leGends bios eppie wietzes
Eppie Wietzes began racing in the late 1950s and in the 60s he established himself as a ver- satile and capable driver on the Canadian racing scene. A two-time Canadian Driving Cham- pion, Wietzes won in everything he drove, from a Sunbeam Alpine to Comstock Mustangs and GT-40s, Trans-Am Corvettes and a flock of very quick Formula 5000 cars. He won back-to- back Canadian Championships in 1969 and 1970. Ten, he headed south to star in the Conti- nental (F5000) circuit where he did himself and his country proud. By 1980 he was well ensconced in Trans-Am. His bid at the Mosport 6-Hour race that year with Jacques Bienvenue in a Chevrolet Corvette was unsuccessful, but 1981 was the year when it all came together. De- spite a DNF at the Daytona 24-Hour race in a Chevrolet Camaro with Maurice Carter and Richard Valentine, Wietzes took his Garretson Enterprises Chevrolet Corvette to two wins and the Trans-Am title. Wietzes would prove to be the last driver for over 15 years to win the Trans-Am title in a Corvette. Tat year, he also secured a drive in a Lola T600 Chevrolet proto- type for the Mosport 6-Hour with Brian Redman for Cooke-Woods Racing and came second. Wietzes remains 49th in the all-time Trans-Am earn- ings list and is equal in the all-time winners list with Peter Revson and actor Paul Newman. Wietzes also competed in the first ever Formula One Grand Prix at Mosport, driving a Lotus entered by Comstock and again in 1974 in a Brabham entered by Team Canada F1 Racing. Because of his long and varied career, Wietzes was one of the first inductees into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame when it opened in 1993.
Photo by Ed Moody Ludwig HeimratH One of the most famous names in Canadian auto rac- Photo by Ed Moody
ing, Heimrath won the Canadian Sports Car Racing Championship (later known as the Canadian Driving Championship) in 1961, which was the first year the title was awarded, and in 1964. He was the first runner-up in ‘62, ‘63 and ‘65. He was the second Canadian to race in Formula 1 when he entered the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1963. He won the SCCA Trans-Am championship twice in 1977. He was an expert long-dis- tance racer and teamed up with such champions as Johnny Rutherford and Craig Hill in entering the Sebring 12 Hours and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He was a USAC In- dycar competitor in ‘68 and ‘69 and raced in the Canadian and Continental Formula A division in 1970. Ludwig Heimrath is still active today (?) and competes in en- durance races.
Craig FisHer Craig Fisher of Toronto was one of the top
sedan drivers in North America in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, winning several CASC and SCCA class and overall sedan championships. A former member of the Canadian Comstock Racing Team, Craig and the late Mark Dono- hue finished 1-2 in the 12 Hours of Sebring in Roger Penske Trans-Am Camaros in 1968. Craig Fisher became the first Canadian to win a Trans-Am when he teamed with Mark Donohue at Marlboro, MD, in 1968. He was the first driver to score Trans-Am points for both Chevrolet and Pontiac divisions.
Photo by Ed Moody
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