Australian Formula 1 world champion Alan Jones will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Australian Grand Prix as part of the Motorclassica in Melbourne later this year.
The 1980 world champion won the Australian Grand Prix at Calder Park, while his father Stan won the race in 1959 at the wheel of a Maserati 250F at Longford.
They remain the only father and son combination to have won the event in its history.
“I am very proud of my achievements in winning the World Drivers’ Championship of course, but winning the Australian Grand Prix is right up there too, because it’s something my father also achieved, and that makes it very special to me,” Alan Jones said.
“Motorclassica’s recognition of the event’s importance and history is much appreciated, and I am looking forward to being a part of it and sharing my memories.”
The Australian Grand Prix can trace its roots to 1927 when the terms was first used for a speedway event in Goulburn.
Buy tickets
However, the inaugural Australian Grand Prix is recognised as taking place at Phillip Island in 1928, though at the time was officially known as the ‘100 Miles Road Race’.
The event continued on Phillip Island until 1937 when it moved to Victor Harbour in South Australia.
During the 1960s the event formed an integral part of the Tasman Series, and the Formula 5000 competition which followed, until its eventual collapse in the late 1970s.
The race then moved to Calder Park for 1980, an event won by Jones at the wheel of his championship winning Williams FW07 F1 car.
From 1985 to 1995 Adelaide hosted the event, the 1985 event the first time it had been part of the world championship, before heading to its current home in Melbourne in 1996.
The Australian Grand Prix is the second oldest in the world.
The Motorclassica will celebrate both the event’s history and Jones’ F1 career, with Jones to make regular appearances on stage to talk about his father’s 1959 Australian Grand Prix victory, his own success in 1980, and more broadly about his F1 career.
The Motorclassica runs from October 12-14 at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.
Discussion about this post