I’m glad someone else has followed The Goodwood Revival’s marvelous example of livestreaming and archiving contemporary vintage races. I can think of no better example of an event to do so than the 2016 Monterey Motorsports Reunion. I didn’t learn that the event was being streamed until the Monday after. Thankfully the archive is already up and running and ready for you to start your week. Throw on your headphones and be ready to quickly switch to a spreadsheet when your boss walks by.
Category: Event
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Robert Ristuccia's Lime Rock Historics
With an amazing array of classic Mercedes Benz GP Cars brought up by the Revs Institute it was already going to be a fantastic weekend. Having Jochen Mass on hand to pilot the W-154 doesn’t hurt either.
Nestled in the Berkshires, Lime Rock has beautiful views from practically any vantage point on the track. Which is good because in addition to an all-around magnificent field, Lime Rock seems to draw an absolutely astounding Pre-War group. It seems that New England has as many Bugattis and pre-war American racing specials on the track as most tracks have 911s or MGs. They draw what is probably the country’s best Pre-War group—and they do it year after year… and that’s just one of the remarkable groups of racers that flock to the weekend to close out every summer.
Friend of the Chicane Robert Ristuccia was in the stands and walking to pits and captured a glorious series of shots of the action.
More of Robert’s vibrant photos of the event (and a bunch of other vintage weekends) at his site: Part 1 and Part 2.
This image of all 6 Cobra Daytona Coupes that Goodwood tweeted today is indescribable. So instead of reading anything I would write about how amazing it is, just scroll up and look at it some more.
The Revival is live streaming again this year—Hooray! I’ll update links as live video streams go down and archives go up. I love what Goodwood’s media team is doing with these events. I hope more of the big vintage weekends at other venues follow suit.
Whew! I thought Monday’s ride and rally around town brought out some great cars… and it did. But last night’s party had a parking lot full of amazing Porsches of all vintages. The 918 and Singer from the previous day were there, but joined by an astounding collection of Porsches ranging from a 959 to a gorgeous 914-6 and no less than three 4-cam powered machines: a 356 Carrera, an RS60, and a ’58 Speedster.
The party and ribbon cutting happening inside, though, was no less impressive (ok. maybe a little less impressive than an RS60 with Sebring history). There were signature cocktails of course, and never-ending spreads of wonderful food, and a cigar roller, and the most spotless service area I’ve ever seen, and Magnus Walker working the crowd and signing posters, and a custom microbrew created just for the event. It all added up to a wonderful evening. Congratulations to the organizers.
Porsche Minneapolis was kind enough to loan me a 911 for the day. I think I’ll always prefer the vintage air-cooled variants of the 911, but you can still readily feel the legacy of Porsche’s motorsport heritage in the 991. Somehow despite all the revolutionary changes in every manner of engineering that goes into the modern 911, it still feels like a 911. A little quieter perhaps; a little more comfortable; a little less likely to spin on your when you’re decelerating in a curve—but it still retains enough of the 911 spirit that I can still imagine myself gritting my teeth through a turn on the Nordschleife or Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie in a stripped down 911R or RSR. I have personally been debating between a contemporary Cayman or SC-era 911 for my next car… after a day spent with modern Porsches, I think the only real solution is to get both… and maybe a few more for good measure.
Porsche Minneapolis celebrated the opening of their new facility in grand style today with a fantastic drive among several of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes that was intended to be led by Magnus Walker. After a rocky start to the day, the spirits and weather both turned for the warmer just in time for a wonderful blue-sky drive through the parks, farmland, and countryside of central Minnesota.
That Singer is truly exceptional. Even the casual Porsche aficionados amongst the hundred or so attendees were entranced by it. There are no shortage of gorgeously lit and professionally shot detail photos of the Singer cars, but standing right in front of it I couldn’t help but crouch down and get close to see the very smallest of little touches that make this very very expensive car start to feel worth the price. Things like the custom boot latches and hinges; the perfectly manicured engine compartment; the subtle steering wheel-mounted bluetooth controls that allow for modern phone integration without a garish contemporary stereo head unit (who designs those atrocities?). It all adds up to a simply arrestingly beautiful car.
While I am sorry that I couldn’t get to see Magnus’ equally beautiful (but on the opposite end of the customization spectrum) 277 car join us on the drive, he’s still confident that the car will be back on the road in time for next month’s Rennsport Reunion. It’s an ambitious goal, but I wouldn’t want to doubt his resolve.
Amongst a sea of exquisite Porsches was one particular car that caught my eye. It’s a fairly nondescript example of an Irish Green 911T—exactly the kind of car you would expect to see any number of littering the parking lot at any Cars and Coffee. It was the receipt in the window, however, that made the car truly special for the event. Not only is this an amazingly preserved car with original paint and windscreen, this car was bought new in 1970 at Carousel Porsche Audi in Excelsior, Minnesota—The very Porsche dealer we were celebrating today. What a precious connection between the past and future of Porsche’s dealership network in the Upper Midwest.
A grand opening party is on the schedule for Tuesday—I’m looking forward to it. More information at Porsche Minneapolis.
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When Safety Equipment Does its Job
Make no mistake about it, this crash at the VSCDA event at Grattan is very, very scary. One second, your picking your turn in spot and getting ready for your turn. The next, your helmet is millimeters off the tarmac. In many ways, however, this series of photos shot by Mark Whitney (played in quick succession here) represents the best case scenario in on-track incidents. Despite the very real danger here, the driver was able to walk away.
Stand up and walk out to your garage to make sure your rollbar is the right height above your helmet. It’s the difference between the roll bar doing it’s job and your helmet dragging across the pavement and pushing your helmet into a series of neck injuries or worse. I know that the temptation to preserve every period-appropriate bit on your car is very real, but make sure you too will walk away from crashes like this. Get a HANS. Check your rollbar. Build it safe.
Thanks for letting us share these Mark. This decidedly less glamorous end of the vintage racing world is where lives can be saved.
See these photos individually in greater detail at Mark Whitney’s Facebook album and join the conversation on the VSCDA Facebook page.
Here’s a smattering of videos that the (remarkable) media team at Goodwood have put together to mark the close of this year’s Revival event. I still don’t know how all those cars that spun in the TT race managed to avoid each other.
It’s not quite being there, but I give huge accolades to Goodwood for allowing us to watch the action remotely.
It’s official. As they did last year, and for this year’s Festival of Speed, The Goodwood team will be livestreaming the Revival festivities this weekend. What a tremendous joy for those of us not making the trek to the track.
Hopefully, they’ll archive the feeds for later viewing as well so we don’t have to rise before the sun here in the States. An embeded feed should be available here on The Chicane as we approach the weekend. Stay tuned.
Here’s a round of auctioneering you don’t often see. Watch the bidding floor as Porsche SA purchases Kyalami for R205Million.
Thanks, Porsche for keeping Kyalami out of our Lost Tracks series.