TEAM ZORA USA – Pulpaddict

TEAM ZORA USA @ MONZA

The Three Mossketeers – Mike Moss, John Cutrone & Hank Gruenberg – all members of the Sarasota Café Racers, spend a week in Italy preparing for the 2025 Mille Miglia. They represent TEAM ZORA USA @ MONZA!

Similar to a travel industry FAM (familiarization) trip, The Spirit of Zora ’57 FI Corvette driver Mike Moss and TEAM ZORA USA teammate, John Cutrone were joined by Hank “Tifosi” Gruenberg on this dream trip: Milano to Monza to Modena. As guests of Maserati Corse, the motorsport soul of the luxury Italian carmaker, the Mossketeers had all-access creds for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Race, and an exclusive test session of the new Maserati MCXtrema racecar at Monza, Italy’s Temple of Speed.

The trip was curated by Cutrone, to gather hospitality, food & wine information as he will be managing TEAM ZORA USA during the Mille Miglia He is creating an agenda for Mike Moss and co-driver Bud Bennett who will be traveling the historic Brescia-Rome-Brescia route. Gruenberg, an experienced Ferrari driver will be sharing his driving and luxury goods shopping experiences in Italy with the Team.

Monza and Maserati racing were the trio from Sarasota, FL’s prime attractions. Mike is one of the lucky 62 who will be receiving a very limited production MCXtrema, and was at Monza for his first on-track experience with Andrea Bertolini, Maserati’s test and development driver. Bertolini, at just 19, was the youngest Scuderia Ferrari test driver, later moving up to work in the experimental and development labs at Ferrari. He won the WEC Championship (GTE AM) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015, and is currently Maserati’s Chief Test Driver.

After hot laps with Bertolini in an MCXtrema, Mike Moss shared his experiences trackside with Italian motorsports media and TEAM ZORA USA: “Holy crap! That was the most exhilarating experience ever. The violence of the braking, flying through the S-turns, the G-forces. Unbelievable. Andrea was amazing. He brakes at the last possible point throwing you violently forward, and then turns like the car is pegged to the track. The car never slipped in the turns. It was a violent ride. A real racecar with a real race driver. Nothing can prepare you for what you go through.”

Clearly blown away by Bertolini’s driving expertise and the MCXtrema’s capability at speed on a legendary racetrack, it should be noted that Moss is an experienced Historic racing driver. He pilots his ex-Peter Revson Can-Am Lola T163 powered by a fuel-injected 513-inch aluminum big-block, Lola T70 Mark IIIB with a 432-inch Dart/Chevy, and a Ford quad-cam Turbo Gurney Santa Ana Eagle. This was not his first rodeo!

TEAM ZORA USA’s Monza/Maserati adventure is being followed by an exhilarating week of driving, visiting automotive museums and collections, and experiencing fine Italian food, wines and hotels in preparation for the Mille Miglia ‘Storica’ next year.

For more information about Maserati Racing and the MCXtrema, please visit https://www.maserati.com/us/en/corse

Follow TEAM ZORA USA’s 1000 Miglia experiences in the USA & Italy, the preparation of The Spirit of Zora ’57 FI Corvette progress and TEAM ZORA USA @ MONZA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564994129830

GM’S MARK REUSS CHECKS OUT TEAM ZORA USA CORVETTE!

Corvette historic racer Jake Angel blogs about sharing a common interest when GM’S MARK REUSS CHECKS OUT TEAM ZORA USA CORVETTE!

On the last day of racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, I had a well-dressed visitor in the paddocks. While I have been racing two Corvettes – ’60 Fuelie & a Corvette Challenge car – for years and follow GM Corvette Racing, I was not aware of who he was.

He was wearing a white button-down shirt with a Corvette Racing logo, looking at cars pitting around mine. We shook hands and when I asked him if he was working for Chevrolet, he responded, “Yes, I’m Mark Reuss and actually the president of GM.”

I’m embarrassed to admit the name had not immediately rang a bell, I was just excited and I wanted to show him my racecar. Then my brain fog lifted and I realized I was talking to the president of General Motors! “If you’re into Corvette Racing, can I show you my ’60 Fuelie?”

We talked about C1 Corvette racecars for a few minutes, and I explained that my car – nicknamed “Baby Shark” – was wrenched by TEAM ZORA USA teammate and legendary Corvette racer and tuner, Larry Webb. And, Chevrolet had originally shipped it from St. Louis to Los Angeles for road racer, Dave MacDonald. MacDonald and Bill Thomas prepared it for its first race – the Rose Cup in Portland, Oregon on July 4^th. Since then, it has been a racecar and never registered for the road. I also told him story behind the TEAM ZORA USA and Spirit of Zora livery.

We spent about 15 minutes together, yelling over the scalded-cat- like sound of the Jackie Stewart Tyrrell warming up in our paddock. When Mark was leaving, he realized that he was out of business cards, so he took one of mine and photographed it next to my racecar’s livery so he could connect the dots when he got back to his office. He wished me well on the next round on the track, and I was still in shock that GM President Mark Reuss, a vintage Corvette owner, and Corvette Racing’s Chief Cheerleader, was interested in “Baby Shark” and our connection with TEAM ZORA USA.In the words of Jerry Garcia in the Grateful Dead hit single, HE’S GONE, “nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.”

PHOTOS: Bill Dolph.

For more information about GM’S MARK REUSS CHECKS OUT TEAM ZORA USA CORVETTE! and TEAM ZORA USA, please contact Martyn L. Schorr: MLSchorr@Verizon.Net

TEAM ZORA USA will be competing in 2024 & 2025 1000 Miglia events in a ’57 Corvette Fuelie. For the 1000 Miglia calendar of events worldwide and the history of the Mille Miglia, please visit https://1000miglia.it/en/history-of-1000-miglia/brescia-city-of-the-1000-miglia/

ROMAN HOLIDAY 2: Fantastico!

ROMAN HOLIDAY 2: Fantastico!

ROMAN HOLIDAY 2: Fantastico! Team Zora USA will bring a fuel-injected ’57 Corvette to the 1000 Miglia Warm Up USA in Virginia in October 2024 and the 1000 Miglia in Italy in 2025 to Celebrate America’s Sports Car! More about our car and team coming soon. Ciao!