Lotus Cortina Information Mk 2 Lotus Cortina Definitions and Library

WORKS and NEAR WORKS CARS IN THE USA

This section is under construction. Please let me know if you spot any errors, or have any further information and /or  photos to add more content to this area.

Considerable help in compiling this section has been given by two guys in the US; Don Gwynne from Texas and Ross Bremer from Florida. Both were racing Fords towards the end of the Mk 1 period.

Don ended up with the ex-works Charlie Barns Lotus Cortina in the late 1960s, but sold it in the 70s, something I think he regrets, although he  does race a Mk 1 Escort RS1600 today which softens the blow!.

Ross drove Major Billy C. Turner’s Lotus Cortina in the 1967 Trans-Am 4 hour at Daytona and the Daytona 24 Hour in 1967, and found, bought and restored the same car in 1992. He still shows that car, and also races an ex-Alan Mann red and gold Mk 1.

In general, the cars racing in the USA couldn’t be recognised by the registration number on the bonnet, so I’ve organised this section a little differently to the section on UK race cars. Each major race in which Lotus Cortinas were participating has been identified, and then each car entered identified by driver / team and race number, where known. This will allow photos or any other information to be slotted into the right area, building up a picture of each car / race circuit / driver.

INTRODUCTION

Lotus Cortinas raced practically from the beginning in the USA, with Team Lotus bringing their ‘RUR’ cars over in the winter of 1963 for a full season of racing in the USRRC championships in 1964, along with a couple of non-championship races thrown in to ‘warm up’.

The drivers were mainly the Brits, and the cars were all right hand drive. Whilst the cars acquitted themselves well in the under 2 litre class, they made little impact in the overall race, unlike in the UK in the same year.

1965 was a very quiet year for the Lotus Cortina in the USA, although two non-championship high profile events were attended by Team Lotus, with good results.

The bravery award must go to Buck Baker and Bob Tullius, who kicked off the 1965 season by running in the Daytona 2000kms race in the ‘Prototype GT’ class.

In 1966, racing Lotus Cortinas really started in the USA with local drivers and 7 specially commissioned and supported Works cars. A new championship was started in 1966,  the Trans-Am series, incorporating some of the previous non-championship events. Lotus Cortinas were present at all events except the first (as the cars hadn’t arrived!), and made a significant impact in the under 2 litre class.

1967 continued the Trans-Am presence, although as the Porsche 911 and Alfa GTs had been homologated as saloon cars, as in Europe, the Lotus Cortina started to lose ground to these more powerful cars.

Here’s a great film from the archives of Ken Anderson, who runs the website ‘The Garagista’ http://thegaragista.com/ , a great site recording ‘stories and images of interesting cars and bikes along with random thoughts and coverage from various automotive events and races from around the world’. Ken is a confirmed Lotus nut, so the emphasis of his site is on one of the original Garagistas, Lotus.

The film covers the 1964 Sebring race, focusing on the Lotus Cortinas of course.

1964

NON-CHAMPIONSHIP RACES

20^th March 1964 Sebring 3 hours / 250kms

Jim Clark 3rd overall / 1st in class (No.15) Registration 168 RUR

Dan Gurney (No. 16) Registration 166 RUR

21st March 1964 Sebring 12 hours Endurance

Jim Clark / Ray Parsons 21^st overall / 2nd in class (No.59) Registration 168 RUR

Dan Gurney / ??  (No. 16) Registration 166 RUR

16^th August 1964 Marlboro 12 hour (4^th event)

Jackie Stewart / Mike Beckwith 1^st (No. 17)

Sir John Whitmore / Tony Hegbourne 2^nd (No 15)

Dave Clark / David Hobbs 9^th (No. 16)

US ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP – GT CLASS (Group 1)

1^st Round  1^st March 1964 Augusta

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

2^nd Round 5^th April 1964 Pensacola

Sir John Whitmore 4^th  1^st GT2 (AMR)

Mike Spence DNF (AMR)

3^rd Round 26th April 1964 Riverside

Peter Arundell 11^th 6^th GT2 (No.2) (AMR)

Sir John Whitmore, 12^th  7^th GT2  (No.1) (AMR)

4^th Round 3^rd May 1964 Laguna Seca

Sir John Whitmore 12^th 5^th GT2 (AMR)

Mike Spence 16^th 7^th GT2 (AMR)

5^th Round – 10^th May 1964 Kent, Washington

Pete Lovely 7^th 3^rd GT2 (Team Lotus)

Ray Parsons 8^th  4^th GT2 (No.2) (Team Lotus)

6^th Round 28^th June 1964 Watkins Glen

Sir John Whitmore DNF (No.11) (AMR)

Mike Spence 7^th 2^nd GT2 (No.12) (AMR)

7^th Round 19^th July 1964 Greenwood

Sir John Whitmore 10^th 1^st GT2 (No 15) (AMR)

Henry Taylor 12^th 2^nd GT2 (No.16) (AMR)

8^th Round 9^th August 1964 Meadowdale

Dave Clark 7^th 2^nd GT2 (No.15) (Team Lotus)

Trevor Taylor 8^th 3^rd GT2 (No 16) Team Lotus)

9^th Round 30^th August 1964 Mid Ohio

Pete Lovely 9^th 4^th GT2 (No.15) (Team Lotus)

Jim Spenser 10^th 5^th GT2 (Team Lotus)

10^th Round  13^th September 1964 Road America 500, Elkhart Lake)

Dave Clark 11^th, 2^nd GT2 (No.37) (Team Lotus)

David Hobbs / Craft 14^th 3^rd GT2 (No.36) (Team Lotus)

1965

NASCA star Buck Baker and future Triumph and Jaguar man Bob Tullius entered the Daytona 2000 kilometer race for Sports Cars (!), starting off the race season in 1965 for the Lotus Cortina.

Team Lotus entered the Sebring 3hr race in March, coming 1^st and 2^nd in class.

The USRRC started in April at Pensacola.

The Alan Mann Racing team were tied up with the European Touring Car Championship in their Lotus Cortinas for 1965, and made no appearance in the USA that year.

 

28^th February 1965 Daytona 2000 kilometer

Bob Tullius / Buck Baker (No 87) (Prototype GT Class) DNF accident.

23^rd March 1965 Sebring 3hr

Jim Clark (No 25) (1^st) (Team Lotus)

Jack Sears (No 26) (2^nd) (Team Lotus)

15^th August 1965 Marlboro 12 hour (5^th event)

Paul Hawkins / Roy Pierpoint Team Lotus (2^nd)

Trevor Taylor / Jackie Ickx (9^th, 4^th in class)

Jake McLaughlin / Pete Seistman (16^th, 5^th in class)

Allan Moffat / Bob Tullius (dnf) (No 24)

Jackie Stewart / Mike Beckwith Team Lotus (dnf) (No 21)

US ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP – GT CLASS (Group 1)

1st Round April 11^th 1965 Pensacola, Fl

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

2nd Round May 2^nd 1965 Riverside, Ca

Jackie Stewart 15^th 10^th GT2

Tony Hegbourne 12^th 7^th GT2

3rd Round May 9^th 1965 Laguna Seca

Jackie Stewart  13^th 7^th GT2 (No 33)

Tony Hegbourne 14^th 8^th GT2 (No 22)

4th Round May 23^rd 1965 Bridgehampton, NY

No Lotus Cortinas entered

5th Round June 27^th 1965 Watkins Glen

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

 

6^th Round August 1^st 1965 Pacific, Kent Washington

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

7^th Round August 15^th 1965 Continental Divide, Co

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

8^th Round August 29^th 1965 Mid Ohio, Lexington

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

 

9^th Round  September 5^th 1965 Road America, Elkhart Lake

No Lotus Cortinas entered.

1966

A more focused campaign was mounted for 1966 to run for championship points in the Trans-Am series under 2 litre class.

7 Lotus Cortinas and a spares package was ordered from Lotus, which wasn’t without it’s challenges!

TRANS-AM 1966 Series

Under 2 litre Class

Professional and Amateur Classes

1^st Round  March 25th 1966 Sebring 4 hour (Fl)

Sir John Whitmore DNF after 9 laps (AMR) (No 44)

Peter Procter DNF after 8 laps (AMR) (No 45)

Craige Pelouze  (No 46)

2^nd Round  June 12th 1966 Mid America 300 (Missouri)

Jackie Ickx / Hubert Hahne 3rd overall, 2nd in U-2 (No 1) (AMR)

Allan Moffat / Gerber, 11th overall, 7th in U-2

Dave Dooley / Crockney Peterson, 16th overall, 11th in U-2

Sir John Whitmore  DNF after 19 laps (No 2) (AMR)

3^rd Round  July 10th 1966 Bryar 250 (Loudon, New   Hampshire)

Allan Moffat (1st overall)

Frank Gardner 5th overall, 3rd in U-2 (AMR)

Sir John Whitmore DNF after 94 laps (AMR)

4th Round  July 31st 1966  VIR 400 (Danville, Virginia)

Frank Gardner / Dickie Atwood or Skip Scott DNF after 96 laps(AMR) (No.12)

Dickie Attwood / Skip Scott DNF after 21 laps (AMR) (confusion on names)

Allan Moffat / Craig Fisher or Paul Hawkins DNF after 23 laps (No.2)

Richard O’Neill / Bob Johnson DNF after 8 laps (No.28)

5th Round  August 14th 1966 Marlboro 12 Hour (Washington, Maryland)

Sir John Whitmore / Frank Gardner (6th overall, 2nd in U-2) (No 23) (AMR)

Allan Moffat / Ray Parsons 13th overall, 8th in U-2 (No.25)

Hubert Hahne / Jackie Ickx (dnf) (No.24)

6th Round  September 10th 1966 Green Valley 6 hour (Dallas, Texas)

Lars Giertz / Lynn Kyser  5^th 2^nd in U-2

Ray Parsons / John Leighton 7^th 3^rd in U-2

Allan Moffat / Harry Firth 9^th  5^th in U-2

Dave Dooley / Elouise Norris 18^th  11^th in U-2

John Whitmore / Charles Barnes (DNF)

7th Round  September 18^th 1966 Riverside 4 hour (Ca)

Frank Gardner 5th 1st U-2  (AMR)

Allan Moffat / Harry Firth 7^th 3rd U-2.

Ray Parsons 13^th 5^th U-2 (No.24) (AMR)

John Bolander / Robert Winkelmann finished 20th overall, 10th in U-2 (No.95)

David Dooley – DNF

Sir John Whitmore (DNF)  (No.23) (AMR)

1967

TRANS AM  67 Series

1st Round, February 3, 1967, Daytona 300 Mile Race

Ross Bremer, 16th overall, 11th in U-2.

J.H.Jackson/Bob McQueen, 19th overall, 14th in U-2.

Tony Adamowicz – DNF.

Allan Moffat, (No.80), DNF.

2nd Round, March 31, 1967, Sebring 4 Hour Race

Tony Adamowicz  DNF (No.44) (Group 44 Team)

Allan Moffat – DNF.

Tom Payne – DNF.

Addison – DNF.

Billy Turner / Smith – DNF

3rd Round, April 16th 67 Green Valley 300 (Smithfield, Texas)

Tony Adamowicz. 14th overall, 7th in U-2. (No.4)

Charlie Barns / Lynn Kysar 16th overall, 8th in U-2.

Allan Moffat 18th overall, 9th in U-2. (No.40)

Joe Starkey (DNF) (No.42)

David Dooley (DNF)

4th Round, May 30, 1967, Lime Rock

Allan Moffat – DNF. (No.41)

5th Round, June 11, 1967, Mid-Ohio, Lexington, OH

Tony Adamowicz. 15th overall, 6th in U-2.

Gene Henderson, 16th overall, 7th in U-2.

Unknown driver, entered by Tom. Payne – DNF.

Dick Sorenson – DNF.

6th Round, August 6, 1967, Bryar Motorsport Park, Louden, NH

Gene Henderson, 13th overall, 8th in U-2.

Lyle Davis / Peter Sachs, 17th overall, 10th in U-2.

Allan Moffat – DNF.

7th Round, August 12, 1967, Marlboro Double 300 Races, Upper Marlboro, MD (U-2 only)

Sam  Caronia / Walter Novak, 13th overall, 13th in U-2.

Bob Tullius / Tony Adamowicz (Group 44) – DNF

Allan Moffat / Jim Adams – DNF.

8th Round, August 27, 1967, Continental Divide Raceways, Castle Rock, CO

David Dooley / John McComb, 14th overall, 8th in U-2.

9th Round, September 10, 1967, Gallo Trophy, Crow’s Landing, Modesto, CA

Robert Winkelmann, DNF.

10th Round, September 17, 1967, Mission Bell Trophy 250, Riverside International Raceway

Al Perez, 19th overall, 10th in U-2.

11th Round, October 1, 1967, Las Vegas 350 Race, Stardust International Raceway

Al Perez / Mica, 11th overall, 6th in U-2.

Charlie Gates, DNF.

Tony Settember, DNF.

12th Round, October 8, 1967, Kent 300 Race, Pacific Raceways, Kent, Washington

Robert Winkelmann, 14th overall, 5th in U-2.

John Bollander, DNF.