RACE RETRO: IT’S SHOW TIME FOR HISTORIC MOTORSPORT
Race Retro is back for the first time since 2020 and will run across three days from Friday to Sunday to wow historic race and rally enthusiasts. Paul Lawrence previews the event
Inside the Stonleigh Park-based Race Retro event this weekend will be trade stands, displays, exhibitions and interviews from right across the diverse spectrum of historic motorsport, while outside on Saturday and Sunday a pair of demonstration special stages will feature around 130 rally cars being put through their paces at the showpiece near Coventry.
Race Retro last ran in 2020 just before the Covid lockdown started and it is a traditional season start-off point for a wide array of historic motorsport. The show is open from 0930hrs each day and closes at 1730hrs on Friday and Saturday and at 1630hrs on Sunday. On the door admission is £30 and more details are at raceretro.com
A very British success
The story and heritage of the
BRM Grand Prix team will be a central theme at Race Retro. As part of what has been called the reawakening of BRM, notable team members and drivers will appear on the interview stage and the stunning recreation of the V16-engined P15, as raced at the Goodwood Revival last September, will be on show.
The sensational recreation of the 1950 grand prix car will be a key feature on the BRM stand in Hall 2, where it will be joined by an iconic Yardley-livered BRM P153 grand prix car from 1970. The chance to see the V16 at close quarters will be a real treat for fans.
On hand across the weekend will be members of the Owen family, descendants of team patron Sir Alfred Owen, and BRM drivers Howden Ganley, Jackie Oliver and Mike Wilds, as well as period designers and team members including Tony Southgate,
Mike Pilbeam and Rick Hall.
It is Hall who has been primarily responsible for the recreation of the P15 and it is a sensational work of engineering art.
BRM was launched in 1947 and topped the sport in 1962 as Graham Hill took the drivers’ title and BRM won the constructors’ title. The BRM Grand Prix story ran for 26 years from 1951 to 1977 when it competed in 197 grands prix and won 17 of them.
Three years ago, BRM launched its reawakening project with three key objectives: to tell the BRM story in its most authentic form, to introduce the company to a new audience and to go racing once more. The V16 recreation racing at the Goodwood Revival last September was a key landmark in this story and a major presence at Race Retro is another important step.
Stage struck
Rallying fans are in for a real treat at Race Retro with the biggest and best entry yet of cars for the demonstration special stages coordinated by the Rallying with Group B movement.
The cars are split into five groups, starting with the fourwheel-drive cars from across the last 20 years. Standouts will include recent Galway Rally winner Meirion Evans in his VW Polo R5 along with the Mitsubishi Mirage R5 of Tom Llewellin and the Skodaru of Arron Newby.
Will Nicholls brings his Ford Fiesta R5 while stepping back a generation into the WRC era are the cars of Steve Chamberlain (Hyundai Accent), Ian Gwynne (Peugeot 206), Tom Blackwood (Ford Escort Cosworth) and
Neil Brighton (Peugeot 206). A gaggle of Group A and Group N cars complete the four-wheeldrive field.
The second group will be GT and front-wheel-drive cars, topped by the glorious GT3 Porsches of Craig Pennington and Adrian Kermode. A gaggle of rapid Formula 2 kit cars and Super 1600s will headline the frontwheel-drive field including examples of the Nissan Sunny GTi, Suzuki Ignis, Proton Satria, Ford Puma and Nissan Micra kit cars.
Firm fan favourites will be the cars in the batch for Group B monsters of the early 1980s. Cars from Peugeot, Audi, Ford, MG,
Ferrari, Vauxhall, Renault and Opel will all be put through their paces. The line-up will include examples of the Peugeot 205 T16, Audi Quattro S1, Ford RS200, Metro 6R4 and the Renault 5 Maxi Turbo. It will be a fine array of Group B machinery at a time when these cars are generally being used less. However, for sheer spectacle little can match the outrageous Chevroletpowered Vauxhall Firenza Can-Am of Mick Strafford.
A whole section is dedicated to Ford Escorts and Talbot Sunbeam Lotuses where sideways will be the way particularly with drivers of the calibre of David Llewellin, Ian Gwynne and Ian Pritchard all in action. Finally, the historics are as diverse as ever, ranging from Duncan Pearcey’s Datsun 240Z to the rare VW Oettinger GT Beetle of Bob Beales and the Triumph 2.5PI of Lee Sellars. Several Formula 1000 Junior cars will also run in this group to showcase rallying options for youngsters. The pair of live rally stages will run on both Saturday and Sunday and visitors will be able to book a passenger ride.
The thoughts of Plato
BTCC racer and sometime historic racer Jason Plato will be one of the attractions at Race Retro. Plato will be on hand across all three days and will be interviewed on the live stage. Expect some pithy comments and lots of laughs from the double British Touring Car Championship title winner.
Other notable stars on hand will include rally drivers Louise Aitken-Walker and David Llewellin, who will both be behind the wheel on the rally stage, as well as former Formula 1 pundit turned historic rallying ace Tony Jardine.
Screamer showcase
The one-litre Formula Three Historic Racing Association will have two stunning cars on its stand from the famed era of the one-litre single-seaters ‘screamers’. From 1968 comes the Brabham BT21B as raced in period by Peter Westbury for the Ian Walker Racing Team and recently restored to immaculate condition by the Speedsport team. Meanwhile, hillclimber Steven Palmer will present his superb 1969 Lotus 59, resplendent in Emerson Fittipaldi colours. ■