The Ickx factor

Add a Belgian driver and a Cosworth V8 and this Brabham BT26 gave Jackie Stewart a fright,

- Simon de Burton

Not long ago I had the privilege of being driven around the Spanish circuit Ascari in a Porsche 911 GT3 by the legendary Jacky Ickx. We were less than a lap in before the secret of the genius that enabled him to win Le Mans six times became apparent: despite being close to 80 years old, he remains spectacularly smooth (both in his driving style and in his demeanour), as cool as a cucumber and – most noticeably – incredibly sympathetic to the machine.

In fact, during multiple cringe-making quick laps, I don’t think the tachometer ever passed the 4000rpm mark.

So if you’re looking for a historic Formula 1 car and believe a little bit of a past driver’s magic might sometimes be left behind, check out this example that was successfully campaigned both by Ickx and posthumous 1970 F1 world champion Jochen Rindt.