1980 Can-Am season

Last updated

The 1980 Can Am Series season was the thirteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype based series and the fourth running of the revived series. Patrick Tambay was declared champion, [1] winning six of the ten rounds and finishing third at Riverside. [2] Chevrolet again swept the season. Lola, Holbert, and Prophet were the dominant chassis suppliers, with Intrepid finishing second at Watkins Glen [3] and Frissbee finishing first at Laguna Seca.

The two liter class went to Gary Gove in his Ralt RT2.

Results

RoundCircuitWinning driverTeamCar
1Sears Point Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Flag of the United States.svg Carl A. Haas Racing Team Lola-Chevrolet
2Mid-Ohio Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Flag of the United States.svg Carl A. Haas Racing Team Lola-Chevrolet
3Mosport Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Flag of the United States.svg Carl A. Haas Racing Team Lola-Chevrolet
4Watkins Glen Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Flag of the United States.svg Carl A. Haas Racing Team Lola-Chevrolet
5Road America Flag of the United States.svg Al Holbert Flag of the United States.svg Holbert Racing Holbert-Chevrolet
6Brainerd Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Flag of the United States.svg Carl A. Haas Racing Team Lola-Chevrolet
7Trois-Rivières Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Flag of the United States.svg Carl A. Haas Racing Team Lola-Chevrolet
8Road Atlanta Flag of Australia (converted).svg Geoff Brabham Flag of the United States.svg Racing Team VDSLola-Chevrolet
9Laguna Seca Flag of the United States.svg Al Unser Flag of the United States.svg Brad Frisselle RacingFrissbee-Chevrolet
10Riverside Flag of the United States.svg Al Holbert Flag of the United States.svg Holbert Racing Holbert-Chevrolet

[4]

Related Research Articles

Watkins Glen International Motorsport track near Watkins Glen, New York, United States

Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for twenty consecutive years (1961–1980). In addition, the site has also been home to road racing of nearly every class, including the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, NASCAR Cup Series, the International Motor Sports Association and the IndyCar Series. The facility is currently owned by NASCAR.

Caesars Palace Grand Prix

The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was a car race held in Las Vegas between 1981 and 1984. For the first two years, the race was part of the Formula One World Championship, before becoming a round of the CART series in 1983. Nissan/Datsun was a presenting sponsor of both races.

Can-Am

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.

John Andretti American race car driver

John Andrew Andretti was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, and first cousin to IndyCar champion Michael and Jeff Andretti.

Scott Pruett American racecar driver

Scott Donald Pruett is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors.

Tom Klausler, is a retired American race car driver. He competed in the CART Championship Car series and in SCCA's Can-Am series.

The 1973 World Sportscar Championship season was the 21st season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1973 World Championship for Makes and the 1973 Cup for GT Cars which were contested concurrently over a ten race series. The World Championship for Makes, which was open to Group 5 Sports Cars and Group 4 GT Cars, was won by Matra and the Cup for GT Cars, which was open only to Group 4 GT Cars, was won by Porsche.

Graeme Lawrence is a former race car driver from Southern Rhodesia. He started serious motor racing in the National 1.5 litre series winning the series decisively in 1968 ahead of David Oxton and Ken Smith. Lawrence then ran half a European F2 series in an uncompetitive semi works F2 McLaren, he found the racing harder than expected and was shaken, by his experience racing in Germany at the Hockenheim race in the rain, were Jim Clark was killed. McLaren allowed Lawrence to build up another F2 chassis in his works and was 2nd in the SR Gold Star series in the car, and first ST driver home in the Tasman races at Pukekohe and Levin.

John Fitzpatrick (racing driver) British racing driver

John Fitzpatrick is a former English racing driver, winning many titles throughout his career. He works within motorsport as a consultant doing corporate events and driver management. He published a book "Fitz-My Life at the Wheel" in 2016.

The 1978 Can-Am season was the eleventh running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype based series and the second running of the revived series. Alan Jones was declared champion, winning five of the ten rounds. Chevrolet again swept the season. Lola was not as dominant this season, as Elliot Forbes-Robinson won at Charlotte in a Spyder, SCCA legend George Follmer at Mont Tremblant in a Prophet, and Forbes-Robinson again at Trois-Rivieres.

The 1979 Can-Am season was the twelfth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype-based series and the third running of the revived series. Formula One legend Jacky Ickx was declared champion, winning five of the ten rounds and finishing second at Road Atlanta. Chevrolet again dominated the season. The top chassis builders were Lola, Prophet, and Spyder, with Vern Schuppan finishing third at Watkins Glen in an Elfin and Al Holbert finishing third at Road America in a Hogan.

The 1981 Can Am series season was the fourteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype-based series, and the fifth running of the revived series. Geoff Brabham was declared champion, despite only winning two races. Chevrolet again dominated the season. The dominant chassis manufacturers were March, Lola, Holbert, Frissbee, and VDS. IndyCar drivers Al Unser and Bobby Rahal also podiumed at Road America and Mosport, respectively.

The 1982 Can Am Series season was the fifteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype series, and the sixth running of the revived series. 1982 brought new competition for Chevrolet in the form of Hart and Cosworth. Hart would podium in three races while Cosworth would podium in two. The most dominant chassis were Frissbee, Marguey, March, VDS-001, and Ensign. Al Unser Jr. would win at Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, and Mosport twice, with a podium at Mid Ohio, at Riverside, and at Caesar's Palacae. Unser would be declared champion.

The 1983 Can Am season was the sixteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype series and the seventh of the revived series. 1983 marked the second year of Chevrolet having major competition, with Cosworth taking second at Mosport, first at Lime Rock, second at Trois-Rivières, first at the second race at Mosport, and second at Sears Point. Hart would take third at Lime Rock and third at Trois-Rivières. Porsche would get its first podiums this season, with a win at Road America and third at the second race at Mosport. The dominant chassis were Frissbee, Ensign, Lola, VDS, Scandia, and Ralt. Jacques Villeneuve, Sr. was declared champion, with podiums in almost every race. He would, however, become the final major racecar driver to win a Can Am championship.

The 1984 Can Am season was the seventeenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype series, and the eighth running of the revived series. 1984 would mark a major downturn in the series, as Juan Manuel Fangio II would become the last major driver to podium in a Can Am Series race, finishing third at Dallas. The dominant manufacturers were Chevrolet, Hart, BMW for the first time with a third-place finish at Brainerd, Cosworth, Lola, Ralt, and March. Dominant chassis were VDS, March, Frissbee-Lola, Ralt, and Williams with their first podium with a third-place finish at Lime Rock. Michael Roe was declared champion, with seven wins. The final race at Green Valley would feature the final truly notable driver in series history, John Andretti.

Spyder NF-10

The Spyder NF-10 was an American sports prototype racing car built for the Can-Am series in 1978. It was based on a Lola T333CS, and was developed into the Spyder NF-11 in 1979. Two NF-10s were built in 1978, whilst four NF-11s were built in 1979, two of which were originally NF-10s. Both the NF-10 and NF-11 featured a 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine.

The March 817 was a British sports prototype racing car, built by March Engineering in 1981 for the Can-Am series. As with all other full-size Can-Am cars of the time, it used a mid-mounted 5-litre, naturally-aspirated Chevrolet V8 engine. Two cars are known to have been built. Paul Newman Racing won the Team's championship of the Can-Am series in 1981 with the March 817, whilst their main driver, Teo Fabi took second in the driver's standings.

Anthony Gordon Dean was a British racing driver from England who competed in sports car racing, touring car racing, the Can-Am series and various single seat formulae, including non-championship Formula One, in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He is known for winning a round of the Can-Am championship in 1970 as a privateer entrant.

The March 847 was a British sports prototype racing car, built by March Engineering in 1984 for the Can-Am series. As with all other full-size Can-Am cars of the time, it used a mid-mounted 5-litre, naturally-aspirated Chevrolet V8 engine. It was driven by Jim Crawford for RK Racing/United Breweries, scoring 3 wins. Jim Crawford and the March 847 chassis would both successfully finish the championship as runner-up at the end of the season.

The Ferrari 612P, is a purpose-built Group 7 prototype, designed, developed and built by Scuderia Ferrari, specifically intended to be used in the North American Can-Am sports car racing series in 1968 and 1969.

References

  1. http://www.oldracingcars.com/canam/1980/
  2. "Riverside, 26 Oct 1980 « Single-seater Can-Am".
  3. "Watkins Glen, 5 Jul 1980 « Single-seater Can-Am".
  4. http://www.wspr-racing.com/wspr/results/canam/canam1980.html