Adrian Newey at the wheel of the 1965 Ford GT 40
03/13/2011
The technical director of the Red Bull F1 team Adrian Newey drove two laps in the 1965 Ford GT 40 Mark ll during the Formula 1 tests in Barcelona.
The car driven, chassis number 1019, won the 1968 Barcelona 6-hour race on the notorious Montjuic circuit.
The GT 40 was driven by the two drivers Brian Miur and Paco Goodyear. The car belonged to Paul Hawkins at the time and is now in Spanish ownership.
Adrian Newey himself owns a Ford GT40. During the 2006 Le Mans Classic, he suffered a serious accident in the second chicane on the Hunaudière straight, in which the GT40 was almost totally destroyed. The car has since been rebuilt.
Adrian only commented that it is always impressive to drive a historic car on a race track.
Adrian Newey is probably one of the most outstanding designers in F1 after Colin Chapman. He was world champion with 3 teams (Williams, McLaren and Red Bull). He loves historic vehicles and owns other cars besides the Ford GT40 and a Jaguar SS100.
The reason for the demo drive was the promotion of the "Masters Historic Racing" on today's F1 Circuit Catalunya, in Montmelo from April 8-10, 2011.
More pictures and additional information about Chassis 1019 can be found here.
