The best F1 races many will never

have heard of

There have been many great Formula 1 races, but attention tends to be focused on the 1018 events that have counted for the world championship since it began in 1950. That excludes hundreds of races that took place in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

This week we have decided to celebrate the non-championship F1 races (see page 18), two of the most famous of which – the Brands Hatch Race of Champions and Silverstone BRDC International Trophy (p22) – used to take place at this time of year. Some of these contests were only discernible from world championship grands prix by the lack of points after the chequered flag. And in the early days of F1, that was less of a concern than you might think.

Not only were some of the races top-quality (p28), but they also helped give some drivers their first steps in F1. As one such – John Watson – points out, the days of the non-championship races are unlikely to return, but it is a period that deserves to be remembered.

Another era that is recalled fondly is Group C, and this week we also take a look at the story of the last great car of the category – the Peugeot 905 – with the Le Mans-winning combination of engineer Tim Wright (p40) and the underrated Derek Warwick (p46).

Kevin Turner Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK 30 APRIL Racing Point on the rise? We talk to the best ‘small’

team and recall the

finest Dutch GPs

COVER IMAGE Motorsport Images

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Formula E state of play 6 GPs eye running behind closed doors 8 Motorsport must become more relevant 10 Obituary: John Horsman 13 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 15 Opinion: Marcus Simmons 17 Feedback: your letters

FORGOTTEN F1 RACES SPECIAL 18 Why they deserve to be remembered 22 The big races at Brands and Silverstone 28 Top 10 non-championship events 34 When the Brits broke away from F1

INSIGHT 40 Tim Wright’s life with the Peugeot 905 46 Derek Warwick on his 1992 world title 49 Top five other French LM-winning cars 50 World of Esports

CLUB AUTOSPORT 62 Ex-drag Cobra to go circuit racing 64 Bickers wins virtual karting event 65 Opinion: Stephen Lickorish 66 How clubs are responding to crisis

FINISHING STRAIGHT 70 What’s on this week 72 Archive: 1976 BRDC International Trophy 74 Autosport 70: Group C begins

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23 APRIL 2020 AUTOSPORT.COM 3