Race Hamilton, also known as the Labatt's Hamilton Championship, was a 1978 auto race held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada featuring a round of the Formula Atlantic Labatt Championship Series. The event featured future driving stars Bobby Rahal, Keke Rosberg and Danny Sullivan competing for $10,000 in first-place prize money.
The race took place on August 7 on a , 10 turn temporary street circuit in downtown Hamilton with the start/finish line located between the Hamilton City Hall and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
The race attracted an estimated 60,000 fans, half of those watched for free from the roofs of surrounding buildings and by breaking down barriers. After a five-hour delay due to insurance issues with the safety barriers around the course, only 39 of the scheduled 73 laps took place due to darkness. Only 16 of the 29 cars entered, completed the race.
Race results
Pos No. Driver Team Chassis/Engine Laps Time Speed 1 4 Keke Rosberg Excita/Fred Opert Racing Chevron B45 - Ford 39 47m 24.585s 68.113 mph 2 22 Price Cobb Ecurie Canada March 78B - Ford 39 47m 25.208s 68.098 mph 3 2 Bobby Rahal Pierre's Motor Racing Ralt RT1 - Ford 39 67.704 mph 4 34 Danny Sullivan Bluebonnet Foods/Quaker State March 78B - Ford 3967.394 mph 5 6 Divina Galica Fred Opert Racing/Olympus Chevron B39 - Ford39 66.255 mph 6 31 Chip Mead Hanna Car Wash/Pierre's Motor Racing Ralt RT1 - Ford 38 7 9 John Mortensen Doug Shierson Racing March 78B - Ford 38 8 51 Rick Koehler Brooks Stevens Excalibur EE2B - Ford 38 9 19 Bob Earl James Brolin Chevron B-34 - Ford 38 10 78 Rick Bell Ralt RT1 - Ford 38 11 13 Jean-Pierre Alamy March 78B - Ford 38 12 15 Mike Rocke BDN March 77B - Ford 37 13 72 Gilles Leger Ralt RT1 - Ford 37 14 50 Jeff Smith Starr Racing Chevron B34 - Ford 37 15 58 Jon Norman Norman Racing March 78B - Ford37 16 71 John Connolly Ralt RT1 - Ford 36 17 20 Jeff Wood Great Plains Racing March 78B - Ford 35Accident 18 66 Peter Robinson Chevron B39 - Ford 34Accident 19 33 Kevin Cogan Brian Robertson/Ralt American Ralt RT1 - Ford 29Cross member 20 38 Tom Gloy Tom Gloy/Lane Sports March 77B - Ford26Transmission 21 7 Bill Brack STP Special/Ecurie Canada March 78B - Ford22Accident22 8 Howdy Holmes Jiffy Mixes/Doug Shierson Racing March 78B - Ford 10Mechanical 23 67 R.J. Nelkin Hunter Mountain March 78B - Ford 10Mechanical 24 21 Michael Follett Ralt RT1 - Ford 10Spun 25 63 Ralph ManakerR.M. Racing March 76B - Ford3Mechanical 26 62 Cliff Hansen Charles Gladding March 78B - Ford 2Suspension 25 54 Carl Liebich Liebrau Racing Lola T-560 - Ford 0Accident 28 75 Chris Gleason Whalley BMW Sales March 77B - Ford 0Accident 29 79 Bobby Brown Automatic Radios March 78B - Ford 0Accident 30 24 Bertil Roos Racetune/Acme March 77B - Ford 0Pulled off
References