MG Vintage Racers Gather at Lime Rock

Labor Day weekend the quiet Connecticut countryside came alive as seventy MG vintage racers, including seventeen MGAs, gathered at historic Lime Rock Park to celebrate MGVR’s 2011 East Coast Focus Event and 30th birthday!

New for 2011, a vintage racer parade featuring MG and Jaguar departed the track for a tour of Lakeville and Salisbury with a detour through Noble Horizons Healthcare Center and a final destination of Falls Village, where a block party awaited both racers and villagers alike.

Friday is practice and qualifying day at Lime Rock, with over 300 vintage racers roaring around Lime Rock’s 1.53 miles of historic tarmac. Race groups featuring MGs included Group 1 Prewar (Prewar MG, TSeries), Group 3 (MGA), Group 5 (Midget), and Group 8 (MGB).

Saturday was the first race day at LRP Historics, with the first All MG Feature Race for Prewar, T-Series and MGA taking center stage. First across the line was Carl George in his MGA #107, followed by Storm Field and Bill Bartlett, both in MGAs. First TSeries was Skip Day in his Devin MG followed by Paul Fitzgerald and Frank Filangeri. First PreWar was Frank Mount in his TB Special “Babe.” Other MGAs included Chris Bryant, Rob Brownlee-Tomasso, Joan Harmar, Jim Juhas, Len McCue, Yours Truly, Butch O’Connor, Steve Schultz, David Conrad, Andrew Hiller, Gene Myszowski, Bob Schoeplein, and Jim Warren.

Sunday is a ‘quiet’ day at Lime Rock Park with their Concours in the Park and marque car shows followed by MGVR’s Birthday Banquet at the track, where over 110 MG vintage racers and friends enjoyed a buffet of roast beef, pasta, chicken and Harpoon on tap, along with a birthday sheet cake (or two) thrown in for good measure.

MGVR traditionally bestows several awards at our banquets, and this year was no exception. MGVR Founder and current PR coordinator Greg Prehodka was presented with a Super Size t-shirt adorned with signatures of MG racers who attended this event! Congratulations to Greg and MGVR for 30 years of vintage racing excellence! Roger Morse, who many will recognize as the owner of the “Dangerous Goods MGTC”, was honored with the Bill Parish Award. This year’s Spirit Award winner, as voted on by MG vintage racers, was Dan Leonard! Dan now shares honors with his wife, Vicki, who won this award at our VRG event at NJMP in 2008. Congrats to Roger and Dan for their most deserved awards!

Our guest speaker at this year’s banquet was Skip Barber, who shared with us his many ups and downs as MGTB owner and college student wrestling with Lucas mishaps, love lost, and parental interference. Quite unexpectedly, dinner guest John Fitch next took to the podium to share stories of his days as a Mercedes racer. An unforgettable end to a memorable MGVR banquet!

Monday race action began with the “All MG” race for Midgets and MGBs, with Alan Tosler (MGB) outlasting MGB pilot Butch McKenzie for first/second, followed by Harry Gentry (Midget), and Bill Shields (MGB), Mathew Hagopian (Midget), and John Targett (MGB). Afternoon group races were met with monsoon rains. Despite the torrential downpours, it pleases me to report that the “Best of British” 1950’s small bore group was an MGA sweep with Bill Bartlett crossing the line first, followed by Storm Field and Len McCue. Great fun in the pouring rain!

MGVR’s next Focus Event will be held in August at Belding, Michigan’s Grattan Raceway with VSCDA and in conjunction with John Twist’s Summer Party! See you there!