I recently attended Prodrive day in Banbury, a 40th anniversary celebration of all things Prodrive.
Prodrive was founded by David Richards who spent 8 years as a profession Rally Co Driver. David would win the British and Scandinavian championships. In 1981, David along with driver Ari Vatanen would win the 1981 World Rally Championship in a MkII Escort RS1800.
Moving on from the Co Driving, Dave founded Prodive in Banbury in 1983, in 1984 would see their first round victory of the first FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Saeed Al Hajri would drive a Porsche 911 SC RS to victory.
Over the course of the 40 years, Prodive have hands in most form of 4 wheeled motorsport, they have won:
6 FIA World Rally titles
8 FIA World Sportscar titles
6 Le Mans Titles
4 British Touring Car titles
1 Le Mans Series tittles
2nd in the 2004 F1 Constructors World Championship with BAR
Prodrives are known mostly for their work with Subaru but have also worked with BMW, Porsche Mini, Aston Martin and Ford.
One of Prodives best known moments came in 1995 when Colin McRae became the 1995 Rally World Champion. This was a first Rally champion driver for Britain and a first world championship for Subaru as a manufacturer.
So what could we expect from a 40th celebration?
Firstly, a book to celebrate Prodives 40 years of Motorsport with David Richards signing copies.
A lot of Prodrives cars on display to get a close look at.
Interviews with Dave Richards and some of Prodrives drivers and autograph sessions.
Subaru and Aston Martin Owners Car Park.
Below are my photos from the event.
First up we have the Alcon Specialist Brakes and Clutches stand showcasing the the Subaru designed by Matt Clark, driven by Olly Clark. These are the sons of rally champion Roger Clark. This car is called Gobstopper 1 and there are 2 more gobstoppers I hope to take a look at in a future blog post.
Brake Calliper from the 2004 BAR Honda F1 car. This is a 6 piston calliper that delivers cooling to the areas that are most susceptible to fluid boiling. This also has a near 24 carat gold coating for heat reflective properties.
GT3/GT4 Brake Calliper. This was used on some of the display cars you will see later on.
Lightweight World Rallycross Calliper.
My thanks to the team at Alcon and Olly Clark for being so welcoming and allowing me to take some much needed shelter from the rain.
Prodive Built Cars.
2024 Prodrive P25, This is a modern day take of the Subaru Impreza WRX STi. 25 of these cars were made and this is the prototype.
2000 Subaru Impreza P1. This car was limited to 1000 cars.
2003 Subaru S200 WRT driven by Tomi Makinen.
2024 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Andrew Howard and Jessica Hawkins. This car will be in action at the next round of the British GT Championship at Brands Hatch on 28/29 of September.
2018 Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Prodrive P2
2003 Ford Falcon V8 Supercar driven by Glen Seton in the Australian Supercar Series.
1998 Honda Accord Super Touring Car driven by James Thompson.
1996 Subaru Impreza Group A (N1 WRC) . This car was driven to victory in the 1996 Rallye Catalunya by Colin McRae and Derek Ringer.
1990 BMW M3 Group A driven by Francois Chatriot.
1984 Porsche 911 SC RS driven by Henri Toivonen.
1981 Ford Escort Mk II RS1800 driven by Ari Vartanen and David Richards that won the world championship that year.
1986 MG Metro 6R4 driven by Jimmy McRae.
1992 Subaru Legacy Group A driven by Ian Duncan and Markku Alen.
2000 Subaru Impreza Safari driven to victory by Richard Burns and Robert Reid.
2000 Ford Mondeo Super Touring Car. This car would give Alain Menu his second BTCC title.
2006 Honda BAR 006 F1. This car was driven by Jenson Button.
2011 Mini Countryman WRC driven by Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo.
Prodrive Hunter. This is a road legal version of a Dakar car that usually race across desserts.
David Richards looking at the cars he created and meeting people.
David Richards chatting with David Brabham.
Me with David Richards.
John Hindhaugh interviewing Darren Turner, Jonny Adam and David Brabham about their time at Prodrive.
David Richards enjoying the interviews in the crowd.
John Hindhaugh interviewing Phil Mills, Dave Richards and Alain Menu.
Aston Martins and Subaru Car Park.
Aston Martin S V12 Vantage.
Aston Martin Vantage V8.
Subaru Impreza RB320.
Subaru Legacy GLS 4WD.
Subaru Impreza WRX.
Subaru Legacy GL Classic 4WD.
Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
Subaru Impreza GB270.
Subaru Impreza GB270.
Aston Martin Vanquish V12 S Coupe.
Aston Martin Vanquish V12.
Aston Martin Shooting Break Zagato V12.
This was a fantastic event, although it was raining for most of the day, it seemed to add to the atmosphere.
It was lovely to meet David Richards, I spoke to him while he was looking at the display cars, David was saying to me how lovely it was to see a lot of the cars together in one place.
John Hindhaugh did a great job of interviewing Darren Turner, Jonny Adam, David Brabham, David Richards, Alain Menu and Phil Mills.
It was also nice to bump into GT Racer and Team Manger Andrew Howard from Beechdean AMR. Their Aston Martin was on display and as he is friends with some of the official guests he popped along. It was lovely to have a chat with him and David Brabham about GT Racing.
My favourite car from the event was the Prodrive Hunter. It looks like a beast and I can imagine it being great to drive.
For further information on Prodive and the other companies mentioned please follow the below links:
