Readme Can-Am 66 modpack

History and Information
Website: http://canam66.gplworld.de/

Support/Questions/Ideas/Feedback
visit http://srmz.net/index.php?act=idx

GPL Tracks:

Stardust
Downloads: http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?sbtd=stardust

St. Jovite
Downloads: http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?sbtd=stjovite

Bridgehampton
Downloads: http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?sbtd=bhampton

Mosport
Included in the original GPL

Laguna67
Downloads: http://gpltd.bcsims.com/?sbtd=laguna67

Riverside International Raceway 1966
Downloads: http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=11142

Nassau Oakes Field Course
Downloads: http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=11166

History

The Canadian American Challenge Cup Series (Can-Am) started out as a race series for Group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada and four races in the United States of America. The Series was governed by rules called out under the FIA Group 7 category with unrestricted engine capacity and few other technical restrictions.

The Group 7 category was essentially a Formula Libre for sports cars; the regulations were minimal and permitted unlimited engine sizes (and allowed turbocharging and supercharging), virtually unrestricted aerodynamics, and were as close as any major international racing series ever got to anything goes. As long as the car had two seats and bodywork enclosing the wheels, and met basic safety standards, it was legal. Group 7 had arisen as a category for non-homologated sports car 'specials' in Europe and for a while in the 1960s Group 7 racing was popular in the United Kingdom as well as a class in hillclimb racing in Europe. Group 7 cars were designed more for short-distance sprints than for endurance racing. Some Group 7 cars were also built in Japan by Nissan and Toyota, but these did not compete outside their homeland (though some of the Can-Am competitors went over to race against them occasionally).

SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) sports car racing was becoming more popular with European constructors and drivers, and the United States Road Racing Championship ( USRRC ) for large-capacity sports racers eventually gave rise to the Group 7 Can-Am series in 1966. There was good prize and appearance money and plenty of trade backing; the series was lucrative for its competitors but resulted, by its end, in truly outrageous cars with well over 1000 horsepower (750 kW) (the Porsche team claimed 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) for its 917/30 in qualifying trim in 1973), wings, active downforce generation, very light weight and unheard of speeds. Similar Group 7 cars ran in the European Interserie series, but this was much lower-key than the Can-Am.

Can-Am was the birthplace and proving ground for (what was at the time) outrageous technology. Can-Am cars were among the first race cars to sport wings, effective turbocharging, ground-effect aerodynamics, and aerospace materials like titanium. This led to the eventual downfall of the original series when costs got very much out of hand, but during its height Can-Am cars were at the cutting edge of racing technology and were frequently as fast as or even faster than their contemporary Formula One cars. Noted constructors in the Can-Am Series included McLaren, Chaparral, Lola, BRM, Shadow and Porsche.

Notable drivers in the original Can-Am series included virtually every acclaimed driver of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Jim Hall, Mark Donohue, Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, George Follmer, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Peter Revson, and John Surtees all drove Can-Am cars competitively and were successful, winning races and championship titles.

The Canadian American Challenge Cup Series was, in many racing fan's minds, North America's greatest road racing series ever. Can-Am grew from the USRRC for Sports Racing and GT cars formed in 1963 by Tracy Bird, then head of the SCCA, in consultation with Jim Hall of United States Road Racing Championship and Chaparral fame. In 1965, the Canadian Automobile Sports Club (CASC) and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) along with the race tracks and promoters recognized the fan appeal of unlimited sports racing cars and created the Can-Am series for 1966. The unlimited sports cars six race 1966 Can-Am began in Canada at St. Jovite - Mt. Tremblant circuit and soon raced at Mosport, Watkins Glen, Riverside, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, Elkhart Lake and all the great road racing circuits in North America.

The 1966 Can-Am season was perhaps one of the most exciting of all. At the season opener at St. Jovite, John Surtees drove his red Lola T70 Chevrolet to victory just 5 seconds in front of Bruce McLaren in his own McLaren M1B Oldsmobile after a 75 lap long 2 hour battle. The series continued at the Zandvoort-esque Bridgehampton racetrack located near New York, where Dan Gurney won the race in his Lola T70 Ford Weslake, narrowly beating Chris Amon racing for Bruce McLaren's team. The Bridgehampton round saw the first appearance of the winged Chaparrals, 1961 F1 World Champion Phil Hill coming home in fourth place in his Chaparral 2E. The series continued at Mosport, with a young Mark Donohue getting his and Roger Penske's first Can-Am win, driving a Lola T70 Chevrolet. Roger Penske's cars have always been a prime example in immaculate preperation, and this gruelling third round of the championship provided a great opportunity to show it.

After a three week break the 1966 season continued at Laguna Seca. It would turn out to be the only ever Can-Am win for the innovative and previously all-conquering Chaparral team, with Phil Hill taking victory on aggregate in the two heat race, after winning the first heat and finishing runner-up in the second. Chaparral founder Jim Hall was able to complete the party with a second place. The swoopy Califoria road course was extremely suited for the  Chaparral, with it's big wing providing grip in the corners, and with no long straights or slow corners where the  drag of it's wing, it's experimental semi-automatic two speed gearbox or it's slightly weaker engine compared to  the opposition could spoil the fun, although Parnelli Jones was able to win heat two in his Lola T70 Chevrolet,  beating the white Texan cars. 

After Laguna Seca it was onto Riverside, where Surtees managed to beat Hall for the win after 62 laps. Five of the  first seven cars had been Lola's, and it became clear Surtees would become hard to catch for the Chaparral and  McLaren teams. He proved it by adding another win and clinching the championship in the Nevada desert at the  Stardust racetrack just outside Las Vegas, after both Chaparrals suffered from metal fatigue in their wings,  resulting in retirement. Bruce McLaren came home second to finish a succesful albeit winless season for the  McLaren team. Bruce's moments of glory would soon come. Peter Revson showed first signs of promise driving his  McLaren M1B Ford Cobra home in fourth place.


Credits

1966 Can-Am mod team:
Shaun Collins (Original 3D car construction)
Bob Berman
Chris ‘silence’ Kleineberg
Francesco Molteni
Gianfranco Spinella
Greg Liebzeit
Martin E.C. Huiskes
Richard Cooke
Tommie van Ostade
Wolfgang Buthe

Helpers:
Arturo Pereira
Bernd Nowak
Dan 'Bentcam' Archey
ginetto
Stefan Roess

Beta testers:
Albrecht Kleinfeld
Andreas Gebhardt
Axel 'Cookie' Koch
Axel Cordt
Bob Simpson
Dave Flock
Davide Nativo
Doni Yourth
Iestyn Davies
Mario Wilhelm
Martin 'Maddog' Hunt
Paul Skingley
Robert Fleurke
Robert Hunter
Urban Alsenmyr
Warren Hall Jr.
