Historic Grand Prix race cars returned to Infineon Raceway at Sears Point as part of the Indy Racing League’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend for the fifth consecutive year, August 21-23, 2009.
More than 20 vintage Formula One race cars (1966-1983) graced the twists and turns of Infineon Raceway at Sears Point for a full weekend of racing on the 12-turn 2.25 mile road course. Two of the featured cars were the 1975 Penske PC-3 and the 1976 Penske PC-4, both currently owned by Doug Mockett.
This marked the Penske PC-4’s debut following restoration – John Watson drove the PC-4 to Penske’s only Formula One win at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix. Two of the four Penske-built Formula One cars raced as part of the Historic Grand Prix, making it a very special weekend for Roger Penske.
Other notable cars included a 1979 Ferrari 312T4 and a 1980 Ferrari 312T5, both originally driven by Gilles Villeneuve, 1980 McLaren M-30 and 1980 Williams FW07B. In addition to the on-track action, fans could also visit the Historic Grand Prix display in the main paddock.
Sports Car Digest had photographer Dennis Gray at Sears Point to document the Historic Grand Prix racing action. Gray reported that veteran IRL team members kept walking and lingering around the Historic pits instead of tending to their official duties as members of IRL teams participating in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. They apparently enjoyed pointing out to each other the cars they had worked on or raced against in years past. Further, during the short Historic Grand Prix race on Sunday, the pit wall was lined with IRL mechanics reminiscing about year’s past.
To see more of Dennis’ work, visit www.dennisgrayphotographer.com.
2009 Historic Grand Prix at Sonoma Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)
[Source: Infineon Raceway; photo credit, Dennis Gray]
