CHANDHOK TO RACE MCLAREN
Ex-f1 driver to compete at good wood revival in m1a
Former grand prix driver and Channel 4 Formula 1 analyst Karun Chandhok will race a Mclaren-elva M1A in next month’s Goodwood Revival.
Chandhok will race the car – chassis 20-15, a race winner in 1965-66 Sports Car Club of America events – owned by John Bladon. He demonstrated it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2013 and will now tackle the Whitsun Trophy race for late-period sports prototypes.
“Back in 2013, Charles March’s office put me in touch with John Bladon, who was taking the car to the Festival of Speed,” said Chandhok. “He asked if I would like to drive it up the hill and of course I said yes.
“Fast forward a few years and John sent me an email to say that the car’s had a full rebuild over the winter and he very kindly asked if I would like to race it at the Revival.
“The car is very powerful with a lot of torque. I only drove it on the hill at Goodwood, but I remember wheelspinning all the way up in every gear.”
This will be Chandhok’s fourth appearance at the Revival, having previously raced Jaguar E-type, Mini and Austin A35 machinery.
“Every year I wonder why we all take the risk to race at the Revival,” said Chandhok. “The grass banks are close, the circuit is fast and people take it far too seriously nowadays. But all those reasons remind me why I started enjoying the sport – the joy of racing without all the electronics, the Tarmac runoffs, the politics and the social media scrutiny we have today.
“The purist in me loves the history of the sport and the opportunity to drive something mega from the Can-am days is not one I could ever say no to.”
Chandhok last raced in the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing ninth in LMP2 driving a Tockwith Motorsport Ligier JSP217.
“I was gutted to miss out on Le Mans this year,” added the 34-year-old. “There were a couple of times where I had a drive lined up but they called me as the entries were being filed to say they’ve signed a driver with budget instead.”
Lola T70 Spyders tend to set the pace in the Whitsun Trophy, though Chris Goodwin did win the 2014 edition in a Mclaren M1B.