The 1971 Canadian-American Challenge Cup was the sixth season of the Can-Am auto racing series. It was contested by FIA Group 7 two-seater racing cars competing in two-hour sprint races. The series began on 13 June 1971 and ended on 31 October 1971, after ten rounds. The series was given official recognition by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile for the first time in 1971.[1]
The series was won by Peter Revson driving a McLaren M8F for McLaren Cars.
| Rnd | Race | Circuit | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labatt's 200 | Mosport Park | June 13 | |
| 2 | Mont-Tremblant 50 | Circuit Mont-Tremblant | June 27 | |
| 3 | Road Atlanta Can-Am | Road Atlanta | July 11 | |
| 4 | Watkins Glen Can-Am | Watkins Glen International | July 25 | |
| 5 | Valvoline Can-Am | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | August 22 | |
| 6 | Road America Can-Am | Road America | August 29 | |
| 7 | Minneapolis Tribune Grand Prix | Donnybrooke International Raceway | September 12 | |
| 8 | Molson Can-Am | Edmonton Speedway Park | September 26 | |
| 9 | Monterey Castrol Grand Prix | Laguna Seca Raceway | October 17 | |
| 10 | Los Angeles Times Grand Prix | Riverside International Raceway | October 31 |
| Rnd | Circuit | Winning team | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winning driver | |||
| Winning car | |||
| 1 | Mosport |  #5 McLaren Cars | Results |
 Denny Hulme | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 2 | Mont-Tremblant |  #1 Carl Haas Racing | Results |
| Jackie Stewart | |||
| Lola T260 | |||
| 3 | Road Atlanta | #7 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Peter Revson | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 4 | Watkins Glen | #7 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Peter Revson | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 5 | Mid-Ohio | #1 Carl Haas Racing | Results |
| Jackie Stewart | |||
| Lola T260 | |||
| 6 | Road America | #7 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Peter Revson | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 7 | Donnybrooke | #7 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Peter Revson | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 8 | Edmonton | #5 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Denny Hulme | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 9 | Laguna Seca | #7 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Peter Revson | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
| 10 | Riverside | #5 McLaren Cars | Results |
| Denny Hulme | |||
| McLaren M8F | |||
Points were awarded to the top ten finishers in the order of 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1.[1] Only the best four placings from the first five races and the best four places from the second five races could be counted towards a driver's series total.[1] Points earned but not counted are marked by parenthesis. The fourth-place finish overall of Jo Siffert was determined posthumously as Siffert died in October 1971 at a Formula One race at Brands Hatch.[2]
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Engine | Rd1 | Rd2 | Rd3 | Rd4 | Rd5 | Rd6 | Rd7 | Rd8 | Rd9 | Rd10 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Revson | McLaren Cars | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | 15 | 12 | 20 | 20 | (4) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 142 | ||
| 2 | Denny Hulme | McLaren Cars | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | 20 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 12 | 20 | 132 | |||
| 3 | Jackie Stewart | Carl Haas Racing | Lola T260 | Chevrolet | 20 | 20 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 76 | ||||||
| 4 | Jo Siffert | STP-Jo Siffert | Porsche 917/10 | Porsche | 12 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 68 | |||||
| 5 | Lothar Motschenbacher | Motschenbacher Racing | McLaren M8D | Chevrolet | 12 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 52 | |||||
| 6 | Milt Minter | Vasek Polak Racing | Porsche 917PA | Porsche | 3 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 37 | ||||
| 7 | Tony Adamowicz | Auto World | McLaren M8D | Chevrolet | 10 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 34 | |||||||
| 8 | Chuck Parsons | A.G. Dean World Racing Motschenbacher Racing | McLaren M8D Lola T160/3 McLaren M8E/D | Chevrolet | 10 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 30 | ||||||
| 9 | Vic Elford | American Racing Associates Roy Woods Racing | McLaren M8E McLaren M8D | Chevrolet | 3 | 12 | 10 | 25 | ||||||||
| 10 |  Hiroshi Kazato | Carl Haas Racing | Lola T222 | Chevrolet | 2 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 19 | ||||||
| 11 | Sam Posey | North American Racing Team Sam Woods Racing | Ferrari 512M McLaren M8E | Ferrari Chevrolet | 6 | 10 | 16 | |||||||||
| 12 |  John Cordts | John Cordts World Racing | McLaren M8C Lola T160 | Chevrolet | 8 | 6 | 14 | |||||||||
| 13 | Dave Causey | Dave Causey | Lola T222 | Chevrolet | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | ||||||||
| 14= | Gregg Young | Young American Racing Team Motschenbacher Racing | Ferrari 512M McLaren M8E/D | Ferrari Chevrolet | 12 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 14= | Jackie Oliver | Advanced Vehicle Systems | Shadow Mk.2 | Chevrolet | 12 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 14= | Howden Ganley | Sid Taylor Racing | BRM P167 | Chevrolet | 12 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Tom Dutton | Barrett Racing | McLaren M6B | Chevrolet | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | |||||||
| 18 | Herbert Müller | Müller Racing | Ferrari 512M | Ferrari | 10 | 1 | 11 | |||||||||
| 19= | Bob Bondurant | Motschenbacher Racing | McLaren M8E/D | Chevrolet | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 19= | Mario Andretti |  SpA Ferrari SEFAC | Ferrari 712M | Ferrari | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 19= | Brian Redman | Sid Taylor Racing | BRM P167 | Chevrolet | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 22 | Bobby Brown | Bob Brown Racing | McLaren M6B McLaren M8E | Chevrolet | 6 | 3 | 9 | |||||||||
| 23 | Roger McCaig | McCaig Racing | McLaren M8E | Chevrolet | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | ||||||||
| 24 | Dick Durant | Dick Durant | Lola T163 | Chevrolet | 1 | 6 | 7 | |||||||||
| 25 | Jim Adams | Earle-Cord Racing | Ferrari 512P | Ferrari | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||||||||
| 26 | Steve Matchett | A.G. Dean | Porsche 908/02 | Porsche | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||
| 27 | Andrea de Adamich | Autodelta SpA | Alfa Romeo T33/3 | Alfa Romeo | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 28 | Gary Wilson | Great Western Champagne | McLaren M12 | Chevrolet | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 29 | George Drolsom | Warren Burmester | McLaren M8C | Chevrolet | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 30 | Charlie Kemp | Charlie Kemp | McLaren M8C | Chevrolet | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 31= | Gijs van Lennep | J.W. Automotive | Porsche 917K | Porsche | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 31= | George Follmer | Roy Woods Racing | McLaren M8D | Chevrolet | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 33= | Jim Butcher | Jim Butcher | Lola T163 | Chevrolet | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 33= | Bob Nagel | Bob Nagel Glen Racing Ltd. Dave Causey | Lola T222 McLaren M12 Lola T222 | Chevrolet | 1 | 1 |