Photograph courtesy of Kyle Burt.
This year’s Wine Country Classic featured an impressive turnout of 34 Formula Juniors, a large number of sports racers and other historic race cars, as well as beautiful weather, and the fantastic wines, ambience and cuisine for which the region is known.
The Formula Race was particularly exciting, with a fierce “David and Goliath” battle for first place between Art Hebert’s Lola Mk. 5A FJ (1100 cc) and Tom Byrnes’ Cooper T-62 F1 (2500 cc) until a spin dropped Tom several positions. Bill Cotter (Scarab F1), Dave Zerlinden (Brabham BT2) , Reg Howell (Brabham BT6), Doug Mockett (Cooper T-56) and Chris Locke (Lotus 27) made up the remaining top six positions of 28 cars finishing the race.
“Doug drove a flawless race that left no opportunity whatsoever for overtaking,” Chris recounted, “but it was great fun glued to his gearbox the whole time.”
Post-race festivities at Sonoma Town Square and dining each night with friends and family made for another great Wine Country Classic weekend.