Can-Am Challenge Race

Brainerd, 22 Jul 1984

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

Notes on the cars:

1. VDS 002 (Michael Roe): New for the VDS team in 1982 and raced that season by Al Holbert, but exactly when he used VDS-001 and when he used VDS-002 is still uncertain. Acquired by Norwood-Walker Racing for 1983, together with the brand new VDS-003, but VDS-003 was destroyed at its first race. VDS-002 was driven by Michael Roe in 1983. The team was renamed Dallas Motorsports Inc for 1984 and VDS-002 was modified to side-radiator form for 1984, joined later by a new car VDS-004 in normal front-radiator form. Roe dominated the season, winning seven races. VDS-002 reappeared once more at Mosport Park at the start of 1985 when Dallas Motorsports boss Don Walker crashed it heavily in practice. The car remained dismantled for some time while Jack Smith repaired the monocoque. Dallas Motorsports cars and equipment were sold to Frank D'Aquanno (Monterey, CA) in 1987, and in 1989 VDS-002 was restored and sold to Jimmy Landrum (Dallas, TX). In August 2014, Craig McCormick reported that this car was "in a private collection in the Dallas, TX area, completely restored".
2. Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
3. Toleman TG280 [03] (Eddie Wachs): New to Docking Spitzley Racing for Huub Rothengatter to race in F2 in 1980. Raced once by John Lewis in the Aurora series at the end of that season. Retained by Docking Spitzley for 1981 when it was run by Bob Salisbury for Ricardo Londoño. Retained by Docking Spitzley for 1982 when it was rebuilt with new rear suspension and "totally new bodywork" for Thierry Tassin to drive. Sold to Eddie Wachs' Ausca Racing at the end of the F2 season, and converted to Can-Am specification for Horst Kwech to drive. Retained for 1983, when it was raced by Wachs. Retained again for 1984, when it was driven by Wachs, Bill Alsup, and Enrique Mansilla. Subsequent history unresolved.
4. VDS 001 (Jerry Hansen): New for the VDS team in 1981 and raced by Geoff Brabham, winning from pole first time out at Edmonton in August 1981. Raced with great success by Geoff Brabham in 1981 and then by Al Holbert in 1982 alongside a new car VDS-002. Sold to Jerry Hansen for 1983 and 1984, winning the ASR class at the Runoffs both years. Bought by John Foulston for 1985 but presented by him at the time as a rebuild of the standard T530 that he had raced in 1984. As part of this, it was fitted with the chassis plate of Foulston's previous Lola T530 HU10. VDS-001 then raced by Foulston and his co-drivers in UK Thundersports from 1985 until his death in 1987. Sold at auction by the Foulston estate in 1997 when the car still wore the HU10 chassis plate and no mention was made of its life as VDS-001. Bought by dealer and racer Nick Whale (Evesham, Worcestershire) 1997 and run by him at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1998. Sold to Don Braaten (Janesville, WI) 2000.
5. March 812 [9] (Ron Canizares): Martin Spetz observed the number '812-009' on Canizares' March 812-Hart at Road Atlanta in 1984.
6. Frissbee GR3 [Lola T332 HU53] (Drake Olson): See full history: Lola T332 HU53.
7. Osella PA9B/84 [126] (Armando Trentini): Martin Spetz observed the number 'Osella PA9B/84-126' on Trentini's Osella at Road Atlanta in 1984. As Mancini's car was also entered by Fiorano Sports Cars of Houston, as Trentini's had been, it is assumed to be the same car.
8. Phoenix 84 [JG-1-001 GTP] (John Gunn): Martin Spetz noted "'83 JG-1-001 GTP" against Gunn's "Phoenix 84" at Road Atlanta in 1984, positively identifying it as the same JG1 that Gunn drove in IMSA GTP events in 1983 and 1984. At Green Valley in Oct 1984, Gunn's car is listed as Phoenix 85 and this may have been a new car.
9. Rondel M1 [201] (Randy Zimmer): 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.
10. Marzda 'Banana Crate' [March 71BM-3] (Bill Hill): New to Chuck Willis's CRW Racing (Anaheim, CA) and leased to Jean de la Bruyere (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) for Max Mizejewski (Woodland Hills, CA) to race in SCCA Formula B in 1971 as "The Edmonton Flyer". De la Bruyere then split from CRW and Ron Dykes (Marina del Rey, CA) then took over the 71Bm for Pro Formula B races and SCCA Nationals for the rest of 1971. Sold to Bob Newton (Cupertino, CA) and run in Pro FB and SCCA Nationals in 1972, 1973 and 1974. It was also raced by Craig Fraser (Santa Cruz, CA) in 1973 and 1974 before Newton's last known appearance in it in late 1974. To Jim Van Horn (Orange, CA) and raced in Cal Club Regionals in late 1975. Van Horn bought a newer Chevron B27 for 1976, but returned to the March for 1977, which was rebuilt to 76B specification by Marc Bahner and fitted with a BDA engine. The car was registered with the SCCA in September 1977, but curiously used the chassis number of a March 722, 722-38. Van Horn raced this car up to 1980. To Bill Hill (Olympia, WA) in 1981, fitted with a Mazda engine and a sports car body and raced the car in SCCA ASR and in Can-Am as the "Marzda" or the "Banana Crate". Crashed in an SCCA Regional (NW Region) at Olympia Airport in September 1986. Hill then bought a Lola T360 and the March chassis stayed in the rafters of his garage for many years. After Hill died, the car was sold to Phil Creighton (Georgia) in mid-2017, and then by him to Kevan McLurg (Brighton, UK) in 2018. Sold to Bruce Balchin (Southampton) in July 2019.
11. Williams FW07C [15] (Walter Lechner): Built new in 1981, Williams FW07C/15 was raced by Alan Jones at Monaco, and by Keke Rosberg at Long Beach in 1982. It was then sold to Colin Bennett Racing and fitted with a 3.8-litre DFV for Mike Wilds to race in the 1983 British Open series. Wilds won the first race, only for the series to be cancelled. The car was converted to Can-Am spec for 1984, but was wrecked by Walter Lechner at Trois-Rivières. Rebuilt on a new chassis, it was a rental car in Interserie before being crashed again. Lechner sold it to an American who raced it in US historic racing (HGP) from 1992 to 1995. Five subsequent owners have raced it in HGP, TGP and Masters F1.
12. March 822 (Enrique Mansilla): Greg Sorrentino's Different Drummer Racing ran a sports car bodied March 822 for Enrique Mansilla in Can-Am racing in early 1984. After three races, he left the team, and the car was taken over by Rod Cusumano (Summit, NJ). The March then remained with Sorrentino until February 1988, when it was sold to British GT racer Eddie McLurg, and raced in the Thundersports race at Snetterton in July 1988, where it was disqualified in a dispute over its allowed weight. McLurg ran the car as a F2 in 1989, winning the British libre series, but then refitted the Can-Am bodywork to use it in Interserie from 1989 to 1992. It was later used in libre racing as a F2, then in EuroBOSS up to 1998. In April 2019, it was still sitting in McLurg's garage, partly dismantled.
13. March 73A [4-2] (Mike Engstrand): See full history: March 73A/4.

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.