35th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races

The drivers participating in the Toyota Race of Legends at the 35th Rolex Monterey Historic Races Presented by Toyota at Laguna Seca may say that it’s all for fun and charity – the winner receives a $25,000 donation to their cause of choice – but the draw for starting position and the practice session seem to belie that assertion.

Derek Bell, the defending winner, was the first to draw for starting position Thursday night, and he drew no. 3. Eddie Cheever, the next to draw, offered Bell $20 to trade. Bell should have taken the money, as Cheever had drawn no. 2.

“He would have never have held to it, he wouldn’t have let me have it,” laughed Bell. “It doesn’t really matter. If I can follow somebody like Eddie for a few laps, I’d be happy.”

Johnny Herbert brought his own no. 1 to “draw” out of the hat, but his ruse was exposed when Bruce Canepa, the vintage racer who purchased the opportunity to participate through an auction that earned $21,400 for the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation, pulled the real pole position card.

“Who can say they drove with nine F1 drivers?” enthused Canepa after the practice session on Friday. “And to stay on the track with them, that made it great fun. Everyone was having a great time out there.” Canepa is no slouch behind the wheel – he has raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona, teaming with Bobby Rahal and Rick Mears in a Porsche 935. He will also drive a 935 and an AMC Javelin Trans-Am car in the historic races. His speed, knowledge of the Laguna Seca racetrack and starting position make him a mark for the other drivers.

“Johnny Herbert says I don’t even have to put a target on [the back bumper]. He says he knows exactly where it is!”

The dust arising from around the racetrack during practice, and the slightly battered cars coming off it after the session, told the tale of how competitive the race is going to be.

“[Danny] Sullivan hit me,” said Alain de Cadenet. “I think he wanted to get by me, so he punted me out of the way, which is fair enough. When you get bumped off in practice by an Indy 500 man, a winner to boot, then you know the fact that he’s not taking it seriously, it’s not what he really meant. And the problem with all this lot, God bless ’em, is that none of them want to come in second, do they?”

Still, as competitive as the group of racers is, there was still room for a little levity, evidenced by the foul odor de Cadenet noticed during the session.

“It was just an unfortunate thing,” explained Herbert through bouts of laughter prior to practice. “We had a bag of trash that we needed to unload, and his car just seemed the perfect place for that. It should get a little bit...smelly...in the car, but I hope the trash will actually move around the cockpit. I just hope the mechanics don’t find it and take it out of the back. That would ruin it. But we’ve done it, and we’ll see what happens.”

Fortunately for de Cadenet, the trash, along with the drink cans tied to the back, were removed before the cars hit the track.

Pranks aside, Bell knows that no one is going to give an inch when the race starts. Bell was second-quickest in practice, behind Sullivan and ahead of Herbert, current Panasonic Toyota F1 driver Timo Glock and Eddie Cheever. With this lot, Bell isn’t so sure his experience from last year and his second-row starting position are going to be enough.

“Last year I wanted to keep out of trouble, so I knew I had to go like hell at the start,” he said. “This year there’s so many capable – I don’t mean to say last year they weren’t capable, they were terribly capable, but they didn’t take it quite as seriously as maybe these guys will. I think there’s a lot more needle amongst these guys, although they’re very relaxed…nobody takes it like it’s a Grand Prix. But once we get in the cars, we’re all professionals and we know what to do and our mental attitude is such that we can carry it off. Everybody’s going to have a good time here, but they all really want to win.”

The starting lineup for the Toyota Race of Legends, determined by blind draw:
1. Bruce Canepa (auction winner)
2. Eddie Cheever
3. Derek Bell
4. Jean-Pierre Jarier
5. Alan Jones
6. Johnny Herbert
7. Alain de Cadenet
8. Patrick Tambay
9. Danny Sullivan
10. Timo Glock
11. John Watson