DEL MONTE TROPHY RACE GROUP
Bulletin 4, After The Velocity Invitational, November 2023
A big thank you to the 22 drivers and their great crews at last week’s Del Monte Trophy Race Group Group 1 gathering. It was a lot of fun and a unique and memorable experience. We had great cars on the grid and in the paddock. The big bore production Jaguars ( XK 120,C and D Types), Allard, Maserati and Aston Martin and the small bore production Triumph TR2, Siata, Porsche 356 and Fiat along with the big and small bore California Specials made for a spectacular paddock display. Thank you to Steve Earle for helping make the dedicated race group and display possible. The racing on Saturday and Sunday featured several races-within-races and was exciting to watch from start to finish. The Sorrell Kurtis, the little blue Barlow Simca and the Jaguar D-Type were the only cars that didn’t complete both races. This is a remarkable testimony to the level of preparation of our cars. Sunday’s race featured an added bonus of excellent live commentary by our own Jim Alder.
We gathered after the racing was finished, to choose two cars and drivers to add to the Del Monte Trophy. They are John Mote and his spectacular Sorrell Kurtis GMC and Dave Nelson and his always beautifully turned out Triumph TR2.
Nearly 75 years ago, our cars introduced Americans and especially Californians to the sports car and to organized road racing. We have restored and maintained our cars in their peraod presentations. We are able to continue racing them with other cars that would have raced at early primitive circuits like the ones at Pebble Beach or Palm Springs. Several generations later, we are privileged to race them today. Spectators today can see them as the first fans saw them at those first events. Anyone with a period correct early 1950’s Sports Car or Special will find a great group to race with. We are always pleased to welcome new additions.
There are YouTube videos of both the Saturday and Sunday races, posted on dmtrg.com along with a wonderful continuous written commentary by Marcus Bicknell from his studio in the UK. You can also see video taken on board the Streets Manning Special. We’ve been collecting still photos and other video from friends and family and posting them on dmtrg.com as we get them. Please send Marcus any that you would like posted to marcus@bicknell.com. As many of you are aware, Dan Davis and Victory Lane eMagazine, dedicated supporters of our Group, sponsored a short professional video production of our racing. The final edited version will be available in two weeks time. Thank you Dan and thank you Victory Lane.
By now you will have all gotten your cars unloaded, wiped down and parked up. Spring will be here soon enough, but for now the 2023 season is over and a good memory. Let’s look forward getting the Group together in 2024 in the Spring, in August at Laguna Seca , and in the Fall at Velocity.
Best, Rob Manson
