This could Piquet your interest

Bonhams, Francorchamps, Belgium 21 May

Bonhams’ annual sale at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit this year includes a dozen ‘no reserve’ classics from a Swiss castle collection, including a Mercedes 300SL Roadster and a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Other lots include a superbly restored Porsche 356A Super Speedster and a 1978 25th anniversary Corvette with a mere 56 miles on the clock. But the pre-sale crowds will surely be clustered around this 1991 Benetton B-191-02 Formula 1 car in which Nelson Piquet won that year’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Long-standing Formula 1 fans might recall that this was the race which Nigel Mansell was all set to win. That was before he stalled the engine of his Williams-Renault as a result of focusing his thoughts on confidently waving to the crowd, allowing Piquet to breeze past towards the end of the last lap and claim the final Grand Prix victory of his career.

The Benetton was subsequently driven to fifth place in the British Grand Prix, and eighth in the French, before being handed over to a rookie Michael Schumacher to race in Japan and Australia, neither of which events he finished.

It then ended up as a museum exhibit before being comprehensively restored in 2016. It is now offered in ‘on-the-button’ condition with a pre-sale estimate of €750,000-€900,000. The Benetton is eligible for an increasingly large number of historic F1 events – or you could simply take advantage of its 650bhp Cosworth HB V8 and its gossamer-like 505kg weight to have yourself some serious track day fun. Unless, of course, you’re outbid by Nelson Piquet himself…