Martin Brundle will return to racing this weekend, sharing a Ford GT40 with son Alex and historics ace Gary Pearson in the Spa Six Hours.
Thirty years after he finished third in the Belgian Grand Prix in a Ligier-Mugen-Honda JS41, the 158-time Formula 1 starter and 1990 Le Mans winner will make his event debut on Saturday in the annual enduro for pre-1966 specification GTP, GT and touring cars.
“I just fancied driving Alex’s GT40 with him,” said the 1988 world sportscar champion, now 66. “Even on GP weekends [when they commentate on different races] we don’t see much of each other, so it’s a rare opportunity for a father and son weekend. Me and Al did Le Mans together in 2012 [in an LMP2 Zytek-Nissan] and we’ve raced together in Jaguar E-types, so it’ll be fun.
“I haven’t raced for three years, since the Goodwood Revival, but enjoy working with Gary. I’d not driven the GT40 [an FIA HTP compliant Gelscoe reproduction that Brundle Jr and Pearson built together] until a test session at Silverstone just before the Festival. I wanted to see whether I liked it, and did, so we decided to do Spa.
“I have no aspirations [of a result]. I love Spa and love the car, but have yet to experience it on full tanks. That will be interesting.
“Strangely, the biggest lottery is still the fuel pumps [where drivers refill their own cars, and the fuel-efficient Lotus Elans have one tank to the GT40s’ two]. Alex lost two laps last year but says a Lotus Elan could win if it’s wet.”
GT40s have dominated the event since an E-type won in 2010 and 14 head the entry for Roadbook’s race this time around. Dutch father and son David and Olivier Hart and Nicky Pastorelli, winners in 2022, are out to avenge last year’s defeat, young Hart having beached their car in the rain, under cover of darkness, while leading inside the last 15 minutes.
Gordon Shedden, third last year in an Elan with brother-in-law Rory Butcher and Ben Barker, reunites with Andy Priaulx – with whom he won in 2023, for the second time in a GT40 – and Butcher to top an exceptionally strong Lotus entry. Danes Palle Birkelund Pedersen, Alexander Weiss and Nicolai Kjaeergard are also back in their GTP-spec Ginetta G4R, which led last year’s enduro in its early stages.
The 78-strong entry features 16 former winners, including five-time champion Simon Hadfield, sharing the 2005-winning Aston Martin DP214 with Wolfgang Friedrichs and his son Paul. Another German, Christian Danner, 67, is competing in an Alfa Romeo GTA at the scene of his short-lived F1 debut with Zakspeed in the 1985 Belgian GP.
Alex Brundle finished fourth with Pearson and Chris Harris in last year’s event, a lap behind winners Dario and Marino Franchitti and Andre Lotterer.
