Lime Rock Press Release:8/31 to 9/3

[Don]

For Immediate Release
From Lime Rock Park
Contact: Renea Topp
Tel: 860.435.5000 x 301
Email: renea@limerock.com

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR HIGHLIGHT
25th ROLEX VINTAGE FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY BMW AT LIME ROCK PARK
Legendary track celebrates 50 years; Silver anniversary of festival racing pioneer and IMSA Commissioner John Bishop to be honored

LAKEVILLE, CT (29 August 2007) – This year’s Rolex Vintage Festival presented by BMW will witness an array of stunning vehicles as they take the track at Lime Rock Park, a renowned venue which was established in 1957. The festival celebrates the rich legacy of automotive history, and brings that history to life with a series of races during Labor Day weekend.

The Rolex Vintage Festival is the largest arrangement of historic and vintage automobiles the East Coast has to offer. More than 200 rare and exceptionally maintained vehicles will be arriving from around the U.S. and Canada, including 1930-era models to muscle cars of the 1960s, among others. Now in its 25th year, the Rolex Vintage Festival entertains automotive fans and enthusiasts in the scenic setting of Lakeville, CT.

“It’s great to come to Lime Rock Park and celebrate these automobiles with such enthusiastic entrants and race fans,” said Steve Earle, president of Lime Rock Vintage Events, the official race organizer. “This year is special for all involved, with the silver anniversary of our event and golden celebration of one of the country’s greatest racetracks.”

The event also celebrates the 50th year of racing at Lime Rock Park, a track touted as the "Road Racing Center of the East." Since 1957, Lime Rock Park has hosted almost every form of motorsport, including Trans-Am, formula racing, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series events, SCCA regional races, NASCAR Busch East Series and the American Le Mans Series. The track, owned by famed driver Skip Barber, also hosts the Skip Barber Driving School.

“The truth is, this is my favorite event of the year and what a great way to end our 50th Anniversary season,” said Skip Barber, president of Lime Rock Park. “I’ve come to particularly like Sunday in the Park - this year especially with Peter Sach’s impeccable Ferraris and Alfa Romeo on display.”

The weekend’s activities commence with practice on Friday for all groups, beginning with pre-1941 sports and racing cars, and concluding with 1965-1972 FIA sports racing and Can-Am/IMSA GT cars to 1980. Practice continues on Saturday morning, and the races begin in earnest that afternoon with 10 laps from each of the eight groups. Because of a 50-year community injunction stating no racing on Sundays, the track will be still. However the action doesn’t stop as Road & Track hosts the Sunday in the Park Automotive Extravaganza, including the Concours d'Elegance, an awards presentation ceremony and the Lime Rock Vintage Swap Meet. Racing resumes on Labor Day with warm-up laps in the morning and 15-lap races in the afternoon to conclude the weekend.

On Friday night, racing legends Bruce Kessler and John Fitch will be recognized, who placed second and third, respectively, in the first race at Lime Rock Park. In addition, racing pioneer John Bishop will be honored for his lifelong work in motorsports, including his creation of three of the most exciting and successful series in motorsports history. Bishop is credited with founding the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), Camel GT and the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC), along with his leadership with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Bishop had an influence on both top sports-car series currently running, and more importantly, he represents the entire history of post-war road racing. From his spectator weekend at Watkins Glen in 1950 to his present day position of Commissioner of the Rolex Grand Am Sports Car Series, his interest in and influence on sports-car road racing has been immeasurable.

Rolex Moments in Time – In accordance with the raceway’s 50th anniversary, Rolex will present the Motor Sports History “Moments in Time” display with a selection of six significant cars with a focus on the year 1957. The racetrack at Lime Rock Park opened that year, and the winning car will be represented along with the winners from the Indy 500 and the Sebring 12 Hour Endurance Race. In addition, the winner of last year’s Monterey Cup will be displayed.

Along with recognizing those who contributed to racing history, the automobiles, and unique stories behind them, will highlight the weekend. The Rolex Vintage Festival weekend brings many historically significant cars together, giving the opportunity to tell their story. Some highlights include:

Masterpiece Collection – Four extraordinary cars from the Northeast collection, including two Le Mans Winners, a 1933 Alfa Romeo driven by Nuvolari and a Ferrari TR61 driven by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien

Genius of Dr. Porsche – A group of cars, all designed by Dr. Porsche, including one of the finest Volkswagens in the land and the prototype Porsche Turbo that ran in 1973, but never in the United States

Plastic Fantastics – A celebration of the 50th anniversary of Lotus Elite

Outstanding Cars - A group of IMSA cars, including 935 Porsches driven by an enthusiast group from the west coast, including Bruce Canepa, who bought a Porsche new and has raced it ever since.

Among the above will be a great selection of Rolls Royce and Bentleys, along with the iconic American woody station wagons of the 30s and 40s. Also in attendance will be the former Vintage SCC regular, Bill Binnie, a modern pro racer who has won his class at 24 Hours of Le Mans twice including this year. Binnie will be driving a Ford GT40.

[Don]

2ND PRESS RELEASE

" Rickes Predicts at Lime Rock Park! "

With so much to see at this weekend’s Rolex Vintage Festival Presented by BMW at Lime Rock Park, it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer selection of remarkable machinery on hand.

So to help guide us through some can’t-miss highlights, we thought we’d get some guidance from a guy who really knows what he’s talking about. After all, that’s what he does all the time at Lime Rock Park. Introducing once again our guide for this quick preview tour - Lime Rock Park’s man on the mic, Greg Rickes as he clues us in on what to look for on and off the track this weekend.

Group 1 – Pre 1941 Sports and Racing Cars
These aren’t just cars, they’re heirlooms, each with its own stories to tell. They range from European nobility to American can-do, but for sheer whimsy you can’t beat the Morgan 3-wheelers of Jeff Jacobson and Chris Towner.

Group 2 – 1946-1955 Sports Racing and Production Cars
Here’s where modern day road-racing in America began, starting with the classic public road circuits at places like Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, and Bridgehampton.

Among these many noteworthy pioneers, Bob Millstein’s Hansgen Jaguar Special occupies a special place of honor. Constructed by Walt Hansgen, a man most worthy of the title “legend,” this car, based on a production Jaguar XK120 chassis with its elegant one-of-kind bodywork, embodies the era to perfection.

Group 3 – 1955-1963 Formula Cars
This is the crossroads of racing technology, from the classic flowing front-engine lines of Italian design to the purposeful engineering of the mid-engine creations of John Cooper and Colin Chapman. This theme would change everything from road racing to the Indianapolis 500.

James Stearman’s Dagrada is the very essence of what Count Giovanni Lurani had in mind when he created “Formula Junior,” and while it won’t be the fastest, it could well be the loudest! How does that little 1100cc Lancia V4 make such a racket?

Group 4 – 1955 – 1961 Sports Racing Cars
This class has some fantastic examples from the Glory Days of the Italian Racing Car, with all its passion and intricate engineering.

Who can resist the sight and sound of a Ferrari Testa Rosa, and its worthy adversary the Birdcage Maserati?

And yet for contrast we have those tributes to American individuality and ingenuity, like Eno De Pasquale’s Chevy V8 powered EDP Special and the Charles Bordin’s Philson Special, which got eye-opening performance out of a pushrod in-line six that was originally at home in Ford’s economy compact Falcon. What’s perhaps even more surprising is that at least over the short run these homebuilts could match performance with the Italian thoroughbreds.

Group 5 – 1955-1962 GT/Production cars under 2200cc
This is what really established the foundation of Sports Car Club of America, production car racing encompassing mass produced two seaters from England, Italy and Germany.

The car to really seek out is Jim Glabicky’s #5. At the time it represented something totally different, and not very highly respected. It came not from Europe, but bore the label “Made in Japan,” and in that curious way the Far East has with the English language, it was dubbed the “Fairlady.” Its racing success in the hands of Bob Sharp would build his reputation and that of company called Datsun, which today you know as Nissan.

Group 6 – 1956-62 GT/Prod over 2200cc & 1962-64 under 2000cc
There are lots of worthies in this group, but even though it falls a little outside the timeline, having been built in 1973, my favorite is the Reinertsen Motors SAAB 99. This car brings back youthful memories of the raucous days of Showroom Stock Sedan racing, and the annual gathering of the rabble known as the Car & Driver Showroom Stock Challenge. Some years it was Indian Summer, and others it rained buckets, but through it all the partisan crowd whooped and hollered (fueled no doubt by copious quantities of Schaefer Beer, included with the price of admission) as the magazine’s editors raced it out against the readership. A car just like this one, wheeled by Swedish rally ace Stig Blomqvist, won the last ever C&D race in 1976.

Group 7 – 1962-1966 GT/Production Cars
This one’s simple - Cobra. Michael Stott and William Cotter have a pair of the originals, with Ford’s 289 V8 for power.

Group 8 – Group 8 1965-1972 FIA Sports Racing & CanAm; IMSA GT to 1980
This class might mean just a little bit extra to me because I was here when it all began on Memorial Day weekend 1972, when the era of John Bishop’s masterplan for professional American road-racing under the Camel GT banner started a Golden Age.

And what a run it was, from production based GT and sedans in 1972 to the ultra high-tech GTP cars of the 1980s and ‘90s.

The one constant through the entire epoch was the Porsche 911, from nearly stock in the beginning to wildly outrageous by the end. One popular bon mot of the era was “No matter how much you spend you can’t make a pig into a thoroughbred. But you can make one mighty fast pig!”

Not that the 911 was deficient in any way, but turning a production car into a racer always involves compromises. The turbo-charged Porsche 935 was the culmination of this development, producing nearly 1000 horsepower, all of it hung out behind the rear axle.

The performance was fearsome, and the 935 could, and did, win everywhere from Lime Rock to LeMans. Chart its evolution from the Bruce Leven (remember Bayside Disposal?) ’77 to William Cotter’s ultimate, the 1979 K3.

[Cobra167]

Hi, just signed on. I was out at Lime Rock this past weekend and had a great time. It was great to see all the Cobras out there on Sunday!
Paul