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Canadian American Prototype Thunder Car Race

Sanair, 16 Aug 1987

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Bill Tempero March 85C [51] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 1)
60 24m 37.873s
121.790 mph
2 Jacques Villeneuve Sr Frissbee-Lola KR4 [Lola T400 HU9] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 2)
60 24m 49.164s
3 Al Lamb Frissbee GR2 - Chevrolet V8
59
4 Horst Kroll Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 3)
59
5 Wayne Rutherford March 85C - Chevrolet V8
57
6 John Macaluso Frissbee-Lola KR3 [HU11] - Chevrolet V8
57
7 Mauro Lanaro (Can-Am 2l) 1.7-litre March 74B/77B [10] - Ford BDD
(see note 4)
55
8 Randy Zimmer (Can-Am) 5.9-litre March 83C - Chevrolet 358 ci V8
54
9 Jim Gradel March 847 [01] - Chevrolet V8
53
10 Sylvain Perigny (Can-Am 2l) 2.3-litre Ralt RT1/79 [148] - Mazda 12A twin rotor
53
11 Jim Del Russo (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Rondel M1 [201] - Mazda 13B twin rotor
(see note 5)
49
12 Cliff Dawson (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [2] - Hart 420R
48
13 Dean Vetrock Lightning 77 - Chevrolet V8
[Dean Vetrock] (see note 6)
42 Vibration
14 Jim Slack Frissbee-Lola KR5 [Lola T300 HU15] - Chevrolet V8
28 Valve
15 Bill Scott March 85C - Chevrolet V8
22 Clutch
DNS Buddy Lazier March 85C [08] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 7)
Did not start
(Engine)
DNS Jeff Wright (S2000) 2-litre Royale S2000M [17] - Ford Pinto ohc
[Eve Wright] (see note 8)
Did not start
(Head gasket)

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

Qualifying
1 Bill Tempero (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C [51] - Chevrolet V8 23.741s
2 Jacques Villeneuve Sr (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola KR4 [Lola T400 HU9] - Chevrolet V8 23.845s
3 Al Lamb (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee GR2 - Chevrolet V8 24.297s
4 Randy Zimmer (Can-Am) 5.9-litre March 83C - Chevrolet 358 ci V8 24.304s
5 Horst Kroll (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] - Chevrolet V8 24.724s
6 John Macaluso (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola KR3 [HU11] - Chevrolet V8 26.253s
7 Mauro Lanaro (Can-Am 2l) 1.7-litre March 74B/77B [10] - Ford BDD 26.564s
8 Wayne Rutherford (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C - Chevrolet V8 26.932s
9 Jim Slack (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola KR5 [Lola T300 HU15] - Chevrolet V8 27.884s
10 Jim Gradel (Can-Am) 5-litre March 847 [01] - Chevrolet V8 27.979s
11 Dean Vetrock (Can-Am) 5-litre Lightning 77 - Chevrolet V8 28.103s
12 Sylvain Perigny (Can-Am 2l) 2.3-litre Ralt RT1/79 [148] - Mazda 12A twin rotor 28.365s
13 Jim Del Russo (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Rondel M1 [201] - Mazda 13B twin rotor 29.374s
14 Cliff Dawson (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [2] - Hart 420R 30.573s
15 Bill Scott (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C - Chevrolet V8
16 Buddy Lazier * (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C [08] - Chevrolet V8
17 Jeff Wright * (S2000) 2-litre Royale S2000M [17] - Ford Pinto ohc
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. 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".
  2. Frissbee-Lola KR4 [Lola T400 HU9] (Jacques Villeneuve Sr): New to Eppie Wietzes (Thornhill, Ontario) and raced in the SCCA/USAC F5000 Championship in 1975 and early 1976. Retained by Wietzes until 1986 and used as show car by Canadian Tyre in mid-1980's. Sold to Horst Kroll and converted to Can-Am Frissbee specification as "Frissbee KR4" for Can-Am 1986 and CAT in 1987. Retained by Kroll until sold to Glenn Richards (Auckland, New Zealand) in mid-2010. Raced by Reg Cook in the 2010/11 F5000 Tasman Revival series, and then by Richards in the series every season from 2013/14 to 2017/18. More information about Lola T400 HU9
  3. Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
  4. 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.
  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. Lightning 77 (Dean Vetrock): Chassis "ROMLIN/7" was one of the 1977 Lightnings but its history before it was raced by Bobby Unser for the Teddy Yip/Dan Gurney AAR team in early 1978 is unresolved. It was used for the opening four races of 1978 before being replaced by the team's new Eagle. To Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) for 1979 and raced by Joe Saldana as the #59 or #69 car during 1979 and 1980. These entry numbers were also used by the team's old 1972 Eagle and exactly how the two cars were used is still to be determined. The Lightning was run in practice at the 1981 Indy 500 with modified sidepods and nose but was crashed by Saldana. It was acquired by Dean Vetrock (Racine, WI) for 1982, but he failed to qualify for the Indy 500 and did not appear in the series again. Vetrock raced this car briefly in the CAT (ex-Can-Am) series in 1987. Four years later, the car was acquired from a Monterey area dealer by a client of Tom Tatalovich Racing Services (Golden Valley, AZ). Tatlovich restored the car to AAR livery, and it was sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona in January 1992. Tom recalls that the buyer was from Hilton Head. By 2002, the car was owned by Larry Wharton, who completed a restoration that year. In 2008, it was bought from Wharton by David S. Morrison (Long Beach, CA).
  7. 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".
  8. Royale S2000M [17] (Jeff Wright): Jeff Wright's Royale was entered as a RP37, the 1984 Sports 2000 model, but Wright's son has confirmed to Martin Krejci that it was a 1981 S2000M, chassis 17. Royale records, quoted in Paul Lawrence's book "Nowhere To Hide", show that this car was originally invoiced to Cooke Racing in the US. According to Doug Waters, the car used a standard Ford Pinto engine for its Can-Am and CAT appearances.

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.