Motor Sport Magazine August 2021

“OF COURSE, YOU KNOW THAT YOU’RE sitting in Jenks’s driving seat,” said the man at the wheel of the E-type as he taxied towards the start line. “This car was originally left-hand drive but was converted to right at some stage before I owned it. So what is now the passenger seat is where Jenks would have spent most of his time.” So there I was, on a summer’s day, sitting in Jenks’s spot about to zoom up Shelsley Walsh. It doesn’t get better than that. The occasion was a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the E-type, called E-type 60, which had been conceived and arranged by the publisher and E-type enthusiast Philip Porter. There was a staggering array of important cars present including E2A, the first Lightweight racing…

If an £800,000 Aston Martin V12 Speedster doesn’t feel exclusive enough then the company has it covered: a version of the road car, which we review on page 42, with added racing accoutrements. The speedster DBR1 specification is said by the marketing department to pay homage to their 1959 Le Mans conquering cars. They feature the same racing green paint colour plus white roundels and come with two special racing helmets finished in the same shade of green as the body. Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby would have been proud...…

FEW RACING CARS HAVE BEEN AS EAGERLY anticipated as this one. Yet the machine in question wasn’t built by an established manufacturer or constructor but by a garagiste with big ambitions in the world of sports car racing. The Glickenhaus Le Mans Hypercar made its belated debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Portimão 8 Hours in mid-June. The story of Jim Glickenhaus and his bid to take on the might of Toyota in the WEC this year and then Peugeot, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi et al in seasons to come has captivated the sports car world. There were probably as many people hoping that the fast-talking American’s baby would fail in Portugal as there were people rooting for it. It’s hard to judge after the events at the…

W SERIES, THE PIONEERING ALL-female racing championship, will touch down at Silverstone in July where it will act as support race for the British Grand Prix. The series is due to run at eight grands prix this year, starting with the two Austrian rounds before arriving at the home of British racing. It is a high-profile chance for the series to win over new fans and prove the critics wrong. Alice Powell, who came third in the series in 2019 (there was no racing in 2020 due to Covid) told Motor Sport the programme of support races offered a golden opportunity for the series: “It would mean everything to win the championship, especially this year when it’s on the F1 support bill. The credit W Series is receiving from the…

LIKE THE PROVERBIAL BUSES, TWO F1 cars driven by world champions have suddenly appeared for sale, although the fare to ride these historic racers is, as you would expect, steep. The 7 Up-liveried Jordan 191 used by Michael Schumacher in practice at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix – his F1 debut – is on sale at Speedmaster Cars with a price tag of £1.25m. Then aged 22, Schumacher caught the attention of rival teams by qualifying seventh in this 191, ahead of team-mate Andrea de Cesaris (11th). In the GP itself, de Cesaris raced in the car but retired with three laps remaining, having at one point been second. The 191 might have oodles of F1 romance and also be astoundingly goodlooking but it stands in the shadow of a…

HAVING TRANSFORMED VOLKSWAGEN into a modern rallying powerhouse in the space of just a few years, Jost Capito will now attempt to work his magic on reviving Williams’ competitive prospects in Formula 1, having taken over as leader of the F1 team. Capito, 62, was announced as CEO of Williams back in December, but will now take on the team principal role, prompting former boss Simon Roberts to leave the squad. Capito has four decades of motor sport management history, having started at BMW before moving on to hold key technical roles with Porsche, Ford and then Volkswagen. He joined the German giant in 2012 and within just four years delivered a hat-trick of both drivers’ and constructors’ World Rally championships. During his first few months with Williams, Capito identified…