2009 Monterey Historic Automobile Races report and slideshow ...
Continuing our coverage of the very busy week building up to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, we now take a closer look at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races held at nearby Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This year's edition was the 36th and for the second time in the event's history, Porsche was the featured marque. This resulted in hundreds of Porsches filling the paddock and infield of the track. In addition to many 'run of the mill' 356s and 911s there were some very significant Porsches in attendance. Among them was the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans winning 917K, various Daytona and Sebring cars and also the 917K used by Steve McQueen in the legendary motion picture Le Mans.
Needless to say, Porsche was also very well represented on the track with many 917s, 935s and 962s battling it out in their respective races. Fortunately there was enough room left for spectacular racing cars from other manufacturers. These included the original Scarab, the ferocious Ferrari 335 S and the wailing Mazda RX-792P that had not seen in action since it was retired from contemporary racing at the end of 1992. Joining the classic racing cars on track were several of the sport's biggest legends; Sir Stirling Moss piloted a Lola Mk1 while Derek Bell and Gijs van Lennep (seven Le Mans wins between them) were out in 917Ks. Brumos Porsche was also well represented with endurance racing legend Hurley Haywood piloting their Porsche 917/10K and 935, both liveried in the familiar white with red-and-blue stripes.
For as much as the very busy schedule allowed, we were at Laguna Seca to shoot the hundreds of cars that competed in a total of fifteen races. Each of the fifteen groups is featured in our exclusive 200-shot slideshow, which serves to illustrate a brief report.
[URL=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/event/212/2009-Monterey-Historic-Automobile-Races.html]2009 Monterey Historic Automobile Races report and slideshow[/URL]
