Shop
Boutsen won the 1989 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide in atrociously wet conditions.
His win came after Alain Prost elected to park his McLaren in the early laps in protest, while Ayrton Senna collided with the rear of Martin Brundle’s Brabham while leading.
Racing for Williams in F1 1989, Boutsen saw the chequered flag first aboard his FW13 to claim the second of his three career wins.
The Belgian enjoyed a decade-long spell in F1 with Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier, and Jordan, taking 11 podiums in addition to his race victories.
That saw Boutsen at the controls of arguably the most powerful F1 engine of all time, the BMW M12/13, which is estimated to have produced over 1400 (the BMW dyno only went to 1280bhp) horsepower in his 1986 Arrows A8/A9.
Craig Lowndes will drive the successor to that car, the Arrows A10, which is also set to appear at the event.
Following his F1 career, Boutsen transitioned into a successful sports car career from 1993, finishing second in class at 24 Hours of Le Mans on three occasions before taking a class win and second overall with Porsche in 1996.
Boutsen retired from racing at the end of 1999 and has since moved into the aviation sector, operating Boutsen Aviation from his base in Monaco.
The 67-year-old will drive the 1990 Australian Grand Prix-winning Benetton B190, which Nelson Piquet drove during the period.
That event was notable as the 500th world championship grand prix and the penultimate win of three-time world champion Piquet’s career.
The B190 was also victorious courtesy of the Brazilian at the Japanese Grand Prix, the event immediately prior to the season-ending Australian GP.
It was powered by a Ford Cosworth HBA4 engine, an eight-cylinder design that produced an estimated 650bhp at 13,000rpm. The engine was connected to a bespoke six-speed transverse gearbox, the team having yet to adopt semi-automatic gears.
The B190 was the last low-nose design produced by Benetton, which switched to the high nose for the B191 the following year.
Boutsen will drive the car as part of this year’s Adelaide Motorsport Festival, which takes place across the March 8-9 weekend.
