McLaren in Sonoma spotlight at Velocity International this weekend

This weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Velocity International aims to leave other vintage racing events in the dust — literally. The theme of the event is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of McLaren Racing, started in 1963 by Bruce McLaren.

While the format of a traditional vintage racing event remains intact, there are also sessions for McLaren Racing to showcase their winning cars from the more recent past, including the screaming 19,000-rpm Grand Prix cars from the V-10 era of Formula 1 around the start of this century.

And it won’t be just any old shoes driving them. Current Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, fresh off a second place finish at last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, will be joined by former and current Arrow McLaren IndyCar drivers Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, David Malukas, and Tony Kanaan. Also, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, himself a former pro racer, will get behind the wheel both in the McLaren sessions and among his vintage racer brethren.

Brown has big plans in the paddock too, as McLaren has lots to celebrate as a road car manufacturer. On Saturday at 2 p.m., there will be the world unveiling of the newest McLaren supercar. Also on display within the McLaren compound will be the largest collection of heritage cars they have ever run in an event, many of which are rarely seen in North America. These include Niki Lauda’s 1984 World Championship winning MP4/2A-1 and Lewis Hamilton’s MP4/23A-05 which Hamilton drove to win his first World Championship in 2008. Also making an appearance will be the MP4/6-10 that Ayrton Senna drove to his third and final World Championship.

Also on display will be McLaren’s first car designed for unlimited road racing, the McLaren M1A Elva that Elvis Presley drove in the movie Spinout.

“Velocity Invitational is a spectacle of some of the world’s most unique and special cars, and to see our McLaren drivers get behind the wheel of our heritage collection at Sonoma Raceway and bring those cars to life again is an experience you cannot get anywhere else,” said Brown. “We’re excited to be part of it this year, celebrating our 60 years as a racing team.”

I grew up as a McLaren fan, and even used Autoweek issues which featured him for diagraming sentences at what was then San Jose Junior High in Ignacio. I dragged my family down to Monterey to see the Can-Am race at Laguna Seca in 1970. But McLaren was gone before I ever got to see him race. Through Autoweek and Road & Track magazine, my final pre-teen years were wowed by papaya orange.

While making his name as a Formula 1 constructor and World Driving Champion, America came to know McLaren for his day-glow orange Can-Am cars that dominated in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

McLaren and fellow Kiwi Denny Hulme stormed to consecutive championships in this groundbreaking unlimited series which saw 8-liter Chevy engines driving 20-inch-wide rear tires. Tragically McLaren was killed in a testing accident in 1970 at the Goodwood circuit in England when a support for his 3-foot-tall rear wing failed, shooting him off the track.

But the brand and company lived on, achieving most of its successes after his passing including winning the 1974 Indy 500 with Johnny Rutherford, a string of Formula 1 driver’s titles by Alain Prost and Niki Laura, and winning Le Mans when the production-based GT1 class was dominated by the McLaren F1 GTR in 1995.

This weekend fans will get to see the most iconic McLaren cars in race Group 7 for Can-Am cars and in Group 5 for historic Formula 1 cars from 1966 to 1981. There will also be races for Historic Trans-Am, IMSA and ALMS, World Endurance sports cars from within a 50-year span, and even Mini vs. Mustang Enduros each of the three days, Friday through Sunday.

But this is also a lifestyle event befitting the luxury nature of the McLaren road car. Overlooking the Turn 11 hairpin will be the Taylor Farms Sip and Savor Pavilion where local gourmet wines and food will be served. There will also be Hypercar sessions on track featuring some of the fastest road cars available for sale today.

Ford will add to that list with a world reveal at 11:30 AM on Friday, introducing the Ford GT Mk IV. It will be seen on track as the pace car for Groups 9 and 10.

Here’s where Velocity International makes a left turn from other vintage racing events. There will be rally racing displays and ride-alongs both on the 2.5-mile track and on a special course set up in the huge parking area at the north end of the property. DirtFish Rally School and celebrity drivers will give fans a chance to feel what it’s like to wail around sideways during on track sessions and all day over the ridge in the dirt.

British and Asia-Pacific Rally Champion Alister McRae, European Rally Championship driver Max McRae, and IndyCar Series driver Benjamin Pedersen will be among the drivers on hand. There will be X-Games and World Rally Championship cars, a Pikes Peak hillclimb car, and a recreation of a British Ford Escort rally car from the ‘60s.

And since the event isn’t over the top enough, there will also be a Winged Sprint Car exhibition race using the Turn 11 hairpin as part of the impromptu track.

So however you like your horsepower, this weekend you’ll get a thorough dose. And with Zak Brown, his drivers, other Le Mans legends like Derek Bell, and rallying champions all available for autographs and general adoration, the human side of the sport will be open to all as well.

General admission for Friday, Nov. 10, is $85; Saturday is $109; Sunday is $99, and general admission for the entire weekend is $175. Rally Experiences range from $299 to $2,500; and the Sip and Savor Wine Experience is $379 for the weekend, from $149 to $199 on individual days. The Suites at Velocity range from $399 to $999; the Ram’s Gate Experience ranges from $376 to $550; the Driver’s Experience is $2,999 and The Ultimate Package is $15,000. Kids 15 and under are admitted free.

Pit Bits

For those hungering for glowing brake disks and fluttering exhaust flames, this year’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the longest road racing endurance event in the world, will run this at noon Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday.

• Novato native Bob Lesnett won the Crossflow Cup for Club Fords in vintage racing this season on the strength of six wins, a second, and a third.