Mansell & Penning Help Honour 115 Years Of The London To Brighton Veteran Car Run

LONDON – Oct 7, 2011: One of the greatest names in motor racing, Nigel Mansell OBE will headline the celebrities joining the Royal Automobile Club’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run on Sunday 6 November. The 1992 Formula One World Champion will be joined by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Mike Penning MP, for the 115th anniversary of the world’s longest running and greatest motoring event.

Nigel Mansell remains one of Britain’s best loved and most successful racing drivers. In a brilliant career spanning 15 seasons he recorded 31 grand prix wins and 32 pole positions from 187 starts, ranks third in the world’s fastest laps tally and sits fourth in the overall winners list. CART IndyCar World Series Champion in 1993, he remains the only driver to take back-to-back titles, winning the CART crown as the reigning F1 champion.

His heroic on-track battles earned him worldwide acclaim, never more so than on home shores where his pass on Nelson Piquet in the 1987 British Grand Prix heading into Stowe Corner triggered ‘Mansellmania’.

Mansell will be joined by Mike Penning MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport and MP for Hemel Hempstead.

The duo are sure to be a highlight for the tens of thousands of spectators who line the 60-mile route from London’s Hyde Park to Madeira Drive in Brighton, in what is Britain’s biggest free-to-spectate motoring event.

The 2011 event promises to be one of the best yet, featuring 500 of the most iconic pre-1905 Veteran cars, including an International entry accounting for twenty five per cent, while honouring Germany as the country of celebration.

Driving a 1902 Mercedes Simplex, Mansell and Penning’s journey will help mark the birth of motoring innovation starting with the celebrations surrounding the Run’s 75th anniversary start from Hyde Park.