FJHNA West
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
August 15-18, 2013
The Bonhams 1793 Cup – Presented to the entrant that best exemplified the spirit of Formula Junior in the Sunday morning Bonhams 1793 Cup FJ race. The award was presented to Bill Sadler driving a car of his own build, a 1959 Sadler.
Click here for Bonhams 1793 Cup Race Results
The Rolex Award for Excellence – Presented for Overall Excellence in each race category, as determined by an independent panel of judges. The Formula Junior winner was Danny Baker, driving a 1963 Lotus 27.
Click here for Sunday afternoon Rolex Race Results
Monterey Pre-Reunion
August 10-11, 2013
Click here for Saturday Race Results
Click here for Sunday Race Results
Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival
May 16-19, 2013
Last weekend concluded the 21st running of what is now known as the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival. Steve Earle and his team have again succeeded in producing a world class event. As he did in his Monterey Historic days, Steve embraces monoposto cars and in particular, Formula Junior, much to our pleasure. Niceties began with a reception at the beautiful Rams Gate Winery, then through the weekend the Ladies Tea Room sponsored by Wine Country Motorsports, a Girls Driving Tour, and the irrepressible Race Car Festival and Parade to Sonoma’s Sebastiani Winery. Oh yes, and there was racing too!
There were 16 Formula Junior entrants this year, a nice grid though missing a half dozen of our usual contenders. Our celebrity entrant was none other than Bill Sadler who showed up on the second day with a freshly restored Sadler BMC Formula Junior. The problem was, it had not turned a wheel and was unable to make the grid despite all efforts. Still, Bill was there to regale some of us with his stories from yesteryear and we look forward to seeing him and this car again. Click here for a short bio on Bill Sadler from June of 2003.
Karol Andrews, FJHNA left coast representative, used this opportunity to build on the existing camaraderie within the group and to share the benefits to be derived from an organized North American Formula Junior organization. Karol was able to secure most of the technical specifications of each car and nearly all cars were weighed. All cars were on the required L section Dunlops and with 1100 cc engines (or 1 liter) per the existing rules which have been a fixture with west coast clubs for many years.
There were practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, a qualifying session on Saturday and all classes raced on Sunday. There were a few mechanical issues during the event; Karen Barry’s Huffaker BMC had a suspension bolt failure on Friday but a mass effort and quick support from Huffaker Engineering had her back on the grid the following morning. All the way out from Santa Fe, Chris Gruys ’58 Miller expired mid weekend (cause unknown), the Fitzpatrick Lotus 27 was unable to make the race grid due to a shortage of smoke….or so Lucas electric theory goes……and Robert Hoemke’s Cooper T-59 had a shift linkage failure on lap 5 while running a strong third.
As we did in a four race series here commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Formula Junior, a three tier class structure was designated: FJ 1, FJ 2 and FJ 3; front engine w/drum brakes, early mid-engine with drum brakes and late technology cars with disc brakes, some cars still bearing their classification markings from that time. Click here for Complete Sonoma FJ Race Results
A special congratulations to Phillip Ribbs and his Lotus 27, recipient of The Sonoma Historic Award presented for presentation and performance in race group 3
And in closing, kudos to Karol Andrews for all her hard work and time, particularly chasing down nearly half of our number as they were disbursed through the 375 strong entry. And to Robert Hoemke, all the way out from Texas, for his contribution to the COTA Formula Junior event scheduled for October 24-27 2013…..
Marc Nichols for the Formula Junior Group ### Sonoma FJ Entry List Complete Sonoma FJ Race Results Bob Pengraph Sonoma Historics FJ Photos Dennis Gray Sonoma Photos, SportsCarDigest.com
Other Photos
Photos from the 2008 Formula Junior Golden Jubilee at the Monterey Historics can still be seen here. Groups 3A, 5A & 5B.
YouTube Videos
Sonoma Historics 2012 2012 Sonoma Historics Monterey Pre-Reunion 2012 Monterey Reunion 2012 Automobilismo : La Formula JuniorTransportation
Share transportation to various hmsa/legends race events across North America. Click here for details
Regional Contact
Regional Representative – Steven Morici (click here to contact)