The UK midlands has been the starting point for many of the world’s great motorsport engineering firms, and the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire has been home to Prodrive – the company responsible for multiple WRC, GT and endurance race and championship victories around the world – for over 40 years.
To celebrate Prodrive’s 40 fantastic years, the company took over Banbury town centre on Sunday 22 September, offering locals – as well as plenty of enthusiasts from further afield – the chance to celebrate. Company chairman and founder David Richards was on hand to welcome the crowds – many of whom had braved terrible weather conditions to be there. Not that any was necessary, but further proof that that motorsport fans (especially of the rallying variety) have never let a bit of rain stop them!
Festivities included an impressive selection of cars from Prodrive’s back catalogue, including the Mk2 Ford Escort driven by Ari Vatanen and co-driven by David Richards, the epic Mondeo BTCC car, right up to the most recent Aston racers. Subaru and Aston Martin clubs were invited to join, with a strong contingent of Imprezas turning out just over the road, with Prodrive showing some of the company’s greatest rally cars from the original Legacy Group A car to the far more advanced WRC-spec cars that ultimately followed. Fans also got the chance to get up close with the new P25 road car, as well as a rare chance to see the clever P2 prototype.
Throughout the day, some of the legendary drivers associated with Prodrive spoke on stage to recount some of their favourite Prodrive moments. The first panel consisted of David Brabham, Darren Turner and Jonny Adam.
David Brabham recalls how his journey with Prodrive started: ‘So I was racing in America and American Le Mans series, I was in the Bentley program, but then I got asked to go and join Prodrive over there in the Ferrari 550 with Jan Magnussen, and we started round three of the championship. Darren joined us because Jan was racing in Denmark at the same time, and there was a clash. And we had a very great start, didn’t we? We got pole and we won the race. And we had much success after that, with the Aston Martin program back in 2005, ‘06, ‘07, and ‘08.’
Darren Turner continued: ‘I think it goes back to the David and Goliath type environment, where they were always punching above their weight in terms of a team. To be in the backyard of Corvette, and to be able to take the challenge to them and to beat them was always a significant part of GT1 racing at the time. I have to say that the team’s grown hugely during the 22 years that I’ve been with them. And I think the backbone of it is David Richards. His enthusiasm for doing the best that they possibly can with what is available, and maximising it all the time. Everything is maximised in terms of performance and the ability to always have a chance to win. So from that point of view, it’s been a team that I’ve learned a great deal from.’
Jonny Adam explains why Prodrive is a great place for drivers and engineers to develop: ‘Over 12 years I’ve seen so many junior engineers and mechanics that have moved on to senior roles within Prodrive, whether that’s a Le Mans win, a world championship win, and that is where I think Prodrive has been very good at developing young talent that can go on and be as successful as they want to be. Through that, the cars become very safe, easy to drive, well developed, because the passion from these people is just put straight back into the cars.’
To close out the day was a panel discussion with motorsport legends Phil Mills, Alain Menu and David Richards himself, reflecting on their experiences and the success of Prodrive over 40 years. David Richards commented: ‘The support we get from the town is always wonderful. It’s important to us to be part of the community here and it’s been a great place for us for 40 years. We were sort of fighting well above our weight. When we moved to Banbury, we had 50 people, and now there are about 480 people in Banbury. To be taking on the big factory teams, the Fords, Toyotas, Mitsubishis, and actually beating them, was quite a challenge. But that all comes down to a great team of people.’
Alain Menu: ‘The 90s, British Touring car was probably the best championship that I competed in, for sure. It was so competitive with so many good drivers from pretty much all over the world, and great teams. The only problem was the budget. Very, very, very expensive, so at some point it had to stop, because I don’t think manufacturers would justify spending that much money. But the cars were great. The UK is my second home, I’m 61 now and I spent like 30 years in the UK.’
When asked about his greatest Prodrive moment, it had to be the 2000 BTCC Championship: ‘It was tough. I was fighting against Rickard Rydell and Anthony Reid, who obviously had exactly the same equipment that I had. But also, the Honda and Vauxhall were strong as well. It’s not like we had the quickest car on every track, and it came down to the wire. The last race was Silverstone at night, and I don’t like racing at night. That’s not my thing. For me, night time is to sleep, not to drive a racing car. But anyway… I had to do it, and it all came down to the last few laps. So I was very, very emotional. The last half of the lap, I started crying in the car, which is never too good, because then you can make a mistake. So it meant a lot. The championship meant a massive lot.’
