Can-Am Challenge Race

Summit Point, 5 Jul 1986

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Osella PA9B/84 [126] (Tony LaRosa): 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.
2. Bobsy SR-6 (Peter Harholdt): Originally owned by Don Byer (Falls Church, VA), this Bobsy SR-6 was raced by driven in SCCA C Sport Racing (CSR) racing by Tom Luce, the "Racing Reverend", in 1977. The car was originally powered by a 1.3-litre Cosworth BDH, and is believed to have been the last SR-6 built. Its a second owner partly converted it to use a 1.6-litre VW Formula Super Vee engine, another available option for CSR, and this conversion was completed by Peter Harholdt (Falls Church, VA) when he acquired it. Harholdt raced it during 1985 and 1986, including in the Can-Am race at Summit Point, Harholdt's home track, in July 1986. He later sold the Bobsy to Oliver Kutnet (Charlottesville, VA). Subsequent history unknown.
3. Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
4. 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.
5. Lola T332 [HU45] (John Macaluso): See full history: Lola T332 HU45.
6. March RX10-B [73B-17] (Seann Burgess): New to Bruce MacInnes (Sharon, CT) and raced as part of a two-car team with Ron Cohn. Raced in the Players Canadian FB series and in the SCCA Pro FB races at Road America and Watkins Glen. Retained for 1974, and raced in the Players Canadian series again, and in the US GP support race at Watkins Glen in October. Sold to Joe Ostrowski (Trenton, NJ), and raced in NEDiv SCCA Nationals in 1975 and 1976. Presumably the March he raced in NEDiv in 1977 and 1978. Retained by Ostrowski until early 1982 when it was bought by Seann Burgess (Caledon, Ontario). Burgess won the CASC Ontario Formula Atlantic championship and the BARC Drivers Championship in 1982 as well as appearing in 'pro' events. After two more seasons of Atlantic, he converted the car to Can-Am specification at the end of 1985 and then fitted a McLaren M1B body and a Mazda 13B rotary engine for 1986. This "March RX10-B" was raced through the 1986 season. Burgess kept the Can-Am body after the car was retired from racing and sold the March to Richard Smith (Barrie, Ontario) who raced it in 1989 and 1990, still with the Mazda engine, and fitting 1975 bodywork for 1990. He sold it to Chuck Sieber (McLean, VA) who imported it back to the US in January 1991. He raced it in Solo events in 1991, and maybe in one or two more seasons until selling it back to Seann Burgess. Burgess initially restored it to MacInnes' 1973 livery, but at the request of the Villeneuve Museum traded his 73B bodywork to Marchives for a set of 1975 bodywork, and rebuilt the car to resemble Gilles Villeneuve's Skiroule March 75B. By May 2010, it was on display in the Musée Gilles Villeneuve (Berthierville, Quebec).
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Cicale-March 77B (David Locke): Rick Koehler (Milwaukee, WI) raced an Excalibur EE2B in Formula Atlantic in 1978, with sponsorship from Brooks Stevens. The car was essentially a March 77B and was described as ex-Shierson and ex-Brack in adverts in late 1978 and 1979. It was leased to Joe Castellano for the Long Beach race in April 1979, and then sat unused until August 1980 when it was sold to David Locke (Cambridge City, IN). Locke fitted the car with 79B bodywork and Bobsy fenders so that it could be used in Can-Am racing, using an 1850cc Hart BDA engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox. In October 1981, Locke ordered a Kevlar Cicale body for the car, and used it in this form in 1982 and 1983, but without success. He acquired a Hart 420R engine from Jim Trueman for 1984 and raced the car in Can-Am and then CAT until 1987. Chris Townsend advises that it was sold to Lee Johnson in Colorado in April 1988, and was still with Johnson in 2012.
10. March 85C [44] (Lou Sell): Lou Sell's #5 March 85C Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-44 "ex-Michael Andretti Kraco".
11. Watson 82 (Buddy Lazier): For 1982, AJ Watson built a copy of a March 82C. The car was only used rarely but became the team's only remaining option when the 1981 car was rolled into a ball in Dick Simon's massive accident at Riverside late 1982. This is presumably the Watson-DFX that appeared rarely in 1983. Three years later the car reappeared as a single-seat Can-Am car entered by Texas American Race Teams.
12. Photon JH2 [March 78B-15] (Jeremy Hill): Jeremy Hill's 1984-86 'Photon' was based on a March 78B Formula Atlantic car but fitted with a 2-litre Hart 420R engine, and a Frissbee-inspired body. A later advert for the car on Race-cars.com gives the car as March 78B/15, an ex-Brack car used for a season by Hill in Formula Atlantic before being converted to Can-Am spec.

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.