2013 Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival & Mini LCP Reunion

The Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival was amazing and the best part was getting to see a whole pile of La Carrera friends.  Nothing but smiles and laughter the whole weekend!  And there nothing like California wine country, it is so beautiful.  Also met some fabulous new friends and spent Saturday with my cousins and Sunday with a dear old friend/former coworker. 

The Carrera folks I saw included Michael Emery, Luca Maciucescu, Rich Morrison, Martin Lauber and his mechanic Eric, Chip Fudge, and Joe Harding.  On Sunday I finally read the race program and was stoked to see that Martin McGlone was racing.  I ran all over that place three times looking for him until I learned he had blown his Bugatti engine at Mille a few weeks prior and didn't make this race.  Sorry to miss you, Martin!  Also had a near miss as Brad and Erin Kaplan are road tripping in their 1929 Ford Pickup and I just missed them by a day but Lauren Scheller sent a photo of them visiting Carson's NorCal ranch.  See photos of everyone below.

I went there to watch and crew for Luca Maciucescu, which was funny because all I did was hold the throttle down for about 2 minutes while he made carb adjustments.  :)  It was more than a little different than crewing at Carrera.

Luca races a 1957 Cooper T43 which has quite a racing pedigree and still has its original patina - an amazing and beautiful car!  I don't know much about pre-1950 cars so this was a great weekend to learn new things.  And to see these original cars race was absolutely fantastic! 

No replicas, clones or kit cars here - these were all the real deal!  The festival also included a 60th anniversary celebration of the Corvette.

But first I had to stop in downtown San Fran and visit Michael Emery, who I met in Veracruz in 2006 when we were both LCP rookies.  He couldn't make the race this weekend so we met at a coffee shop where Hemingway used to hang out - what a great neighborhood Michael lives in!  So great to see him and tell and re-tell LCP stories.  On the way to his house he directed me on the Steve McQueen Bullitt route and I swear I didn't catch air in my rental Mustang....

Here I come Bullitt!

Catching air (just kidding)!

Viva Lucha Libre Racing con mi amigo, Michael Emery!

Now heading north through Marin County towards Sonoma.

And now on to the races!

Luca lining up for practice on Friday afternoon.

The specs and racing history for Luca's Cooper.

Hard to tell from this pic but his inside tire is off the ground.

Having some fun Friday night in Sonoma....

I'm sure Jim would have let me drive his gorgeous Jag if I had only asked...

Dancing to a fun reggae band at Steiner's and I ended up randomly knowing the bass player.



Saturday - Qualifying Races began:

The legendary race car version of my car - love it!

Eric from Martin Lauber's LCP crew.  How lucky is he to work on these amazing Corvettes!



Eric and Martin - all smiles!



Chip Fudge's Bozzerinni.



Hello Chip Fudge!  He was racing his Bozzerinni and a Lister. 

LCP folks everywhere - Luca meeting Martin Lauber and another driver.

Eric who crews Martin at the LCP, gave us a tour of their on-site shop where Mexico's Fastest Taxi ("El Taxi Perdido") is being worked on.  I have always loved this car!

More Corvette mania for me.

LCP veteran Rich Morrison, Kristin and Jim Alder telling stories.

Cousin Casey & Curt's awesome boys, Evan & Bren. So happy they made it out and it was Bren's 3rd birthday!

Casey, Curt and the boys.

I love my cousins and am so happy they came!

Watching the uber-cool TransAm group practice.

Saturday night was a parade of a selection of race cars and local cars from the racetrack to the Sebastiani Winery, who hosted a really nice outdoor wine and food tasting party.

Sebastiani Winery

There were some great period-correct outfits.

Carroll Shelby wine anyone?

Another happy LCP meeting - Joe Harding - man, has this guy got great stories!

Jim makes some moves on a bride-to-be who was wearing a funny hat.

Yep, that's Jim Alder in the middle of about 50 ladies in the midst of bachelorette parties.

 Sunday - Race Day!

Luca chatting with my dear friend, Tim Jenvey and getting ready to race on Sunday.



Luca and Don.

Luca getting his race face on.

The pedigreed Cooper T43.

This is Karen who spun out at practice when the bolt for a lower control arm sheared off.

My new fun friends Jim and Don.

Luca watching the group before him.

Luca on the track.

A good finish!

My dear friend, Tim Jenvey, who came up from San Francisco to spend the day with me.

I could have sworn that was Andrew McCarthy.....frozen in time.

Jim and Kristin at the lunchtime wine and food tasting - better than hot dogs!

 

Warren Tope - I wonder if he has been to Mexico and seen the millions of speed bump signs that bear his name?

Bad ass bird.

My favorite car at the race - a Fiat - so beautiful!

Bam!  The Fiat wiggled too wide on the corner and slammed into the wall right in front of us.

Rich Morrison's bad ass Lagonda V-12.

Rich Morrison.

Another LCP veteran, Joe Harding, in his Lagonda V-12.

Joe Harding edging out Rich Morrison in their dueling Lagondas.  But later Joe left the track - mechanical problems maybe.  These guys have raced together at the Carrera so it was fun to see them so close on the track.

Austin Healey.

A beaut of an Aston Martin.

Chip spun and got hit but he's still smiling!

The end of a spectacular weekend!

Saying goodbye to my British mate Tim, who is moving to New Zealand soon.

Erin & Brad Kaplan road tripping in their 1928 pickup. They stopped to visit Lauren and Carson Scheller at their ranch in NoCal.  So this wasn't my LCP sighting but it was darned close!

Goodbye magical San Francisco!