APRIL 15, 2004

Montreal gets historic Formula 1

There is an increasing trend this year for F1 race organizers to run historic Formula 1 cars alongside the modern machinery in an effort to draw in more fans. The latest race to announce an historic event is Canada which will have a field of 30 cars which will be fielded by the Historic Grand Prix organisation. The series, which allows cars built between 1966 and 1983, has been seen in the past at Indianapolis but this is the first time it has ventured across the border to Canada. The field will certainly keep Canadians happy as it features a pair of Ferraris once driven by local hero Gilles Villeneuve: a 1979 312T4 and a 1980 312T5. The field will include the Lotus 79 of 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti, a pair of Williams FW07s and another pair of FW08s. There will be a McLaren M23, a Tyrrell 004 and a variety of Brabhams, Marches, Shadows and Penskes.

The recent historic race in Bahrain provided much entertainment, even if the standard of driving was not quite up to that of the modern F1 stars.