They are rarely mentioned in the same breath, but Mallory Park and Formula 1 are by no means strangers. The circuit was a staple on the British Formula 1 Championship calendar during its three-season zenith, 1978-1980, hosting two rounds annually. At the time it seemed wholesome, noisy fun as recent, secondhand grand prix cars hurtled around in little more than 40 seconds. Nobody batted an eyelid that the track had precious little in the way of pit facilities… or even less in terms of run-off. It had – and still has – a magnificent café, which surely mattered more…
Leading grand prix teams very occasionally tested there – using the hairpin to evaluate low-speed set-ups – and in slightly more recent times F1 cast-offs have appeared in the EuroBOSS Formula Libre series (later Boss GP, which nowadays operates on slightly longer circuits in mainland Europe). During one such race in 1997, Finn Johan Rajamäki lapped the circuit in 38.23sec (127.12mph) at the wheel of his Footwork FA13, a five-year-old F1 chassis strapped to a Judd V10.
Formula 1 cars graced some early Libre events at the circuit, too, but only once has Mallory Park hosted a contemporary F1 race that attracted the leading
