OldRacingCars.com

Can-Am Challenge Race

Laguna Seca, 8 Oct 1978

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Al Holbert Lola T333CS [HU9] - Chevrolet V8
#10 Hogan Racing, Ltd.
48 48m 35.94s
112.595 mph
2 Warwick Brown Lola T333CS [HU1] - Chevrolet V8
#2T Racing Team VDS
48 48m 46.71s
3 Rocky Moran Lola T333CS [T332 HU29] - Chevrolet V8
#58 Rocky Moran (see note 1)
47
4 Bill Tempero Chevron B78C - Chevrolet V8
#15 Cloverleaf Texaco
47
5 John Gunn Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8
#39 Gunn's Goodies (see note 2)
47
6 Michael L. Allen Lola T332 [HU46] - Chevrolet V8
#59 Don Weber (see note 3)
46
7 Dwight Zillig Lola T330/T332 [HU3] - Chevrolet V8
#35 Phantom Racing Team (see note 4)
45
8 Tom Frank Lola T333CS - Chevrolet V8
#24 Executive Industries
45
9 Gary Gove (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B26 [74-08] - Cosworth FVD
#52 Pete Lovely VW (see note 5)
44
10 Alain de Cadenet (sports racing) Mirage GR7 - Ford
#4 British Post Office
43
11 Mike Roche Lola T332 [HU42] - Chevrolet V8
#80 Roche Racing (see note 6)
43
12 Brian Redman Lola T333CS [HU7] - Chevrolet V8
#1 Carl A. Haas Racing Team, Ltd.
43
13 S Peter Smith (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19/B21 [71-06] - Ford
#54 Red Roof Inns
42
14 Edwin G. Abate (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294/T296 [HU77] - Ford
#88 Ed Abate (see note 7)
38 Engine
15 Bob Allen SSE [001] - Chevrolet V8
#69 Bob Allen Race Engineering
33 Shift linkage
16 Harald Kirberg (Sports racing) 2-litre Kirberg KK2 Special [Porsche 906-136] - Porsche
#94 Herald [sic] Kirberg Ltd and Red Wood Band
33 Mechanical
17 Elliot Forbes-Robinson Spyder NF-10 [CA-01] - Chevrolet V8
#3 Newman-Freeman Racing
31 Engine
18 John Morton Lola T333CS [HU8] - Chevrolet V8
#46 John Morton
14 Accident
19 Merle Brennan (G7) 5-litre McLaren M8D [M8D/3] - Chevrolet V8
#19 Reno Automotive Center (see note 8)
13 Transmission
20 Howard Kelly Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
#9 Nagel Racing Enterprises (see note 9)
13 Accident
21 Vern Schuppan Elfin MR8A-C [8772] - Chevrolet V8
#11 Vern Schuppan/Robert Boxx (see note 10)
12 Ignition
DNS Tom Spalding Schkee DB1 [2] - Chevrolet V8
#7 Tom Spalding Racing
Did not start
DNS Brian Burgess (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B21/B23 [72-27] - Hart 420R
#13 Dog Ring Services
Did not start
DNS E. B. Lunken (Sports racing) 1.8-litre March 73S [14] - Cosworth FVC
#61 E. B. Lunken (see note 11)
Did not start
DNSC George Follmer Prophet - Chevrolet V8
#8 U.S. Racing [Herb Caplan]
Did not start (crashed)
T Warwick Brown Lola T333CS [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#2 Racing Team VDS
(Only used in practice)
  Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow DN10 - Dodge V8
#0 Shadow
On entry list
  Randolph Townsend Shadow DN10 - Dodge V8
#00 Shadow
On entry list
  Michael Brayton Wolf-Brayton 001 - Chevrolet V8
#12 Michael Brayton (see note 12)
On entry list
  Tom Foster ('C' sports) 1.3-litre Lola T497 [HU7] - Cosworth BDH
#18 Tom Foster
On entry list
  Chuck Billington ('C' sports) Lotus 23
#27 Billington Welding Inc
On entry list

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

Qualifying
1 George Follmer * (Can-Am) 5-litre Prophet - Chevrolet V8 58.118s
2 Al Holbert (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU9] - Chevrolet V8 59.084s
3 Elliot Forbes-Robinson (Can-Am) 5-litre Spyder NF-10 [CA-01] - Chevrolet V8 59.106s
4 John Morton (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU8] - Chevrolet V8 59.234s
5 Brian Redman (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU7] - Chevrolet V8 59.247s
6 Warwick Brown (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU1] - Chevrolet V8 59.603s
7 Vern Schuppan (Can-Am) 5-litre Elfin MR8A-C [8772] - Chevrolet V8 59.814s
8 Rocky Moran (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [T332 HU29] - Chevrolet V8 59.952s
9 John Gunn (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8 1m 00.061s
10 Tom Spalding * (Can-Am) 5-litre Schkee DB1 [2] - Chevrolet V8 1m 01.277s
11 Bill Tempero (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B78C - Chevrolet V8 1m 02.106s
12 Bob Allen (Can-Am) 5-litre SSE [001] - Chevrolet V8 1m 02.64s
13 Tom Frank (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS - Chevrolet V8 1m 02.979s
14 Michael L. Allen (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU46] - Chevrolet V8 1m 03.053s
15 Howard Kelly (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8 1m 03.339s
16 Mike Roche (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU42] - Chevrolet V8 1m 03.46s
17 Merle Brennan (G7) 5-litre McLaren M8D [M8D/3] - Chevrolet V8 1m 03.884s
18 Gary Gove (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B26 [74-08] - Cosworth FVD 1m 04.728s
19 S Peter Smith (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19/B21 [71-06] - Ford 1m 05.048s
20 Dwight Zillig (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T330/T332 [HU3] - Chevrolet V8 1m 05.343s
21 Edwin G. Abate (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294/T296 [HU77] - Ford 1m 06.8s
22 Harald Kirberg (Sports racing) 2-litre Kirberg KK2 Special [Porsche 906-136] - Porsche 1m 08.848s
23 Brian Burgess * (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B21/B23 [72-27] - Hart 420R 1m 12.927s
24 Alain de Cadenet (sports racing) Mirage GR7 - Ford 1m 13.493s
25 E. B. Lunken * (Sports racing) 1.8-litre March 73S [14] - Cosworth FVC 1m 14.55s
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lola T333CS [T332 HU29] (Rocky Moran): See full history: Lola T332 HU29.
  2. Lola T332 [HU47] (John Gunn): See full history: Lola T332 HU47.
  3. Lola T332 [HU46] (Michael L. Allen): See full history: Lola T332 HU46.
  4. Lola T330/T332 [HU3] (Dwight Zillig): See full history: Lola T330 HU3.
  5. Chevron B26 [74-08] (Gary Gove): After the closure of Red Rose Racing, Roger Hire struck a deal to run works-assisted Chevron B26s in 1974 under the name Forge Mill Racing. John Lepp ran the main car and Rafael Barrios joined the team to run a second B26, now positively identified as chassis 74-08. This car only raced once in 1975 but was then bought by Robin Smith to be used in endurance and Interserie in 1976. Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) acquired it for Can-Am in early 1977 and raced it for three seasons, winning the Pacific Coast title in 1978 and the last BSR title at the Run-Offs. It went to John Graham in Canada for the 1981 season and then to Luc Behar-Bannelier for 1982. The B26 was sold to Gil Baird for Thundersports in England in 1983 then to Richard Piper for another three seasons during which time it was converted to DFV power before moving to Ireland in the late 1980s where it stayed for nearly 15 years. It was sold back to the US again around 2003 and has raced in US vintage racing.
  6. Lola T332 [HU42] (Mike Roche): See full history: Lola T332 HU42.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.)
  9. Lola T332/Riley [HU33] (Howard Kelly): See full history: Lola T332 HU33.
  10. Elfin MR8A-C [8772] (Vern Schuppan): New to Vern Schuppan (Adelaide, Australia) and raced as part of Ansett Team Elfin in 1977 Australian Internationals. Converted to Can-Am form, and raced by Schuppan in the Can-Am series in late 1977, and again in 1978 and 1979. Next seen when advertised by Stuart Bradbury (Phoenix, AZ) in July 1984. Advertised by Chuck Haines in 1990. To John Wales and Ron Gouttman (NSW, Australia) in 1990, and raced by Gouttman in Australia in Can-Am form in 1992/93. To Laurie Donaher (NSW) 1998, then to Aaron Lewis (Cessnock, NSW, Australia) in 2001. Restored to F5000 form, and raced in the F5000 Tasman Revival series in 2003/04. To Bill Hemming (Victoria, Australia) 2005, who raced it in the Tasman Revival series from late 2006 onwards.
  11. March 73S [14] (E. B. Lunken): Sold new to Henry Candler (Lakewood, CO) and used by him in a few British sport car races in May and June 1973, before he took it back to the US for SCCA racing in the BSR class. Candler soon decided the car was too quick for him, and he sold the car to his cousin, Edmund Backus Lunken (Cincinnati, Ohio), who entered his cars as E. B. Lunken, and was known to his friends as Ebby. Lunken first raced the car in 1977, then used it in the Can-Am series from 1978 to 1982. There has been some debate over the engine used in the 73S during this time, with some reports that it was a Ford, and others that it was a BMW. Irv Zwicker, who built engine for Ebby, says Lunken used BMW engine with Heidegger rods, Kugelfischer fuel injection and a proprietary intake cam. Lunken still had the car in 2006.
  12. Wolf-Brayton 001 (Michael Brayton): Michael Brayton (Newport Beach, CA) acquired a Talon Formula 5000 car for 1977, but previous history of the car is unknown. During 1977, he rebodied the car for SCCA A Sports Racing, and then raced the car, as the "Wolf-Brayton 001" in Can-Am from 1978 to 1981. The car was later acquired by Mike McComas, who was then under the impression it was the Wolf-Dallara WD1. He sold it to Tony Roberts and Duncan Fox in New Zealand in 2003, where it was restored to F5000 specification. Raced by Roberts in the F5000 Tasman Revival from 2003 to 2005, when it was sold to Aaron Burson, then raced by him from 2005 onwards.

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.