Martin Brundle announces surprise racing return

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has announced a surprise return to racing, three years after his last competitive appearance.

The iconic F1 commentator will compete in this weekend's Spa Six Hours, featuring historic cars. Brundle will partner his son, Alex, and Gary Pearson in a Ford GT40.

It will mark Brundle's debut in the event and his first competitive appearance since racing in the Goodwood rival three years ago.

At Spa-Francorchamps, this weekend's six-hour endurance race consists of pre-1966 specification GTP, GT and touring cars. 

Brundle has previously raced alongside his son and is looking forward to the opportunity of doing so again.

"I just fancied driving Alex’s GT40 with him," Brundle said, as quoted by Autosport. "Even on GP weekends [when they commentate on different races] we don’t see much of each other, so it’s a rare opportunity for a father and son weekend. 

"Me and Al did Le Mans together in 2012 [in an LMP2 Zytek-Nissan] and we’ve raced together in Jaguar E-types, so it’ll be fun.

"I haven’t raced for three years, since the Goodwood Revival, but enjoy working with Gary. I’d not driven the GT40 [an FIA HTP compliant Gelscoe reproduction that Brundle Jr and Pearson built together] until a test session at Silverstone just before the Festival. I wanted to see whether I liked it, and did, so we decided to do Spa.

"I have no aspirations [of a result]. I love Spa and love the car, but have yet to experience it on full tanks. That will be interesting.

"Strangely, the biggest lottery is still the fuel pumps [where drivers refill their own cars, and the fuel-efficient Lotus Elans have one tank to the GT40s’ two]. Alex lost two laps last year but says a Lotus Elan could win if it’s wet."