The Silverstone F1 legend brought back to life

By:

Kevin Turner

Aug 24, 2023, 12:19 PM

It was central to one of the great Formula 1 moments. As Silverstone celebrates its 75th birthday, the 1987 British GP-winning Williams FW11B driven to a famous victory by Nigel Mansell has been revived after years of toil – but not without one or two trials

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A feint left and then a dive to the right, down the inside. Nigel Mansell’s sublime Stowe pass on Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet at the 1987 British Grand Prix is one of the iconic motorsport moments and the home hero’s subsequent victory stands as one of Silverstone’s greatest highlights.

The car in question, Williams-Honda FW11B-03, has just been restored, thanks to the efforts of owner and McLaren boss Zak Brown, Williams Heritage, United Autosports and, in particular, Dickie Stanford. Mansell’s former chief mechanic and Williams team manager was involved in a long and, at times, tricky challenge to resurrect the car. In fact, it took seven years.

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Kevin Turner

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Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.