Laguna Seca, 14-16 August 2009
Let's start with a moan and get it out of the way, as once again it
was a great event, but, if one is granted media accreditation then
one expects just that. There were numerous disgruntled scribes
and photographers, many of whom had travelled from Europe at
considerable expense (Monterey is also not the cheapest place
to stay during the historic week), and who had been attending for
a number of years, who felt let down, even cheated, by the media
accreditation procedure. If the media pass that you were issued
with didn't have a yellow band, then, despite the pass stating
“media” you weren't allowed access to the media room! Basically,
it just amounted to a free ticket. As if that wasn't bad enough,
even if you were fortunate enough to be issued with a ”yellow
band” pass it didn't guarantee you a photo vest, an essential for
any photographer to carry out their work properly. This may sound
petty to those who have to buy their tickets, but it is the
journalist's work that publicises the event, and hopefully captures
the public's interest and imagination, which in turn makes the
popularity, and thus longevity, of any event a success. That said,
after a fraught time securing a photo vest, everything worked
smoothly, including the welcome media shuttle bus, it's a long
haul by foot up the hill to The Corkscrew!
The 36th running of the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile
Races this year celebrated Porsche, and of the 450 race
entrants, 145 were the representing the marque from Stuttgart.
They ranged from a 1949 356 SL model, through 550 Spyders,
RS and RSKs, various 356 and 911 variants, 904s, 906s, 908s,
910s, 917s, 935s and 956s to 962s, virtually the whole Porsche
racing stable, they made an impressive sight. Added to this the
new Porsche Museum had loaned a quartet of special cars for
display, a 1960 Type 718 F2 car, a 1962 Type 804 F1 car, a 1962
Type 718 W-RS Spyder and a 1998 GT1 model, of the type that
finished 1-2 at Le Mans that year. To celebrate the 40th
anniversary of the iconic 917 model, there were four examples
racing in grid 7A, the penultimate race on Saturday afternoon,
along with a host of 906, 908 and 910 models, a Porsche fans
dream!
Non Porsches notable in grid 6A were a quartet of pontoon-fender
Ferrari 250 Testa Rossas, plus a 335 Sport model from the same
stable, but it was not a good race for them, as Jon Shirley spun
his example down the Corkscrew in the middle of the pack on the
first lap, amazingly everybody avoided him and he avoided the
wall, to continue unscathed. The same could not be said for David
Love's example on the following lap, when he appeared to arrive
too quickly, couldn't make the turn before reaching the run-off
area, then bounced the right side down the tyre wall inflicting
cosmetic injuries to the beautiful pontoon fender body, although
fortunately he emerged unscathed from the incident. It is worth
noting that he has raced this car in all thirty six runnings of the
event, quite an achievement.
It wasn't only the cars that attracted vast crowds to the circuit,
but legendary names like Jurgen Barth, Derek Bell, Vic Elford,
Hurley Haywood and Brian Redman, all of whom had great
success in Porsches, and not forgetting the spritely Sir Stirling
Moss as he approaches his 80th birthday.
Race Results
Grid 1A
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