Ex-Formula 1 driver and four-time Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Jan Magnussen will return to Formula Ford 1600 in the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone next month.
The 1992 Formula Ford Festival winner, father of Haas F1 driver Kevin, will take part in the Silverstone extravaganza on 2-3 November at the wheel of a Van Diemen RF78 run by Mike Gardner’s GT Race & Trailers operation.
Like the Foundation Racing RF92 in which Magnussen won the Festival at Brands Hatch 32 years ago, the older Van Diemen will be liveried in the colours of Duckhams, the British oil brand.
The Walter Hayes will be Magnussen’s second outing in FF1600 since his famous Festival victory, which was sealed from the back of his heat after he was excluded from qualifying.
The Dane, now 51, contested the 50th anniversary Festival in 2021 in a Low Dempsey Racing Ray GR14, but the WHT will be his first appearance in a Van Diemen since 1992.
Magnussen revealed to Autosport that the Silverstone outing in the RF78 came up purely by chance.
His 15-year-old son Luca, Kevin’s half-brother, is friends with Gardner’s step-son Giancarlo, which resulted in an introduction when Magnussen was racing at the Silverstone Festival in August.
“Luca and Giancarlo are karting buddies and were hanging out when I came over to do the Festival,” said Magnussen.
“That’s how I got to meet Mike and Giancarlo’s mother.
“He was telling me about all the Formula Fords he’s involved with and was showing me some pictures, and the subject of the WHT did come up.
“After the weekend, Mike contacted me, and said, ‘Look I’ve got a car, why don’t you come over and do the WHT?’
“I don’t see myself as a historic racer, but I love driving the old cars when the opportunity comes up.
"I’m really looking forward to the WHT: the RF78 is a bit before my time, but it looks super-cool.”
Magnussen raced a Ford-engined Turner GT in the Historic Tourist Trophy and a Shelby Daytona Cobra in the International Trophy for Classic GT Cars at the Silverstone Festival, sharing both with fellow countryman Nikolai Mortensen.
His son Luca races in the Italian-based ROK Cup series this year after winning the Danish X30 senior title in 2023.
Magnussen nearly lost the chance to win the 1992 Formula Ford Festival as the result of a late deal with Duckhams to run his Van Diemen in its colours.
New bodywork in the oil company’s livery, which a works Van Diemen had run every year since 1984, was supplied to Foundation ahead of qualifying.
What the team didn’t know was that it was lighter than the much-repaired set of panels it had been running, which resulted in Magnussen’s exclusion from qualifying when his RF92 was found to be underweight.
But the Dane was able to come through to take Festival honours after around-the-outside manoeuvres on Neil Cunningham and then Oliver Gavin at Paddock Hill Bend in the final.
