REUNION: Saturday's Races Highlight Diverse Selection Of Cars

IndyCar

REUNION: Saturday’s Races Highlight Diverse Selection Of Cars

Nine groups of vintage racing cars did battle on Saturday at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, delivering victories for a diverse collection of vehicles.

Marshall Pruett | Posted August 19, 2012

Modern Porsches, historic Maserati Grand Prix cars, Muscle Cars and plenty of other gorgeous vintage cars took part in the weekend's first nine races on Saturday. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

Nine groups of vintage racing cars did battle on Saturday afternoon at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, delivering victories for a diverse collection of vehicles and drivers.

Group 1A for Pre-1940 Sports Racing and Touring Cars saw John Fitzpatrick pilot his 2-liter 1939 BMW 328 to the win in the 26-car field. John Kerridge followed Fitzpatrick in his 1926 Frazer Nash Boulogne.

Paddins Dowling won the Group 2A class for 1927-1951 racing cars in his gorgeous 1.5-liter 1939 Maserati 4CL Grand Prix car. Jeffrey O'Neill made it a Maserati 1-2 1957, placing second in his 2.5-liter 250F.

Ford devotee Jim Click won the featured race of the weekend, Group 3A for 1962-1967 Shelby Cobras, in his 1964 289. Lorne Leibel fought Click the entire way, but came up a wee bit short in his similar 1964 Cobra 289. 35 Cobras took the start.

Group 4A for 1955-1962 GT cars saw Rob Walton muscle his 3-liter 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB to the win, but Leonard Turnbeaugh did his best to keep the priceless Italian car in his sights, taking second in his 1.6-liter 1958 Porsche 356A.

All 6.5-liters of Robert Ryan's 1968 McLaren M6B Can-Am car was needed to beat Byron Defoor's 5-liter 1965 Lola T70 to claim the Group 5A class victory for 1960-1968 Sports Racing USRRC cars.

Porsche turbo power came out ahead in Group 6A for 1973-1982 IMSA GT, GTX, AAGT and GTU/GTO cars. Reunion figurehead Bruce Canepa from nearby Scotts Valley spooled up his 1979 Porsche 935 to cross the finish line ahead of Fred Kaimer's 1980 Porsche 935 K3.

Terry Gaugh pushed his 1965 Chevrolet Corvette to claim the Group 7A win for 1963-1966 GT cars over 2500cc, beating Group 4A victor Rob Walton who drove another one of his Ferraris, a 1964 250 LM, to second place.

This writer's favorite class of the weekend, Group 8A for 1974-1980 Formula Atlantic cars, saw Wade Carter III hold off Atlantic veteran Dan Marvin to earn the win in his 1976 March.

Marvin battled Carter during the first half of the race, but contact that damaged the nose of his ex-Gilles Villeneuve 1976 March forced the Bay Area native to lose ground in the closing laps.

Group 9A for 1966-1972 Trans-Am cars ended the day with a thrilling duel between eventual race winner Jim Hague in his 1972 AMC Javelin and Chad Raynal in his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, but the drive of the race came from Bruce Canepa who motored from last on the 36-car grid to place fifth during the brief 20-minute event.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view REUNION: Paddock Tour 2012 Pt. 1

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view REUNION: Shelby Cobras 1962-1967

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.