[h=2]Laguna Seca's first winning car to be featured at Rolex Reunion[/h] Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Pete Lovely drove a 500 Ferrari Testa Rossa to victory at the very first Laguna Seca event in 1957 – and now that same car is returning to the Monterey road course to be featured in this summer's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Aug. 17-20.




The race that started it all was an upset of sorts. With big-name drivers like Carroll Shelby, Richie Ginther, Fred Knoop, Jim Hall and John von Neumann in the field driving more powerful machines from the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Maserati and Porsche, few gave Lovely and his year-old 2-liter Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa much of a chance. And yet, Lovely's red Ferrari was at the dawn of a new motor racing era as the ceremonial ribbon was cut and the green flag waved for the first time to start a journey that racers and fans still enjoy today at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will celebrate Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca's 60th anniversary on Aug. 17-20 by featuring a number of racecars that have historical significance to the iconic road racing circuit. And one of the most important ones in the track's storied history is that spirited 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa that Lovely drove in November 1957 at the brand-new racetrack in Monterey. Now that same car returns as part of the Racing Through the Decades feature display.
The Ferrari, now part of a private collection, is powered by a 2498cc four-cylinder engine that produced 190 horsepower and is one of only 17 ever constructed. Its first driver was actually von Neumann, followed by Bruce Kessler, who drove this car in 11 races prior to its victory in Monterey.
But it was Lovely's win that catapulted the car, and track, onto the world racing stage. Lovely, who died in 2011 at the age of 85, continued to race the 500 TR in the Monterey Historic Automobile Races into the 2000s. In Lovely's own words, we reflect on that winning November day:
"I'll always remember that race because it was the first race run at Laguna Seca and because it attracted a who's who of West Coast sports car racing. I was fortunate enough to be able to come across the line in front of everyone else on the last lap, and I did it in a 2-liter car. That was a real thrill.
"Johnny von Neumann and myself were the main survivors after the first race was complete because Carroll Shelby, Jack McAfee and Richie Ginther had all dropped out with various mechanical problems. That left von Neumann and myself battling for the lead. Johnny had a new 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine in his Ferrari TRC and I had a plain old 500 Testa Rossa with a 2-liter engine.
"I could get up close to von Neumann, but I couldn't pass him because I didn't have enough power to get by. I devised a scheme by which I would very gradually fall back to where he couldn't see me in his mirror. I then turned on a couple of really hot laps and I got right on his tail when we reached Turn 9. When Johnny saw me there, he got flustered, missed a shift coming out of that turn and I passed him. The rest is history.
"That day was very exciting for us because we had no intention of having that little 2-liter car being an overall winner when Fred Armbruster and I bought it. That little Ferrari was a pretty amazing car. I liked the old Laguna Seca track because it took a lot of skill to hold your foot down around the old Turn 2. You had to be really on your toes or you would miss that corner. If you did that, it was certain disaster."
A maximum of 550 historic racecars have been accepted for entry in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion that will swell the paddock with rolling automotive history. Each car has been evaluated for its authenticity, race provenance, and documentation that it is period and mechanically correct from when it originally ran. From early pre-war cars to the ground-pounding IMSA Grand Tour Series Prototypes, the senses will be fully rewarded.
For more information or to view the full array of ticketing and hospitality packages, contact the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Ticket Office at 831-242-8200 or visit www.MazdaRaceway.com.

 

[h=2]Tin Tops take Lime Rock Park Historic Festival[/h] Tuesday, 27 June 2017








Tin Tops return to the Lime Rock Park Historic Festival, drawing a grid of pre-1970 sporting sedans for a second year of spirited competition. Volvo, Datsun, Lotus Cortina, Ford Cortina, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Morris Mini and MG will be among the marques taking to the track in pursuit of Historic Festival Chairman Murray Smith's "Tin Top Trophy."
The field will be especially tough this year with the entry of racing veteran "speedy" David Porter, who Smith predicts will be a "real threat in the tin top race." Porter will challenge the pack in his recently-acquired 1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1, which he debuted at Summit Point in May. "I have always driven open-top, purpose-built race cars since I started competing in 1981, and began to fancy a shot at a production-based racer with a roof," explains Porter. "Lotus Cortinas are iconic, having clinched victory with many famous drivers, including Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart."
Lime Rock Park is a favorite course for Porter, who has captured top three placements in past Historic Festival outings in his Lotus 69 Formula Ford and March 79B. In addition, he has garnered 10 racing championships since 1981, including a UK national Formula Ford Championship in 1987 and back-to-back Historic Indy Lights Championships in 2011 and 2012. Porter also won the Classic 12 Hour at Sebring in 2016.
Porter's Cortina was a road car until 2011, when London classic car dealer Howard Wise converted it to a FIA Appendix K. It was a consistent frontrunner in the hands of Steve Soper and John Young at both the Goodwood Revival and the Members' Meeting. The car has a highly-tuned Lotus Twin Cam engine producing 183 hp and 140 lbs of torque, and it revs to 8500.

Lime Rock Park Historic Festival 35 presented by the Prestige Family of Fine Cars brings three days of historic racing on September 1, 2 and 4; registration is open here. The September 3 Sunday in the Park Concours d'Elegance and Gathering of the Marques punctuates the annual Labor Day weekend event. Click here for further information.

 

1972 Shadow mark III Can-Am
UOP was the company making the lead additive for gasoline at one time.
When the unleaded gas regulations/thing came along, the company went away .

 

 

1970 Lola T222 Can Am car

 

1964 Shelby Cobra 289 United States Road Race Championship

 

1963 Shelby American LeMans 289 Team Shelby American

 

1982 March 82G Prototype

 

Lancia LC2 Group C Martini

 

1969 Camel GT SCCA Porsche Electric Banana