OldRacingCars.com

Can-Am Challenge Race

Mont-Tremblant, 25 Jun 1978

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 George Follmer Prophet - Chevrolet V8
#8 U.S. Racing [Herb Caplan]
60 1h 47m 48.187s
87.681 mph
2 Michael L. Allen Lola T332 [HU46] - Chevrolet V8
#59 Don Weber (see note 1)
57 1h 47m 54.637s
3 Warwick Brown Lola T333CS [HU1] - Chevrolet V8
#2 Racing Team VDS
56 Mechanical
4 Randolph Townsend Shadow DN10 - Dodge V8
#0 Shadow Cars
56
5 Dean Dietrich March 76A [2] - Chevrolet V8
#43 Dietrich Racing Ltd. (see note 2)
56
6 S Peter Smith (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19/B21 [71-06] - Ford
#54 Red Roof Inns
56
7 Horst Kroll Lola T300 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8
#37 Horst Kroll Racing (see note 3)
55 Engine
8 John Gunn Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8
#39 Gunn's Goodies (see note 4)
54 Accident
9 Bob Nagel Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
#9 Nagel Racing Enterprises (see note 5)
54
10 Alain de Cadenet (sports racing) Mirage GR7 - Ford
#4 British Post Office
51 Accident
11 E. B. Lunken (Sports racing) 1.8-litre March 73S [14] - Cosworth FVC
#61 E. B. Lunken Racing (see note 6)
51
12 Dave Johnson (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU34] - Ford BDG
#60 P.S.B. Speakers
47 Engine
13 Alan Jones Lola T333CS [HU7] - Chevrolet V8
#1 Carl A. Haas Racing Team, Ltd.
44 Accident
14 Elliot Forbes-Robinson Spyder NF-10 [CA-01] - Chevrolet V8
#3 Newman-Freeman Racing
42 Oil pump seized
15 Al Holbert Lola T332 [HU30] - Chevrolet V8
#10 Hogan Racing, Ltd. (see note 7)
22 Oil pump rotor
16 Brian Burgess (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B21/B23 [72-27] - Hart 420R
#13 Dog Ring Services
21 Mechanical
17 Tom Spalding Schkee DB1 [2] - Chevrolet V8
#7 Tom Spalding Racing
19 Accident
18 Bill Tempero Chevron B78C - Chevrolet V8
#15 Cloverleaf Texaco
10 Accident
19 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow DN6C [3A] - Dodge V8
#0 Shadow Cars
9 Overheating
20 Howard Kelly Lola T330 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#30 Howard Kelly Racing (see note 8)
6 Engine
21 Warren Purdy (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU27] - Cosworth FVC
#51 Warren Purdy
4 Accident
DNS Rick Villate (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [T292 HU65] - Ford BDG
#26 RVR Inc (see note 9)
Did not start

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

Qualifying
1 Alan Jones (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU7] - Chevrolet V8 1m 32.688s
2 George Follmer (Can-Am) 5-litre Prophet - Chevrolet V8 1m 33.070s
3 Elliot Forbes-Robinson (Can-Am) 5-litre Spyder NF-10 [CA-01] - Chevrolet V8 1m 33.860s
4 Al Holbert (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU30] - Chevrolet V8 1m 34.370s
5 Warwick Brown (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU1] - Chevrolet V8 1m 34.590s
6 Tom Spalding (Can-Am) 5-litre Schkee DB1 [2] - Chevrolet V8 1m 34.594s
7 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Can-Am) 5-litre Shadow DN6C [3A] - Dodge V8 1m 35.806s
8 John Gunn (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8 1m 36.548s
9 Howard Kelly (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T330 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8 1m 38.603s
10 Bill Tempero (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B78C - Chevrolet V8 1m 39.740s
11 Horst Kroll (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T300 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8 1m 40.923s
12 Bob Nagel (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8 1m 41.976s
13 Michael L. Allen (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU46] - Chevrolet V8 1m 44.361s
14 Alain de Cadenet (sports racing) Mirage GR7 - Ford 1m 44.855s
15 S Peter Smith (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19/B21 [71-06] - Ford 1m 45.478s
16 Dean Dietrich (Can-Am) 5-litre March 76A [2] - Chevrolet V8 1m 46.475s
17 Randolph Townsend (Can-Am) 5-litre Shadow DN10 - Dodge V8 1m 47.770s
18 Warren Purdy (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU27] - Cosworth FVC 1m 49.232s
19 Rick Villate * (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [T292 HU65] - Ford BDG 1m 51.863s
20 E. B. Lunken (Sports racing) 1.8-litre March 73S [14] - Cosworth FVC 1m 54.822s
21 Dave Johnson (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU34] - Ford BDG 1m 56.266s
22 Brian Burgess (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B21/B23 [72-27] - Hart 420R 1m 59.605s
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lola T332 [HU46] (Michael L. Allen): See full history: Lola T332 HU46.
  2. March 76A [2] (Dean Dietrich): For Doug Shierson using monocoque 'M76A:01' and gearbox DG300-445 and fitted with 5-litre Bartz-Chevrolet for US F5000 series. Run by Sid Taylor and driven by Alan Jones. First run at Silverstone 9 Jun 1976. Jones won on his debut at Watkins Glen on 11 Jul but drove a Lola T332C at the next race and the March was handed over to Bruce Allison, who failed to start. The car reappeared back in Shierson's possession at Riverside on 17 Oct, driven by Maurizio Flammini. The Italian qualified 13th but retired early from both his heat and the final with mechanical problems. To Dean Dietrich: raced in Can-Am 1978 (4 races); Can-Am 1979 (4 races). Dean recalls selling the car to someone in Texas but does not remember the name. Subsequent history unknown.
  3. Lola T300 [HU15] (Horst Kroll): Invoice date 30 Mar 1972 (sold to 'Haas', colour 'Yellow'). Horst Kroll (Canada) US 1972-1974; driven by Bert Kuehne US 1975 (5 races); Kroll US 1976; damaged in crash at Watkins Glen but rebuilt and converted to Can-Am. Kroll Can-Am 1977; rental car thereafter: e.g. Marcel Talbot Can-Am 1978 (1 race: Trois-Rivieres - 04 Sep 1978), Can-Am 1979 (1 entry in "T300": Road Atlanta - 06 May 1979, entry list only); Mike Freberg 1981; Duff Hubbard 1982; John Macaluso 1983; Walter Lechner 1984; Joe DeMarco 1985 and 1986; John Graham 1986. Rebuilt as "Frissbee KR5" for 1986. Mike Engstrand recalls driving Kroll's T300-based Can-Am car at St Louis and Hallet in 1986; used until 1987 - Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) 1989 - Don Jensen (US) about 1998: used extensively in vintage racing still in Can-Am specification until 2007 - Andrew Kluver (Sydney, Australia) August 2007.
  4. Lola T332 [HU47] (John Gunn): See full history: Lola T332 HU47.
  5. Lola T332/Riley [HU33] (Bob Nagel): See full history: Lola T332 HU33.
  6. 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.
  7. Lola T332 [HU30] (Al Holbert): See full history: Lola T332 HU30.
  8. Lola T330 [HU2] (Howard Kelly): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
  9. Lola T294 [T292 HU65] (Rick Villate): 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.

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.