Classic machines return to Sonoma Raceway

The Classic Sports Racing Group celebrates its 50th race season at Sonoma Raceway this weekend with the David Love Memorial Vintage Road Races, Saturday and Sunday.

More than 200 historic and vintage race cars, spanning Formula 1, prototype and production sports cars principally from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, as well as some gems from the 1930s, will be on hand. Names like Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, MG and Corvette will fill the paddock.

CSRG will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of Formula Ford with the Crossflow Cup, as well as the Continental Series for Formula B Cars. The Crossflow Cup includes some of the best racing machines ever made. In the 1960s and ’70s, Formula Ford drivers were the gunslingers of racing, much like go-kart drivers today. More than 100 companies tried their hand at manufacturing Formula Fords. In addition, Formula B race cars will race throughout the weekend in the Continental Series, a series that produced future IndyCar, F1 and Sport Car drivers. Some of the notable Formula B manufacturers included McLaren, Brabham, Lotus, LeGrand and Chevron.

The season opener is named in honor of David Love, a longtime Bay Area resident and CSRG co-founder, who passed away in 2013. Love was a racer like few others. He began racing in the 1950s with a series of Porsches, Morgans and even Formula Junior. He later purchased the car with which he was most often identified, a 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa, which he raced virtually uninterrupted from the ’60s through the ’90s at West Coast vintage events.

This weekend’s event will feature practice and qualifying on Saturday, with main events slated in each of the eight race groups on the 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course on Sunday. Spectators will get full access to the cars and drivers in the paddock.

Gates open at 8 a.m. each day. Admission is $25 per day or $40 for a weekend pass, which includes parking, as well as access to the paddock and all spectator areas. The David Love Memorial Races is a family-friendly event. Children 12 and under, active and veteran military members, as well as high school and college students with appropriate identification, will be admitted free. Kids are invited to sit in some of the race cars and get an up-close look at these beautiful, vintage machines.