Those lucky enough to be at this brilliant event this year will be taken back to the 1980s when the very rapid and beautiful Brabham BT52, then driven by Nelson Piquet, will be seen running again at the Goodwood track.
This exciting car was the first turbocharged powered car to win the F1 world championship. The 1983 season was led for most of the year by Alain Prost in the Renault similarly turbocharged car, but the turbo pioneering Renault car was beaten to the title in the last race by Nelson Piquet’s Brabham BMW. Piquet won the crown by just two points.
Following the closure of the Goodwood circuit to racing in 1966 it was regularly used to test some very significant cars. The Brabham BT 52 was one such car, and it was said that Piquet managed to push the car around in under 60 seconds! This has become known as Goodwood’s “greatest lap”. The four-cylinder BMW engine could be tuned to produce well over one thousand horsepower in all-out qualifying spec.
The identity of the driver of the car at this year’s event is yet to be announced by Goodwood, but it will surely be something not to be missed at this challenging circuit.