Yup, I finally made it. No, not all the way to Pebble, that will have to wait until next year. I did however make it to the Historic Races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which may actually be better. These cars didn't just sit there, the roared around a track, and warmed-up on the paddock within arms reach. There were no ropes around the cars, nothing to keep you from touching them, except perhaps a sense of reverence.I actually thought to take a camera this time! I forgot, and left it at home, but I thought about it. I remembered to borrow a camera though, and I remembered to use it to take pictures, no easy feat when you're busy plotting to steal a Maserati 4cl. You'll notice that none of the cars are in motion. This is because even when I remember to bring a camera, I am unable to pan with moving cars while jumping up and down with excitment. Here then are some of the pictures I did take.
The first shot is a Maserati 8CL, the second is a Tipo-60 Birdcage, and the third is a car I've wanted to see for a long time, a Denzel. Think of it as an Austrian Porsche and you're not too far off.
Speaking of Porsche, they were the featured marque, and the place was lousy with them. From humble 911s to screaming 904s and roaring 917s. There was a Porsche display with former Le Mans winning cars, and an on-track procession with everything from a pre-A 356 Cabrio, to an 804 F1 car, to the Le Mans winning 1998 GT-1.
That's a 718 F2 car at the bottom, the 804 is the first pic, and the GT-1 (which was awesome to see on the track) in the middle. I have no idea how I manged to avoid taking a picture of a 904 because it was all I could do to keep from tripping over them; they sounded incredible though, possibly the best noise of any car on track.
Picking my favorite car is next to impossible, and I'm not sure where to rank things like seeing Sterling Moss, or The Stig. I've got a short-list assembled here though, and it starts with the Alfa Romeo 33/2.
Next up is an original Rene Bonnet Djet! I've seen Matra Jets before, but never the Bonnet car.
The Maserati 250F never got off the trailer while I was around it, but that didn't stop it being a huge event for me.
But of everything there, the car that has stuck with me these last few days, was a failed GTP car that Mazda fielded in the early 90s. The RX-792P never won a race, in fact it didn't finish very many in its one season career. No, the Mazda will be remembered not for its winning ways, but for losing with more style than any ten other GTP cars ever had. I remember it mostly from a Mazda ad that circulated in magazines when I was young, and I've come across the static display car before. The car at Laguna was not static, it popped and gurgled its way through the paddock, and wailed its way around the track. I didn't expect to see it there that day, I never really expected to see it, but there it was.
It was part of a weekend to which I've been looking forward all year, and one I'm anxious to repeat. Monterey 2010 here I come!
