Canadian American Prototype Thunder Car Race

Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, 7 Jun 1987

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

Notes on the cars:

1. March 85C [11] (Mike Snow): Mike Snow's #26 March 85C-Pontiac Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-11 "ex-Rahal runner Indy '85".
2. Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
3. March 85C [51] (Bill Tempero): Bill Tempero's #2 March 85C Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-51 "ex-Rahal".
4. March 85C [08] (Buddy Lazier): Buddy Lazier's #19 March 85C Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-08 "ex-Rahal".
5. Rondel M1 [201] (Jim Del Russo): 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.
6. Lola T360 (Bill Hill): Doug Moe (Bremerton, WA) owned a Lola T360 in the 1980s, which had been fitted with sports car bodywork and a Mazda engine. Exactly when Moe started racing the Lola is unclear, as he had a series of BSR class "Mazron" sports racing cars that he used in ICSCC events from 1977 (the "Mk 1"), 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981 (the "Mazron Mk V"). The name would suggest a Chevron-Mazda combination. Moe was reported to be driving the Lola T360 in 'B' Sports Racing with Mazda engine in September 1985, and as he does not appear in the ICSCC points table for the 1983 or 1984 seasons, that would suggest he first raced it in 1985. The T360-based car was raced by Bill Hill in the CAT championship in 1987, after which it was reportedly stored. Early in 2003, Moe sold the the car to Allan T. Chou (Westfield, NJ), and in 2009 it was being restored. Bought from Chou in 2012 by Guilbert Twiss (Pittsfield, MA). Bought from Twiss by Dean Baker (Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada) in 2022.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Lola T333CS [T332 HU39] (Fred Parkhill): See full history: Lola T332 HU39.
10. McKee Mk 18A ['1'] (Bill Scott): New for Dick DeJarld (Joliet, IL) in 1972, and raced in SCCA Formula A events. Appeared at the Michigan Pro F5000 event in 1973 but did not qualify from the heat. Raced by DeJarld until sold to Ed Midgley (Geneva, IL) for 1976, when it was also raced by Jerry Hansen at Blackhawk Farms. To Robert Goulet (Wauwatsoa, WI) for 1977, and raced in SCCA Formula A. Goulet converted the McKee to sports car bodywork for 1979, appearing at Brainerd in July that year in the ASR class. Raced in Can-Am in 1980 and 1981, then renamed the "Sabre 001" for Can-Am again in 1983, and again in 1985. To Bob McKee and raced by Bill Scott in CAT races in 1986 and 1987. Then restored to its original specification for new owner Tom Simpson (Peoria, IL), and used in vintage racing, appearing at the Chicago Historic Races at Road America in 1988. It ran alongside several other McKee cars in historic races at Road America in the early 1990s, and also ran at HSR Mid-Ohio in August 1993. After a 20-year gap, Simpson ran the Mk 18 again in historic events in 2006.

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.