Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
Forty years after their first standalone race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, cars from the Trans-Am’s Under Two-Liter category will again take to the Monterey circuit for an anniversary outing on Saturday, August 14, part of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Among the historic machinery on hand will be several cars that actually contested that first race four decades ago.
Series entry lists that year were dominated by Alfa Romeos and BMWs, and the revival will be little different, with BMW 2002s originally handled by Nels Miller and Carl Fredericks now being driven by Jeff Gerken and Tim Brecht, respectively, while the Alfa Romeo GTA with which Lee Midgley won that original race is now fielded by Roman Tucker. Another Alfa driver who contested that first race in a GTA model, Jon Norman, will bring out the same Alfa GTV he ran in the Trans-Am’s 2.5 Challenge in 1972. Plus, the championship-winning car and driver from the Trans-Am 2.5 Challenge in 1971 and ‘72 will also take part, namely John Morton in the #46 BRE Datsun 510.
Organizers estimate that between 20 and 25 of these feisty sports sedans will turn out to give race fans at this year’s Monterey Motorsports reunion a true taste of the intensity that made the Two-Liter Trans-Am Challenge a not-to-be-missed phenomenon 40 years ago.
