National novelties: Ex-F1 engineer's Esprit and Fastest Mini in the World

From a mighty Lotus Esprit to some highly modified Minis and even a test run for the Nasamax LMP1 machine, there have been some unusual cars taking to the UK tracks recently

Esprit emerges: Howard-Chappell's return

Johnny Herbert’s 1992-93 Formula 1 Lotus engineer George Howard-Chappell raced his Esprit Turbo for the first time since 750 Motor Club Roadsports in 1994 in the Modern Classics contest at Donington Park last weekend.

Bought back from Nick Olson, it was rebuilt during COVID lockdowns. “The rain didn’t help us [he spun out after touching a McLeans kerb] but we’d give anybody a run for their money in the dry,” he said.

George’s stellar CV lists Lotus Engineering - developing Esprit GT2, Esprit V8 and Elise GT1 V8 - British Touring Cars with Honda, and 14 years at Prodrive spanning BTCC Ford Mondeo, Ferrari 550 Maranello and Aston Martin’s DBR9 V12 to prototypes. He now works for Multimatic Racing Europe.

Rare Alfa: Edmond's Junior Zagato

Source: Autosport