This is your chance to see some Ferrari 250 GTOs in action
Or a few Mclaren F1 cars if you're more into that.
2020 was the year that postponed all sorts of annual occurrences. From the Boston Marathon to the Los Angeles Auto Show, events were delayed or canceled to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Unfortunately for the Sonoma Speed Festival, 2020 was supposed to be the second year the festival was put on. Such postponements can be devastating for nascent events like this.
Thankfully, the cancelation of the 2020 Sonoma Speed Festival was not a death sentence. The show goes on as planned for 2021. The event has been renamed to the Velocity Invitational to reflect a change of location. The golden hills of the north bay's Sonoma Raceway have been exchanged for the infamous corkscrew of Laguna Seca. The contents of the show itself, though, remains largely unchanged. One of the highlights of the 2019 show was the exhibition of several rare racecars; the most famous of the bunch being the 250 GTO. These cars were driven at the limit through Sonoma's tumultuous circuit.
The Ferrari 250 GTO makes a return for 2021, and it's joined by a raucous crowd of Mclaren F1 legends. The first car of note is the legendary V10-era 1998 MP4-13A. This car was driven by David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen and earned itself a win at the 1998 Australian Grand Prix. Two others will be the 2011 MP4-26A and the 2012 MP4-27A, both driven by current F1 driver and 7-time champion Lewis Hamilton. Mclaren will also have their 1998 two-seater demonstration F1 chassis at the event and will be giving a few attendees a go around the track.
The event will be held November 11th-14th at Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, California. In addition to the attendance of such automotive highlights, the weekend is filled with fun events like the Mustang vs Mini endurance race, Baggers and Superbikes exhibition, and a cyclekart grand prix.
The event is family-friendly as well! Youth aged 15 and under get in free with an accompanying adult, making this a must-see for parents of automobile-obsessed kids and teens.
I myself will be attending the event on Saturday, November 13th and will be covering the event in words as well as photos. Keep an eye on my profile for more about this history-rich event.
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Comments (3)
Tom Price has a car building right down the road from me, I have no idea what cars are in there at any given time, but he owns a 250 GTO. The big garage doors are almost never open.
Luckily I had my fair share of classic cars this month ( egzostive.com/zoute-rallye-2021/ ). We are getting back to the post apocalyptic normality :) ...
And I could have caught Spa six hours, that was to compensate for a loss of an entire year (so I imagine everybody went who wanted its classic to drive a classic race track).
I am not saying I am happy w 2021, I see the return to normality in Europe now....
When is the boston to LA rally, I live near LA and wouldn’t mind seeing the ending