1967 Pan Am Players 200 Mosport

The Players 200 is brought to you by Black & Decker, makers of air impact wrenches with exclusive one-hand automatic shift and tornado torque. This is Mosport Park in rural Ontario, scene of Canada's most important sports car race, the 200mile Canadian American Challenge Cup Series event. I'm Chrissy Konamaki and today top drivers from three continents and the finest road racing machines in the world are here for this important event. Track records have been broken in practice and we should see a very fast race. Fast is the word. The top five qualifiers bested Jim Hall's record of a year ago. Dennis Holm and the number five McLaren set the pace as was expected. All the big guns of the previous two record-breaking Can-Am races are here except Jim Hall. The wing shot. Mike Spence of England is right alongside. Defending Can-Am champion John Certis sits fifth. >> Peter Revson readies himself in sixth. George Fulmer seventh. 10 cars ahead of partner Mark Donahghue. And in the remaining field of 26, standouts Motenbacher, Heimroth, McCcluskey, Cannon, Parsons, and Scott. The starter gives a ready signal and the field is off for one tour around the 2 and 1/2 mile course without McLaren. A running start was requested by the drivers and former racing great Sterling Moss is at the wheel of the pace car. The pace lap will give McLaren some needed time as Moss maintains a slow speed to prevent a repeat of last year's traffic jam mishap in the treacherous downhill first turn. McLaren and with 80 laps to play catchup. He'll have to stand on it for 200 miles. A Canadian American Challenge Cup race. The players 200. [Music] These men are dedicated to the proposition that racing cars should hold together tightly and come apart fast during a pit stop. It's no job for ordinary tools. It's a job for Black & Decker air tools like Rockabby Baby. >> The 5 lb air impact wrench with tornado torque. And exclusive rocking trigger action. Squeeze the top, baby tightens. Squeeze the bottom, baby takes it off. One hand. No other air wrench in the world can do it. Black & Decker Air Impact Wrenches. The good friend of high performance cars. It does them one good turn after another. The events preceding the pace lap of the Players 200 support the theory that preparedness is the key to victory. To play catch-up is a tough way to go racing. Practice and qualifying sessions are always an exciting prelude to any race and this was especially so at mostport. It was clear by their domination at Elcart and Bridgeampton that team McLaren was the one to beat. Dennis Holm, victor in these earlier Canam affairs, is a top the point standings and look very fast in early practice tries. The newest McLarens, meticulously prepared, sport a lower front end, a monok chassis, and a fuel injection system, which designer driver Bruce McLaren worked two years to perfect the works and threes. They're major competition. Bruce, it's only been a year since the Group 7 cars racing the Can-Am, but this year they're several seconds faster. Here at Mosport, where are you finding that extra speed? I would say largely with our car on acceleration coming out of the corners. In fact, uh you can pick it. I think as the car comes out of the corner, you can see the necessary quick little corrections on the steering wheel to uh to cope with the wheel spinning power as we come out. >> It's been said by many that tires are a contributing factor, but here you're pointing to the engine, right? >> Well, I'm pointing really to power to weight, lots of power and very lightweight, which gives wheel spinning power. Well, at that stage then the tire does become very important, but uh you've got to get the weight of the car down and the power up before you start to use the tire. What kind of a circuit is most sport, Bruce, compared to the others you've raced on around the world? >> There's more uphill and down dale for instance, you know, you dive down into this hairpin at the the far end of the track and then climb pretty steeply uphill all the way up the straight and uh pretty nearly come off the ground with the brow of the hill. Is it harder, Bruce, to go as fast today as it was a year ago to qualify? Uh, >> no. We're having an easier time this year with the new cars. Uh, the cars are quite a little bit quicker or more competitive than we were last year. Last year it was quite a struggle to get the cars where we up to where we got them about sort of usually second or third fastest, but uh this year it's a lot easier. The twin McLarens have dominated Group 7 racing thus far and everyone else is playing catch-up. Dan Gurnie and John Certis are given the best chance. Gurnie driving one of three brand new lightweight Lola T70s looked very quick in practice. His Gurnie Westlake engine delivers about 510 horses and is the only competitive Ford in a fleet of Chevys. Certis, not able to show the same form of a year ago, is still sorting out. What with a new Lola and not enough time to properly prepare for his total series effort, he nonetheless clocked a 1224 for a fifth place start at Mostport. Mario Andredy again tried the Hunker 2, Ford's maiden effort in Group 7 racing. As was the case in earlier races, the car was just not competitive. The Hunker didn't hunk. It best time was a minute 40, slowest of all the cars. Ford decided not to run. The race to catch the Kiwi's five cars met with disastrous results during practice and qualifying. Mark Donahghue driving a spanking new Lona T70 lost a wheel and visited the sandbanks at Moss Corner. A drive shaft had sheared and the resulting spin also bent some of the bodywork. Further trouble beset the Pinsky racing team when George Fulmer got airborne off the long straight, spun uncontrollably for a quarter of a mile and demolished the second Sonokco Special. Donahoo's car could be repaired, but Fulmer's was a scratch, or so everyone thought. After 18 hours and a lot of hard work with parts flown in from Indianapolis and trucked up from Philadelphia, Penske's crew overnight reassembled number 16 in time for some shakedown laps. [Music] Donny Hughes Lola was rolling too and the Sonokco Specials were ready to run, but there were some who would not run. Charlie Hayes qualified the number 25 McKe's old seventh before he wrapped it up. But Sam Posey and the air foil Caldwell did make it with repairs to a damaged front suspension. A lot of these uh mishaps in fact in practice were due to some kind of mechanical problem which of course should never happen. What about the surface itself here at Mosport? Is it easy on a car or hard for a car to take? It's not bad at all. I think the what's causing these problems are the is the advance in tire design which is loading the suspension and the whole chassis of the cars much more than it has done uh before. Now, it's been said that the wide tires are a blessing, but McLaren's cars are the only ones that were developed and tested using the wide tires where everyone else just put them on. Has this posed problems? Well, it's posed problems for me. My chassis is really had a the Lola chassis has been very reliable, but since I've had these tires on it, I've broken a wishbones and I've torn a radius rod off and I've had to just beef up the whole back end of the car so that these tires just won't rip it apart because it's providing such traction that uh you know it's putting a strain on the on the chassis members. I think uh Bruce McLaren's team has sort of surprised everybody with their speed and and uh as of the first race, everyone has been making frantic development changes trying to you know be competitive and and in doing this I think maybe they've they've lost a little something in reliability. The 2.45 mile circuit at mostport park Ontario served as round three for the Can-Am Challenge Cup Series only Canadian race in the six race series. The first two events were dominated by these two cars. The bright orange McLaren Mark 6B and the driver of number five, New Zealander Denny Holm is the point leader and the man that everyone is trying to catch. Denny, a year ago, you came within 10 ft of winning the 24 hours of Lemon. And today, you're not only leading in the Can-Am Challenge Cup Series, but for the World's Driving Championship as well. Has it been a long road to this position in your career? It's been a very long road. I just been talking about it a little while ago. Um it's taken me 7 years to get this far, but I've really done well and only in the last three. So for a long time I was about but struggling as a private entrant and it wasn't until I got some works drives that I started to make good out of it. >> Where do you think you got your most valuable experience? >> Obviously being with a big works team like Brabboms um and now with Bruce McLaren's team feel well organized and well up to date with everything. But as a driver, you must deliver. Where do you learn the little tricks that keep you out front? >> Following some of the older drivers, I think I've learned a lot from Jack Breham, um, some from Jimmy Clark and all these. Being a relatively newcomer, you can always learn something. The driver, the car, and the crew are the component parts that must mesh smoothly together to win at motor racing. Before the race, Dennis Holm, two-time Can-Am winner, commented on his race plan. In the early stages, I try and go as fast as I can. And once I've established some sort of a lead, um 5 seconds or so, then I try and ease back and just hold that. Both races, I've tried to make the break early in the race. So, the opposite from the opposition. Um unless Dan manages to stay close with me today, I'm going to try and do the same thing again. Ruth McLaren has made time. Carl lengths behind now. Holmes has set a new lap record 122 flat, stretching his lead on Dan Gurnie. Mike Spence third. And rounding the turn is number 52 Peter Revson. John Certis who was running fourth is in the pits with some sort of trouble which he obligingly does. Holmes is off the course at Moss Corner. Dennis spun in some gravel coming out of the turn, but appears to be okay. Ernie down by 20 seconds picks up a few. [Music] McLaren with his Chevy engine full boore overtakes Ron Corti. He's moved up five places in just five laps. In jig time, he's up to Courtz. Posey and Bill Eve pushing the trio around Moss corner. Meanwhile, Roger McCcluskey and Loather Moenbacher are having a goal for sixth place. Cannon leads Scott and Donahghue down the pit straight. McLaren by Ploy and takes Bill Eve at turn one. John Certis is running again, but well down in the field. McLaren is after 13th place and gets it going inside. Skip Barber through the hairpin. Canadian John Cannon is doing his best to hold down 10th ahead of Scott and Donahghue with McLaren applying the pressure. Leaders are lapping the slower cars. Gurnie showing good speed on the straits. Mike Spence and Peter Revson still running third and fourth. [Music] and is out of the race. The pit crews see some action as McLaren breezes past Parsons into eighth place. McCloskey drafting NASCAR style swing shots past Mozenbucker to nail down six and Tails Fulmer and the number 16 Lola through Mos corner. [Music] McLaren's not far behind getting past Bucker and some tail end traffic. [Music] A new lap record has been set by Dennis Holmes. A minute 20.7, better than 109 mph. He's well up on Gurnie now, but Gurnie's still in it. Lapping Scarpiotti in the V12 Ferrari. McCusky's by Pulmer. McLaren takes him too on the highspeed backstraight where speeds approach 180 mph. The number eight Lola and former Can-Am champion are out of it. Certis pitted twice early on with engine trouble and this time it's permanent. Let's get the word with reporter Chrissy Konaki. >> Mechanical problems, John. >> Yes. Either a valve seed seal or else a piston ring went and kept on filling the cylinder with oil. >> Top break. McLaren squeezes past Roger McCcluskey at turn two. The new Mark 6 and its driver are showing superiority in all departments over a talented field of drivers. Home number five laps Donahghue putting traffic between him and second place Dan Gurnie, but Gurnie doggedly hangs on lapping Fred Pippen's McKe Mark 6. Ahead on the course, but well back in third, Mike Spence leads Revson. Still running fourth, but losing ground to McLaren. Ron Courtourtney runs dead on the track with a smoking engine. Revson gives up fourth place on the pit strike. McLaren means business burning up the track with a one-handed driving technique that puts John Courts further down with the other back markers. Holm continues smoothly in first. Dan Gurnie over half a minute down in second. Mike Spence has held third since the outset with little chance of gaining on Gertie and less chance of holding off McLaren. Brett Lunger is into the guard rail. Debris all over the track, but Scarpi are by. McLaren has taken third from Spence as yellow flags caution the drivers. Lunger is out of the car and is okay. >> Good to see you looking so good, Brett. What happened on the track? Well, I'm afraid I just started pushing a little bit too much. I think we had trouble. We had a little bit of trouble partway out. I think it was a head gasket and I wasn't getting the revs at all. In order to make up for that, I was trying to slide it a little bit too much. >> Was quite a solid hit to the fence. Are you all right? >> I'm very disgusted. Uh, a driver doesn't do that sort of thing. I should be sent to bed without any suffering. It makes me angry. Donny Hugh has moved to seventh behind McCcluskey. Home leads by 60 seconds. Well out in front. Gurnie's advantage dwindles. McLaren gaining better than 1 second a lap. Speed traps have caught Gurnie and McLaren at 170 mph. Bettered only by Revson's top race speed of 181. [Music] Spence is dropping further back behind the race for second. A setback for the Penske racing team. Donahghue is in the pits and out of the race with a blown head gasket on his menola. He had passed teammate Pulmer and was running seventh before his retirement. Line in a daring drive, rarely seen in motor racing. The McLaren cars are one and two. Home backing off a bit with a one-minute cushion and teammate McLaren behind him. McLaren Crochi Tyler Alexander looks happy, wouldn't you say? >> McLaren buries Skip Scott trying to lose Gurnie in traffic. Bruce can't shake the Lola for as Gurnie shows some of his driving style and some metal dragging from the rear of his car. McLaren remains in the same lap as the leader. Gurnie has not passed the pits. It looks like the end of a courageous drive for Dan Gurnie who was losing ground steadily to McLaren before a broken clutch and an overworked engine finished the Lola 3B. Number 22 Mike Spence inherits third. His tire is smoking badly. The crumpled fender burning away at the rubber. He can home make one more lap which is all he needs to complete the race. McLaren, the only driver in the same lap, was slacking his pace, unaware of Hol's trouble. McCcluskey, two laps down, easily passes the home McLaren to better his position. McLaren narrows the gap. He too on the last lap but over 30 seconds behind. Chris Economaki in a jubilant victory lane. >> Hello again. But this time it was a storybook finish. Denny, what happened on the last lap? >> Uh I think I probably miscalculated somewhere. The tail hung out. I corrected it and it shot straight out of the bank. It was something that happened in such a flash. I didn't quite know what had gone wrong. Um, obviously I damaged the frame quite a bit and you know what, you know, all I thought was I hope there's no oil and no water leaking out and maybe I'll be able to finish, but the tire had gone flat as well. >> Well, the uh was a great drive all the way. How much further could you have gone had to had you two? >> I think that was it. The end of the pit row after the checkered flag was far as it could ever go. It couldn't have done another lap. Not possible. >> Well, congratulations on your third straight Can-Am victory, Denny Holm. >> Thank you very much, Chris. >> Bruce, this is the kind of a drive you turned in today. It was the kind of a drive that motor racing riders will be writing about for years to come. What motivated it? >> Well, basically just being so so far behind. Yeah, that's it's a nice way to race that. I think every with the car and just stand on it and I must say I enjoyed it for a long time. >> And the car held up magnificently, didn't it? >> It held up beautifully. I think I used up most of the oil in the crank case so that when Dan dropped out with about 10 laps to go, I was I really backed off and took it quite easy cuz oil pressure was starting to get down quite low. A great year for team McLaren. Proof that teamwork brings victories such as the players 200 at Canada's Mosport Park. [Music] [Music] The Players 200 has been brought to you by Black & Decker, makers of air impact wrenches with exclusive one-hand automatic shift and tornado torque.