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

Barbara Blackie in her Lotus FJ at the 2013 Sonoma Historics

Barbara Blackie in her 1962 Lotus F-Jr in eleven.
Photo courtesy Dennis Gray, SportsCarDigest.com

Last weekend concluded the 21^st 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!

1959 Sadler Formula Junior @ the 2013 Sonoma Historics

1959 Sadler Formula Junior, Photo by Bob Pengraph

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.

Jimmy Domingos & Robert Hoemke both racing 1962 Cooper T59s at the 2013 Sonoma Historics

Jimmy Domingos & Robert Hoemke racing Cooper T59s

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.

Karen Barry in turn 11 at the 2013 Sonoma Historics

Karen Barry in turn eleven. 1960 BMC Huffaker F-Jr.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Gray, Sportscardigest.com

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.

Vern Neff - Lotus 18, Marc Nichols, 1960 Kieft & Phillip Ribbs, Lotus 27 Sonoma Historics 2013

Vern Neff – 1960 Lotus 18, Marc Nichols – 1960 Kieft,
& Phillip Ribbs, 1963 Lotus 27

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

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Sonoma FJ Entry List

Complete Sonoma FJ Race Results

Bob Pengraph Sonoma Historics FJ Photos

Dennis Gray Sonoma Photos, SportsCarDigest.com