Andretti and Ferraris to be reunited at GPlive

The legendary Mario Andretti is set to be reunited with two Ferrari cars which shaped his career when he visits the GPlive event at Donington Park in May.

In addition to getting behind the wheel of the Ferrari 312B, a car which gave him his first Grand Prix victory in 1971, he’ll also meet up with the car which started his passion for Grand Prix racing over fifty years ago.

The 1971 Ferrari 312B and the 1953, ex-Alberto Ascari Ferrari 500 racers are part of a stunning display of cars from the Donington Grand Prix Collection which will be demonstrated on the track during the weekend-long celebration of Grand Prix racing. No less then seven of the rarest cars from the Museum will be in action, with a further six on display in the GPlive Paddock, which will allow a special close-up view.

In addition, visitors who have bought a family or weekend pass to GPlive can visit the Donington Collection for free throughout the weekend. A special shuttle bus service will run from the paddock to the museum entrance, allowing the easiest possible access to the Collection, which with over 130 exhibits, is the largest collection of Grand Prix racing cars in the world

The two Ferraris both mark important milestones in an Andretti life story which reads like one of the best Sylvester Stallone scripts. Born in Montona, on the Italian-Yugoslav border in 1940, Mario and his twin brother Aldo were penniless refugees when they climbed the fence at Monza in 1953 to watch their hero Alberto Ascari win the Italian Grand Prix. Andretti will see the actual car once again at Donington, for the first time in 54 years.

After his family emigrated to America in 1955, both Mario’s pride in his Italian heritage and passion for motor racing were set to be fulfilled. Mario made his name, first in oval racing then in Formula One with the Lotus and STP March teams, before being invited by “Il Commendatore” Enzo Ferrari to drive for the Scuderia in the 1971.

Andretti won the first Grand Prix of the season at Kyalami in South Africa, in a 3-litre flat-12 Ferrari 312B identical to the car he will demonstrate at GPlive. It was the first of twelve Grand Prix victories Andretti scored in the course of his career, in addition to winning the 1978 Formula One World Championship for Lotus, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500 NASCAR event. His winning total stands at 111 race victories.

The two Ferraris however are just a taste of the mouthwatering selection of cars from the Donington Collection which will take to the track. The full line up includes:

1934 Maserati 8CM. The personal car of Italian ace Tazio Nuvolari, one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. Having scored victories in Belgium, Montenegro and Nice, and second in Spain, it is one of the best preserved and most original of all the great racing cars of the 1930s.

1936 Alfa Romeo Bimotore. One of only two produced, the Alfa Romeo Bimotore was built by the Scuderia Ferrari in an attempt to defeat the German "Silver Arrow" Grand Prix cars. This twin engined car, with one engine in the front and another in the tail, driving the rear wheels, has an incredible power output of 500 bhp and could achieve over 200 mph. Although driven by Nuvolari, the car's performance was compromised due to its amazing appetite for tyres!

1936 Austin 7 Grand Prix car. Probably the smallest car at GPlive, the tiny Austin uses a 747cc engine, yet with a supercharger and an advanced, twin cam cylinder head it could develop no less than 116bhp! With a top speed of close to 120mph, the tiny Austins scored many victories pre-war, while post-war Austin ‘specials’ developed on similar lines started the careers of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, Bruce McLaren and Mini designer Alec Issigonis.

1952 Ferrari 500. The Donington Grand Prix Collection's Ferrari 500 is, quite simply, the most successful Grand Prix racing car of all time. Driven by the burly Italian, Alberto Ascari, the car won every race in which it started during its first season, and won five from eight starts in its second season, giving Ascari the World Championship in 1952 and 1953. This car was also driven in 1953 by Mike Hawthorn, who went on to be World Champion in 1958.

1955 Lancia D50. A magnificent re-creation of one of the most innovative and distinctive front-engined Grand Prix cars of the 1950s. The D50, designed by Vittorio Jano, incorporated striking pontoons, fuel tanks mounted in the centre of the car to improve handling. All the original team cars were broken up, but Donington Collection founder Tom Wheatcroft discovered an original D50 engine and transaxle. From them and the original Lancia drawings and specifications, the car was re-created by Guido Rosani and Anthony Maclean with help from museums in Italy and retired Lancia staff.

1957 Vanwall. The Vanwall team was the brainchild of Guy Anthony "Tony" Vandervell. As the head of Vandervell Products Ltd. Vandervell was the European producer of the Thin-Wall bearing that had literally been a revolution in engine bearing design and was keen to see an all-British success story. In 1952, he began to work with Norton and Rolls-Royce on developing a Grand Prix engine and the first Vanwall took to the track for the 1954 season.

In 1957 Stirling Moss won the British Grand Prix at Aintree for Vanwall. It was the first-ever World Championship race to be won by a British car driven by a British driver – an achievement whose 50th Anniversary will be celebrated by a special event with Moss and team-ate Tony Brooks at GPlive.

1971 Ferrari 312B. Regarded by many as one of the most beautiful Grand Prix cars of all time, the 3-litre flat 12 Ferrari 312B was developed by Mauro Forghieri to return Ferrari to the winners circle after one of their cyclical lulls in form. The car began its winning streak in 1970 with Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni at the wheel, then Mario Andretti took his dream win on his debut with the team in 1971. This car was driven by his team-mate Jacky Ickx. Later in the season however a “wrong turn” in suspension design would mean that it was set to be Andretti’s only win for the Scuderia.



DONINGTON GRAND PRIX COLLECTION CARS ON STATIC DISPLAY

1940 Auto Union Autowelo Typ 650
Seventy years ago this year, the Auto Union Grand Prix cars, along with the Mercedes-Benz “Silver Arrows” dominated the 1937 Donington Grand Prix. The huge cars with supercharged, V-12 and V-16 engines were rightly named Titans. Their like has never been seen since.

This car is a classic example of “what might have been” had the Second World War not intervened. Based on the unfinished project begun by Auto Union engineers in 1940 for a “voiturette racer” with a smaller 2-litre V-12 engine, the type 650 was completed by former Auto Union and BMW engineers, working after the war in what became East Germany.

1962 Porsche 804
In 1962, with the advent of a 1.5 litre maximum engine capacity for Formula One, Porsche, intent on claiming its first outright win, developed an eight-cylinder Grand Prix racer. The type 804’s unique air-cooled flat eight engine was designed as part of a University thesis by Ferdinand Porsche’s grandson, Ferdinand Piech, who today heads the VW Group!

In July 1962, American Dan Gurney won the Grand Prix of France at Rouen in the Porsche, then a week later, Gurney beat Jim Clark’s Lotus to win again, this time in front of 300,000 enthusiastic spectators, at the Solitude track in Porsche’s home city of Stuttgart. The mission accomplished, Porsche have never felt the need to build a Grand Prix car since.

1969 Cosworth 4wd
Following the success of the Ford Cosworth DFV engine in 1967 and 1968, designer Keith Duckworth realized a significant amount of his engine’s power was being wasted in wheelspin. At his Northamptonshire workshops Duckworth and designer Robin Herd began to develop an all-new Formula One concept, using four-wheel drive. It was tested just once, on the eve of the 1969 British Grand Prix, but already aerodynamic “wings” were proving a lighter and less complex means of generating grip, so the project was abandoned. It remains another fascinating “might have been”.

1976 Tyrrell P34 six wheeler
In September 1976 Ken Tyrrell astonished the Formula 1 world by unveiling his new challenger with four tiny front wheels! Designer Derek Gardner created the layout for a lower frontal area and a bigger tyre contact patch for better braking and cornering. Although Jody Scheckter took victory at the Swedish Grand Prix, within two years Tyrrell felt they were pursuing a blind alley and in the meantime, new rules were made restricting all future F1 cars to four wheels!

1984 Renault RS05
Thirty years ago, at the 1977 British Grand Prix, the debut of the Renault RS01 marked the start of a new generation for Formula One. It was the first car to be powered by a 1.5 litre turbo engine, a power unit which for more than a decade dominated the sport, ultimately developing over 1000 horsepower. This car is one of the final generation, driven in the 1984 World Championship by Frenchman Patrick Tambay and Briton Derek Warwick.

1998 Jordan Honda 198
In 1998 the Jordan team pulled of a coup, hiring the 1996 World Champion Damon Hill to partner Ralf Schumacher at the Silverstone-based team. Later that season, Damon headed the pair to score a 1-2 victory in a dramatic and rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix. It was the Jordan team’s first victory and Hill’s 22nd and final win of his Formula One career.