On the hunt for 1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR #0006

In May 2006, the Porsche Owners Club held an event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.  While I’m sure the Porsches were fun, there were two cars in the corner of one garage that caught my eye.  One was a Pagani Zonda and another was a 1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR.

What does it take to compete with a Zonda?  I knew the CLK-GTR it was special at the time (V-12 engine!) and took the photos below, but didn’t quite realize how rare it was.  Apparently it is only one of seven made and one of four made for the 1997 racing season.  Aside from that, it is apparently the only one in private hands.

Race history for chassis 0006 can be found here.

The car looks like it was a no sale at the Pebble Beach Gooding auction in 2005 with an estimate of $1.2m-$1.5m.  Link here with a little more info.

It may have run up the hill at Goodwood in 2012 and 2014 in 1998 livery as described in this post.

Without looking to intrude on the current owner, does anyone know where the car lives today?

Before and After at Sonoma – Laying Down Rubber

In looking back through a few shots at Sonoma, I happened upon two different photos of the same car in the same corner (Turn 9).  One was taken on the first lap of practice on Friday and one during the second race on Sunday.

Friday welcomes drivers to a clean track.  Sunday bears the scars of a weekend full of racing with multiple cars across multiple classes and multiple races.

Friday shows very clean yellow and blue curbing but Sunday shows a heavy layer of tire rubber – evidence of many cars bouncing over the curbs in search of the fast route through the quick right-left combination.

The Sonoma Grand Prix weekend hosted IndyCar, Pirelli World Challenge (two classes), and an open wheel support series.

What’s the fastest way around Turn 9?  Apparently, it is to use the curbing liberally.  Our tour guide for this set is Ryan Eversley in the Realtime Acura.  The Acura TLX program was winding down in favor of the brand new and highly anticipated NSX GT3 car for 2017, but Eversely (and team-mate for the weekend Peter Kox) was still hustling.

 

2016 Sonoma PwC Paddock – Wright Racing 959 and 911 Race car

Walking through the paddock can provide interesting visual comparisons if you keep a keen watch for such opportunities.  A black road going Porsche 959 resided with the Wright Racing team for the weekend in the Pirelli World Challenge paddock.

Getting a chance to have a close look at a 959 is always a treat but after the second race on Sunday, the team parked the black 959 against the fence alongside one of the team’s team’s 911 race cars.  The chance to visually line up the 1980s supercar with its modern day racing brother was not to be missed.