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Star cars to honour Jacky Ickx at HMI 2017

9 February 2017

Six star cars that played key roles in the career of Jacky Ickx, one of the world’s most successful racing drivers, will form a special showcase at Historic Motorsport International.

The Belgian started his career on two wheels, winning the European 50 cc trials title when still a teenager. In a career that spanned more than 40 years, Ickx won eight Grands Prix and claimed six victories at Le Mans. He also won two World Endurance titles, the Can-Am Championship, the Paris-Dakar Rally, and was crowned the European Formula 2 champion.

The display will comprise the 1969 Brabham BT26/4, which gave him two victories and the runner-up slot in that year’s Formula 1 title race. There’s also a Ferrari 312 B2 – the car which he raced to further success after joining the Italian team at the start of the 1970 season.

Meanwhile, his sports car exploits are celebrated by the 1975 Gulf Mirage GR8-001, the very car that took Ickx and teammate Derek Bell to the first of their three shared victories at Le Mans, and a Jules liveried Porsche 936 in which the pair won again in 1981.

Lining up alongside the pair of Le Mans icons is the very first of the all-conquering Porsche 956s, the development chassis that Ickx and Bell used to take Group C honours in the 1982 Silverstone Six Hours – the first race for the then-new car.

The sixth car is the Porsche 953 in which Ickx and co-driver Claude Brasseur finished sixth in the 1984 Paris-Dakar, the year after Ickx won the event outright in a Mercedes 280 GE. The 953 is a hugely significant car for Porsche. The four-wheel-drive 953 project was initiated by Ickx himself and the 953 was the forerunner of the 959. When launched, the twin-turbo 959 was the world’s fastest production road car with a top speed of 195 mph.

Ickx will officially open the London Classic Car Show’s sister exhibition Historic Motorsport International – held in an adjacent hall and devoted to historic racing and rallying – at 12 noon on Thursday 23 February.

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