In case you missed it… thinking about that in both senses of the term: #ICYMI and as a result of COVID-19 there hasn’t been an International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) symposium for a couple of years, and it’s great to see this event back in full swing. Despite the gap years, this November 4th & 5th marked the 6th Annual, Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium for International Motorsports History. The event is hosted by the IMRRC and sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAH) and the Watkins Glen, NY Chamber of Commerce. The conference was held at the Watkins Glen Media Center, a venue that many HPDE participants are familiar with as it often doubles as a dining hall on track day weekends.
Day 1 – Morning – Session 1
Day 1 – Afternoon – Session 2
Over the course of 2 days, we enjoyed nearly 20 different topics and presentations, some lively Q&A as well as discussions. The speakers and topics ranged from polarizing titles like “F1: From Circus to Media Spectacle” by James Miller kicking off the morning of Day 1, through various retellings of events and figures in Motorsports History, like “The Caesars Palace Grand Prix” by Randy Cannon, and “Harry Miller: The Man and the Cars” by Gordon Eliot White to “Lucy O’Reilly Schell: Innovator of French Motorsport” by Lauren Goodman, closing with a roundtable discussion on the afternoon of Day 2 regarding “50 years after TITLE IX: On and Off the Track” moderated by former NASCAR Hall of Fame curator Daniel J. Simone.
Day 2 – Morning – Session 3
Day 2 – Afternoon – Session 4
The evening reception held on-site at the IMRRC (610 S Decatur St, Watkins Glen, NY 14891) at the end of Day 1 was a great time to decompress, swap stories and ask deeper questions of the presenters.
I had some lovely conversations with folks and learned a ton too! More importantly, we celebrated the unveiling of Michael R. Argetsinger’s fully restored 1973 Elden mk10B with a short speech by IMRRC Director Mark Steigerwald (below)
GTM was invited to participate and support the 2 day event, and we sponsored all the Audio/Visual work while leveraging our Twitch livestream to get the symposium into the the homes of folks that couldn’t travel to WGI for the event in person. We had 65 people in attendance, with all sorts of viewers tuned in for the livestream, and hundreds of downloads post-event! It wasn’t without it’s ups and downs, but such is the way for a “live event.” Using our mantra of “Adapt & Overcome” learned from our military friends and paddock wrenchturners alike, we made it happen. But we’ve also got plenty of lessons learned to make next years symposium even better.
Special thanks to Mark Steigerwald and Kip Zeiter from the IMRRC as well as Bob Barr and Don Capps from the SAH, plus Duke Argetsinger for bringing us on to the team! See you in ’23.
Podcast Episodes
If you missed it and would like to check out the symposium for yourself, below are the four FULL LENGTH unedited versions of the sessions hosted on our YouTube channel. More to come on these presentations as they get integrated into the world of Break/Fix and as we begin working closer with the IMRRC to produce a new “historical series” for our show.
**Images load as you scroll. This album contains ~20 images.
More photos available in the Vault!
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