Can-Am Challenge Race

Laguna Seca, 26 Jun 1977

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

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren M8D [M8D/3] (Merle Brennan): One of the three 1970 Team McLaren M8Ds, this car was driven by Gurney and Gethin. It was converted to M8F specification for 1971 as a works spare and was later sold to Herb Kaplan for the 1973 season when it was driven by Scooter Patrick. It was raced by John Cordts in the final season of the original Can-Am. In 1977, it was driven by Merle Brennan in the revived Can-Am series. (History derived from research done by Martin Krejci.)
2. Lola T292 [HU65] (Dean Dietrich): The last T292 built went to John Abrahams in South Africa for the 1973 Springbok series. It was co-driven in the series by Charlie Lucas. The car went back to England under the care of Derrick Worthington and was the car raced by Rikki von Opel in the Nürburgring Interserie in June (although that car was listed as a Chevron B26). It was later raced in the Hockenheim 2-litre race in August (Christian Melville), the Brands Hatch 1000 km in September (Worthington and Nigel Clarkson) and at Kyalami in November (Abrahams and Richard Scott). In 1975, it was driven at Le Mans by Worthington and Clarkson and also appeared at the Spa 1000 km and in a couple of UK races. In 1976 it was sold to SCCA driver Dean Dietrich and was used in the revived Can-Am series in 1977. It then went to Rick Villate for two more seasons of Can-Am. To David P. Gough (Atlanta, GA) 1982 and used as a road car. To Ed Swart (Torrance, California) 1997 and then via six other US owners until bought by Cal Meeker (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) in 2013. As its identity was unknown until researched in 2013 by OldRacingCars.com, the car continued to race in Primagaz colours.
3. Chevron B23 (Dave Burns): Bobby Fisher (Lafayette, CA) raced a Chevron B16 in Californian SCCA racing in 1972, upgrading to a nearly-new B23 for 1973. He raced the car through 1973 and 1974 before selling it to Dave Burns for the 1975 season. Burns debuted the car at Riverside in Feb 1975 and retained it for several seasons, racing it in the Laguna Seca Can-Am race in June 1977.
4. Lola T332 [HU51] (Evan Noyes): See full history: Lola T332 HU51.
5. Lola T294/T296 [HU77] (Edwin G. Abate): Sold new to Ed Abate (Monte Sereno, CA) late 1974 and raced in SCCA BSR racing from 1975 to 1977 and in Can-Am in 1977 and 1978. Abate was second in the Run-Offs in 1976 and won in 1977. After one further Can-Am appearance in 1978, the Lola was sold to Garth Pollard, a Canadian then resident in Costa Mesa, California. He raced it in Can-Am in 1979 before selling it to Mike Hill (Quesnel, BC) who used it in local events before advertising it in April 1982 and selling it to Geoff Davie in Toronto. Davie sold it to Don Wood (Bournemouth, England) in Sep 1988 who had the car prepared by Ian Jones and raced it in the BRDC British C2 Sportscar Championship event at Donington in 1990, co-driven by Autosport legend Marcus Pye. Wood sold the car back to an American owner in 1992 and as of 2011 it is owned by a Californian owner.
6. Bazeley Mk.1 (Andrew Bazeley): Andrew Bazeley (San Diego, CA) raced the Bazeley Special in Can-Am in 1977. He qualified ninth out of 19 at his first race, at Laguna Seca in June, but was the first retirement. At Sears Point in September he qualified 15th out of 25, and finished an impressive seventh of the 14 finishers. Finally at Riverside in October, he qualified 20th of 34 qualifiers, and finished 12th of 21 finishers. The car was reportedly cannibalised to make the Bazeley Mk 2.
7. Lola T332 [HU47] (John Gunn): See full history: Lola T332 HU47.
8. Lola T332 [HU42] (Mike Roche): See full history: Lola T332 HU42.

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.