THE MAIN EVENT
Brands Hatch welcomes back the sights and sounds of Formula 1 with the FIA Historic F1 Championship
It is now more than 30 years since Brands Hatch hosted the British Grand Prix for the 12th and final time and it is now abundantly clear that modern Formula 1 cars will never again feature at the spectacular Kent venue.
However, once a year cars from the glory days race on the iconic full Grand Prix circuit, when the Masters FIA Historic F1 Championship headlines the Masters Historic Festival on May 26/27.
The championship is only open to 3-litre cars from 1966-1985 so this means that the wooded grand prix loop will echo to the sound of Cosworth DFV engines, as the clock is turned back to the days when Jo Siffert, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter, Alan Jones and Niki Lauda all won at Brands with a DFV singing away behind their back. By the time Nigel Mansell won the final British GP at Brands Hatch in 1986, his Williams was powered by a Honda turbo.
Appropriately, it is now 50 years since Siffert, at the wheel of Rob Walker’s privately entered Lotus 49, took the first DFV victory at Brands. This is a meeting that demands a walk out into the woods for a chance to see and hear these cars at Pilgrims Drop, Hawthorns, Westfield, Stirlings and Dingle Dell.
After qualifying on Saturday morning, the Historic Formula 1 cars race at 15.30 on Saturday and then again at 14.55 on Sunday.