Montoya to drive Hollinger’s F1 Williams FW26 at Goodwood

This weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will have a unique crossing of worlds as Juncos Hollinger Racing co-owner Brad Hollinger is sporting an IndyCar presence in West Sussex while also featuring two legendary Williams cars from Formula 1.

A former shareholder and board member at Williams, Hollinger is now in his third full year as a team owner alongside Ricardo Juncos in North America’s premier open-wheel championship.

The FW19, the Renault-powered Williams machine that Jacques Villeneuve drove to the 1997 F1 title, will be on display for onlookers. However, it’ll be the BMW Williams FW26 from the 2004 season that is set to be run, primarily by original pilot Juan Pablo Montoya, who will be followed with his son Sebastian also getting behind the wheel.

Montoya, a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion and seven-time race winner in F1, previously set the fastest-ever lap at Monza in the FW26, producing a lap at 1m19.525s around the 3.6-mile circuit in 2004, a season that saw him take one win (Brazil), three podiums and two fastest laps en route to finishing fifth in the championship.

“It’s got a BMW V10 and redlines at about 18,000rpm,” Hollinger told Autosport, of the FW26. “Yeah, so Juan Pablo is going to drive it and his son is going to drive it, and Karun Chandhok is going to drive it on the first day [sadly, the car broke down on its Friday afternoon run].

“And Juncos Hollinger Racing is going to have a presence there and cross-promote.”

Hollinger shared how unique of an opportunity it is for JHR to help promote IndyCar at the famous British festival of racing.

“We thought it would be a great way to promote where IndyCar is, that we’re an up-and-coming organisation,” he said. “We have great racing and there’s plenty of cross-pollination actually.

“You know, it’s still racing, just a different kind of vehicle, that’s all.”

One of Juncos Hollinger Racing’s tents will be set up, with a chance to open up not only the sport but also, perhaps, intrigue potential new partners.

“The idea is obviously to gain more sponsorship for JHR,” Hollinger said. “Obviously, quite a lot of who’s who in racing will be there, so we’re hopeful that really helps as well.”