Liam Lawson announced as a celebrity driver for the Adelaide Motorsport Festival
Rising Formula 1 star Liam Lawson will attend the 2023 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival on March 16 and 17, driving an eclectic range of cars across a number of categories and demonstrations.
Lawson will drive the Ford SuperVan 4.2 in demonstration in addition to a Rodin FZED in the Tipo F1 category and a Leyton House Porsche 962C in the Invitational category, plus meeting fans in the event’s Grand Marquee.
The reserve driver this year for Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB Formula 1 teams, Lawson impressed in his five grands prix stint last year and has a starring episode in Netflix’s new season of ‘Drive To Survive’ out in Australasia over the weekend.
The all-electric SuperVan 4.2 can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in less than two seconds, with a four-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain producing 1400 horsepower and a top speed in excess of 300 km/h. The Ford Transit SuperVan concept debuted in 1971, converting to all electric power from the 4.0 version in 2022.
Lawson is familiar with the Rodin FZED having driven it in New Zealand for his sponsor and manufacturer Rodin Cars. Derived from the T125, a near Formula 1-spec single-seater developed by the Lotus team in 2011. Nowadays it has been completely revised and rebuilt by Rodin with a 3.8 litre Cosworth V8 making 675 horsepower at 9,600 rpm. Lawson drove it to unofficial lap records at both Highlands and Ruapuna racing circuits.
The Porsche 962C ruled sportscar racing in the 1980s, with the German manufacturer winning seven Le Mans 24 Hour races in a row between 1981 and 1987. The Leyton House Porcshe 962C raced at Le Mans and various other sportscar events in the latter half of the 1980s, featuring an aluminium monocoque with a three-litre Porsche Type 935 KKK twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine producing 750 horsepower in the iconic colours of Leyton House.
Lawson is the latest Formula 1 personality coming to the 2024 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival, alongside Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas, long-time team principal Guenther Steiner, world champion Damon Hill and Sky Sports lead commentator David Croft.
Held the week prior to the Australian Grand Prix, the Adelaide Motorsport Festival is a museum in motion, displaying historic, rare and significant racing vehicles on the Victoria Park section of the Adelaide Street Circuit.
Categories featuring Formula 1, V8 Supercars, Group C and A Touring Cars, sportscars and more will feature over the course of the weekend, in addition to on-track demonstrations and off-track displays.
ENDS:
COPYRIGHT FREE IMAGE (2):
Liam Lawson will be a celebrity driver at the Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival on March 16-17. (Photo: Red Bull Content Pool)
Liam Lawson at Highland driving the Rodin FZED he will steer at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival. (Photo: Terry Marshall)
