Goodwood Festival of Speed organisers have announced that Jenson Button’s 2009 title-winning Brawn F1 car will take part in the 2016 edition of the iconic event.
This will be the first time that Chassis 002, who belongs to former team boss Ross Brawn, turns a wheel in anger since Button became the 10th British world champion at the end of a fairytale campaign.
The Somerset racer was out of a drive after Honda pulled the plug on its F1 programme in December 2008, but his career received a lifeline when technical director Brawn bought the team from the Japanese manufacturer that winter.
Fitted with a Mercedes engine, the BGP001 took the sport by storm, with Button winning six of the first seven races to build a comfortable lead in the Drivers’ standings.
Despite the Brawn package’s performance tailing off over the second half of the season, the Briton’s consistency enabled him to seal the crown with one round to spare while team-mate Rubens Barrichello ensured a resounding championship double.
“I’m absolutely delighted that one of only three Brawn BGP 001s built is coming to the Festival of Speed,” Brawn said. “I’ve had Chassis 002, which is the very car Jenson Button used throughout his world title-winning season in 2009, in my collection since that time and can’t wait for it to turn a wheel under its own power for the first time since that incredible season.
"The car was stripped and rebuilt before I took it and has been rarely seen in public since then. Frazer Deane at D3 Racing is meticulously going over it in readiness for its run up the hill at the Festival and some of the mechanics who worked on the car in period are giving up their time to help run it at FoS.
“I can’t think of a better place to show off the car than at Goodwood. The event is remarkable. I’ve been many times and love getting up close to such important competition cars.
“In F1 you get very close to your own car, but not to anyone else’s! The public’s enthusiasm for the history of motorsport is one of the reasons the event is such a success. It’s superbly well run and a real history lesson.”
Brawn GP’s whirlwind F1 journey ended with its sale to Daimler AMG in November 2009. The team was then rebranded as Mercedes GP, which has since evolved into the dominant Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team that has secured four titles over the past two years with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
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