F5000 ICONS JOIN AUTOSPORT DISPLAY
Legendary single-seater monsters head forth enec in january
The 50th anniversary of Formula 5000 will be celebrated in a feature display at Autosport International at the NEC Birmingham on January 10-13.
The Historic Sports Car Club will honour the spectacular single-seater category with a six-car display of the mighty five-litre monsters, which arrived in the UK for the 1969 season. Cars from Lola, Mclaren, Surtees, Gurney and Mcrae will be on show from the club’s Derek Bell Trophy race series and former F5000 drivers will be invited to attend on the Friday of the show.
Based on the US Formula A class, Formula 5000 was introduced to the UK by John Webb from Brands Hatch and the inaugural race at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend in 1969 was won by Peter Gethin in a Mclaren M10.
At its peak in the early 1970s, Formula 5000 was active in America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Europe.
The HSCC display will include an ex-mike Hailwood 1971 Surtees TS8 and the 1970 Mclaren M10B raced by Gethin for Sid Taylor’s team. The 1969 ex-horst Kroll Lola T142 will represent the early cars, while the 1975 Lola T400, now raced successfully by Michael Lyons in the Derek Bell Trophy, is one of the ultimate F5000 designs.
Grahame White, boss of the HSCC, said: “Formula 5000 played host to so many iconic names that we recognise to this day. It was a category which came to the UK in 1969 and thrilled fans with some extraordinary works of engineering and raw power.”