March 9th 2012 – for immediate release
Stars come out to play at the 2012 Donington Historic Festival
As entries begin to pour in, star cars and drivers are lining up to present some hugely
entertaining racing at the 2012 Donington Historic Festival (May 5th & 6th).
Early entrants include the Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hours winner and ex-Formula One driver
Jackie Oliver, who has a ‘new’ Ferrari drive for the Festival. He will be sharing a 1961 250
GT SWB with Rohan Fernando in the Pre-’63 GT race. This early aluminium-bodied
competition Ferrari had a short hillclimb career half a century ago but has never been raced
before, so makes its circuit debut at Donington.
Jackie and Rohan will race against Lukas Hüni and Gary Pearson, who will drive Hüni’s
stunning SEFAC Ferrari 250 GT SWB. The last SEFAC competition car ever built, this is the
machine that Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez took to victory in the 1000km of Paris in 1961.
Coincidentally, in 1971 Pedro Rodriguez and Jackie Oliver joined forces to win the Monza
1000km – one of the renowned Mexican driver’s last-ever races.
Commenting on his new drive, Jackie said, “Now Kevin Wheatcroft has rescued the circuit
from its near failure by the last administration, I’m both relieved and delighted to be back at
Donington. This Historic Festival has now become the first historic meeting for a new season,
which means - with much excitement – that we are all able to get back behind the wheel after
the winter break. For Rohan Fernando and myself with his Ferrari 250 SWB it will be our
first opportunity to see who and how we will compete against others in Carol Spagg’s Pre‘63 GT series. As this is the first time out with this iconic Ferrari in racing prep by Pearson
Engineering, it’s very interesting to see how it will perform. Also I will compete once more in
the Laranca BMW TISA1800 for the U2TC series. It should be a great start to the 2012
classic season - and much to look forward to.”
Another exceptional car in the Pre-’63 GT is the rare 1962 Porsche Carrera Abarth GTL; one
of just 21 of these ‘giant killers’ ever built. Neil Tolich is travelling from New Zealand to
share the car with Bill Wykeham for the event. Other well-known faces out on the track for
the Pre-’63 GT will include musician Mark Knopfler, of Dire Straits and ‘Sultans of Swing’
fame, who will share his AC Ace with Alain de Cadenet.
In the 1000km race, Rainer Becker, founder of the Zuma group of restaurants, will campaign
his 910 Porsche against the Spanish historic F1 racer, Joaquin Folch, in the Escuderia
Montjuïc Ford GT40 that won the 1968 1000km of Catalunya.
Finally, Jonathan Turner’s 1935 Squire Short Chassis - an early entry for the ‘Mad Jack’ race
for pre-War sportscars – is a very rare piece of British motoring history. The Squire Car
Manufacturing Company had a tiny production run, building just seven beautiful, rakish cars
before it was wound up in 1936. Squire’s founder, Adrian Squire, who was just 26 years old
when the company closed, had worked up the initial designs – even producing a six-page
catalogue - while still at school. Sadly, the cost of his dream car was to prove his undoing; at
its launch the Squire was the most expensive sports car in Britain, costing approximately
twice the price of a 2-litre Aston Martin.
Tickets and information
Day tickets for the Donington Historic Festival cost £18 in advance (£25 on the gate), while
weekend tickets cost £30 in advance (£40 on the gate). Children aged under 16 are admitted
free. Entry tickets and camping tickets can be bought via www.doningtonhistoric.com and
through the 24-hour ticket hotline 0844 873 7355.
Ends
Editors, please note:
EFG International, the global private banking group, is a principal partner of the Donington
Historic Festival.
Images
The attached images show the SEFAC Ferrari 250 GT SWB (please credit Eric Sawyer) and
the Squire Short Chassis (please credit Jonathan Green).
For a further selection of downloadable print-res images to accompany editorial coverage,
see http://www.doningtonhistoric.com/press-media/images/
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Please contact:
Karen Coe on +44 (0)1728 669185 or Charis Whitcombe on +44 (0)7977 500693.
Or email: media@doningtonhistoric.com