Reunion

Yesterday we spent most of the day at Laguna Seca (actually WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca) for the Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion meaning it was practice / qualifying day for the actual Reunion.

For those that may not know, this is an event that happens every year in conjunction with the Pebble Beach Concours d’elegance. This and other events, are what make up car week. This might be the Mecca week for car enthusiasts!

What I like about the Pre-Reunion is how much of a value it is because it is so inexpensive. There is no better event to watch old race cars race!

This is the third year we’ve gone to this event although we haven’t seen it since 2015 when we last lived in the area. I’ve included some photos of the past events as I forgot my phone and camera this year! This wasn’t really a bad thing though as I was able to enjoy what was going on around me without trying to get a picture or take a movie.

Laguna Seca is an interesting track to get to. You exit state highway 68 and drive up a winding road with a 16 percent grade (steep hill) to get to the track and parking area. This year has been very dry so the hills surrounding the track were all brown. The sky was blue though and the temperature was in the high sixties with a cool breeze so the weather was perfect!

We parked between turns 3 and 4 and walked over to the pedestrian bridge to make our way to the pit area. A practice session was going on so we were able to enjoy mid 60s sports cars race while we walked. A Porsche 911 was leading the group and the driver and the car were noticeably faster than the rest of the field which included other Porsches, Lotuses, Ferraris, Jaguars and more.

Seeing the cars moving around the track, hearing the engines rev, gears change and tires fighting for traction along with catching the fumes of racing gas is what this is all about! You get to see cars that would typically be in a museum out doing what they were made for, racing!

Before we started over the bridge, we saw an area for “Bring A Trailer”, an Internet site that sells cars. There were a couple of cars there, one of which really caught our eye! A mist green Mercedes 300 SL convertible with a tan interior. Stunning and I wish I had a photo!

Once over the bridge, there was an area with green “carpet” that contained the food vendors with the pits just beyond. We made a left and walked over to the area where Bonham’s was displaying a few cars they had up for auction. There was a black and yellow 1938 Type 57C Bugatti that really caught my eye. It had the original interior (in great shape) which was amazing! A little out of my price range though with the price expected to be well over three million dollars.

From here we started to wander the pits. There were way too many cars to mention here. Rows and rows, over 300 cars in total, I believe. Highlights included Formula 1 cars, LeMans cars, Camaros, Mustangs, Shelbys. All old race cars from the early 1920s up to 2005. Most were pre 1975.

While we were walking the pits, the practices continued. They would send cars out together based on the type of racing they did and how old they were. The F1 cars were the fastest but the LeMans cars weren’t far behind. They were all fun to watch though!

After a couple of hours of walking and watching we headed back to the car to eat our picnic lunch. The racing had also stopped for lunch so it worked out well.

Once the racing started again, I wanted to walk up to a section of the tack called the corkscrew. It is at the top of the track and the only way to get there, well the shortest way, is straight up a fairly steep hill. I’m not sure of the altitude difference between the lowest and highest part of the track, but I’d guess a couple of hundred feet, at least.

In any event, my wife and seen enough for the day so I hiked up to the corkscrew myself. It is an amazing section of track, basically an S curve that has a large elevation drop. It is a blind drop for the drivers and the drop is steep enough the cars can catch a bit of air. Fun!

I watched several models of Lotuses as well as Porches and Jags do this turn. Each time they went through the turn it was a bit different. There was one white Lotus that seemed to get it perfect every time. With plenty of shade trees nearby, it is a nice place to watch the racing.

I finally started to get tired myself so I headed back down the hill and into the pits. I wanted to walk through the last bit of the pits that I’d missed earlier and this paid off with seeing a couple of Ford GT40s (see Ford vs. Ferrari) and a lightweight Jaguar XKE. Very historic and amazing cars!

One final note, it isn’t just the race cars that are amazing, it is also the cars that the racers bring with them. Old Ferrari road cars, old American muscle cars, hot rods and even some quirky old European cars.

This was an amazing day! If you are any kind of a gear head, I highly recommend this event!