James Hunt to be celebrated at Masters Festival next weekend

Filed under: Classic News,Racing |
Sports and GT cars will recall Brands Hatch's international sportscar classicsThe colourful career of Grand Prix hero James Hunt will be celebrated at Brands Hatch this Bank Holiday weekend (28/29 May), 40 years on from his World Championship success. Hunt’s son Freddie will be guest of honour at the event, which will feature a tribute parade, two FIA Masters Historic Formula One races, and a host of classic racing action on the full circuit. Topping the bill will be cars from Hunt’s Formula One career, represented by the Hesketh team with which he made his name, and McLaren, which powered him to World Championship success in the famous 1976 season, immortalised in the motion picture Rush. The star attraction will undoubtedly be the McLaren M23, the design that James raced to victory at Brands Hatch in that year’s controversial British Grand Prix, only to be disqualified later. The celebration will also feature Minis, Formula 3 and 2 cars, and sportscars, many of which will be demonstrated on the track at Sunday lunchtime. There will also be memorabilia on display including one of Hunt’s crash helmets and his Fuji winning trophy from 1976 – where he was crowned World Champion. Visitors are also being encouraged to share their memories of James by adding their own photos of him to a picture board or tweeting their memories and photos to @mastershistoric using #jameshunt Historic F1 races at the Masters Festival will cover the 50s and 60s as well as Hunt's 70s eraJames Hunt’s son Freddie will be guest of honour at the event, and will be presenting trophies and signing a new publication about his father on the Sunday. “It’s a great honour," Freddie said. “I’m awfully proud of dad and it’s very touching to see the response we’ve had from people who’ve been very flattering. I’m a big fan of Brands Hatch.” The event will also feature 23 classic F1 cars from the 1970s and early 80s, with one FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship race on each day of the event. The grid includes many cars that competed for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in period, a circuit that has retained almost all of its character from this golden era of motorsport. Amongst the entry will be a Hesketh and McLaren representing Hunt’s career, plus cars from Lotus, Williams, Tyrrell and Ligier and more. An earlier era of F1 will be covered by the two Historic Grand Prix Cars Association races on the Sunday for machinery from the 50s and 60s, when Brands Hatch first hosted Grands Prix. There will also be sportscar and GT races representing the era when Brands Hatch held the famous BOAC 1000 race, including priceless Ford GT40s, Lola T70s and Jaguar E-Types, plus historic Touring Car and Formula Ford races. The venue will also be filled with a classic car display on the Sunday.Tags: