Looking Back While Racing Ahead

According to David Love (San Rafael, Calif.), no matter how many times he comes to the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races and thinks he has seen it all, he discovers another significant vintage race car he has never seen before. “It is an event you might imitate but you could not duplicate,” said Love, a 74-year-old veteran of automobile racing who is driving here this weekend. In fact, Love has driven his 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa in each of the 36 runnings of the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, which have been held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for as many years.

“Of course, things have changed quite a lot from the first event (1973) organized by Steve Earle (of General Racing),” said Love. “Back then we may have had 80 cars or so, but today Steve must be turning away four or so cars for every one he accepts, and they are coming from all over the world. (This year, 450 entrants were accepted.)

Love reminisced that back in 1967 a half-dozen of his friends gathered with their old sports cars to have what they called a mechanical picnic. “It was so much fun we decided we would do it again the following year,” said Love. “For that event we rented a local track for $100 and divided the cost between us. Steve Earle heard about it, came out with his GTO to see what we were up to, and that’s how we met.”

It didn’t take long for Earle to envision a proper road race to coordinate with the timing of the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance, but he knew it would not be allowed on the public streets and chose the Raceway Laguna Seca as the ideal venue. Today, both the event and Earle are credited with making historic automobile racing what it is in the U.S. today.

And what it’s all about is passion.

“Some of the people who have this obsession started in a methodical and sensible way, and those are the drivers who really do well in the sport,” said Love, noting he is lucky to have kept his Testa Rossa “the way it is supposed to be” for 45 years. “They would begin with a driver’s school and afterward, perhaps, continue with a smaller SCCA class until they are comfortable racing, and then find the car of their dreams. Also important is to find conscientious and competent people to work on the cars. In tennis if you make a mistake you might sprain your ankle, but in some of these cars if you make a mistake you could get killed.”

In today’s race, while negotiating the notorious Corkscrew, Love missed his breaking points and hit the tire wall but was unhurt.

Still, his passion is wholly intact. “These cars have had such a major influence on my life and I am convinced if I had never raced I would be a completely different person.possibly a bit boring,” said Love.

Porsche Race Car Parade: In Honor of Bob Carlson and Bob Snodgrass

The Featured Marque at this year’s Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races is Porsche, and it is fitting that two people so connected with the legacy of Porsche – the late Bob Carlson and Bob Snodgrass — were honored today in a Porsche Race Car Parade. Carlson was the PR Director for Porsche North America for many years, while Snodgrass was a principal in Brumos Porsche.

As the Porsche race cars lined up on the front straight at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, David Donahue and Hurley Haywood took the front row in Brumos Porsches. (Donohue won the 2009 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in a Brumos Porsche and hopes to repeat the victory next year; Haywood, a Le Mans winner, is a Brumos teammate.) A third car, the Porsche 962 once driven by the late Bob Akin and handled today by Kees Nierop, joined them on the front row. For Porsche devotees, this was a touching moment; the sight of these three cars clearly brought back moments of triumph and brilliance.

Behind the trio were dozens of Porsches of every vintage, neatly lined up and waiting for the signal to set out and pay tribute to those who gave so much to the sport. As Haywood and Donohue completed their first lap, they were side-by-side in a Brumos salute to Snodgrass.

“It’s some of the personal stuff that means more than anything else at this time,” said Donohue, who was close to Snodgrass and, as a celebrity driver here, was honored by Rolex at a special dinner last evening after a full day of signing autographs.

When asked what he made of all the old cars here, Donohue, whose late father Mark Donohue is a racing legend, said: “For me, growing up with my Dad in his era, I have kind of an emotional attachment with a lot of these cars. And now to be able to get into a couple of them and have people know who I am — even though I am not to the scale of Hurley Haywood, Vic Elford or Derek Bell or so many of these other guys here – it’s great to be in their company”

Haywood had his own personal take on the sentiment. “It’s really wonderful to be in a position to look out on the paddock area and see some of the very cars I have raced in my career, which spans over forty years. And when I walk over to one of those cars it brings back wonderful memories. It makes me realize I have been doing this for such a long time and the cars bring flashbacks in time, but it seems like it was just yesterday when I was doing it.”

Haywood added that he had the opportunity yesterday to drive an early Porsche Formula 2 car. “It was a wonderful way of looking at a span from that car to the current Porsche prototypes and the technology that has gone on with the different formats that Porsche has developed — from formula cars to closed wheel cars, sports cars to prototypes, ” said Haywood. “And with each and every venture they have tried, they have done it superbly and have managed to put cars in each of those categories in Victory lane.”

Racing for eight of 15 groups took place today, while special introductions for two new cars – the Devon GTX and the Fisker Plug-in Hybrid — rounded out the action. Spectators may have noticed Jay Leno walking the paddock area, and those in the know caught actor and accomplished driver Patrick Dempsey taking to the raceway in his 1992 Mazda RX792P. After wrapping up filming on his latest project, the actor drove to Monterey, arriving in the wee hours of the morning and registered last-minute.

“I had a blast, these cars are phenomenal,” said Dempsey, who finished fourth in his group. “This is the fastest car I have ever driven and it was exciting. I really appreciate the support from Mazda, as always, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to go racing.especially with the Grand Am and the experience I am getting there, I’m getting faster and faster, and one of these days I am going to win one.”

As for the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, Dempsey said, “It’s very moving when you see the cars that went out before us. You step back in time and you honor the drivers who have done this before as well as the designers and manufacturers. When you see them here collectively racing, its absolutely wonderful for the sport.”

For more information on the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, visit www.montereyhistoric.com.

An Intriguing Array of People and Cars

At the 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, every fabulous car making its way around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has an intriguing character behind its wheel or responsible for its restoration. That fact couldn’t have been more evident today as participants – making last-minute preparations and practicing for tomorrow’s and Sunday’s races — mingled with spectators in paddock areas that bustled with activity and the sweet cacophony of revving engines.

“We all have our own favorite years and cars,” said spectator Dave Kuhns (Sacramento, Calif.), after collecting autographs from the iconic likes of David Donohue, Vic Elford, John Horsman and Brian edman, “but we really just enjoy it all.” Like Kuhns, many fans return yearly to Monterey during this week to enjoy the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races and a slew of other events that comprise Monterey Peninsula’s Classic Car Week.

Racer/Traveler: Rusty French

Participants, too, feel a need to return after getting “hooked” on the event, and none have more logistically extravagant travel plans than Rusty French, who packs up two 935 Porsches, plus all the gear and spares needed for a weekend of racing, into a container and travels with his family from Mt. Eliza, Victoria, Australia for three weeks of holiday. The container in which his cars and gear are shipped serves double duty as a tricked-out race trailer, custom awning and all.

“I credit Rolex for their support and for making it possible for the purist racer to have an opportunity to race among the kind of machines that are here at the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races,” said French, who won his class last year. “It’s also a lovely time to be here, since back home in Australia it is winter.”

Before he began vintage auto racing, Rusty had a very impressive professional career which included 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1984, where he finished ninth in a 956 Porsche, and the Bathurst 1000 in Australia the same year, where he finished fifth co-driving with Manfred Winkelhock.

A Nod to Bruce Jennings

Bruce Jennings was best known for his many races at Sebring and for having raced in every model of Porsche over those years. He was a gentleman and a great ambassador of the sport. Two gentlemen racing here at the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races are keeping Bruce Jennings’ motorsports legacy alive by entering two of his former race cars.

Robert Newman (New York, N.Y.) will drive his 1969 Porsche 911 LWB and Tom O’Callaghan (Auburn, Calif.) will drive his 1968 Porsche 911S; both cars sport the same beautiful orange color scheme that identified them when raced by Jennings.

Before his death in 1997, Jennings either sold or gave away his race cars, along with the spare parts, to his close friends, resulting in the eventual sales of these cars to the present owners.

Newcomer Christian Zugel

First-time participant Christian Zugel (Holmdel, N.J.), has entered two Porsche 917s, the more famous of which is chassis #21, which raced at Le Mans in 1970. “The other one we recently acquired from a museum in Germany,” said Zugel, “and we have also brought two 962 Porsches of which one is in the Coke livery as raced by Bob Akin. (Bob’s son Bobby Akin plans to race the car here this weekend in honor of his father.)

“It’s a phenomenal facility and Monterey almost looks like Tuscany, Italy,” said Zugel, who raced with the Porsche Club of Germany, where he grew up, before joining the Porsche Club of America about six years ago.  “It’s so much fun: the people are wonderful, with many different drivers and so many different backgrounds. I’m psyched.”

Bobby Akin: In Memory of his Father

For participant Bobby Akin, this event has special significance because 34 years ago, when he was just a boy, his family loaded his famous father’s Lotus Eleven on an open trailer, and the whole family drove cross-country to attend the second Monterey Historic Automobile Races.

“My father had a fierce duel with Chris Cord but finished an incredibly close second to Chris’ Birdcage Maserati,” recalled Akin. “My father was very upset that he did not win that race, so he decided to buy the fastest car in that class for the following year. That is when he bought the Cooper Monaco, which so many people now think of when they think of my Dad. He was determined to beat that Birdcage Maserati, and he did the next year.”

Akin also has a strong connection with Steve Earle, the originator and producer of the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, since Earle and Akin’s father raced together in the 1970s at Daytona and Sebring.

“I had to make a decision in the early 90s, while I was a part of the new television channel now known as SPEED,” said Akin, who is Vice President of SPEED Integrated Marketing. “It would be either racing or television, and I obviously chose the latter. However, I really do love to race at any and all opportunities.”

Akin sees his colleagues on-site, since SPEED is televising the event as it has for over 15 years. The premier airing of SPEED Channel’s one-hour special on the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races is scheduled for Friday, October 16 at 8 p.m.

For more information on the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, visit www.montereyhistoric.com.

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