Murray Smith, chairman of Lime Rock Park’s annual Historic Festival, confirmed today that yet another Mercedes race car of note will be brought to the Labor Day weekend racing and concours event that this year celebrates Mercedes competition cars. A 1908 Mercedes Brooklands, the sole survivor of only three produced, will join a very special collection of other historic Mercedes competition cars at Historic Festival 33, September 3 - 7 at Lime Rock Park.
A Mercedes Brooklands finished fourth in the inaugural 1911 Indy 500 driven by Spencer Wishart, just 10 seconds behind Ray Harroun’s winning Marmon Wasp.
In the 1912 Indy 500, two Brooklands started – one by Wishart and one by Ralph De Palma – and De Palma very nearly won. In the car he nicknamed the Gray Ghost, he led 195 laps, but then a connecting rod broke. De Palma was able to coast one more lap but in the end he was classified 11th, behind winner Joe Dawson. (Wishart completed 82 laps and finished 15th.) These Brooklands were fitted with 583 cubic inch 4 cylinder engines.
The records of the individual Brooklands cars are difficult to distinguish from each other; the racers were leased and loaned to many owners and drivers. De Palma’s Brooklands was later lost in a fire.
The Mercedes Brooklands has been kindly lent to Lime Rock by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
“It was the Brooklands models that built the very foundation of Mercedes racing success from the early 1900s onward,” Smith says. “How wonderful for it to join the ‘722’ 300 SLR, the 1954/55 W196 and 1939 W154 Silver Arrow Grand Prix cars, and the 1914 Mercedes that raced in the French Grand Prix. A spectacular grouping.”
In other news, Smith confirmed Historic Festival 33’s five-day schedule in addition to formalizing the nine race groups:
Schedule Lime Rock Park Historic Festival 33 September 3 - 7, 2015
Thursday, September 3 4:00 p.m. Vintage Race Car Parade Start from Sam Posey Straight17-mile Drive on local roads to Falls Village Street Fair
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Falls Village Street FairLive music, entertainment, food, car show
Friday, September 4 7:00 a.m. Gates Open 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in B Paddock 10:00 a.m. - 5:08 p.m., Prac. & Qual. Groups 1-9 5:13 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., Hardship LapsStirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
Saturday, September 5 7:00 a.m. Gates Open 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in Paddock B 9:00 a.m. - 5:25 p.m., All Groups, Races 1 & 2Stirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
Sunday, September 6 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in B Paddock 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Sunday in the Park Concours on Sam Posey Straight Gathering of the Marques Collector Car Show, Big Bend through West Bend 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Awards Ceremony at Start/Finish LineStirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
Monday, September 1 7:00 a.m. Gates Open 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in Paddock B 9:00 a.m. - 5:25 p.m., All Groups, Races 3 & 4Stirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
The Race Groups
Group 1 for the Lime Rock Award Small-bore road-going Sports & GT cars
Group 2 for the VSCCA Award Dawn of Real Performance: Pre-war Competition Cars
Group 3 for the Rabagliati Awards Formula Junior & Formula Ford
Group 4 for Skip’s Award Let's go racing! Post-war Club Racing Cars
Group 5 for Murray's Award Mid-century Sports Racers
Group 6 for Kent's Award Sportsman's Choice... A delightful mixed bag
Group 7 for the Hagerty Insurance Award Big-bore production Sports & GT cars
Group 8 for Herb's Award Not quite street legal… tastily Modified Production Cars
Group 9, Finn's Fancy Formula Libre post-1970 Sports & Racing Cars
About the Historic Festival: Since 1983, the East Coast's premier vintage racing and concours event has been the Historic Festival at Lime Rock Park, held annually over Labor Day weekend. No other venue in the U.S. has three days of on-track racing sandwiching a prestigious concours event – all on the same property, all at the same time. Historic Festival 33 is Thursday, September 3 (17-mile Vintage Race Car Parade) through Monday, September 7, while the Sunday in the Park Concours d’ Elegance & Gathering of the Marques is September 6. Historic Festival 33 features Honored Guests Sir Stirling Moss and Jochen Mass, and one of the most distinctive gatherings of Mercedes-Benz cars in recent memory. Schedule: Thursday, Vintage Race Car Parade; Friday, Practice & Qualifying; Saturday, 18 races and demonstration laps; Sunday in the Park Concours; Monday, 18 races and demonstration laps. Visit limerockhistorics.com
