The Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival 2016 was held June 2-5 at Sonoma Raceway Sears Point in Sonoma, California. Beautiful weather greeted the 350 vintage and historic cars that competed in 13 groups on the 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course in Northern California’s wine country.
The 2016 Sonoma Historics was the second year of Sonoma Raceway’s partnership with the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) after the organization merged with Steve Earle’s General Racing. The ‘Gold Medallion’ invitational event salutes and rewards race cars prepared to the rules of the era in which they were originally raced. This year’s vintage race celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Can-Am and the Trans-Am Series, offering spectators a trip down memory lane through one of the most exciting eras in America’s racing heritage.
In addition to the booming Can-Am and Trans-Am racers, other notable entrants at the 2016 SVRA Sonoma event included Greg Whitten’s 1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3; Erickson Shirley’s 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3; Peter Greenfield’s 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35; Peter Giddings’ 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2600 Monza; Charles McCabe’s 1936 ERA R6B; Joe Harding’s 1939 Lagonda V12 Le Mans “Big Red”; Tom Price’s 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza Zagato and 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO; Cameron Healy’s 1970 Porsche 908/3; Chris MacAllister’s 1964 Ford GT40, 1955 Jaguar D-Type and 1964 Shelby 289 FIA Cobra; Dean Meiling’s 1954 Jaguar D-Type; Ranson Webster’s 1976 Porsche 935 K3; Stephen Thein’s 1967 Porsche 910; Henry Schmitt’s 1974 BMW 3.5 CSL and Jeff Abramson’s 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider. The Sonoma Historic Trophy for ‘Excellence in Presentation’ was awarded to Nathanael Green’s 1925 Bugatti Type 35 and Robert Engberg’s 1957 Elva Mark IIB.
—
Similar to 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, Sports Car Digest also documented the 2016 Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, with Senior Photographer Dennis Gray offering the following photos highlighting this year’s event. We split up Dennis’ pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, while the second gallery and race results can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all photographs.
Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival 2016 – Featured Photo Gallery
Lola T70 Mk1 Spider of David Jacobs
Alex MacAllister’s 1964 Ford GT40.
Rick Carlile’s 1969 TVR Vixen S2
Jim Gallucci’s 1970 Lola T163
Ed Swart’s 1971 Chevron B19
Ranson Webster’s 1976 Porsche 935 K3
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of any editorial or photographic content from SportsCarDigest.com without express and written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to SportsCarDigest.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
great pictures…picture no.180 is a GSM delta.Really neat cars.
Hey Dennis- You have done it once again……this years locations/technique worked out great.
Best, Steve
Great work Dennis, the images are outstanding and truly position the viewer to sense the action, especially the shot of John Delane leading in a battle of Lolas, McLarens and what happens sometimes. The “up front and personal” image of Cameron Healey’s 908 is excellent.
Magnificent pictures from a real pro. Just the sound of all these great vehicles is missing!
Some of the races I am unable to attend and with the super job Dennis does, it’s like I was there. Thanks Dennis.
Thanks Dennis. Re the 1969 TVR Vixen: I always knew my dad had a great car. He puts a lot into the racing sport. I’ll have a hard time getting him down out of the clouds now.
Sorry I missed this event but you made it inspiring to be there next year Dennis – cheers!