Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)

The Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is the largest event of the iconic Monterey Classic Car Week, which was held August 14-17th. This is the premier historic car race weekend in the United States with a field of some 550 cars that have been selected from over 1,000 entries. 

This year’s event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The Grand Marshall was none other than LeMans and Daytona 24 hours winner Hurley Haywood. There were 4 different race groups out of the 13 that were run which focused on IMSA cars. The other groups started out with pre-war cars dating back as far as a 1910 National Speedway Roadster to as late as the 2013 Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

The event kicked off on Thursday with all the groups having practice sessions. Friday was qualifying day for all the groups with the racing kicking off on Saturday morning. The Saturday morning race results set the grid for the afternoon feature races.

Group 1A was up 1st  for Pre-1940 Sports Racing and Touring Cars and 1927-51 Racing Cars. ERA’s of the 1930’s took three of the top four spots with Paddins Dowling winning in ERA R2A second went to Charles McCabe in another ERA with the 1950 Talbot Lago T26 of Hans Hugenholz coming home third.

Group 2A was for 1955-1961 Sports Cars. It was an interesting mix of smaller bore European cars battling with a few American V8 Specials. Victory went to Greg Meyer in a Sadler MK IV followed by a Lister Knobbly driven by Al Arciero with Rob Walton coming home third in a Maserati Tipo 61 (birdcage).

Group 3A was for 1966-1972 TransAm cars. This was all American iron in this field with all of Detroit’s finest represented. There were plenty of position changes with AMC Javelin’s of Bruce Canepa and Bill Ockerland finishing first and third with a Boss 302 Mustang driven by Jim Hague coming home third. There were also many Camaros a Dodge Challenger a Pontiac Tempest and a Ford Falcon in the mix.

Group 4A was a round of the Masters Historic Formula One series. These were all 3 liter cars built between 1974-1983 and featured a real international group of drivers. The top 4 finishers were from 4 different countries. First place went to the Lotus 91/5 of Gregory Thorton from the UK with Second place going to the Tyrell 11 of James Hagan of Ireland and third place was Brazilian Martin Lauber’s March 741.

Group 5A was for IMSA GT, GTX and AAGT cars. The top two places were Porsche 935s driven by Bruce Canapa and Charles Nearburg with Mike Thurlow coming home third in the monstrous 1968 Greenwood Corvette.

Group 6A was for GT cars over 2500cc. This mostly Cobras, Corvettes and Shelby Mustangs with a few European exotics thrown in. Lome Leibel cam home first in a 1965 Cobra followed by the Corvettes of Tommy Steuer and Jim Gallaugher. The beautiful Ferrari 250LM of Gunnar Jeannette came home in sixth.

Group 7A was for IMSA Prototype classes GTP, WSC, LMP and D. There was quite a bit of variety in this race with cars spanning from 1981-2006. Victory went to the 1991 AAR/Toyota Eagle of Charles Nearburg followed by Joel Miller in the 1992 Mazda RX-7 92P with Bruce Canepa coming home third in a 1989 Porsche 962C.

Sunday was the same format with morning races setting the grid for the afternoon races.

Group 1B for 1947-1955 Sports Racing and GT cars was first up. First place went to the 1952 Allard J2X driven by John Bowe followed by John Buddenbaum in the Jaguar Parkinson Special with third place going to Gary Cox in Chevy powered Austin Healey.

Group 2B was next for 1955-1964 GT cars. This group featured quite a few Porsche 356’s. The top three finishers were Ron Goodman 1954 356, Alec Hugo 1962 356B and William Lyon in the 356 Abarth GTL.

Group 3B featured and absolutely massive field of 1967-1981 Formula Ford’s. There were over fifty entrants in the field which saw great battles all race long throughout the entire field. The winner was Mikel Miller in a 1970 Titan Mk 6 followed by Ethan Shippert in a 1981 Crossle 45F with Danny Baker taking third in his 1969 Lotus 61.

Group 4B was for GT cars under 2500cc. First place went to factory Porsche pilot Patrick Long in a 1968 Porsche 911 T/R followed by the 1965 Alfa Romeo GTA Corsa of Patrick Byrne with John Wilkins coming home third in a 1967 Datsun Roadster 311.

Group 5B was for 2 liter Sport Racers up to 1984. John Hill cam e home first in his 1972 Lola T292 followed by Danny Baker in a 1974 Chevron B23 with Jim Bouzaglou taking third in a 1973 Lola T294.

Group 6B was for 1981-1991 IMSA GTO/GTU cars. Joel Miller was the winner in a 1991 Mazda RX-7 with second place going to Craig Bennett in a 1991 Nissan 300ZX and Kenneth Davis coming home third in a 1985 Roush Mercury Capri.

Group 7B was a round of the Masters Endurance Legends series for 1983-2016 endurance cars. First place went to Craig Bennett in a 2012 Lola B12/80 with Bill Auberlen taking second in a 1999 BMW V12 LMR and Spencer Trenery taking third in a 2006 Riley XI Daytona Prototype.

It was a fun weekend with plenty of track action. Hopefully next year the featured marque will be a little more vintage than what we saw this year.

It was a fun weekend with plenty of track action

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