F5000 STARMEN REUNITED AT SHOW
Category’ s heroes to be celebrated at auto sport international
Former Formula 5000 racers Damien Magee, Teddy Pilette, Tony Trimmer, Mike Wilds and Mike Walker are all due to join the HSCC’S celebration of 50 years of Formula 5000 at Autosport International, which starts tomorrow (Thursday) at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
The club will mark the 50th anniversary of the UK debut of the spectacular category with a showcase six-car display of the mighty five-litre single-seaters. Cars from Lola, Surtees, Gurney and Hepworth will be on show, many as now raced with the HSCC.
Belfast-born Magee raced F5000 in 1974 on his way to a brief spell in F1, while Belgian racer Pilette won the 1973 and 1975 European titles for the standard-setting VDS team.
Drivers of the standing of Trimmer, Wilds and Walker all have Formula 5000 firmly inscribed on their career records and a number of drivers from the period are due at the show on Friday afternoon for an informal gathering.
Former racers Ray Allen, Chris Craft, Dave Berry, Alan Rollinson, Gordon Spice and Cyd Williams are all planning to attend along with renowned F5000 entrant Sid Taylor and Nick Gethin, son of multiple F5000 champion Peter.
Wilds has fond memories of the category: “Putting your foot down in an F5000 and driving it in anger was sensational. They were a man’s motor car. They were very, very heavy with the iron block engine and there was quite a lot of weight management and they were a lot different to an F1 car.”