The highly coveted letters of acceptance have been delivered to the final selection of entrants into this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The cars are among the world’s best and all carry on the 50-year standard of being period-correct and with proven race provenance.
The Golden Anniversary celebration of arguably the birth of historic racing events will be held August 14-17 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The selection took place after many weeks of evaluations by members of the seven-person, all-volunteer Advisory Council, along with support of the event’s sanctioning body, Historic SportsCar Racing.
The preliminary field consists of more than 400 accepted entries for the 13 race groups. This does not include the popular pre-1920 cars affectionately known as the Ragtime Racers. The provisional list by race group will be found on the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion tab at WeatherTechRaceway.com.
“The advisory council’s number 1 goal is to select the very best significant and authentic historic race cars, including their passionate owners who bring vast amounts of race experience to provide the fans with the greatest historic racing show in North America,” says Advisory Council Co-Chair Bruce Canepa. “This advisory group is the ‘Best of the Best’ and I’m honored to be a small part of this great event.”
The list of entries includes illustrious cars such as the Williams FW07B that Alan Jones drove to win his Formula One World Championship, three-time winner of the Sebring 12 Hours’ 2011 BMW M3 GT, the Ecurie Ecosse team 1955 Jaguar D-Type, and the dominate 1991 AAR/Toyota Eagle Mk III GTP that Juan Manuel Fangio II drove to win 14 of 23 races.
The spotlight will also shine on a thoughtfully curated Motul Golden Anniversary Display that will take visitors back in time to celebrate 50 years of historic racing in Monterey. Imagine historic race cars from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chaparral, BMW, Ford and a celebration of individuals Dan Gurney, Juan Manuel Fangio and Carroll Shelby among the features.
“Never before has such a display been assembled,” explained Barry Toepke, a 35-year veteran of the event and director of heritage events for WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. “Cars are coming from private collectors, automakers and museums for a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to this remarkable event founded by Steve Earle in 1974 and known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races.
“We are also welcoming back Marnix Dillenius, one of the drivers who raced in that inaugural event in his Alfa Romeo GTZ, and nearly every year since,” Toepke added. “Marnix has seen many changes over the years, including the lengthening of the track from its original 1.9 miles to its current 2.238-mile configuration. But one turn that hasn’t changed is the storied Corkscrew.”
Single and multi-day tickets are available, with kids 15 and under admitted free, and VIP ticket packages for inside the Legends Club or pit row suites are available in limited supply. Tickets, parking and camping are available by calling 831-242-8200 or online at WeatherTechRaceway.com.
