The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2015 was held August 13-16 at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California. The field of 550 vintage race cars were divided into 15 groups according to age and engine capacity and chosen for their period-correct presentation.
Formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races or Monterey Historics, the 2015 running of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Shelby GT350 Mustang. Tommy Steuer’s 1966 Shelby GT350 took home the checkers in the field of 38 Shelby GT350s raced on Saturday.
Zak Brown’s Lola T332, in the hands of Richard Dean, won Sunday’s Formula 5000 race at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion: when the last professional Formula 5000 race was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 40 years ago (October 12, 1975), it was won by Mario Andretti in the same car. The Lola T332 was awarded the President’s Cup, presented to the entrant whose car has the most historical significance to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Dean said, “This is an unbelievable car to drive, and I’m pleased that we qualified on pole position to keep up the history of this car with a win today.”
Californian Dick Deluna and his 1917 Hall-Scott The Four-A-7A was awarded the “Spirit of Monterey” prize, determined by an independent panel to honor the single driver who most “excelled in the spirit of the weekend.”
After receiving a specially engraved Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch, DeLuna said, “This 1917 Hall-Scott The Four-A-7A is just a hoot to drive and it’s a crowd pleaser. I love racing, and I love cars. For me the award is the epitome of appreciation from folks who value what I have been doing with cars.”
Rolex Awards of Excellence were awarded in each of the 15 race categories, going not necessarily to those who won but to those “most deserving.” The Rolex Awards gathering concluded with the announcement that Bavarian Motor Works, better known as BMW, will be honored on the occasion of its 100th anniversary as the special marque at next year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, scheduled for August 18-21, 2016.
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Similar to 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, Sports Car Digest also documented the 2015 Monterey Motorsports Reunion, with Senior Photographer Dennis Gray producing the following outstanding images from this year’s event. We split up Dennis’ pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery and race results can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs. To see more from Dennis, visit HistoricMotorPrints.com/.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery
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