126] - BMW M12/7 50.756s
10 Bruce Langson (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola - Chevrolet V8 51.464s
11 Randy Zimmer (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Rondel M1 [201] - Mazda 13B twin rotor 52.257s
12 Diego Montoya (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee - Chevrolet V8 52.268s
13 Oma Kimbrough (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 812 [9] - Hart 420R 52.945s
14 Jeremy Hill (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Photon JH2 [March 78B-15] - Hart 420R 53.944s
15 Tod Tuttle (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B51 [51-80-01] - Chevrolet V8 54.741s
16 Joe DeMarco (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T300 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8 55.131s
17 Bill Tempero (Can-Am) 6-litre Longhorn LR02 [2] - Chevrolet 366 ci V8 55.39s
18 Bill Vincent (Can-Am 2l) 2.3-litre Yorkshire KV5 - Mazda 12A twin rotor 56.28s
19 Mauro Lanaro (Can-Am 2l) 1.7-litre March 74B/77B [10] - Ford BDD 56.91s
20 Mark Rose (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [T330 HU16] - Chevrolet V8 57.95s
21 Tony LaRosa (Sports racing) 2-litre Osella PA9 [110] - BMW M12/7 1m 01.031s
22 Mike Engstrand * (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8 1m 14.505s
23 Dennis Ehrie (Can-Am 2l) 2.3-litre Wise (Brabham BT40) [BT40-25] - Mazda 12A twin rotor 1m 31.296s
24 David Locke * (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Cicale-March 77B - Hart 420R
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Osella PA9B/84 [126] (Fabio Mancini): Martin Spetz observed the number 'Osella PA9B/84-126' on Trentini's Osella at Road Atlanta in 1984. As Mancini's car was also entered by Fiorano Sports Cars of Houston, as Trentini's had been, it is assumed to be the same car.
  2. Ralt RT4/82 [334] (Peter Greenfield): Martin Spetz observed the number '334' on Greenfield's '82 Ralt RT4 at Road Atlanta in 1984.
  3. Photon JH2 [March 78B-15] (Jeremy Hill): Jeremy Hill's 1984-86 'Photon' was based on a March 78B Formula Atlantic car but fitted with a 2-litre Hart 420R engine, and a Frissbee-inspired body. A later advert for the car on Race-cars.com gives the car as March 78B/15, an ex-Brack car used for a season by Hill in Formula Atlantic before being converted to Can-Am spec.
  4. Frissbee-Lola T330 [HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
  5. March 74B/77B [10] (Mauro Lanaro): The early history of this car is unknown, but it may be the car raced by Gilles Léger (Lachute, Quebec) from Mosport Park in July 1974 onwards. By 1980 it was owned by Bob Roy ( Montréal, Quebec, Canada) and was being used in Can-Am. The car later went to Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec), and was raced by him in Can-Am then CAT races from 1984 to 1987. At some point, Lanaro found the monocoque had bent due to the Can-Am car's downforce, and replaced the tub with that of 74B/12. The tub and associated parts from 74B/10 remained with Lanaro until he sold his remaining stock to David Clubine (Brantford, Ontario) in 2018.
  6. Rondel M1 [201] (Randy Zimmer): The prototype Rondel was used for testing in late 1972, before the first production cars were built. It was taken to Hockenheim 8 April 1973 as team spare, and to Pau as a spare for Tim Schenken, but not raced. Its history is then unknown until 1974, and it appears it has been acquired by Fred Opert to use as a set of spares. After Mike Rand crashed his car, wrecking the monocoque, 201 was supplied to Ron Ignatowski (Milford, CT), who rebuilt Rand's car on 201's tub with a BRM 1-litre engine and used it in SCCA Formula C. In 1980 it was sold to Randy Zimmer (Buffalo, NY) as the basis for his Can-Am car. He raced it with a Volkswagen engine in 1982 and then with a Mazda rotary engine from 1983 to 1986. Zimmer then entered it for Jim Del Russo in the 1987 CAT championship, and raced it a few more times himself in 1989, 1990 and 1994. Then retained for many years until Zimmer sold it to Seann Burgess (Markdale, Ontario) in 2019.
  7. Osella PA9 [110] (Tony LaRosa): Jacques Villeneuve Sr drove an Osella PA9-BMW sports car during the 1982 Can-Am season. This car had began life as a PA8, chassis 091, for Gimax in 1980 and had been converted to PA9 specification and renumbered 110 for Villeneuve's Can-Am run. The car reappeared briefly for Scott Goodyear to drive in 1983.
  8. March 812 [9] (Oma Kimbrough): Martin Spetz observed the number '812-009' on Canizares' March 812-Hart at Road Atlanta in 1984.
  9. Chevron B51 [51-80-01] (Tod Tuttle): Martin Spetz observed the number 'B51-80-01' on Tuttle's Chevron at Road Atlanta in 1984.
  10. Lola T332 [T330 HU16] (Mark Rose): See full history: Lola T330 HU16.
  11. Cicale-March 77B (David Locke): Rick Koehler (Milwaukee, WI) raced an Excalibur EE2B in Formula Atlantic in 1978, with sponsorship from Brooks Stevens. The car was essentially a March 77B and was described as ex-Shierson and ex-Brack in adverts in late 1978 and 1979. It was leased to Joe Castellano for the Long Beach race in April 1979, and then sat unused until August 1980 when it was sold to David Locke (Cambridge City, IN). Locke fitted the car with 79B bodywork and Bobsy fenders so that it could be used in Can-Am racing, using an 1850cc Hart BDA engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox. In October 1981, Locke ordered a Kevlar Cicale body for the car, and used it in this form in 1982 and 1983, but without success. He acquired a Hart 420R engine from Jim Trueman for 1984 and raced the car in Can-Am and then CAT until 1987. Chris Townsend advises that it was sold to Lee Johnson in Colorado in April 1988, and was still with Johnson in 2012.
  12. Chevron B24 [24-73-02] (Mike Engstrand): New for 1973 season. Doug Shierson for Peter Gethin: raced in UK 1973 (won Race of Champions) and US 1973. To Roger Bighouse (Eastlake, OH): raced in US 1974 (7 races); US 1975 (4 races + 1 DNS) - Pat McGonegle (Cincinnati, OH): raced in US 1976 (1 race) and Can-Am 1977 (4 races + 1 DNS); probably the car entered by McGonegle as 'Mannix MX-2' in Can-Am 1978; advertised April 1979 - Danny Johnson (Kewanee, IL) 1979: raced in Can-Am 1979 (1 race), Can-Am 1981 (5 races), Can-Am 1982 (6 races) - Brian R Taylor (now Clive, Iowa) for Mike Engstrand (Des Moines, Iowa): raced in Can-Am 1985 (3 races) - Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) - Anthony Taylor (Blackburn, UK) 2001: due to be rebuilt and raced in FORCE Historic F5000 series (UK) 2001. Then unknown until owned by Greg Thornton in 2011 and raced in UK and New Zealand 2011/12. Badly damaged in a fire at Thornton's garage in June 2012 but completely reconstructed.
  13. Lola T332 [T330 HU16] (Jim Gradel): See full history: Lola T330 HU16.
  14. 'Frissbee' (Clive Bush): Clive Bush (Lafayette, CA) was from New Zealand but settled in California in the 1980s. From 1980 to 1985, he raced in Can-Am with a car always entered as a "Conquest", but according to San Francisco Region's "The Wheel" magazine when it first appeared at the 1980 Laguna Seca June Sprints, it "looked a lot like a Lola". Doug Waters noted that "it was an ex-Chuck Jones T333" with "changed suspension geometry" and that Bush "got chassis in 1979". Chuck Jones did not have a T333, but Jones had previously owned T332 HU41, which Bill Baker (Pismo Beach, CA) had virtually destroyed at Laguna Seca in October 1975, rebuilt, then crashed again at Mosport Park in 1976. That car is reported to have been rebuilt for Can-Am, but was unused due to Baker's death during a stock car event at Sears Point in August 1978.
  15. Lola T332/Riley [HU33] (Jim Gustafson): See full history: Lola T332 HU33.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.