Indholdsfortegnelse for 05/01/23 i Autosport

We kick off 2023 by revealing your favourite motorsport memories. Autosport International fans were asked to vote for their best moments before Christmas, and now we have the results (page 25). Although the ranking isn’t what we expected, it’s nice to see a mix of rallying, sportscar and tin-top events up there with some of the most famous moments in Formula 1 history. Thank you to all those who voted and be sure to take a look at the special gallery based on the poll at the Birmingham NEC event on 14-15 January. We bring you some of the other likely show highlights on p16. Continuing the theme of multiple categories, we look at both Sauber’s new F1 deal with Audi and Porsche’s LMDh this week. The domination of Mercedes…

FORMULA 1 A Red Bull Formula 1 car will run demonstration laps of Australia’s famous Mount Panorama circuit during the Bathurst 12 Hour weekend next month. Red Bull’s presence at the Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener will include an RB7, used during the 2011 F1 season, running laps of the 3.86-mile venue. The driver of the car is still to be officially unveiled, but it could easily fall under the remit of new third driver Daniel Ricciardo, whose role includes commercial activity and demonstration appearances. Ricciardo rejoined Red Bull after his exit from McLaren at the end of last year, and has made little secret of his admiration of Bathurst and his desire to experience the circuit first-hand. Jenson Button holds the unofficial lap record at Mount Panorama, having set…

It’s a winter tradition as comforting as The Great Escape being on telly on Christmas day, or your local council giving the OK to roadworks when you’re trying to get out to buy that last-minute present on 24 December. The Andros Trophy is still going on strong, these days with electric machinery, and completed its first two rounds in December, at Val Thorens and in Andorra. Aurelien Panis, pictured, is currently leading the standings in his Sainteloc Audi from Renault-driving multiple champion Jean-Baptiste Dubourg, Dorian Boccolacci, nephew-and-uncle Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller (a 10-time title winner), and Nathanael Berthon. World Rally contender Adrien Fourmaux is ninth, and the action picks up again this weekend at Isola 2000.…

FORMULA 2 Juan Manuel Correa has secured a full-time return to Formula 2 for this season, four years after being seriously injured at Spa in the accident that claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert. He will line up alongside 2019 Macau Grand Prix winner Richard Verschoor at Van Amersfoort Racing. VAR is entering its second year in F2, and Correa filled one of its seats in the 2022 season finale at Yas Marina for his F2 comeback. He then stayed on at the Abu Dhabi track and ran for two of the three days of post-season testing with the team. Verschoor (right) has been umbilically connected with VAR’s Dutch rival MP Motorsport for most of his career, so this is something of a coup for the orange-and-black squad. He was…

How do we know when we’re living through a truly great moment? It must be momentous and memorable, meaningful to many. Critically, it doesn’t have to be a positive development in our collective history. But, in general, great moments in sport are positive. In just the past few weeks, the football World Cup ended with an instant classic as the irrepressible brilliance of Kylian Mbappe came so close to rewriting the latest legendary chapter in Lionel Messi’s storied career in the France versus Argentina final. In another type of football also last month, the Minnesota Vikings NFL team stunned the Indianapolis Colts by overturning a record 33-point deficit, going from 33-0 at halftime to win 39-36 in an overtime quarter. This week we report the result of a survey conducted…

Electricity and Birmingham are well-established bedfellows – the city is the historical heartland of the British heavy-metal movement, after all. But far from being a black sabbath, it will be an illuminating Thursday to Sunday at the NEC thanks to the Autosport show’s International EV Showcase. At the heart of this will be the Forze VIII, a sports-racing car built using hydrogen fuel-cell technology by a team of Dutch students named Forze Hydrogen Racing. “Ever since our founding in 2007, the team has grown from building hydrogen go-karts to full-size LMP racing cars performing in official competitions, competing against regular petrol-powered race cars,” says Forze’s Thomas Noordzij. “Something as extraordinary as this is only possible with real dedication, which the students at Forze have proven year after year.” The Extreme…

VOTING RESULT 20% Colin McRae’s victory on the 1995 RAC Rally would have further reaching consequences than even the Scot himself could have imagined. Or hoped for. Just about every aspect of that magnificent victory has been debated, deliberated and dissected. For fans, it’s the story that just keeps giving. Rewind one round and you’ve got McRae and Derek Ringer coming close to running over members of the Subaru World Rally Team management in Spain – seriously. Frustrated to the point of despair, team principal David Richards despatched John Kennard, Nigel Riddle and John Spiller. Riddle remembers: “DR told us, ‘Don’t worry, Colin will understand.’ As we stood there in the middle of the road, you could hear the car coming and I thought, ‘There’s no bloody way Colin will understand.’”…

Later this month, Porsche returns to top-level prototype racing in the Daytona 24 Hours. It’s not even six years since it last won the Le Mans 24 Hours for a record 19th time, although Toyota’s dominance since then makes it feel longer, and Porsche’s all-new 963 is a very different animal from the 919 Hybrid that went before. Despite the 919’s technical prowess and impressive success – three FIA World Endurance Championship titles and a trio of Le Mans triumphs in just four seasons – what it couldn’t boast was longevity. Here’s where 963 should win big; in many ways it’s more of a successor to the iconic 962 of the 1980s: it has been designed with the long haul in mind. The 962, derived from the 956 Group C…

Although there was a reduced entry due to New Zealand’s late COVID emergence and resultant high shipping and fuel costs, it had quality. After three years away, the Silver Fern Rally wanted to let everyone know it was back. This was also the first Silver Fern to run on official pacenotes and not maps. Kiwi Jeff Judd had Belgian ex-World Rally star Stephane Prevot alongside him and led, but he punctured a tyre and slid off the road, handing the lead to Englishman James Ford and Scotsman Neil Shanks in a similar Ford Escort Mk2. Ford and Shanks then held their nerve, managing their lead as Judd went on the attack, to win on their first visit. “The win is a big surprise to be honest,” said Ford, who is…

TCR UK Reigning TCR UK champion Chris Smiley will bid for a second title this season at the wheel of a Restart Racing-run Honda Civic Type R. The British Touring Car race winner claimed two TCR UK race victories across the 2022 campaign, and secured the title over rival Isaac Smith after dropped scores were applied. “I’m excited to be staying on with Restart Racing and everyone with the team for a second consecutive season, where our goal is to carry on from where we left off in 2022 and defend the drivers’ title,” said Smiley. “We’re going to do the best job that we can in every event with the aim of repeating that title success. “It’s great to see the championship move back into being a headline act…

MINI CHALLENGE Mini Challenge Trophy frontrunner Tom Ovenden will continue in the series this year with Excelr8 Motorsport. The former Junior Rallycross star switched to circuit racing for 2021 and, after a learning campaign, finished third in last year’s standings, claiming two wins. “My goal is very simple and I’m going to be working my hardest on and off the track to try and win the Trophy title,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I’m going to use everything I’ve learned in these last two years and give it everything I’ve got.” Ovenden has also been named as an Excelr8 British Touring Car Academy driver as he eyes a future progression to the top JCW Mini category and, ultimately, the BTCC. “The BTCC Academy role is a…

750 MOTOR CLUB 750 FORMULA CHAMPIONSHIP Peter Bove (Darvi 88P) ALFA ROMEO CHAMPIONSHIP Andrew Bourke (156) ARMED FORCES RACE CHALLENGE Doug Inglis (Mazda MX-5) BIKESPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP Simon Walker-Hansell (Radical SR3 RS) BMW CAR CLUB RACING CHAMPIONSHIP Lee Piercey (E36) CLASSIC STOCK HATCH CHAMPIONSHIP Chris Dear (Peugeot 205 GTI) CLUB ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP Robert Baker/Carl Swift (SEAT Leon TCR) F1000 CHAMPIONSHIP Rob Welham FORMULA VEE CHAMPIONSHIP Craig Pollard (WEV) HOT HATCH CHAMPIONSHIP David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) LOCOST CHAMPIONSHIP Craig Land MA7DA CHAMPIONSHIP Jonathan Lisseter MX-5 CUP Ben Short CLIO SPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Andrew Harding (197) SPORTS 1000 CHAMPIONSHIP Richard Webb (Spire GT3S) SPORT SPECIALS CHAMPIONSHIP Stuart Thompson (MK Indy RR) TOYOTA MR2 CHAMPIONSHIP Aaron Cooke (Roadster) TYPE R TROPHY Jake Hewlett BRITISH AUTOMOBILE RACING CLUB 2CVs David O’Keeffe BRITCAR TROPHY Chris Overend/James Whitley…

The grid has formed for the third round of the 1996 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch. Alain Menu’s Williams-run Renault Laguna lines up on pole position, from Jo Winkelhock, Rickard Rydell and Frank Biela. The last-named used his Audi A4’s four-wheel drive to power into the lead to win race one, and the BMW of Winkelhock stormed race two from pole. This was Biela’s year: he won eight races on his way to the BTCC crown. On the Brands Indy circuit, the high-spec Super Touring cars were lapping in the 45-second bracket in qualifying, the top 20 covered by a scant second. For classic motorsport downloads and DVDs head to dukevideo.com…

Of all the circuits on the GT calendar, Fuji Speedway is certainly the most ‘Tilke-like’, owing mostly to the Toyota-owned venue’s 2005 renovation that enabled it to (briefly) snatch away the Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka for 2007-08. Few would argue that any other track besides Suzuka has any right to be regarded as the spiritual home of Japanese motorsport, and Fuji, at least in its current guise, has its fair share of detractors. But one driver who thinks differently is Ronnie Quintarelli. For long-time Nissan driver Quintarelli, a four-time Super GT champion, what sets Fuji apart is not so much the layout itself, but the atmosphere, particularly during its annual Golden Week fixture (traditionally run to 500km, but this year to 450km) in early May. Since the demise of…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 could be set to start the process to add new teams to the grid after the FIA president revealed that he wants to appeal for expressions of interest. The F1 grid has stood at 10 teams since the collapse of the Manor squad at the end of the 2016 season, but the series has enjoyed a significant commercial boom in the meantime. It has led to a number of parties publicly expressing a desire to join the field, the most notable being Andretti Global, headed up by Michael Andretti. Until now, the FIA has not made any public indication that it would look to evaluate possible new teams through a formal tender process, leaving the grid set at 10 teams for the foreseeable future. But in…

IMSA Wayne Taylor Racing has forged a partnership with Andretti Autosport as it gears up to expand to run two Acura ARX-06 LMDh prototypes in the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship. The multiple Daytona 24 Hours-winning team believes a link-up with one of the giants of US motorsport was essential as it moves forward into the new era of sportscar racing. The new entity will race from Daytona this month as WTR with Andretti Autosport, following the IndyCar and Formula E team taking an undisclosed stake in the operation founded for 2007 by Wayne Taylor. WTR will continue to run from its current workshops until moving into a new Andretti facility in Indianapolis due to come on stream in 2025. Taylor explained that he had been persuaded to join forces with…

WRC Briton Gus Greensmith has ended his eight-year partnership with M-Sport ahead of the 2023 World Rally Championship. The 26-year-old’s future at the Ford squad appeared uncertain after his name was not included when the team confirmed three cars for this month’s Monte Carlo Rally season opener. It will field Ford Puma Rally1 machinery for full-time drivers Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet, plus Jourdan Serderidis. Discussions were held between M-Sport and Greensmith to continue their liaison into 2023, but a deal could not be reached. Greensmith has been part of M-Sport’s top-flight WRC programme since 2020 after climbing through the rally ranks with the Cumbrian organisation, beginning in an R1 Fiesta. Fourth on the 2021 Safari Rally is his best WRC result. He has been linked to a move that…

FORMULA 3 There was plenty of progress made on the FIA Formula 3 driver jigsaw puzzle over the Christmas period, with top team ART Grand Prix assembling an intriguing line-up for the coming season. Gregoire Saucy, the 2021 Formula Regional European champion, was already confirmed as remaining at ART, which carried Victor Martins to the F3 crown in 2022. Now he has been joined by 2020 GB3 title winner Kaylen Frederick – the American’s third team in three years in FIA F3 – and exciting Bulgarian Fernando Alonso protege Nikola Tsolov (right). Tsolov was still only 15 when he took part in the three-day post-season FIA F3 test at Valencia with ART. At that time he was still in the midst of his crushing Spanish Formula 4 title-winning season –…

DAKAR RALLY Toyota star Nasser Al-Attiyah had established an early lead in the 2023 Dakar Rally as we went to press, after a litany of issues derailed Audi trio Carlos Sainz, Mattias Ekstrom and Stephane Peterhansel. The 45th edition of the event was expected to be a three-way fight between Toyota, Audi and the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme operation, with Audi in particular expected to provide a stern challenge to reigning champion Toyota in the second campaign of the radical RS Q e-tron. And when former DTM champion Ekstrom claimed victory in Prologue and team-mate Sainz repeated that feat in the first stage proper, there was genuine belief that Audi had stepped up its game enough to give Toyota a run for its money across the two weeks in Saudi…

Is Ericsson really a winless wonder? I thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas double issue as always (the Top 50 drivers of the year are pretty much spot on), and one section that really caught my attention was your writers’ picks for the best drivers never to win an F1 grand prix. I can’t argue with most choices, but I had to do a double take when I saw Marcus Ericsson’s name mentioned! This is the same Marcus Ericsson who was comfortably beaten by every single team-mate in his F1 career (including Andre Lotterer who made one start at Spa 2014 but outqualified Marcus), was only able to stay in F1 for as long as he did due to funding (Felipe Nasr scored Sauber’s only points in 2016 yet was dropped) and…

TICKETS AUTOSPORTINTERNATIONAL.COM The UK has a massive motorsport industry, with seven of the 10 Formula 1 teams based in this country, so that plays a large part in the engineering sector being a significant part of the nation’s economy. There are ever-increasing opportunities to get an education in motorsport, and students will get the chance to experience a flavour of the industry at Autosport International. One exhibitor is the University of Wolverhampton’s Racing team that immerses undergraduates in real competition environments. Professor Amar Aggoun, Head of the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences at University of Wolverhampton, says: “Our racing team is unique in Higher Education, where our student engineers compete in the Praga Cup, as well as being the factory works team for the Morgan Motor Company, where…

The Autosport Engineering Show will again form an integral part of the line-up at the NEC, with cutting-edge specialists and top motorsport suppliers in attendance. Held on the opening two trade-only days, across Thursday and Friday, Autosport Engineering is the first major industry event of 2023 and is therefore an important showcase for exhibitors to reveal their latest innovations and plan collaborations in the year ahead. And you can hear their insights in another returning feature, the Business Forum, which brings together top decision-makers for topical panel discussions on a range of pressing issues faced by industry. Among those that have confirmed attendance include Autosport International stalwarts such as spec LMDh gearbox supplier Xtrac, plus the British Touring Car Championship and NASCAR Cup Series’ brake and clutch supplier AP Racing, as…

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VOTING RESULT 4% TICKETS AUTOSPORTINTERNATIONAL.COM The 1971 Italian GP often grabs the limelight because Peter Gethin’s winning speed was a record that stood for three decades and just 0.61 seconds covered the top five. But the epic slipstreamer at pre-chicane Monza two years before also deserves to be remembered and is the one that makes it onto this list. Jackie Stewart’s Ken Tyrrell-run Matra and Lotus star Jochen Rindt had been the pacesetters of the 1969 Formula 1 season, but Rindt’s poor luck meant there wasn’t a title fight. When they arrived in Italy for round eight of 11, Stewart led Jacky Ickx by 29 points (when nine was awarded for victory), while Rindt was still waiting for his first win and had just three points on the board. Fortunately, both…

VOTING RESULT 10% We’d been counting down the gap, lap by lap, as Williams duo Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell blew past at fearsome old Silverstone. Mansell, the true grit, true Brit hero of the masses, was on a mission in front of his deeply partisan and noisy ‘barmy army’. Despite the best efforts of Alain Prost early on, Piquet and Mansell crushed the opposition in the Silverstone sun, Honda power and their brilliant FW11Bs a cut above the rest. Prost jumped the Williams pair from the second row, but by Maggotts poleman Piquet was through and Mansell soon followed. With an eye on tyre wear and fuel consumption, they still left the rest for dead. Patrick Head recalls the race as Mansell’s finest day in a Williams. “Nigel dropped well…

VOTING RESULT 13% Virtuosity in the wet is regarded as one of the hallmarks of a great driver. Like his friend and fellow Scot Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart starred in treacherous conditions on several occasions. But there’s one that stands out – and was selected in 2017 as Autosport’s greatest F1 drive in the rain. The old 14.2-mile Nurburgring was challenging enough in the dry but was something else again in the mist and rain that greeted the 20 starters of the 1968 German GP. Stewart had qualified down in sixth in his Ken Tyrrell-run Matra, having missed the best of the generally poor weather during practice. He was also driving with his right wrist in a plastic support, after breaking his scaphoid in an F2 accident at Jarama three months…

It’s all change at Sauber this week as ex-McLaren Formula 1 chief Andreas Seidl starts his new job as overall boss of the Swiss organisation. Seidl has taken on Ferrari-bound Fred Vasseur’s CEO title and will oversee the big picture and the long-term strategy of the group, including its technology business, as it builds towards its full collaboration with Audi in 2026. A new team principal will be hired to take on the rest of Vasseur’s erstwhile responsibilities, and oversee the day-to-day running of the race operation. For Seidl the move represents a homecoming of sorts – he spent four years in Hinwil with what was then BMW’s works F1 team. And he’s not the only key player with BMW connections. Audi motorsport CEO Adam Baker was also involved back…

So what is Porsche’s 963 like to drive? Ex-Formula 1 racer Felipe Nasr has been testing the car “since it was being born” and racked up thousands of miles since – from the snowy rollout at Weissach through the blazing-hot summer at Monza and Motorland Aragon, and even downpours at Sebring during hurricane season. “It feels different to the DPi with the hybrid on the car; there are definitely some driving differences in terms of the style,” Nasr reports. “When we press the brake pedal we don’t just have the mechanical system, we have the e-motor also helping us slow down the car. You stamp the brake, you expect the stopping power straight away – this is no different, but the feeling through the pedal is. I think we all…

CATERHAM Caterham will host a special end-of-season event at the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados this year as part of the manufacturer’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The 24-26 November Caterham Caribbean Cup will feature four sprint races as well as two one-hour endurance contests, one of which will be held at night. The event is open to 270R, 310R and Caterham Seven Championship UK-specification machines. The non-championship fixture is set to bring a landmark season to a close, rounding out a calendar that also includes an appearance on the British Touring Car support bill for the top-tier Seven UK category as well as visits to Zandvoort and the Algarve circuit. The trip to Barbados, which is being financially supported by the island nation’s tourist board, comes after Caterham previously attempted to…

OBITUARY Dallas Smith, who died in December, was an extraordinary servant to motorsport, having begun his scrutineering ‘career’ in the late 1950s. In 2019, Motorsport UK recognised his remarkable contribution with a long service award honouring 62 years in this vital safety role at the age of 90. Smith did not retire immediately, but continued to officiate well into his 10th decade, after handing the baton of Historic Sports Car Club chief scrutineer to his son, Matthew Lambkin Smith. Lincolnshire-domiciled Dallas was integral to the club’s success, from working at the Griffiths Formula race at Castle Combe in 1966 that spawned it. The HSCC became his passion and he worked with a succession of prime movers, most notably the long-serving Grahame White. A pragmatic fellow, whose early experience as a…

Now that Christmas is already becoming an increasingly distant memory and any leftovers have long since disappeared, this is the perfect moment to take stock of the previous 12 months. Autosport has already assessed how the major English circuit racing clubs performed during 2022 and highlighted how many categories displayed impressive resilience amid the cost-of-living crisis. But, at the beginning of January last year, Autosport also set a series of New Year’s resolutions for national motorsport more generally. And now is a good opportunity to reflect on whether they were stuck to or were quickly forgotten. One of the most significant 2022 resolutions surrounded improving standards. While this applied to those behind the wheel, it was also aimed at race control after some questionable calls the previous year. Sadly, this…

FORMULA 1 The Chinese Grand Prix is pushing to rejoin the Formula 1 calendar in April amid the easing of the nation’s COVID-19 restrictions. F1 cancelled the 16 April race at Shanghai last month, leaving an empty slot on the 24-race schedule. There has been no GP in China since 2019, when it staged the 1000th world championship race. But with China now starting to move away from its COVID-zero policy by ending quarantine requirements for arrivals in the country, Autosport has learned that the organisers of the race have reached out to F1 for a reinstatement in its original slot. Talks over China are set to intensify in the coming weeks, with F1 ramping up its travel and logistics work later this month for the flyaway races. F1 said…

WEC Revived Italian car maker Isotta Fraschini is teaming up with the British Vector Sport squad for its planned 2023 World Endurance Championship assault first outlined in October. The Silverstone-based team has made a solo entry for the as-yet-unseen Isotta Le Mans Hypercar. The plan is for Vector, established ahead of the 2022 season for an assault on the LMP2 class of the WEC, to join this year’s series in time for round three at Spa at the end of April. That will follow the start of testing with the design overseen by GT specialist Michelotto at the end of February. Isotta managing director Claudio Berro, whose career credits include overseeing the Maserati MC12 GT1 project and a stint as motorsport director at Lotus Cars, explained that the deal with…

BTCC Popular race-winning British Touring Car Championship battler Dan Lloyd doesn’t often celebrate Christmas knowing he’s got his drive sorted out for the following year. Actually, that never happened – until the festive season just gone. Lloyd put his name to a Team Hard Cupra seat for 2023, after three race wins alongside champion Tom Ingram in the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai squad last year. Yorkshireman Lloyd has always had to work hard for budget, and an increase in what was required to remain at Excelr8 forced him to look further afield for this year. He joins a Hard squad bolstered by the arrival of multiple-title-winning designer/engineer Kevin Berry, and will work with Adam Tanner, with whom he secured two front-row starts on three outings with the Eurotech Honda squad in…

OBITUARY Ex-Formula 1 driver Philippe Streiff, who was wheelchair-bound for over three decades following a testing accident in Brazil in 1989, died before Christmas at the age of 67. Streiff was born in Grenoble in 1955. His father had a heating installation business, so he had easy access to tools and developed an interest in mechanical things, while he studied at art school. He began his racing career in a kart bought from Rene Arnoux before moving into car racing, initially doing his own preparation. His father couldn’t help him financially, but Streiff proved adept at finding and servicing sponsors, a skill that would help him to progress through the ranks. Streiff won the Volant Motul scholarship at Nogaro and began to make his name in Formula Renault in 1978,…

TICKETS AUTOSPORTINTERNATIONAL.COM It’s back! The last time the doors of the Birmingham NEC were thrown open I to welcome visitors to Autosport International, Max Verstappen was almost two years away from becoming a Formula 1 world champion, George Russell didn’t have a single F1 point to his name, Theresa May had not long been replaced as prime minister, Donald Trump still lived in the White House, and the phrase ‘lockdown haircut’ didn’t exist. Then COVID-19 hit and, as a result, it wasn’t possible to stage the 2021 and 2022 editions of the world’s leading motorsport show. But, now that we’re in 2023, it’s all systems go, and Autosport International takes place over 12-15 January. One of the highlights of this year’s show is the involvement of three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart…

UK club motorsport is always well represented at the Birmingham gathering – indeed, it often provides the meat of the show – and this year will be no exception. As well as the usual array of clubs and series displaying their wares and trying to encourage wannabe or established racers to join them, there will be an eclectic mix of machinery. And one of the most popular is bound to be Harvey Death’s Austin Mini Cooper S V8. The Rollcentre Racing-developed machine boasts a 380bhp V8 usually found in Radicals and has been the car to beat in Brands Hatch’s Fastest Mini in the World races in recent years. The 630kg spaceframe car boasts a paddleshift gearbox developed by Xtrac, which will also be exhibiting at Autosport International. “It’s like…

SPECIAL FEATURE Hall 2 At the end of last year, Autosport International asked fans to select their favourite motorsport moments from a list chosen by a panel that included three-time Formula 1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart. And here are the results. They are a little surprising, with three different categories represented in the top three, perhaps underlining the fact that the show in Birmingham is not F1-focused. While all these moments are undoubtedly memorable, the order is not what we expected and the impact of Hollywood’s Le Mans ’66 is apparent. It would be interesting to see how the list might change if the exercise was repeated in 10 years’ time… Over the next 10 pages we’ll look back at the selection in reverse order, with input and recollections from…

VOTING RESULT 4% “Winning the British Touring Car Championship defines my career, but it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. It was soured a bit by the controversy with John and Steve, but if the clash hadn’t happened we wouldn’t be talking about it.” Tim Harvey (below) probably has a point when it comes to his remarkable 1992 BTCC title success at the Silverstone finale. The Vic Lee BMW driver finished fourth to take the crown by three points, but it was the controversy between his team-mate Steve Soper and Vauxhall’s John Cleland that makes the event so memorable – and got it onto Autosport magazine’s cover. The two-litre era that became known as Super Touring is widely regarded as the peak of touring car competition, so it’s fitting that the…

VOTING RESULT 12% The greatest single lap in history, 1000 miles around Italy, from Brescia to Rome and back again – all recorded for posterity in the greatest piece of writing on motor racing ever committed to paper, by his funny little co-driver with the long beard and specs. Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson on the Mille Miglia in 1955… it just doesn’t get any better. “You only had one chance to get it right, on every corner for 1000 miles, boy!” Moss recalled 50 years later of his greatest achievement in a racing car. “I really did regard it as a special challenge. It was never just another race.” He’d made three previous attempts on the Mille Miglia, all with Jaguar – all had ended in failure – before he…

They threw the kitchen sink, then created a kitchen sink drama. Cold revenge had fired Ford’s ambition to defeat Ferrari and conquer Le Mans, and now, after the bitter blow of 1965 – six GT40s went in, not a single one came out – nothing was left to chance. Nothing, that is, except the infighting and rancour between the Blue Oval’s teams and drivers. This time, after glory at Daytona and Sebring, eight of the seven-litre GT40 MkIIs lined up for the Big One, from three camps: a trio from Shelby American, three more from Holman Moody and a pair from Alan Mann Racing. United by a cause to avenge Enzo Ferrari’s snub of Ford’s advances in 1963, after 22 wasted days of negotiation, the two US teams and the…

The epic Silver Fern Rally crossed 3000 kilometres (nearly 1900 miles) of New Zealand’s beautiful South Island, with 900km of special stages over mountain passes, hills, forest tracks and fast gravel countryside roads, to finish back in Christchurch after seven hard days and 43 highly competitive stages. Five days after arriving in New Zealand but before the action started, the team announced that our hired 20-valve Toyota Corolla wasn’t ready, providing a Ford Escort instead to fit the bill. It didn’t! The Ford wouldn’t have lasted two days, never mind seven days of hard labour. Luckily, New Zealand Historic champion John Silcock was on hand to find another Toyota, which was trailered four hours up to Christchurch that night. Three cars in five hours had me on edge. One major…

BRITISH GT Reigning GT Cup champions Simon Orange and Michael O’Brien will contest a full season of the British GT Championship in 2023. The Pro-Am pairing competed in the final round of the 2022 campaign at Donington Park aboard an Orange Racing powered by JMH McLaren 720S GT3, finishing fourth after Orange led the opening stages. Their nine-race 2023 assault begins at Oulton Park on 8-10 April. “After what turned out to be quite a year in 2022, I can’t wait to get started again, only this time at the top level of GT racing in the UK by joining the British GT Championship,” said Orange, who claimed the outright GT Cup title in 2020 and 2022, and class title for the past three years. It’s going to be really…

750MC Atomic Racing says high demand for its new MK Cup 200 model means a points-scoring championship instead of an invitation series will be run for the car this year. The new championship will run within the 750 Motor Club’s Sports 1000 category after 10 firm orders were received for the prototype machines, which feature a 1340cc Hayabusa engine and six-speed sequential gearbox allied to a Seven-style chassis from MK Sportscars. A number of the cars are also set to appear in the Classic Sports Car Club’s Magnificent Sevens series. Atomic director Dave Watson, who raced a Cup 200 in selected Sports 1000 rounds last year, said: “We thought it would be five or six for 2023 so to get to double figures before Christmas is a pleasant surprise, and…

MALLORY PARK 750MC PLUM PUDDING 26 DECEMBER Giles Kirk and Ash Hicklin shared the victories at the traditional conclusion to the circuit racing year, Mallory Park’s Plum Pudding event held on Boxing Day. Sadly, entry levels were down on those attained in previous seasons – perhaps an early sign of what is to come for club motorsport in 2023 as the cost-of-living crisis bites. However, a cold, crisp, sunny day got spectators flocking to the circuit in their thousands, with many queueing well after racing commenced, only to turn around to do the same a couple of hours later to leave the venue. Having made the short trek from Lincoln, SEAT Leon Supercopa driver Kirk had stiff opposition in the first Saloon Car race from Rod Birley, the man from…

VIDEO GAME NEED FOR SPEED UNBOUND Available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox RRP £49.99 The festive season is a time for video games, when families and friends come together on cold, dark winter days and huddle around the TV for some good old co-op gaming fun. And a staple of that period when I was a kid was Need For Speed Underground on the PlayStation 2. Thus, when any new Need For Speed title comes out, the same question pops up: is it as good as it used to be? That’s the question that publisher EA proposed at the end of 2022 with the latest instalment (the 25th, believe it or not!) of the franchise, Need For Speed Unbound. In short, the answer to the question is no. Frankly, Unbothered…