CURRENT F1 DRIVER TIMO GLOCK WINS TOYOTA RACE OF LEGENDS AT 35TH ROLEX MONTEREY HISTORIC AUTOMOBILE RACES

August 18, 2008 by Monterey Historics

Mario Andretti performs demonstration laps and waves checkered flag for legends race

Day two of the 35th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota continued with exciting on-track action as official racing got under way. The event, scheduled to continue through Sunday, is being held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

Highlighting Saturday's festivities was the Toyota Race of Legends that pitted current Panasonic Toyota F1 driver Timo Glock against a field of legendary F1 drivers including Danny Sullivan, Derek Bell, John Watson, Eddie Cheever, Johnny Herbert, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Alain de Cadenet, Alan Jones and Patrick Tambay. Amateur driver Bruce Canepa of Scotts Valley, Calif., who won the opportunity through a charity auction, was on the pole. Glock was in top form in his race-prepared Toyota Scion tC using all of the track to hold off the legends and to take home the checkered flag, waved by event guest of honor Mario Andretti. Glock also recorded the race's fastest lap of 1 minute, 53 seconds and a speed of 71 MPH. The race consisted of eight-laps in race-prepared Toyota Scion tC sport coupes featuring a 2.4-liter, 215-horsepower TRD-supercharged engine. Glock received $25,000 that will be donated to the Children's Hospital of Frankfurt, Germany, the charity of his choosing.

'The Race of Legends is a highly thrilling event, so adding a current F1 driver like Timo Glock to the mix allows fans to witness a variety of skills of some of the top drivers in the world, both past and present,' said Steve Earle, the founder of the event and president of General Racing, the official race organizer. 'It's a great pleasure for fans and enthusiasts to see their heroes still racing at the highest levels. As we saw out here today, they remain as competitive as ever.'

Along with the Race of Legends, fans took in a variety of historic automobile races featuring Pre-1940 Sports and Touring Cars, 1925-1950 Racing Cars and Indy Roadsters, 1950-1960 Sports Racing Cars, 1966-1972 Historic Trans-Am Cars, 1966-1974 Historic Can-Am Cars and 1964-1975 FIA Sports Racing Cars.

Several celebrities were on hand to enjoy the action such as Patrick Dempsey, star of ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy,' Adam Corolla, host of the syndicated Adam Corolla Radio Show, and long time Rolex Monterey Historics participant Jay Leno, host of 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.' Dempsey hit the track for a few laps in a 1931 Chrysler CD-8 LM driven by San Francisco native David Swig.

Off the track festivities included autograph signings by Andretti and the F1 legends, the Rolex 'Moments in Time' display, and the enhanced consumer expo complete with interactive exhibits and a light-sport aircraft prototype.

'An event like the Monterey Historics is an enthusiast's dream. You can see people licking their chops when they walk around,' Andretti said of the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota. 'To be here and to listen to the roar of the engines on all these race cars makes my heart skip a beat.'

---

Trending News

• 68th Annual Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance To Honor Mustang, Miata, Ferrari Challenge and Packard Special Anniversaries on June 23
• The new BMW 5 Series Touring
• BMW Motorrad presents the BMW R20 concept
• Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale: American Glynn Bloomquist Finalizes His Unique Spec
• Stellantis North America Names Thompson as Head of US Retail Sales

---

Andretti also performed demonstration laps in the afternoon in his Formula One Championship winning Lotus 79. The event was especially memorable for Andretti because it was where he participated in the final performance of his professional career.

Sunday will begin with a parade of Alfa Romeos followed by individual races between 1955-1966 Production Sports Cars, 1967-1978 Historic F-1 Cars, and 1972-1983 Historic IMSA Cars. Race winners will be honored at a sunset prize ceremony Sunday evening.

Photos : Mike Doran