The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will see more on-track action in 2010, as 19 race groups will hit the track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for four days of racing starting Thursday, August 12 and ending Sunday evening August 15. Additionally, the paddock space has been re-designed for greater efficiency to accommodate the increased number of race groups and participants.
“Starting Thursday, the sounds of historic race cars will fill the air here at the race track,” explained Gill Campbell, CEO/general manager for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “Our competitors and fans will be immersed in an unbelievable array of race and sports cars, motorsport legends and camaraderie.”
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion announced several entries for the event, including the 1964 Ian Walker Racing ‘Gold Bug’ Lotus 26R which Jimmy Clark drove along with the 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa that Phil Hill and Pete Lovely once raced. Besides numerous Eagles, Dan Gurney’s Cobra Daytona Coupe, which he raced in 1965 at Le Mans, will be competing as will Gurney’s 1960 Maserati Birdcage. It was this Camoradi Team car that Stirling Moss, Carroll Shelby and Gurney all won races in.
The 1960 Arciero Bros Inc. Lotus 19 with 27 starts and 10 wins with drivers Dan Gurney, Bobby Unser, Jim Clark and Phil Hill will be in the paddock along with a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda also driven by Dan Gurney. The 1974 Alfa Romeo FIA prototype which won the 1975 World Championship of Makes, a recently restored 1967 Porsche 910 raced by Hans Herrmann and Jo Siffert and a 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang raced by George Follmer will be amongst the many race cars racing during the weekend.
The 2010 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will honor one of the true legends of motorsports – Dan Gurney – the Cars He Built, the Cars He Drove. Fans will be treated to a feature display of Gurney Eagle Racing Cars: Formula 1, Indy Cars, IMSA GTP prototypes, Can-Am and Trans-Am machines.
This year’s featured races are Formula 1, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year; Trans-Am; and for the first time ever, Stock Cars (with drum brakes) that competed between 1959 and 1975. Additionally, there will be a dedicated grid of Bugatti race cars in the Bugatti Grand Prix, with entries coming from as far away as Australia, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races®, the event is now produced exclusively by SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula), a not-for-profit 501(C)4 corporation established in 1957.
For more information, visit www.Mazdaraceway.com or call 800-327-7322.
[Source: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca]
I bet Carroll Shelby will have a fit when he views the 2011 SPA Francorchamps Sixties Endurance race on U-Tube as one Griffith 400 competes with six or seven well prepared AC Cobras. The Griffith starts the race in fourth place. By the second lap it is in third place, and by the fourth lap the Griffith is in second place and passes the fastest of the Cobras, car 27, after that. Notice that car 27 has an after market hard top.
I really don’t know what years those Cobras were produced, but in 1965, I went to test a Cobra at Shelbys shop on Venice Blvd. in Los Angeles, and the Cobras had no tops from the factory. It was an open top roadster. Some members of the Shelby Mustang Club of Rancho Cordova, Ca. conveyed to me that the hardtop was added for high speed stability at Le Mans. So, that means that withour the hardtop the Griffith 400 is the King of the A Production cars in the Sixties bar none.
As I have said before, the silver Cobra and other without the after market hard top fall behind due to wind turbulence at high speeds. The Griffith 400 run in its original factory condition; therefore, if the fastest Cobras needed the Kamm effect of the after market hard top to reach higher speeds they should have run in a modified class and the TVR Griffith should have been the true and original champion. Take a look at the race: 2011 SPA Francorchamps, Sixties Endurance, on U-Tube. By the way, the race was held in June 23-25, 2011. and there will be another this month, Sept. 23-25, 2011. I’ll be cheering for Andrew “Jack” Griffiths Cobra Killer, his Griffith 400.
My best,
Chuck Pineda
Upon further Internet research based on sound data its to be noted that the Griffith 400 of Sean and Michael McInerney posted the fastest time of 2:50.835 at 147.595 Kilometers per hour. The winning Cobra of Hans Hugenholtz and David Hart posted 2;52.459 at 146.459. Data available on Internet through Bizarini at Francorchamps.
As noted in my prior note, without the after market hardtop the winning Cobra would have ended up with all the other Cobras without the after market hardtop, and lost to the Griffith 400.
Hopefully, the officials of the race will read our e-mail and figure out why the Cobras are allowed to use after market hardtops. Later Cobras used the after market hardtops for Le Mans, however, not in ’63-65. And I believe that the SPA is for cars 1965 and older. Does anyone know? Let me know.
In conclusion, there will be another race at the SPA, Francorchamps, on the 25-27,2011, and we will be rooting for the Shipmans and McInerneys Cobra killers, the Griffith 400s!
My best,
Chuck Pineda
Lord Protector of the Griffith 400s
In September 2011, the Griffith 400 of Sean and Michael McInerney defeated the winner of the SPA Francorchamp 2011 Six Hour Endurance race- the David Hart/ Hans Hugenholtz AC Cobra, the black one with the red orange stripe on the front fenders plus all the other entries which included the Cobra Army led by the Hans Hugenholtz/ David Hart extremely well prepared cobra plus the light weight Jaguars that won the Gentleman Drivers race at the September 2011 SPA Francorchamp race in Belgium at the Silverstone raceway in England.
Take a look at the race on U-tube: Silverstone 2011 Gentleman Drivers. Again, I wonder how the Cobras would do without the aftermaket hardtop?
Jaguar was the marque honored at Silverstone as there were about a thousand Jaguars on the track at intermission. Again, see the race and the Jaguars on U-tube.
In conclusion, it was nice to hear the people and clapped for the Griffith 400 of the McInerneys and to see the famous Shelby AC Cobra beaten in a race.
Our hats off to Michael and Sean McInerney for campaigning the TVR/Griffith 400 in Europe and Jon Shipman for his effort in running first in a field of Ford GT 40’s for a while at the GT 40 Six hour endurance race in his pea green Griffith 400 at the SPA 2011,September.