When Indycar’s mistimed experiment briefly beat F1 at Silverstone

A new exhibition at the Silverstone Museum has brought some special cars over from Indianapolis, and one was involved in an ultimately unsuccessful experiment more than 40 years ago…

If Josef Newgarden rocked up at Silverstone and used his Team Penske-run Dallara-Chevrolet to break Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Formula 1 lap record, it would be a sensation. Given that Colton Herta’s best time in IndyCar’s 2019 visit to Circuit of The Americas was more than 12 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc’s fastest lap from that year’s United States Grand Prix, that would never happen. But there was a time when an American invasion broke records at the home of the British GP.

Thanks to a chance meeting between Brands Hatch impresario John Webb and United States Automobile Club president Dick King, a plan was formed to bring Indycars, then under the auspices of USAC, to the UK. Webb, who died earlier this year aged 92, was a visionary always looking to find new ways of promoting motorsport – and was prepared to try novel ideas. Formula Ford and F5000 were just two of his most-famous initiatives, which stuck a lot longer than the USAC experiment.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.