For a fistful of dollars
The 1972 Canadian-American Challenge Cup was the seventh season of the Can-Am Series. It consisted of Groupe 7 racing cars, with their huge engines, running two-hour sprint events.
Basically it was a battle between Penske Racing running two Porsche 917/10 for George Follmer and Mark Donohue, and the McLaren Motor Racing Team, running McLaren M20-Chevrolet’s for Denny Hulme and Peter Revson.
The championship, with its confortable prize money, attracted many private entries, like the Young American Racing Team who fielded a McLaren M8F for French F1 talent and Tyrrell driver, François Cevert (picture above).
The Frenchman was competitive and even won the sixth race of the season at Donnybrooke, finishing 5th overall in the championship.
Several European drivers were lured by the good retainers and interesting competition. David Hobbs, Jackie Oliver, Jean-Pierre Jarier were regulars on the North-American tracks.
The 1972 Canam standings : 1. George Follmer, Penske-Porsche 917/10 : 130 points. 2. Denny Hulme, McLaren M20 : 65 points. 3. Milt Minter, Vasek Polak Porsche 917/10 : 65 points.
