Five racing luminaries were inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame on Tuesday, 31 May at the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park country estate.
This year was the first time the inductees were decided by the public and, after over 25,000 votes were placed, the new members included honorary Porsche Club member Derek Bell (sports cars), Sid Watkins (Formula 1), Dan Gurney (US racing), Valentino Rossi (motorcycles) and Sébastien Loeb (rally).
The event began with a panel discussion on ‘The Great Rivals’ with nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, two-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner, former F1 driver and team owner Jackie Oliver, five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell, Isle of Man TT winner and Motor Sport writer Mat Oxley and editor Damien Smith. The panel was hosted by TV presenter Jennie Gow and covered both the sport’s historic rivalries as well as those closer to home for the panel.
After an afternoon tea of sandwiches and cakes, guests made their way to the Fountain Lawn to watch demonstration runs of various cars and bikes that were at Woodcote Park for the occasion. From the ex-Stirling Moss Jaguar C-type to an ex-John Surtees Honda via an ex-Colin McRae Subaru Impreza – the cars braved the damp conditions to blast up the Captain’s Drive. The Porsche 962C, with Derek Bell behind the wheel, notable had no grip in first, second, third or fourth…
The sports car award was the second category of the night. Upon receiving the award, Derek paid respect to those who chose sports car racing as a career over F1. Runners up in the sports car category included Pedro Rodríguez and Brian Redman, who have a combined 14 Le Mans wins.