HomeNews and EventsBritish vintage racing series heading to Laguna Seca

British vintage racing series heading to Laguna Seca

Our weekly roundup of car show and vintage racing news and notes

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British-based Masters Historic Racing is scheduled to return to North American May 15-16 when WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca hosts the inaugural Masters Speed Festival. The group recently made its across-the-pond debut during Sebring Sportscar Week in central Florida.

According to its website, Masters Historic Racing was founded in 2004 by Ron Maydon, who as an 11-year-old set off very early one morning to ride his bicycle from Aylesbury to Brands Hatch — a trip of nearly 100 miles — to watch an auto race. Maydon was stopped enroute by a policeman, who escorted the youngster back home.

But Maydon’s passion for motorsports was undaunted and he would own and race vintage cars, only to discover “that the facilities at events for drivers and how the historic racing events were managed, simply didn’t create an enjoyable experience for the drivers to indulge in their hobby with families and friends,” the website notes.

“If historic cars and their drivers were going to continue racing into the modern day, if fans were going to continue to enjoy these iconic cars racing on the world’s greatest circuits and not just stuck in a museum, something had to change.”  

Masters Historic Racing staged a single event in 2004 and since then has done more than 200 in 15 countries. 

The schedule for Laguna Seca includes the Masters Historic Formula One USA, Masters Endurance Legends USA, Masters Formula Atlantic Plus and a Vintage Sports Car Trophy race.

Masters Historic Racing also plans events for July 9-11 at Watkins Glen, New York; July 15-18 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin; and September 23-26 at the Sonoma Speed Festival in northern California, and it will participate in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in mid-August during Monterey Car Week.

Goodwood plans Penske showcase

Roger Penske
Roger Penske | Goodwood photo

Goodwood’s Festival of Speed will feature “The Maestros — Motorsport’s Great All-Rounders,” but the folks being so honored aren’t just those who have excelled while driving a variety of vehicles. Also being celebrated is Roger Penske, whose teams have excelled on both sides of the Atlantic, Goodwood nots,?  in Formula 1, Indy cars, NASCAR and sports cars. 

Penske also raced in sports cars (competing against Jim Clark in the 1963 RAC TT at Goodwood), F1 and NASCAR before leaving the cockpit in 1966 to launch one of the most successful teams in motorsports history.

Goodwood announced that Penske will be back behind the wheel during the Festival to drive up the hill in the Porsche RS Spyder that won at Sebring in 2008.

An array of Penske team cars will be featured on the Cricket Pitch with a special tribute to the new owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway planned for the final day of the Festival.

This will be the second year in a row with a Penske tribute at a major collector car event. In 2020, he was the honoree at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

Pebble Beach plots 2021 return

After a pandemic-forced hiatus in 2020, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance returns in mid-August 2021 with plans for its full array of events, including the Tour d’Elegance, a Gooding & Company collector car auction, the Classic Car Forum and RetroAuto, concours officials have announced.

The RetroAuto shops and the Classic Car Forum, a series of conversations with automotive leaders, will be relocated this year to the Concours Village at Pebble Beach (they formerly were held at the Inn at Spanish Bay). The Forum runs August 12-14 and RetroAuto runs August 12-15. 

The Pebble Beach Tour, in which cars from the concours tour the Monterey Peninsula, is scheduled for August 12 and the Gooding auction is set for August 13-14. 

As for the concours on August 15, a major highlight will be a reunion of about half of the vehicles that have won Best of Show honors since the event started in 1950.  The concours also will present a special Lamborghini Countach class for the first time as part of the 50th anniversary of the landmark super car.  

“These cars have played a distinct role in reshaping the modern automobile, changing our eye for style, and shifting automotive desires,” noted concours chairman Sandra Button.

Oregon festival returns

Oregon Festival of Speed returns this year | Festival photo

Like so many other events, the 25th annual Oregon Festival of Cars was canceled for 2020, but organizers have announced dates for their 2021 return, September 17-19 at the Deschutes Historical Museum in Bend.

For those living west of the Cascades range, the weekend begins Friday with a driving tour from Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo to Bend. For more information, visit the event website.

London Concours sets featured classes

Scheduled for June 8-10 at the Honourable Artillery Company headquarters, the London Concours will offer several featured classes: the 200 MPH Club, Italian Berlinettas, Great Marques — Lotus, Great Marques — Porsche, Lost Marques, Kustom Class, Young Timers, E-type Celebration, Iconic British Designs, the Collector, as well as bringing back the Ferrari 330 GTS that was Best in Show in 2020.

GTP Jaguars back on track at 43rd Mitty

Jaguar XJRT-16 GTP
Jaguar XJRT-16 GTP | Historic Sportscar Racing photos

The 43rd Historic Sportscar Racing Mitty, scheduled for April 21-25 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, will feature a pair of Jaguar XJRT-16 GTP racers that 30 years ago won the IMSA Camel GT race at the track.

It was in 1991 that Davy Jones put a twin-turbocharged V6-powered Tom Walkinshaw Racing XJR-16 on the pole and won the race with only Chip Robinson in a Nissan NPT-91 also on the same lap when the checkered flag flew. Raul Boesel finished third in another TWR car that a month after the race was upgraded to XJR-16 fitment.

The Jaguars now are owned, raced and entered at the Mitty, a heralded vintage racing event, by Ross Motorsports.

Lotus 23b

“This will be my weekend in them,” Scott Ross is quoted in the announcement. Ross acquired the cars a year ago from British racer Richard Eyre. “The 1991 Road Atlanta winner is chassis No. 191 and went on to win three more races. The XJR-16 we will be racing is chassis No. 291 that was driven by both Boesel and Martin Brundle in 1991.”

Ross also will be racing a Lotus 23b, a former Dutch championship-winning car, at Road Atlanta.

2021 car show and concours calendar

The following are dates currently set (but subject to change) for a variety of concours d’elegance, car shows and driving tours scheduled during 2021:

April

21-25 – Spring Carlisle, Pennsylvania; 23-25 – Goodguys North Carolina Nationals, Raleigh; Derbuy GT tour, Belgium; 24 — Carolina Cruise, Kannapolis to Concord, North Carolina; 25 – Simply Aston Martin, Beaulieu, UK; 30-May 1, Darryl Starbirds National Rod & Custom Show, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

May

1 – Big Displacement Showcase, Seal Cove, Maine; McPherson College CARS Club, Kansas; 1-2 – Keels & Wheels, Seabrook, Texas; Boulder City Rod Run, Nevada; 9 – Mother’s Day, KC Auto Museum, Olathe; Simply Vauxhall, Beaulieu, UK; 14-15 – Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals, Pennsylvania; 14-16 – Houston Art Car Experience, Texas; 15 – Vintage Travel Trailer Rally, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 15-16, Goodwood Members’ Meeting, UK: 16 – Simply Audi, Beaulieu, UK; 20-23 – Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Amelia Island, Florida; AACA Founders Tour, Davis, West Virginia; 21-23 – Goodguys Salt Lake Nationals, Utah; 23 – Simply Electric, Beaulieu, UK; 28-30 – Goodguys Nashville Nationals, Tennessee

June

2 – GM on Display, Macungie, Pennsylvania; 2-6, Retromobile, Paris, France, AACA Eastern Divisional Tour, Cambridge, Maryland; 4-6 – Carlisle Ford Nationals, Pennsylvania; Street Machine Nationals, DuQuoin, Illinois; 

Goodguys All Star Get-Together, Fort Worth, Texas; 5-6, Friends of Steve McQueen, Chino Hills, California; 6, Albuquerque Lowrider Super Show, New Mexico, Simply Porsche, Beaulieu, UK; 8-10 – London Concours, UK; 12 – Drop Top Showcase, Seal Cove, Maine; Oddballs & Obscurities, KC Auto Museum, Olathe; 12-13 – Cincinnati concours, Ohio; E-type 60 years, Shelsley Walsh, UK; 13 – Fabulous Ford Forever, Irwindale, California; Mini Cooper Day, Beaulieu, UK; 17-19, AACA Eastern Spring Nationals, Saratoga, New York; Simply VW, Beaulieu, UK; 18-19 – Micro-Mini Car World, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 19 – All Air-Cooled Gathering, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 20 – Father’s Day, KC Auto Museum, Olathe; Blackhawk Museum, Danville, California; Hot Rod & Custom cars, Beaulieu, UK; 25-26 – Carlisle GM Nationals, Pennsylvania; 25-26 – Congress of Motorcars, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 26 – Miles through Time, Clarkesville, Georgia; 27 – Oldsmobiles & Orphans, Hickory Corners, Michigan; Simply Jaguar, Beaulieu, UK

Have an event to add? Email details to [email protected].

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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