Monterey Motorsports Reunion: Difference between revisions
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Because of the high value of many of the cars used, the Historics have established the odd rule of taking you out of the race if you have contact with other cars or drive off the track. Also, the regulation on what class you are in is very loose and drivers will often be moved to a class that would normally not have such a car. This is often due to the car being slower or faster regardless of their displacement or year. |
Because of the high value of many of the cars used, the Historics have established the odd rule of taking you out of the race if you have contact with other cars or drive off the track. Also, the regulation on what class you are in is very loose and drivers will often be moved to a class that would normally not have such a car. This is often due to the car being slower or faster regardless of their displacement or year. |
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==Differences from sister races== |
==Differences from sister races== |
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Revision as of 02:25, 17 September 2007
The Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota (or simply Monterey Historics) is an annual event held at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. Its purpose is to provide an event for historic race cars to compete in. It takes place over the course of one weekend every August and will be taking place on August 17-19 this year. It was first established in 1974 as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, but eventually acquired a sponsorship from Rolex and later Toyota. The Monterey Historics is considered one of the top historic automobile racing events. A few years ago Speed Channel began broadcasting highlights of the previous races. Though many participants are locals, some celebrities do participate. Vic Edelbrock, Jr. and family are regulars. Various professional road racers have also participated. Carroll Shelby and Stirling Moss have also competed. Professional sports car racers such as Max Angelelli have competed as well. The event is affiliated with the smaller Wine Country Classic held at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California, the Coronado Speed Festival held in Coronado, California, and the Lime Rock Vintage festival held at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. The event celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1999. For awhile the event also featured marque-specific races, beginning with the Bugatti Grand Prix a few years ago. The first one was odd as Bugatti has not been the featured marque since 1977. Since then, if there is a marque-specific race, it features the featured marque.
Amateur Status
Because it is an amateur race, guests are allowed to visit the paddock and view all the cars before the races begin. The only money given is prize money given to the winners. The only reward the drivers receive is a trophy and prize money.
Races
Many different types of races are featured.
- Prewar sports and racing cars
- Forties to fifties production cars (often divided at certain years)
- Fifties to sixties production cars (often divided at certain years)
- Fifties to sixties sports racing cars (often divided at certain years)
- Historic Trans-Am cars (five liter class only)
- Historic Can Am cars
- Fifties and sixties Formula cars (often Formula 2, Formula Jr, etc)
- Seventies and eighties Formula One cars
- Historic IMSA and FIA cars
In addition, some races are divided by displacement. The most common are the classes that mostly feature cars with more than two or 2.5 liters and those that feature less than two to 2.5 liters. On occasion, marque-specific races will be used.
Featured Marques
In 1975 Alfa Romeo became the first featured marque of the event, and it has continued ever since. It was also the first Italian marque.
1979- Bentley
1980- Morris Garages
1981- Cunningham (first American, also the first specialty marque).
1982- Porsche
1983- Ford (first standard American)
1984- Ferrari
1985- Alfa Romeo (first repeat and first Italian repeat)
1986- Mercedes (first German repeat)
1987- Chevrolet
1988- Maserati
1989- Aston Martin
1990- Allard (first discontinued marque and first discontinued European)
1991- Fangio (cars of historic racer Juan Manuel Fangio, first tribute to a person rather than a marque)
1992- Jaguar (first British repeat)
1993- Miller
1994- Ferrari
1995- Lotus
1996- BMW
1997- Shelby
1998- Porsche
1999- Auto Union
2000- Maserati
2001- Bentley
2002- Corvette (first tribute to a specific car rather than its marque)
2003- Ford (first American repeat)
2004- Ferrari (first marque to be featured for a third time)
2005- Chaparral (historic Chaparral race cars)
2006- Cooper
2007- Indy Roadsters- first tribute to nonspecific race cars
Rules
Because of the high value of many of the cars used, the Historics have established the odd rule of taking you out of the race if you have contact with other cars or drive off the track. Also, the regulation on what class you are in is very loose and drivers will often be moved to a class that would normally not have such a car. This is often due to the car being slower or faster regardless of their displacement or year.
Differences from sister races
The Monterey Historics differ from Coronado in that the Monterey Trans Am race has no two liter class while the Coronado race does (although an Alfa Romeo GTV did participate once). It differs from the Wine Country Classic in that the Wine Country classic is one day rather than two days like Monterey, and the Wine Country Classic has featured historic Grand National cars.
External Links
- Monterey Historical Automobile Races A personal visit over the years with photographs