The BAR 006 took the team to second in the 2004 F1 constructors' championship and brought Button his first pole at Imola
Prodrive / Newspress
Jenson Button’s barnstorming BAR 006, Colin McRae’s title-winning Subaru Impreza and Sèbastien Loeb’s dune-busting Dakar challenger.
It might sound like a selection from a finely honed virtual Gran Turismo garage, but it is in fact just a small portion of the veritable racing car smorgasbord Prodrive will be bringing along to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, celebrating 40 years since its boss David Richards won the 1981 WRC title as a co-driver with team-mate Ari Vatanen.
The British motor racing powerhouse will showcase nine iconic cars it has produced over the years in total, with the vehicles being driven by nine-time champion Loeb himself and off-road legend Ari Vatanen, amongst others.
The BAR 006 took the team to second in the 2004 F1 constructors’ championship and brought Button his first pole at Imola
Prodrive / Newspress
McRae in his title-winning 1995 Subaru Impreza at the RAC
Mike Hewitt /Allsport via Getty Images
McRae’s father Jimmy will pilot his late son’s rally-winning ’96 Impreza up the hill
Prodrive / Newspress
This fine 1999-specification Subaru was used by Richard Burns to win the 2000 Safari Rally, and will be driven by his former engineer David Lapworth at Goodwood
Prodrive / Newspress
Sèbastien Loeb will be driving his Hunter T1 – dunes not included unfortunately
Prodrive / Newspress
Jimmy McRae’s ’86 BRC winning Metro 6R4 will also be on show
Prodrive / Newspress
The first-ever privateer team to win the WRC, Richards and Vatanen’s 1981 Escort MkII will be going sideways at Goodwood this year
Prodrive / Newspress
The 2019/2020 WEC GTE-winning Aston Martin Vantage will be piloted at Goodwood by Marco Sorensen
Prodrive / Newspress
A 2003/2004 Ford Falcon V8 supercar will complete the Prodrive feast
Prodrive / Newspress
The headline machines will no doubt be the aforementioned BAR and Subaru.
The BAR 006 was the car the Jenson Button firmly established himself as a force to be reckoned with in F1, taking him to his first podium – and seven more that season – as well as scoring his first ever pole at Imola that year.
The other big draw will be the late, great McRae’s Impreza with which he won the ’95 WRC championship. Both this car and the BAR will be a static display but to make up for that, no less than Colin’s father Jimmy will be driving his son’s ’96 Catalunya Rally-winning Subaru up the hill.
A third Subaru, 2001 WRC champion Richard Burns’s Impreza, will be driven by his former engineer and Prodrive technical director David Lapworth.
Prodrive boss Richards will join in the fun as he and Vatanen rocket past Goodwood House in one of the MkII Ford Escorts he and the Finn won the 1981 WRC title with. The David Sullivan car was the very first one run by a privateer team to win the WRC title, a feat only matched by M-Sport with Sèbastien Ogier in 2017,
Loeb will be taking his ferocious 2021 Dakar challenger, the BRX Prodrive Hunter T1, for a spin at the FoS, whilst 2019/2020 FIA WEC GTE drivers’ champion Marco Sorensen will get behind the wheel of the Aston Martin Vantage GTE with which he and Nicki Thiim secured the title.
In addition to these cars running, the static display will also feature Jimmy McRae’s British Rally Championship-winning 1986 Metro 6R4 and a Ford Falcon V8 Supercar.
Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place this weekend from July 8-11.
