Words and photography by Vijay Sankar
Velocity Invitational is a motorsports and lifestyle event in northern California primarily dedicated to celebrating speed, history, and the stories of racing in a festival-style atmosphere where you can see and hear the storied cars, both on track and up close. It was kicked off in 2019 to bring special racecars out of their quiet garages, and let them race so drivers and enthusiasts can relive the sights, sounds and smells of historic racing.
In its fourth annual event at Sonoma Raceway from Nov 10-12, the headliner was the 60th anniversary celebration of McLaren, which brought along a large selection of their historic F1, Can-Am and Le Mans race cars for dynamic demonstrations by renowned racing drivers. Ford unveiled their brand-new track-biased GT Mk IV, and the Mustang vs Mini race styled after the Goodwood Revival, among a series of other historic race categories entertained the attendees by tackling Sonoma’s challenging 12-turn road course throughout the weekend.
Velocity attempts to stand out from events of this genre by staging cars in a carefully curated environment, drawing inspiration from European counterparts like the Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed. The event commits to showcasing not only extraordinary and historically correct racing machines, but also providing an atmosphere of wine, food, sim racing, ride-alongs, art, technology and more. The goal of the event is to introduce a new generation of enthusiasts to a hobby that will hopefully carry forward the love of racing.
McLaren, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, returned to Velocity with the largest display of cars from its heritage collection, many never seen in North America. The weekend witnessed multiple championship winning Formula 1 cars, originally piloted by legends like Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Bruce McLaren and Alain Prost, being exercised close to their upper limits by Lando Norris, Pato O’Ward, Tony Kanaan, Tanner Foust, Stefan Johansson and Zak Brown. A huge contingent of younger fans flocked to the racetrack over the weekend to meet F1 star Lando Norris.
Modern hypercars from Pagani, Ford and McLaren graced the occasion, with a remarkable set of four McLaren F1 road cars being present in one place. The trio of Le Mans GT1 racecars from McLaren, Porsche and Mercedes drew much attention, and so did the dynamic display of rally machines by DirtFish Rally School. Pre-war racecars were not spared either, and had their own category titled Rag Time Racers.
Velocity Invitational ultimately highlighted that the best way to preserve historic racing is to provide an opportunity for drivers, teams and spectators to openly experience and communicate about what makes these vehicles so important. In four years of running, the event has carved itself out to be an essential pilgrimage for vintage racing enthusiasts in the country. The enthusiasm displayed by the young crowd in attendance underlined that the future of motorsports and vintage cars is in sound hands.
