AUTO UNIONS HEADLINE AT 25TH MONTEREY HISTORICS

AUTO UNIONS HEADLINE AT 25TH MONTEREY HISTORICS

FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME, AUTO Unions featured at an American meeting when Audi displayed four of its silver pre-war racers and the recently recreated streamliner at the 25th Monterey Historic races in late August. Le Mans racer Rinaldo Capello demonstrated the V12 while Audi Chairman Dr Paefgen drove the V16 C/D-type hilIclimb car. Michele Alboreto drove the third-placed Audi R8R from Le Mans, with Bobby

Unser and Hurley Haywood also in the demonstration team. An extensive display of Audi’s parentage included Horch, Wanderer and DKWs, including a two-cylinder racer, and a 1926 NSU Grand Prix car, backing up a glittering assemblage of historic cars which have previously been the featured marque at the Monterey Histories. A record 365 cars competed over the undulating Laguna Seca racetrack

in the dusty hills of California’s Monterey Peninsula, the highlight being when Spencer Trenery’s Trojan 102 won a crowd-pleasing Formula One race for GP cars from the 1970s and early ’80s. Stirling Moss hit the barrier in his Aston-Martin DBR I avoiding a spinner, putting him out and damaging both ends of the car, while a fierce pre-war battle gave Murray Smith (Maserati 8CM) victory when Yoshiyuki Hayashi’s 8C Alfa Romeo expired on the last lap. Ground-shaking Trans-Am and FIA sportscars echoed through the hills on Sunday and featured names ike Bobby Rahal, Brian Redman and David Hobbs, with Indy legend Parnelli Jones just losing out to Jim Hague’s Camaro. But the surprise of the meeting was Richard Freshman’s win over a hot Corvette and a Ferrari GTO — in a Morgan Plus 4. GC