Toyota/Lexus Release -- Monterey Historics
TOYOTA & LEXUS BRING HISTORY, SPEED, ART AND GIFTS TO ATTENDEES AT THE ROLEX MONTEREY HISTORIC AUTOMOBILE RACES PRESENTED BY TOYOTA TORRANCE, Calif. (August 15, 2006) ¡V Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. is bringing its most historic motorsports vehicles along with renowned drivers, the Panasonic Toyota TF106 F1 car and an array of give-a-ways designed to make life easier for fans attending the 33rd Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races Presented by Toyota, August 18 - 20. Lexus is joining Toyota in bringing special opportunities for attendees with its Art Gallery, which will feature the works of motorsports artist Hector Bergandi. Historic race attendees will have a rare opportunity to see a current Formula 1 car in the garage and on the track. Modern F1 cars are all high tech sophistication. They boast more technology and metallurgy than most major aerospace programs. There are electronics systems that govern the brakes, fuel and gears, and more than 100 sensors and actuators control and monitor various parts of the car. Data is transferred from the car to the pits and engineering crew at around four million bytes per second. The steering wheel alone has 120 separate items, takes about 100 hours to construct and costs about $25,000. In Toyota¡¦s Working Paddock Display, fans will see the 1987 Toyota Celica GTO originally designed and raced by Dan Gurney¡¦s All American Racers Team. From 1986 through 1988, the AAR Toyota Celica GTOs captured 16 IMSA wins, eight pole positions and 21 podiums. In 1987, Toyota became the first Japanese nameplate to win the International Motorsports Association¡¦s manufacturer's and driver's (Chris Cord) championships. The ¡¦87 GTO will be joined by two 1967 2000 GTs. The 2000 GT, which revolutionized the automotive world's view of Japan, was produced in very limited quantities and only raced for one year. It ran in 14 races in 1967 and was driven by Scooter Patrick and Davey Jordan, who combined for four victories and 14 podiums. The 2000 GT is also known for its role in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. Toyota¡¦s display in the Expo area of the track will include 10 past and present motorsports vehicles including: 1975 Celica original pace car; 1978 Dan Gurney; 1981 Tony Danza; 1993 Supra pace car; 1994 Rod Millen¡¦s Pike¡¦s Peak Celica; Lexus Daytona Prototype; 2005 Patrick Dempsey Scion tC; 2006 Craftsman Truck; F1 Show Car; and a 2006 Camry Cup Car. Lexus is also providing a GS 450h and GS 430 for the track safety team. Renowned Toyota drivers Rod Millen, Ivan ¡§Ironman¡¨ Stewart, Juan Fangio II and Ricardo Zonta will be meeting the public in Q&A Forums and autograph sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Millen, a rally and off-road racer, still holds the Pikes Peak Hill Climb record at 10:04:06 (1994, All-Wheel-Drive Toyota Celica Turbo) as well as five Pikes Peak overall championships and eight class championships in addition to his three consecutive Grand National Sport truck titles. Stewart, a desert and stadium off-road racer, has 10 career driver¡¦s championships, 17 Baja 500 wins, three Baja 1000 wins and four SCORE off-road championships, just to name a few. Fangio captured two GTP driver¡¦s championships and two manufacturer¡¦s championships for Toyota as well as twice winning the Sebring 12 hour race and garnering 21 GTP victories. Zonta is one of the three F1 pilots for the Panasonic Toyota F1 car and will be demonstrating the car¡¦s power on the track on Friday, and twice each on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The Q&A Forums will be followed immediately by an autograph session with all of these drivers plus Scooter Patrick and Davey Jordan. For the first time, event attendees will enjoy a shuttle service courtesy of Toyota that will be making loops throughout the day on three routes from the parking lots and camp grounds to the Paddock and Expo areas of the track. Attendees will also be receiving bottled water, canvas bags, sun screen, ear plugs, lanyards, credential holders and posters at Toyota Kiosks and from Toyota street team members roaming the Paddock and Expo areas. ¡§Enter to Win¡¨ contests will allow spectators an opportunity to win Laguna Seca track rides, private tours of the F1 garage plus a visit with Ricardo Zonta and his crew, and tickets to the 2007 Monterey Historic Automobile Races. An exhibit of Hector Luis Bergandi¡¦s motorsports artwork will be the focal point of the Lexus Gallery in the Paddock area. Bergandi, who has been a a Road & Track contributing artist for more than 25 years, has captured drivers like Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, Parnelli Jones and Juan Manuel Fangio, in acrylics, giclees and gouache. His work is collected by motorsports art aficionado¡¦s around the world. Schedule: „X Toyota Working Paddock, Expo Display and Lexus Gallery: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 8 a.m. ¡V 5 p.m. „X Parking lot shuttle services and ¡§enter to win¡¨ contests: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. ¡V 5 p.m „X Panasonic Toyota F1 Demonstration Laps: Friday, 12:30 p.m; Saturday, 12:45 and 3:40 p.m.; Sunday, 12:35 and 3:25 p.m. „X Stewart, Millen, Fangio, Zonta Q&A Forums: Saturday, 10 a.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.; Lexus Gallery „X Stewart, Millen, Fangio, Zonta, Jordan, Patrick Autograph Sessions: Sat., 10:30 a.m. and Sun., 9:20 a.m.; Toyota Working Paddock About Toyota Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion in the United States, marketing products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers in 49 states. Established in 1957, TMS and its subsidiaries also are involved in distribution logistics, motorsports, and research and development. The company¡¦s main Web site is www.toyota.com.
