Prodrive was founded back in 1984 by former world champion rally navigator David Richards CBE in a small facility at Silverstone and is the man who must take the credit for navigating Ari Vatanen’s Ford Escort to the World Rally Championship title in 1981.
As Richards says in the book’s foreward, they all shared the innocence and ambition of youth and never really considered the obstacles that would stand in their way, believing that anything was possible. He never dreamt of what would unfold over the following 40 years.
You only have to look at the list of achievements to see that motorsport runs through Prodrive’s DNA. From 1993 to 2005 they ran Subaru’s FIA World Rally Championship programme with the iconic blue and yellow Imprezas, winning three consecutive WRC Manufacturers’ titles and three Drivers’ titles with Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg. They subsequently ran the MINI WRC rally programme, which has made Prodrive a force to be reckoned with in FIA World Rally Raid Championship events, including the notorious Dakar Rally, with its own Prodrive Hunter which is its latest bio-fuel run, all-terrain vehicle.
There has also been success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the FIA World Endurance Championship with class wins. In fact, you name it, Prodrive has competed in it, with titles in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) as well as success in Formula 1 with the BAR-Honda F1 team.
This year Prodrive celebrates its 40th anniversary having carved its reputation in motorsport, originally with a programme to run a Porsche 959 Group B rally car.
This nostalgic book highlights the wide range of activities the company has undertaken, never shying away from a challenge along the way, which is what has made Prodrive into what it is today, with a culture that says:
“As a team there’s little we can’t achieve which as individuals we would have thought impossible.”
Although it would have been logical to have stuck with rallying, which was Richard’s background and where he cut his teeth, other opportunities unfolded, and he wholeheartedly embraced them.
40 years on and you can just easily find Prodrive working on an America’s Cup yacht, a supercar’s active aero system or vertical take-off aircraft.
Prodrive’s stature and success over the last 40 years as one of the UK’s most celebrated motorsport companies and automotive technologists, is celebrated in this new 192-page hardback book by Porter Press International and written by award-winning author Ian Wagstaff, who chronicles year-by-year, the remarkable achievements of adrenalin-fuelled motorsport action with input from those who have been a part of the company’s story over the last four decades.
As Richards says:
“I therefore look at the achievements through the eyes of those that made it all happen. The long hours, the late nights, the total commitment of so many people over the last 40 years that have contributed to our success – this book is about you.”
The book’s introduction looks at the origins of Prodrive and its expansion over the years before launching into a chronicle of the company’s individual success stories from their key motorsport programmes. This includes the early years in rallying, touring car racing, Formula 1, the Subaru world rally programme, the Le Mans challengers and GT racing and rallying in the 21st century. The book then looks at Prodrive’s Advanced Technology, their road cars, brand and sports apparel business plus Prodrive Composites and other Prodrive ventures as well as the company’s present-day business operations and a glimpse into the future.
There are interviews with not only Prodrive personnel but also some of the contracted drivers from the past and present, including of course, David Richards, David Lapworth, Jimmy McRae, Nicky Grist, Jenson Button, Steve Soper, Frank Sytner, Darren Turner, Sébastien Loeb and Petter Solberg.
The book opens with Prodrive’s first motorsport win at the 1984 Qatar Rally with a Porsche 911 SC RS, going on to win the inaugural FIA Middle East Rally Championship for fledgling teams, a feat they repeated the following year. Also, in 1985 Prodrive built a 4-wheel-drive Porsche 959 and won the Pharoah’s Rally. Then in 1986 Jimmy McRae wins the Ulster Rally in a Group B MG Metro 6R4 before the super powerful Group B cars were banned.
Prodrive went on to take their first WRC victory the following year in a BMW M3 which they converted from a circuit racing car before taking the BTCC title in another BMW M3 in 1988 with Frank Sytner at the wheel in their first foray into circuit racing. A year later there was more success with BMW in the European Rally.
It was in 1990 that Prodrive’s Advanced Technology business was created, taking the best technology from its motorsport business and applying it to other sectors. This has helped bring innovative ideas to the market and enabled Prodrive to work with vehicle manufacturers.
1991 was the year in which Colin McRae secured Prodrive’s first home win, having already won national championships outside the UK. It was a second championship win for McRae the following year with the Prodrive-run Subaru Legacy, and in 1993 the Prodrive Subaru takes its first WRC victory.
Prodrive deservedly wins the (UK) Motor Industry Association (MIA) Company of the Year Award in 1994 before reaching the pinnacle of rallying by winning both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ World Rally Championship titles with Colin McRae behind the wheel and Derek Ringer as navigator in of course a Subaru. There was another WRC title in 1996 with Subaru.
In 1999 Prodrive partnered with Ford in the British Touring Car Championships with Team Mondeo, who secured their first win at Knockhill at the end of the season. The following year saw the team’s three drivers battling for the top honours as Team Mondeo found themselves in a class of their own.
In 2002 Prodrive entered a new arena of motorsports in the guise of endurance racing, initially competing with a Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello in the 12 Hours of Sebring in the United States.
Then in 2004 Richards takes on the role as Team Principal at British American Racing (BAR) Formula 1 team. The team’s performance improved significantly with Jensen Button taking four second places, finishing third in the Drivers’ World Championship and in so doing, helping the team secure second place in the Constructors’ World Championship.
In 2007 a Prodrive-built Aston Martin wins its Sebring debut before securing victory at Le Mans for Aston Martin DBR8. And in 2009 Prodrive developed a Lola-Aston for Le Mans in just six months.
In 2011 Prodrive returned to the World Rally Championship with a factory-supported MINI. A year later Prodrive Advanced Technology designed a cutting edge active aerodynamic system for McLaren’s P1 hypecar.
It was in 2013 that Land Rover approached Prodrive to help the company attract a new more-discerning customer base for its Range Rover.
Prodrive took to the sea in 2017 in an attempt to win the America’s Cup for Ben Ainslie’s team and give them an innovative edge, helping to develop its AC45-class hydrofoil catamaran.
Back on dry land, and this time the desert, Prodrive debuts at the 2021 Dakar Rally in a Prodrive-designed all-terrain rally car, called the Prodrive Hunter. A year later Prodrive runs an Extreme E Team.
Paying homage to the legendary Subaru, last year Prodrive launched its first niche road car: the Prodrive P25, which is a modern interpretation of the Subaru Impreza WRC97 rally car that made its successful debut in 1997.
The book then goes into more detail with its successful ventures showcasing innovation and success, starting with the early years rallying before moving onto Touring Car Racing and Formula 1. There are then quite rightly plenty of pages dedicated to the Subaru years.
The Le Mans Challenge is covered with some beautiful colour photography of the some of the cars competing before moving onto a chapter entitled: Rallying in the 21st Century.
The last few chapters look at Prodrive’s branding business: Brand&, as well as their Composites division and new Prodrive Ventures, the innovative arm of the Prodrive Group, investing in new projects in the micro-mobility and racing simulator arenas to showcase its engineering expertise to a wider audience.
With an eye on the future, there is a chapter that looks at Prodrive Advanced Technology as well as Prodrive’s road cars, with David Richards summing up by saying:
“There are vast expanses still to be explored that go way beyond the access provided by asphalt roads.”
Adding:
“We have now got to a new stage in our development, and our 40th anniversary is perhaps an appropriate time for that.”
A final word must go to the author, Ian Wagstaff, who began his career at Motor Sport and Motoring News before becoming Press and Promotions Manager at Silverstone Circuit and then an editor in the trade press. Since 1886 Ian has been working as a freelance writer for the motor racing press as well as automotive trade and business publications. He has won a number of awards for his writing and is twice winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy for his books. His first book in the Porter Press Great Cars series, which covered the story of the 1970 Le Mans-winning Porsche 917, won him the Motorworld Book Prize in the Motorsport category.
This beautiful 192-page hardback book, illustrated with over 150 captivating photographs, makes for the perfect Christmas gift for any motorsport fan in your family.
Publication date: 21st October 2024
UK price: £39.00
ISBN 978-1-913089-04-7
Format: 240mm x 280mm, hardback printed paper case
Page extent: 192 pages with over 150 images
Prodrive: 40 Years of Success
By Ian Wagstaff
Published by Porter Press International
For more information and to purchase your own copy of Prodrive: 40 Years of Success, please visit the Porter Press website. The book is also available at Amazon and WH Smith.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is a UK-based motoring and travel journalist and editor, a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs courtesy of Porter Press International
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