HGP SPRING 2007 NEWSLETTER
Historic Grand Prix opened the 2006 season with a fabulous first event in Monterrey, Mexico. Most who attended said it was the best HGP event yet.
Monterrey’s reign as “best yet” lasted only a year as the Vegas Grand Prix with ChampCar offered up a very good 2.44 mile circuit, organization that belied the first-time situation, a fully integrated place on the program for HGP and, of course, a flat-out social side with enough sizzle for everyone.
Vegas GP organizer, Jim Freudenberg fully appreciated and committed to HGP from the start. He had only three races and HGP was absolutely going to be one of them. Jim wanted to spice things up with “Legends” drivers which HGP agreed to. As the event unfolded, Indy winners Arie Luyendyk and Bobby Rahal raced with us and had a great time, as did our gang. What a treat to get to race with drivers of this caliber and two particularly good guys as well.
Our on-track performance was wildly popular and appreciated, but we know we could have done much better. There were several flagged sessions for driving and preparation missteps, and these were almost all inexcusable errors. Whether drivers making very bad decisions or cars falling apart, the showing was sub-par. At the end of the weekend two drivers received suspension/probations and there were four damaged cars . . . not our best performance.
Before the weekend was over, the organizers were talking about next year and wanting us back. That seems great, but we need to do better. Our next event is with the Indy Racing League at Watkins Glen, July 6-8 and this would be a good time to get our show back on track.
6-8 July - Watkins Glen Historic Grand Prix, w/ IRL
Craig Rust and the Watkins Glen organizers have taken our constructive critique of last years event to heart and come up wit5h a real racers weekend at America’s greatest track. There will be a 45 minute session Thursday afternoon, two 25 minute practice/qualifying periods Friday and two races. The first will be mid-day Saturday and the second at 1:45 PM Sunday, prior to the IRL race. We certainly hope to respond to Craig’s great schedule with a full field of cars.
13-15 July - Mont-Tremblant, "Le Sommet des Legendes"
Second event on our HGP July Grand Tour will be a welcome return to Mt. Tremblant, easily the most European of the great North American racetracks. HGP will be the feature of the weekend, with races both Saturday and Sunday and enough track time to truly savor the remarkable circuit. And the promise is that the paddock is ALL paved.
The Fairmont Tremblant will once again be the host hotel. They are currently accepting reservations. Please call 819-681-7000 and mention the reservation ID code of 07LEG for the friendly racers rate of CDN 205.00 for a standard room.
20-22 July - Road America,
Kohler International Challenge + Brian Redman
Rounding out the July tour will be another visit to the most wonderful, 4 miles of race track anywhere, Road America. The Kohler International Challenge will feature Porsche. George Bruggentheis, President of Road America, is a keen HGP supporter and has scheduled more track time for us than any other event and our feature race is early Sunday afternoon. He will make facilities available for teams arriving early from Mt. Tremblant and needing to unload and service cars. And the social side of Elkhart Lake ain’t so bad either.
24-26 August – Infineon Raceways, w/ IRL
After a brief respite the HGP tour heads west for the Infineon Raceway event with the IRL. Steve Page and the Infineon staff are committed to providing substantial track time and we will again race on Sunday and use the full 2.51 mile circuit.
12-14 October – CSRG Charity Challenge
The Classic Sports Racing Group has, for the past three years, featured HGP at their premier event, the CSRG Charity Challenge. This unique event features a dinner with celebrity speakers, auctions and racecar rides all aimed at raising money for Sonoma area children’s charities. The previous events have resulted in donations by CSRG of more than $250,000. Speakers have been Bobby Rahal, Pete Lovely and Francois Gastange. This years speaker will be Parnelli Jones. This is an event HGP truly should support and CSRG makes that very easy. Teams from out of California who might want to run the Infineon IRL race and then layover for the CSRG Charity Challenge can be assured of safe storage and workspace at Infineon during the layover.
BRIEFLY NOTED:
John Anderson, HGP Technical Director for 2007 remind all teams of some basic pit safety items: be sure to have a fire extinguisher close by in your paddock space AND in the racing pits. Also, he noted some nitrogen bottles did not have regulator cages – THESE ARE MANDATORY!
The Annual Entry Program w/ substantial discounts resulted in a healthy entry for each event, but we are not near capacity.
Access the HGP website for Entry Forms and Send to:
HISTORIC GRAND PRIX
4 Finch Road, North Salem, NY 10560
Rebecca@historicgrandprix.com e-mail
Call for FAX number and instructions; this is not a dedicated line yet.
Thank you for your continued support and most of all your participation.
See you on the grid at the Glen.
Rebecca - Phil - James
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