Legends Reunited as Royal Automobile Club Honours Prodrive

An incredible line-up of motorsport heroes gathered in London as the Royal Automobile Club presented Prodrive with its Diamond Jubilee Trophy on 31 October. The celebratory atmosphere at the Pall Mall Clubhouse reflected the great esteem in which the British company is held, as everyone reminisced into the early hours about 40 years of Prodrive success in rallying, sports-car racing, touring cars and Formula 1.

First awarded in 1957, when the Royal Automobile Club celebrated its 60th anniversary, the Diamond Jubilee Trophy is only occasionally given for ‘An outstanding contribution in the field of automotive transport or motorsport’. This year’s event represented just the seventh time the Trophy has been won, and the first since 2016.

Three years before founding Prodrive, David Richards won the 1981 World Rally Championship as co-driver to Ari Vatanen, and the Flying Finn was on hand to recall their time together. He was joined by Saeed Al-Hajri, who scored Prodrive’s maiden win on the 1984 Qatar International Rally, and the Porsche 911 SC RS in which he claimed that milestone victory was on display in the Pall Mall Rotunda.

Few combinations in motorsport history are as evocative as Colin McRae and Prodrive’s blue-and-gold Subaru Imprezas, and one of the late Scotsman’s 1996 WRC cars was also on display. Colin’s father Jimmy – himself a five-times winner of the British Rally Championship – spoke about that golden era, as did two men who had a front-row seat during the fierce battle for the 1995 World Rally Championship. Alongside McRae as he took the title with Prodrive that year was co-driver Derek Ringer, who was joined at the event by Luis Moya – co-driver to McRae’s teammate Carlos Sainz.

Robert Reid was also on hand to speak about winning the World Rally Championship with Prodrive in 2001 as co-driver to the late Richard Burns, while Petter Solberg and Phil Mills reminisced about their own title success two years later.

The most decorated rally driver of all time, nine-times World Champion Sébastien Loeb, has been part of the Prodrive family since 2021 and talked about their assault on the gruelling Dakar Rally, while Cristina Gutiérrez recalled the thrill of being paired with her hero Loeb in Prodrive’s Extreme E team.

François Chatriot and many of the small team that won the French Rally Championship in a Prodrive BMW M3 joined the celebrations, while the company’s success in the British Touring Car Championship was evoked by tin-top legends Frank Sytner and Alain Menu.

Prodrive stalwart David Lapworth spoke about the early days of the company, while Darren Turner, a multiple class winner for Prodrive at the Le Mans 24 Hours, said:

It does feel like a family. It’s all the team members that we’ve worked with over all this time – the technicians, the drivers, and everyone else who’s been involved.

As he accepted the Diamond Jubilee Trophy, David Richards CBE said:

Succeeding in any form of motorsport is an enormous challenge but we’ve always recruited the best people in the business, and had a clear philosophy about everything we do. The culture this has created is one of ‘just make it happen’, yet do it in a way that you will be proud of. So sometimes it’s the smaller achievements that give the most satisfaction, especially when you beat all the odds.

Duncan Wiltshire, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club commented:

We are delighted to honour Prodrive with our Diamond Jubilee Trophy. David’s leadership is truly inspirational, and the results of his skills in organisation and motivation speak for themselves – as does the fact that so many great names are here to celebrate Prodrive’s ongoing success.

To excel in just one area of motorsport today is an exceptional achievement, but to do so in so many – and to foster so much talent both behind the wheel and behind the scenes – is a magnificent achievement.