After the late 70s energy crunch, increasing safety and emission requirements and rising fuel cost, Ford turned to its profitable European operations for the way forward. Walter Hayes moved from the UK to Dearborn to run the company’s public relations.
The Nürburgring was built as a public works project in the 1920s to bring employment to the economically depressed Eifel region in western Germany. The original Nordschliefe loop of the circuit twisted, climbed, plunged and wound through 14.17 miles (22.8km) of mountainous terrain. Hundreds of thousands of spectators would travel to the area to watch the racing. When the circuit wasn’t being used for racing or testing by manufactures, the public could purchase a ticket and complete a lap. In the course of a lap it wouldn’t be unusual to overtake a tourist bus while being passed by a motorcyclist with a Porsche coming up with headlights flashing.
The 2010 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will honor Dan Gurney – the Cars He Built, the Cars He Drove. Formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races®, the August 12-15 event will take place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will feature a display of Gurney Eagle Racing Cars: Formula 1, Indy cars, IMSA GTP prototypes, Can-Am and Trans-Am machines. Gurney will share stories with the fans through public interviews and autograph sessions on Saturday, August 14.
In 1937 the Porsche Studio designers created the first designs for a sports car version of the Volkswagen. Designated the Type 64, the aluminum body car had an enlarged engine and a top-speed potential of 150kph. Porsche request a budget to build prototype cars from the German Labor Front. Unfortunately, a sports car was not in the plans of the German Labor Front and funding was not forth coming.
The Porsche design firm used the opportunity to explore the possibility of building the car themselves. Prior to the Type 64 the firm had only performed design and engineering work for other manufactures. Porsche was exploring the possibility of becoming a manufacturing company and increasing their financial base.
General Racing has announced its Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, scheduled for June 5-6, 2010, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. The event will continue the tradition of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races while building on the Wine Country Classic event that General Racing has produced in Sonoma for 23 years.
Two days of racing and events are planned at Infineon Raceway’s 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course. For relaxing there will be the Wine Country Pavilion where Napa and Sonoma wineries and restaurants will participate in events.
General Racing Ltd. was formed in 1970 to encourage the restoration, preservation and the use of historic sports and racing cars. Founder Steven J. Earle envisioned an event that would unite former racing greats with enthusiastic amateurs who owned some of the rare motorcars that once graced road courses worldwide. Mr. Earle’s vision forever changed the vintage racing landscape.
Located in the foothills of the Ardennes and close to where the Battle of the Bulge was fought, Spa-Francorchamps was the fastest road course in Europe. The old 8.761mile (14.12 kilometer) circuit was made up of back-country public roads. The track was roughly a triangle connecting the small villages that gave their names to the various corners. Formula 1 last raced there in 1970 where Chris Amon recorded the fastest lap at 152.076mph. Pedro Rodriguez, driving a BRM P150, won the event at an average speed of 150.210mph. To appreciate how fast Spa-Francorchamps was, the average winning speed of the 1970 Indianapolis 500 was 155.749mph. Sports car racing continued at Spa until 1975 and then the circuit died. In the early 80s a smaller, slower revised circuit was created using the Blanchimont to Les Combes secrtion of the original track. The high-speed Burnenville corner was not part of the revised circuit.
Burnenville 1974 Spa 1000km
Canadian Gilles Villeneuve started his racing career driving snowmobiles. After attending Jim Russell Driver’s School he hired one of the school’s Formula Fords and proceeded to win four of the six races he entered and a Canadian National title.
In 1974 Villeneuve won the international snowmobile championship and then signed for the Ecurie Canada Formula Atlantic team. During the winter he became snowmobile World Champion and the following season scored his first Formula Atlantic win, at Gimli, Manitoba.
An updated version of the Anatomy of a Race Car Series: Volume 1 Ferrari 512M s/n 1040 Windows® OS CD-ROM is available through the Track Thoughts eBay Store
Katy Muldoon penned a nice profile on Track Thoughts in the Thursday, January 28, 2010, edition of the Oregonian newspaper.
