Can-Am Thunder Downunder

New Zealand—the homeland of the two most famous drivers of the Can-Am series, Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme—was the host to its first-ever Can-Am race in history this year.

It is hard to believe that Kiwis had never seen a group of these beasts driven in anger, even though Bruce and Denny and the cars they drove are considered sacred national treasures to most NZ enthusiasts. After a year of planning, an adventuresome group of drivers from the U.S. and Canada made the trip “downunder” in February with their historic Can-Am cars, to share the sights and sounds of these magnificent cars with the most grateful fans on the planet.

With the help of Kiwi Keith Cowan who arranged things for us “downunder,” we shipped the cars in mid-December and arrived in NZ in late January. The team consisted of 6 cars—Tom Malloy in his M8E McLaren, Jay Esterer and Robert Ryan in M6Bs, Andy Boone in the Dan Gurney McLeagle, Ian Wood brought his Rawlson, and I ran my Lola T-163. Three big blocks and three small blocks, ranging from 500 to 900 hp created plenty of “thunder downunder.”

The South Island of NZ is host to a three-week, three-race series every year referred to as “The Southern Festival of Speed.” The races are held on three consecutive weekends at three different tracks: Ruapuna in Christchurch, Levels in Timaru, and Teretonga in Invercargill where the historic Tasman series was run. This series is perfect for overseas competitors who have to limit their time away from home. A big concern to our Can-Am group was the mortality rate of these self-destructing racecars. It is rare to see more than 75% of a Can-Am field survive one weekend without serious problems. We all wondered if we would have more than one car still running by the third weekend.

The tracks are all owned and maintained by club members who donate their time and resources to keep the tracks in great shape. They are much more spartan than we are accustomed to in the U.S, but they are clean, convenient, and well run. Each track has a clubhouse which magically transforms into a pub immediately after the last race of the day. Enjoying a pint or two at the end of raceday is an integral part of the Kiwi racing experience. We all discovered that beer drinking is a national sport in NZ, ranking a close third behind Rugby and motor sports.

NZ is a beautiful country and in February enjoys late-summer weather and, other than a few rain showers and occasional wind, we enjoyed perfect racing weather. We worked out a race/tourist schedule with our wives and girlfriends that allowed for 4 days of tourist stuff and 3 days of racing each week. It turned out to be more than enough of both.

Racing in New Zealand is very different than in North America. Races are very short, with each race group running three or four sessions on the track each day. Races are standing starts, with an occasional handicap start thrown in for good measure. Most of the tracks are well suited to these powerful Can-Am cars with long straights combined with some technical curves and lots of late apexes to keep us on our toes. Our hosts were very accommodating in allowing us to run longer races (short-lap races and big slicks don’t mix well), and saved our clutches by using the rolling starts we are more accustomed to. In fact, we were scheduled for a 30-lap race the first weekend, which we decided to reduce to 20 laps (still much longer than we are accustomed to) out of concerns that the cars and drivers might not make it through the first weekend!

Moving the cars around was a challenge. Large transporters like we see in the United States are not available in NZ. Roads are narrower and the widest trailers are carrying the large sea-shipping containers that are very common in NZ. Our solution was to outfit two 40-foot shipping containers with hydraulic hoists allowing 4 cars to fit in each container. They were shipped from California to NZ and then from track to track in these containers. We eventually got the loading procedure down to 3 hours, with everyone pitching in. Not bad for 8 cars and lots of gear (we also brought along a couple of Formula Fords for my son Brody and Jay Esterer to race).

We were treated like royalty each weekend, and provided with garages when they were available. When garages weren’t available, we were provided large tents, with wooden floors, that made a huge difference when jacking cars up after every session. We were encouraged to spend as much time on the track as we could handle. In fact, the organizers would commonly rearrange the schedule during the day to give us track time in between rain showers, as only one of us, Ian Wood of Canada, brought rain tires and was brave enough to use them. Some of the tracks had sound limits, but a combination of some perfectly timed shifts as we passed the sound meter, and likely bribery by our hosts, kept us out of the black-flag station (except for Andy Boone who just couldn’t keep his foot out of it).

The racing was very exciting for the drivers and spectators alike. I think many of our Kiwi friends expected to see little more than an exhibition at 7/10ths speed, and were surprised to see us pushing the limit every time we were on the track. We set some new speed records at the tracks, especially as Tom Malloy and I stormed down the straights side by side in our big blocks trying to catch Jay Esterer in his (slightly modified) M6B. The tracks were different enough, so that the smaller cars had an advantage some weekends and the larger cars on others. We arrived with Laguna Seca gears (my mistake) and soon found that they were way too short. I ended up with Road America gears and still hit 7,000 rpm at Teretonga. Levels Raceway was much tighter, but Ruapuna required the taller gears also.

Some of you may be familiar with the term “Kiwi ingenuity.” Kiwis have had to make do with limited resources and equipment for more than a century. This remote country has compensated by using their unbelievable talents and inventiveness. If you saw the movie The Fastest Indian, you understand what I mean. They take great pride in being able to fix anything, even things made of that precious metal: “unobtainium.” Case in point; Ian Wood races a rare Rawlson. There are few, if any, left on the planet. When he lost a wheel due to a broken stub axle on Saturday of the second weekend, he looked at me with a dejected look and explained that there weren’t any to be found, anywhere—he had already looked for years. Bright and early Sunday morning, our Kiwi friends had a fresh machined part ready to go.

The best part of the experience wasn’t on the track, however. It was in the paddocks. We signed autographs, posed for pictures, got interviewed for TV—all so different than we had ever experienced before. Little boys would return for Sunday’s races with a picture drawn in crayon of our cars. Grown men would take us aside, shake our hands, and with a tremble in their voice, sincerely thank us for bringing our cars. Those old enough to remember the Can-Am series in the ’60s explained that they never knew what a Can-Am race was all about. One fellow explained that all they ever saw of the Bruce and Denny show was a picture in the newspaper of one of them with a wreath and a pretty girl next to the winner. To see these magnificent cars on their home tracks was an unbelievable experience for all who were there and a wonderful treat for those of us fortunate enough to have participated.

We were able to give some rides at speed during breaks, and Jay Esterer let Barry Leitch, a local racer, race-shop owner and sponsor, drive his car in the last race of the series. Barry drove it very well, not an easy task in these cars that can turn and bite you without a moment’s notice. He was on the front page of the newspaper the next day, and probably still has that smile on his face today.

The Can-Am Thunder Downunder group in front of the Bruce McLaren Grandstand, Ruapuna Raceway, Christchurch, NZ. Pictured L-R; Ian Wood (1972 Ralston), Andy Boone (Dan Gurney McLegal), Jay Esterer (McLaren M6B), Tom Malloy (McLaren M8E), Robert Ryan (McLaren M6B), Brian Blain (LolaT-163).

Oh, and by the way, with lots of help from our Kiwi friends, all six cars ran all three weekends, with only two cars unable to run the last race of the last weekend. Amazing!