The Historic Motors Sports Association (HMSA) held the LSR Invitational event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on June 5-6, 2012. The race weekend offered a strong field of approximately 150 historic racing cars circling the 11-turn, 2.238-mile Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course in Salinas, California.
The LSR Invitational was the first event of the season for the Formula 5000 Drivers Association.The F5000 racers were loud, fast, beautiful and competitive, representing the best vintage racing witnessed this year. Overall winner of the final race in Class A (pre-1972 cars) was Steve Davis in a 1969 Gurney Eagle Mk5, while Paul Wilson won Class B (post 1971 cars) driving a 1973 (ex-John Cannon) March 73A. Davis, winner of championship in 2010, returned to F5000 racing after taking a year off. Wilson continues to dominate in Class B making it three consecutive first place finishes since the second half of the 2011 racing season.
Second place in Class A went to Harin De Silva racing a 1970 (ex-Peter Revson) Surtees TS8. This was De Silva’s third event in the car following two race events in New Zealand in January/February 2012. De Silva started on pole for the feature race after setting the lowest lap time and winning the qualifying morning race. Second place in Class B went to Tom Malloy in a 1970 (ex-John Gunn) Lola T332. Malloy missed the prior day practice and qualifying sessions, but wasted no time to advance through the field during the qualifying and feature races to take second place in class. Third place in Class A went to Tony Adamowicz driving the 1969 Championship Gurney Eagle. Adamowicz battled with Bruce Sevier in a 1968 Lola T140 before taking control of third place in class A. Jim Stengel, who ran a consistent race in both morning and afternoon races, took third place in Class B in a 1973 McRae.
In addition to the booming Formula 5000 entrants, the HMSA LSR Invitational at Laguna Seca 2012 featured many interesting cars, including the 1968 Alfa Romeo GTA of Jeffrey Rothman; Jonathan Feiber’s 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage; 1965 Autodynamics FV of Dale Marcellini; Erickson Shirley’s Lister Chevrolet; 1964 Townsend Special Mk.4 driven by Owen Gibson; Ned Spieker’s 1957 Maserati 200Si; 1953 Porsche Special of Chuck Croteau; Francois Castaing’s 1979 Ford Escort; Bob Roth’s 1963 Genie; and the 1967 Porsche 910 driven by Reg Howell; among others.
Group 6 included seven Cobras battling on Laguna Seca, providing a sneak peek of this year’s Monterey Motorsports Reunion which will headline Cobra. It was fun watching only seven on the track for the LSR Invitational, so the forty plus assembled for August’s Reunion will surely be a race to remember.
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
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HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Complete Race Results
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 1 Race Results
1. Jonathan Feiber, 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage
2. Greg Meyer, 1958 Devin SS
3. Ranson Webster, 1960 Porsche Abarth
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 1 Final Race Results
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 2 Race Results
1. Randall Smith, 1971 Chevron B19
2. Keith Frieser, 1972 Lola T290
3. Tom Minnich, 1977 Lola T297
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 2 Final Race Results
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 3 Race Results
1. John Delane, 1965 Brabham BT-18
2. Danny Baker, 1963 Lotus 23
3. Tom Byrnes, 1964 Brabham BT-8
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 3 Final Race Results
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 4 Race Results
1. Steve Davis, 1969 Eagle Mk5
2. Paul Wilson, 1973 March 73A
3. Harindra De Silva, 1970 Surtees TS-8
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 4 Final Race Results
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 5 Race Results
1. Bud Moeller, 1979 Ensign N-179
2. Chris Bender, 1982 March 821
3. Dan Marvin, 1976 March 76A
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 5 Final Race Results
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 6 Race Results
1. Francois Castaing, 1970 Ford Escort
2. Win Seipp, 1964 Lotus Super 7
3. N/A, Shelby Cobra
HMSA LSR Invitational 2012 – Group 6 Final Race Results
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[Source: HMSA; Dennis Gray]
Beautiful cars, great photos!
Thanks Dennis, I keep saying I’m going to this event and alway forget about until I see this. F5000 was a great series.
Great pics of a fun event. Thx.