The Historic Sports Car Club will celebrate its 50th anniversary in style with the revamped three-day Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix in July.
It will star stunning F1 cars, sports cars and touring cars from the Kent circuit’s 90-year past.
The racing line-up will be headlined by the Historic Race of Champions, reviving the name of Brands Hatch’s signature non-championship F1 race, which was won in-period by Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, and Gilles Villeneuve. These races will be contested by powerful 1970s single-seaters, including the thunderous Formula 5000 machines which regularly compete in the HSCC’s Derek Bell Trophy.
This mouth-watering mixture of cars will recall the sensational Brands Hatch Race of Champions of 1973, in which Peter Gethin became the first and only man to defeat a field of fully-fledged contemporary F1 cars behind the wheel of an F5000. All of the cars in the Historic Race of Champions races will look perfectly at home as Brands Hatch’s classic longer layout has changed little since these cars were new!
Classically-modelled F1 cars from the era in which Jim Clark and Graham Hill were the stars of the show at Brands Hatch will return to the event, ensuring that the earliest days of Grand Prix racing in Kent are recreated too. The Historic Grand Prix Car Association grid will include stunning cars from Lotus, Cooper, and Brabham, resplendent in their classic paint schemes, devoid of the sponsor’s logos that litter modern day racing cars.
The pulsating Super Touring Car battles of the ‘90s will be relived in races starring cars from the British Touring Car Championship’s most fondly remembered era. These will include thoroughbred saloon racing cars from Honda, Ford, Vauxhall, BMW, Peugeot, and many of the other manufacturers that flocked to Britain’s shores to do battle two decades ago. Star drivers from the period are expected to relive their glory days, with former BTCC chargers John Cleland and Patrick Watts both having competed in this series in recent years.
There will be plenty of extra racing too, including outings from the ever-popular Historic Touring Cars and the Historic Formula 2 FIA International Series, in addition to many other races for sports cars, GTs and single-seaters. Historically significant cars will take part in demonstration runs too, adding further prestige to the show.
There will be plenty to see and do off the track too, including a number of ‘60s-themed attractions, recalling the vibe of the decade in which the HSCC first hosted race meetings and Brands Hatch was first graced by major international car racing.
This is set to be the highlight historic event of the Brands Hatch calendar and one of the showpiece events of the HSCC’s anniversary season – more details will be released soon.
HSCC Chief Executive Officer Grahame White commented: “We’ve got a fabulous race line-up for the renamed Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix, probably one of the best in the event’s 26-year history. We are extremely grateful to Jonathan Palmer and the team at MSV for giving us the chance to grow the event to three days, it’s a real privilege and will help us celebrate our 50th anniversary.”