Lord Hesketh's Team From Easton Neston

A young aristocrat's racing team gave James Hunt his start in Formula One and beat Niki Lauda's Ferrari at Zandvoort in 1975.

Hesketh Racing began in 1972 as a Formula Three team run by Lord Hesketh from the stables of his family's Easton Neston estate in Northamptonshire, with Anthony Horsley driving. Hesketh soon hired James Hunt, then out of work, and after a difficult season in the junior formulas he decided that Formula One would cost little more than Formula Two. Horsley stepped out of the cockpit to manage the team.

Hesketh entered Formula One in 1973 with a March chassis modified by a young designer, Harvey Postlethwaite, and Hunt was soon scoring points, finishing second at the season's last race in the United States. For 1974 Postlethwaite designed the team's own car, the Hesketh 308, which made its championship debut at the 1974 South African Grand Prix and took Hunt to three third places that year.

The great day came at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix, a race run in changing wet and dry conditions, where Hunt held off Niki Lauda's Ferrari to win. He finished fourth in the championship, and Hesketh placed fourth among the constructors, its best result. Customer 308s also gave Alan Jones his Grand Prix debut that season.

Hesketh had raced without sponsorship, and in late 1975 Lord Hesketh announced he could no longer afford to continue. Hunt moved to McLaren, Postlethwaite took his design to Wolf Williams, and Horsley kept a smaller Hesketh team going with drivers such as Harald Ertl and Rupert Keegan. It last started a race at the 1978 South African Grand Prix. Hesketh cars started 52 World Championship races, won one and reached the podium seven times.

Drivers

• James Hunt