Another Rare Mercedes Joins Historic Festival Line-up
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 Straight
17-mile Drive on local roads to Falls Village Street Fair
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Falls Village Street Fair
Live 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 Laps
Stirling 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 & 2
Stirling 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 Line
Stirling 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 & 4
Stirling 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
Sources: Lime Rock Park