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Historics - Daly To Race At Goodwood


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Noblesville, Jun. 12, 2012: Former Formula 1, IndyCar and Le Mans star Derek Daly is to return to racing at the 2012 Goodwood Revival meeting on September 14th to 16th in Chichester, West Sussex, England. US domiciled Irishman Daly, 59, will share a Sunbeam Rapier with Sussex, England, solicitor Harry Sherrard in the Pro/Am St Mary's Trophy race.

The Sunbeam Rapier that Derek will drive along with Harry Sherrard at the Goodwood Revival

It will be an evocative return to Goodwood for Daly. After a stellar career in the junior formulae, he had his first test in a Formula 1 car at the famous Sussex circuit. The test, in December 1977, was for the Theodore team, and came an astonishing 14 months after Daly had won the British Formula Ford festival.

Daly went on to race with distinction in Formula 1 for the Ensign, Tyrrell, Williams and March Grand Prix teams, before moving stateside for the IndyCar series. Success in LeMans sportscar racing followed, before a switch to the television commentary booth where Daly became well known as ESPN's Formula 1 commentator. He now runs the Derek Daly Academy, a sports management company and is a sought after motorsport consultant and keynote motivational speaker. He is the author of "Race to Win", a guide for up and coming professional racing drivers.

His son Conor is currently a front runner in the GP3 series, winning the support race at the Spanish Grand Prix in May 2012.

Employment law specialist, Harry Sherrard has enjoyed a 20 year career in amateur motorsports, primarily in Sports 2000, where he drove a Crosslé... appropriately the marque in which Daly launched his career in Ireland. Sherrard has a long association with Goodwood, having worked for Peter Gethin Driving Courses as an instructor at the circuit. He said: "I was a great fan of Derek in his racing career, and I'm thrilled that he has accepted my invitation to race with me at Goodwood."

The St Mary's Trophy race is for 1950's saloons, and is a two part event. The professional driver races in the first leg on the Saturday, then hands over to the owner who completes the race on the Sunday.

The Sunbeam Rapier, which has an extensive motorsport history in both racing and rallying, has been prepared by Chris Snowdon, responsible for some well turned out entries in the St Mary's Trophy event in previous years. The Rapier underwent a bare metal rebuild over the winter, and has done well in pre-event testing.

Daly will test the car at Goodwood on July 5th, almost 30 years to the day since he last competed in the UK, in the 1982 British Grand Prix.