The Formula 5000 racer that that Formula One champ James Hunt drove in Australia and the race that he won in it will feature in the country’s Winton Festival of Speed on August 13 and 14.
The late 1976 World Champion made his only competitive appearance in Australia two years after he clinched the title when he drove the locally designed Elfin MR8 B-C Formula 5000 to victory at the Rose City 10,000 despite a grid of Australia’s top drivers.
Hunt’s appearance was a sensation at the time (see race poster below) and left a marked impression on local enthusiasts who recall Hunt partying ‘long and hard’ after the victory.
The race at the Winton, Victoria circuit is being re-enacted as a highlight of the town’s annual Festival of Speed – a celebration of historic and classic competition fare.
The revised Rose City 10,000 will be run as two separate 10-lap races with an hour’s break in between on Sunday the 14 August, with practice the day before.
Local hotshoe Robert Harborow - currently regarded as the most Formula 5000 driver in the country - will be at the wheel of Hunt’s old car. The 69 year old is upbeat about his prospects: “The Elfin was one of the last of those [F5000] monsters to be made and is in very good nick and is very quick!”
