We had a fabulous week racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 14-16. More commonly known as the “historics” at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, this epic vintage race is part of several events occupying the week-long Monterey car festival leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours. Every year the RMMR highlights a featured marque but for 2024, the 50th anniversary of historic racing was celebrated. Enjoy our race report with photos and video!
Serious recognition for Japanese Classics
The Reunion is a highlight for race fans, but it is also part of Monterey Car Week which is filled with classy events like auctions and the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance. The Japanese Automotive Invitational hosted by Infiniti returned for its fifth year showcasing JDM icons. We are proud of several Datsuns displayed including John Baker’s 1969 Datsun 2000 and Allen Horwitz’s 1967 Datsun 2000. See more in MotorTrend’s JAI coverage.
Epic racing
Z Car Garage supported 5 race cars starting with the Pre-Reunion. It was surprising to see very few Datsuns entered at the Rolex: there was not a single Datsun 510, even in the Group 3: John Morton Trophy! Despite the lack of Japanese cars we were happy to see a few Z cars and Roadsters driven in anger. Below you will find each car supported by Z Car Garage followed by in-car video. Enjoy!
Take a lap in the #49 Joel Datsun Anderson IMSA GTU 240Z
Rob Fuller piloted the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z in Group 8 IMSA.You might recall the story behind this special, 1972 IMSA GTU 240z as it was owned, built and raced in the 70’s by none other than Joel Anderson. ZCG restored #49 back to its former glory and it debuted at RMMR 2014. John Morton would drive #49 at RMMR 2015. Enjoy this extended video with in-car footage of Rob dicing it up with big power Porsche RSRs… Volume UP and Long Live The Z!
Rob drove #49 Z hard and finished the race 6th place overall out of 23 cars, posting a best lap time of 1:36.38. Rob recaps the Rolex event:
“The ZCG crew with Joshua and Cooper kept all our clients on the track and safe. Kenny Tse was in his 997 cup car, it was the return of Alex in his Skyline and the #49 Z in the IMSA group, Adam Carolla in the first BRE car, and Greg Hoff and myself in the ’67 Mini Cooper S. The Pre-Reunion was a success…the Mini was really competitive and the IMSA Z car did well placing in the top 10…Kenny and I both got our personal best times at Laguna. What makes this special and fun is getting to share the stories of these epic sports cars, and also doing with friends. So many people came by the ZCG paddock excited to see the Datsuns, the underdogs. Really great racing.”
See the entire Session 2 in-car video from Rob on his YouTube Channel and give the man a subscribe! View the livesstream from Group 8
BRE Datsun 2000 Roadster (Group 3)
We were stoked to prepare and provide trackside support for the #44 BRE Datsun 2000 Roadster, owned by Adam Carolla. This 1968 SRL has a rich history, highlighted by the 1969 SCCA racing season with drivers Frank Monise and John Morton battling with privateer Jack Scoville. This roadster joined 3 others in the highly-competitive John Morton Trophy, Group 3.
Adam drove #44 hard and finished the race 28th overall out of 40 cars, posting a best lap time of 1:55.44. Enjoy this video with in-car action and Turn 6 footage with fellow Datsun Roadsters:
View the livesstream from Group 3
Rob recaps working with Adam and the BRE 2000:
“We got Adam got there but the car fought us a bit with charging issues/wiring. He had a great Friday morning session moving up in the field. Really proud of him and the car. If there was a MVP of the Rolex weekend it was Joshua Corwin who stayed overnight and re-wired parts of the BRE car. We had to source parts so shoutout to shoutouts to Mike Young and Rod’s Discount Datsun as we went back and forth between Laguna and San Jose to make sure Adam was going to stay out on the track. Unfortunately on Saturday am on last race of the weekend we started the car and it had a compromised head gasket. Really enjoyed working for Adam and it was great to see his son Sonny, Matt d’Andria and Charles. Good times”
Alex’s Skyline
Alex McDowell returned to Laguna Seca in this C10 Skyline built by our friend Jim Froula of Racecraft. Z Car Garage has prepared and supported Alex’s race efforts with the Hako and it has been an awesome experience. Two very memorable racing events were the The Mitty and RMMR
Alex raced the Hako successfully at the Pre-Reunion and race week, winning the Award of Excellence for Group 8!
Alex drove #9 hard and finished the race 15th overall out of 23 cars, posting a best lap time of 1:41.11. Enjoy this video of the Skyline below, speakers up!!!
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (Group 7)
This very special Porsche is the 2006 FIA European GT3 Championship winning car that was driven by Sean Edwards. It is a 997 GT3 Cup S Prototype and our client Kenny Tse raced it in the Legends of Endurance group at the Rolex.
Kenny’s brother Kelvin was there to root him on as was Kenny’s wife Marsha. We love learning and it’s always fun to do something new…helping Kenny with his 911 also allows Rob to say “if it’s not the Z-car, let it be the P-car!” Kenny drove #9 hard and finished the race 14th overall out of 27 cars, posting a best lap time of 1:32.33. Enjoy this video below with Kenny’s group, paddock action and more:
View the livesstream from Group 7
Mini Cooper (Greg/Rob)
Rob and Greg drove #44 hard and finished the Group 13 race 2nd overall out of 35 cars, posting a best lap time of 1:47.84. View the livesstream from Group 13
Paddock Highlights
The best part of the RMMR has to be the paddock. Home to all the race cars and their teams, massive car transporters and an all-around pure sensory overload. At every corner there is wicked metal with history begging to be told.
Datsun Roadsters at RMMR
Three other Datsun Roadsters were racing with Adam in the John Morton Trophy (Group 3):
Please visit the gallery for more roadster pictures, and see in-car video from Steve Walker’s Datsun Roadster HERE
Z Car Garage in the MEDIA
The 1988 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo at Z Car Garage was displayed at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion during Monterey Car Week. It was great to see this legend with fellow IMSA race cars at Laguna Seca. The media also took notice, with Hagerty writing an article about the ZX-T’s development, recognition and restoration at ZCG. View the article HERE
Bonus media exposure: Motor Trend’s top classic car picks from Car Week included the GTP ZX-Turbo and the Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z!
Required Reading: The Nissan GTP Story
One of the highlights of the Rolex event was meeting Electramotive engineer Chris Willes! He wrote an incredible book chronicling the design and development of the Nissan GTP car that dominated the IMSA GT series during the late 1980’s. It’s a must-read for all Nissan/Datsun fans, and you can purchase the book HERE. Rob invited Chris to the Rolex event to be reunited with his beloved ZX-T. (Below) Here I am with Chris and we look forward to working with him!
People
Contributing to the fun were family and friends.
We were humbled by the number of people that stopped by including fellow Datsun owners Anthony Schwisow and Jan Trondsen. We will have an updated feature on Anthony’s 2JZ-powered Datsun 510 Wagon soon!
Paddock finds
Super cool to see our client Linda Williams’ 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate at Laguna Seca and in Carmel during Car Week. Way to drive it Linda!
From massive transporters, to exotics and downright crazy vehicles the paddock never disappoints. Here’s a few of my favorites, more in the gallery!
Thank you!
We hope you have enjoyed our recap of the 2024 Monterey Historics! Please browse our mega-gallery of pictures from race weekend below. Big thanks to our friends and family members that helped us make this possible including ZCG Crew: Josh, Cooper, Keith and Meghan Fuller. We certainly enjoyed the company of friends and visitors in our paddock, here’s to another year of vintage racing in Monterey, California.
Join us for the 2024 Vintage Racing Season!
Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15.
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