MG Racers: 26th Annual Collier Cup Photos!

[Moderator]

I was just looking through some photos from Watkins Glen 2010 and came across three jewels:

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These are the two most successful MGB V8 racers in North America, very good friends Jerry Richards and Les Gonda, consulting before the start of the MG Vintage Racers' season capping "Collier Cup" race. The back story here is that earlier in the weekend Jerry's excellent MGB GT V8 was badly damaged when a Lotus Seven racecar's rear axle broke and it careened wildly off course. (Jerry was safely out of his car at the time. Long story...) With Jerry out of contention, we were all robbed of seeing the head-to-head duel we'd hoped for.  Race fans had come to see race cars, and the V8's are always popular favorites, so I was delighted that Jerry successfully talked Les out of withdrawing from the race.    

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(Vintage Racer magazine)


A quarter century of MG tradition continued at Watkins Glen this September with SVRA's 26th running of the historic Vintage Collier Cup all-MG race. Thirty-three MGs—of all ages and models from MGTCs to MGB-GT V-8s—turned out for this year's race on The Glen's 3.4-mile road course, thrilling thousands of spectators and MG enthusiasts.

After the checkered flag fell, the following awards were presented. The prestigious Vintage Collier Cup itself, as voted by his racing peers, went to MGB-GT V-8 racer Les Gonda. Mike Barstow, racing his 1953 MGTD, received the MG 'T' Cup as 1st MG-T. The Bucher-Decker Cup was awarded to 1961 MGA driver Todd Treffert as 1st MGA, while Charles Guest (1967 MG Midget) received the Bill Glanville Cup for 1st MG Midget, as well as the Cornett Trophy for the 1st overall MG.

With MG Vintage Racing's 2010 season now history, MG racers are turning their focus to two designated "Focus Events" for 2011. First will be their Focus Event West, with CSRG at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, April 8-10. Then in September, Focus Event East will take place in Connecticut at Lime Rock Park's Labor Day weekend Historic Festival. More information on these events, and on the MG Vintage Racers, can be found by visiting www.MGVR.org.

So how did the race go? Les waited until all the other MG's were off, and then started from the back. In the course of the race, he passed the entire field. After the sixth of seven laps, he pulled off into pit lane and parked his car. He had given the fans quite a show, but it was someone else's turn to win this race. What about the rest of the race?

The top finishers all earned their positions with excellent driving and with well prepared cars. In the photo, that's Charles Guest holding the champaign bottle. Our very dear friend John Targett (of Targett Motorsport fame) took second place in his red MGB. John is the tall gentleman standing to the right of Les. Our new friend Harry Gentry drove his Midget Mk1 to third place. Harry is wearing the tuxedo. Both John and Harry had overcome substantial mechanical troubles earlier during the weekend. A good time was had by all...

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This is a before-picture of Jerry Richards' truly badass MGB GT V8 (note: he has two). I'm not going to post pictures of all the damage... Don't worry, the car will be repaired and will return better than ever.