SPEED.com takes a look back at the efforts of Busby Racing in 1984, the last American team to compete in a global sportscar championship...
Busby's BFGoodrich team flew the stars and stripes in an international sportscar campaign that stretched three continents. (Photo: Paul Kooyman)
While Wisconsin-based Level 5 Motorsports and Krohn Racing from Georgia are the latest American teams bidding for a de-facto World Championship, you’d have to look back nearly 30 years to find the last sportscar effort to fly the stars and stripes on the global stage.
The year was 1984. Ronald Reagan was re-elected President, the Summer Olympics came to Los Angeles and Apple released the first Macintosh personal computer. Yet for Jim Busby and his BFGoodrich-backed team, all focus was on conquering the World Sportscar Championship.
Busby, a California drag racer turned IMSA team owner/driver in the mid-’70s, was the driving force behind the American tire maker’s entry into the C2 category of the WSC, known back then as the World Endurance Championship (and incidentally the name of the ILMC’s successor that’s set to launch in 2012)
Having run factory Porsches and BMWs out of his Laguna Beach, Calif. shop, Busby was no stranger to success in IMSA GT or even across the pond. With two Le Mans class victories as a driver already in the bag, including the 1982 classic in a BFGoodrich-sponsored Porsche, Busby was tasked with assembling an international sportscar program for the 1984 season.
With the Busby-driven Brumos Porsche 924 Carrera GTR having won Le Mans on street-legal T/A Radials, BFG wanted to take their program to the next level in the premier prototype ranks of Group C. However, the Akron, Ohio-based tire manufacturer wasn’t quite ready to make that leap with production tires just yet, as Busby recalls.
“They weren’t ready to go big-time racing with Porsche 962s, so they said, ‘What do you think we should do?’ I said, ‘Look, why don’t we get Mazda together with their totally reliable engines and we’ll go C2 racing to get your feet wet in Europe if you really want to pursue a European effort,” Busby said.
“They agreed to do that, so I flew to Japan and looked at the Mazda car and thought we’d be better off with a Lola with a Hewland gearbox because they were known quantities to us. I flew out of Tokyo and then straight to London, made the deal with Lola and called back to Mazda. They sent engines immediately over to Lola and we began building cars.”
In the matter of eight weeks, the first Lola T616-Mazda was rolled out of Lola’s facility in Huntingdon, England and onto an extensive testing and development program that spanned the better part of 1983, in both Europe and America.
BFGoodrich funded the effort, along with Mazda, which provided factory and technical support for its two-rotor 13B powerplant. The rotary engine originated from the ultra-reliable RX-7s of IMSA GTU fame. While there was no shortage of resources within the Jim Tully-managed operation, the objective was clear, and that was to develop and promote BFG’s T/A Radial brand of production tires.
That’s why it came as no shock to see the team take a different approach, particularly with the design of the car. Having opted for tiny 13-inch tires, it gave the Lola-Mazda a very low profile that reduced drag.
After all, efficiency was crucial back in those days, especially with the ACO’s Energy Efficiency index, which in part mandated a reduced 55-liter fuel tank. Coupled with the ultra-lightweight screaming Mazda rotary, which produced around 300 hp, the focus was indeed on producing a reliable car that was capable of getting to the end of 24 hours without problems.
“The package was beautiful,” Busby said. “It didn’t have a lot of wind resistance and no drag. We trimmed the cars out of for Le Mans with the wing behind the car, not up top. With a tow, they were going over 195 mph on the Mulsanne Straight.”
The team racked up more than 3,000 miles of testing over the second half of 1983. Busby recalls having been in the car nearly two or three days each week, clocking laps around circuits such as Riverside, Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It was all in efforts to develop BFG’s experimental line of street tires, which were specifically made due to the car’s diminutive wheel size.
After all, efficiency was crucial back in those days, especially with the ACO’s Energy Efficiency index, which in part mandated a reduced 55-liter fuel tank. Coupled with the ultra-lightweight screaming Mazda rotary, which produced around 300 hp, the focus was indeed on producing a reliable car that was capable of getting to the end of 24 hours without problems.
“The package was beautiful,” Busby said. “It didn’t have a lot of wind resistance and no drag. We trimmed the cars out of for Le Mans with the wing behind the car, not up top. With a tow, they were going over 195 mph on the Mulsanne Straight.”
The team racked up more than 3,000 miles of testing over the second half of 1983. Busby recalls having been in the car nearly two or three days each week, clocking laps around circuits such as Riverside, Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It was all in efforts to develop BFG’s experimental line of street tires, which were specifically made due to the car’s diminutive wheel size.
Daytona: A Bitter-Sweet Debut
While the focus was clearly on the WEC, and conquering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team ran a number of test races stateside in IMSA GT ahead of the European season. It included the Daytona 24 Hours, where the two Lola-Mazdas made their official race debuts.
The early performance for the pair of C2-spec cars, competing in the premier GTP class due to IMSA rules, was remarkable. Busby, Rick Knoop and Boy Hayje shared driving duties of the No. 67 entry, while Knoop also joined Pete Halsmer, Dieter Quester and Ron Grable in the No. 68 machine.
“Because we ran the car conservatively and got reasonably good fuel economy, we led a lot of the Daytona 24 Hour race and were certainly in a position to be on the podium overall and probably had an excellent chance to win it overall,” Busby explained. “It was the very first race we had run the cars in, and we did it as an experiment to see if we could get them to run 24 hours.”
One of the uncertainties heading into the twice-around-the-clock enduro was the fact that the Mazda two-rotor was a stressed member of the Lola T616 chassis. While Busby nor the Mazda and Lola engineers anticipated any issues, they found out the hard way, as Busby recalls.
“For the first 13 or 14 hours, it wasn’t a problem,” he said. “I was out [in the car] and we were leading. I kept looking at the [scoring] pylon there and saying, ‘My God, we’re in the lead with this little peashooter against all these big dudes.
“But then I started smelling coolant and started watching the instruments more closely and it was beginning to overheat... So I came into the pits and they added some coolant and it cooled it right now. We ran for a few more hours and it ran fine. But pretty soon, it was steaming in the car.”
With 22 hours complete, a rotary seal failure deprived the the No. 67 car of Busby, Knoop and Hayje of a finish. The sister No. 68 entry, though, soldiered home to a 17th place result overall, delayed by issues of their own.
Monza: Victory in WEC Opener
While the BFG Lola-Mazdas recorded respectable fifth and sixth place results in their second test race of the season on the streets of Miami, another IMSA GT race, all focus was turned to the season-opening WEC round at Monza in mid-April.
The traditional Monza 1000km signaled the start of Busby’s European adventures, and the first of four races in the World Championship. But it wasn’t necessarily the new Lola-Mazdas that gained the most attention, rather their American-built Kenworth 18-wheeler that was shipped over by boat for the European expedition.
While the focus was clearly on the WEC, and conquering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team ran a number of test races stateside in IMSA GT ahead of the European season. It included the Daytona 24 Hours, where the two Lola-Mazdas made their official race debuts.
The early performance for the pair of C2-spec cars, competing in the premier GTP class due to IMSA rules, was remarkable. Busby, Rick Knoop and Boy Hayje shared driving duties of the No. 67 entry, while Knoop also joined Pete Halsmer, Dieter Quester and Ron Grable in the No. 68 machine.
The car made its debut at the 1984 Daytona 24 Hours, used as a test race for its European sportscar campaign. (Photo: BFGoodrich)
“Because we ran the car conservatively and got reasonably good fuel economy, we led a lot of the Daytona 24 Hour race and were certainly in a position to be on the podium overall and probably had an excellent chance to win it overall,” Busby explained. “It was the very first race we had run the cars in, and we did it as an experiment to see if we could get them to run 24 hours.”
One of the uncertainties heading into the twice-around-the-clock enduro was the fact that the Mazda two-rotor was a stressed member of the Lola T616 chassis. While Busby nor the Mazda and Lola engineers anticipated any issues, they found out the hard way, as Busby recalls.
“For the first 13 or 14 hours, it wasn’t a problem,” he said. “I was out [in the car] and we were leading. I kept looking at the [scoring] pylon there and saying, ‘My God, we’re in the lead with this little peashooter against all these big dudes.
“But then I started smelling coolant and started watching the instruments more closely and it was beginning to overheat... So I came into the pits and they added some coolant and it cooled it right now. We ran for a few more hours and it ran fine. But pretty soon, it was steaming in the car.”
With 22 hours complete, a rotary seal failure deprived the the No. 67 car of Busby, Knoop and Hayje of a finish. The sister No. 68 entry, though, soldiered home to a 17th place result overall, delayed by issues of their own.
Monza: Victory in WEC Opener
While the BFG Lola-Mazdas recorded respectable fifth and sixth place results in their second test race of the season on the streets of Miami, another IMSA GT race, all focus was turned to the season-opening WEC round at Monza in mid-April.
The traditional Monza 1000km signaled the start of Busby’s European adventures, and the first of four races in the World Championship. But it wasn’t necessarily the new Lola-Mazdas that gained the most attention, rather their American-built Kenworth 18-wheeler that was shipped over by boat for the European expedition.
“I’ll never forget this. I was standing in the paddock looking at our cars, and we probably had 20 or 30 people standing around, as did the other teams,” Busby explained. “I looked outside, across from the tractor-trailer parking and there must have been 500 people standing around our rig!
“With the [exhaust] stacks and chrome mud-flaps and thousands of lights, it was your typical overdone American truck. It drew a bigger crowd than the race cars at every race.”
But as it turned out, Busby and Knoop put on a show of their own, as the duo scored a dominating win in the car’s European debut, and a commanding four laps over the second-place finishing Ecurie Ecosse entry.
“Winning at Monza was huge,” Busby said. “It was exciting because the Japanese had tried very hard to win WEC races and had not succeeded in the past. Gary Pace, who was the head of the BFGoodrich effort at the time, had found this wonderful restaurant in town.
“After the race, we had the Japanese there from Mazda, we had all of the American guys, our crew and all of the friends we made in Italy and basically took over this enormous restaurant. I think I saw the sun come up the next day, still from the restaurant!”
Check back on Friday for Part 2 of “Busby’s 1984 World Tour.
Enjoy a look back at Busby Racing’s efforts through “Chasing the Limits”, a BFGoodrich-produced video which documented the team’s successful leap to the global stage in 1984. The final two parts of the film will be included in Part 2 of this SPEED.com feature.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at askdagys@gmail.com
“With the [exhaust] stacks and chrome mud-flaps and thousands of lights, it was your typical overdone American truck. It drew a bigger crowd than the race cars at every race.”
But as it turned out, Busby and Knoop put on a show of their own, as the duo scored a dominating win in the car’s European debut, and a commanding four laps over the second-place finishing Ecurie Ecosse entry.
“Winning at Monza was huge,” Busby said. “It was exciting because the Japanese had tried very hard to win WEC races and had not succeeded in the past. Gary Pace, who was the head of the BFGoodrich effort at the time, had found this wonderful restaurant in town.
“After the race, we had the Japanese there from Mazda, we had all of the American guys, our crew and all of the friends we made in Italy and basically took over this enormous restaurant. I think I saw the sun come up the next day, still from the restaurant!”
Check back on Friday for Part 2 of “Busby’s 1984 World Tour.
Enjoy a look back at Busby Racing’s efforts through “Chasing the Limits”, a BFGoodrich-produced video which documented the team’s successful leap to the global stage in 1984. The final two parts of the film will be included in Part 2 of this SPEED.com feature.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at askdagys@gmail.com
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