Race 7: Can-Am 50 Interserie Challenge
This year’s Silverstone Classic is celebrating 50 years since the birth of the fearsome Can-Am sports car series with two very special showdowns. Saturday’s opener featured no fewer than ten of these mighty V8 beasts plus a great array of less potent but more agile cars from European championships and Le Mans.
The mighty Can-Am breed was headed by the brute force of Andrew Newall’s thundering 8.8-litre McLaren M8F from 1972 with Rob Hall’s glorious sounding V12 Matra MS670B/C from 1974 fastest among the World Sportscar interlopers.
Hall started slowly from pole with Andrew Newall blasting the McLaren into the lead but could not drop the hard-chasing Matra which harried the McLaren for the first 15 of the 20-minute race.
Then, with the McLaren starting to struggle on worn tyres, Hall slipped through into the lead. Newall used his car’s power to blast back alongside but eventually had to settle for second place overall and victory in the Can-Am category. The trophies were presented by Jackie Oliver; winner of the Can-Am Championship in 1974 which was the series’ final year.
- Rob Hall (Matra 670B/C) 10 laps
- Andrew Newall (McLaren M8F) +1.758s
- John Grant (McLaren M8C/D) +31.944s
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