An Old Friend Returns To Phillip Island | The Mighty Hesketh 308
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
The 2026 Phillip Island Penrite 100 Classic will once again be graced with the presence of Formula One royalty in the form of the mighty Hesketh 308 of James Hagan.
James and his team first bought the Hesketh down under back in 2023 for the Phillip Island Classic, alongside an eclectic mix of historic F1 cars including an 1972 Surtees TS16, Shadow DN8, Tyrrell 012, Ensign N179 and Lotus 81, racing wheel to wheel in the Q&R Racing category with James and his Hesketh ultimately competing in, and wining the Sunday feature race that year.
The story of Hesketh Racing in the 1970’s is that of F1 folklore. A British racing team who competed in F1 from 1973 to 1978 entering 52 grand prix, winning one and achieving eight further podium finishes with a best place fourth in the constructors championship in 1975.
In fact, our own 1980 Australian F1 Champion, Alan Jones started his F1 career in a privately entered Hesketh 308 at the 1975 Spanish F1 Grand Prix under Harry Stiller Racing.
The Hesketh 308 was made famous outside of the racing fraternity in 2013, when it starred in the hit movie RUSH, portraying the epic story of Hunt vs Lauda and starring another famous Aussie - Chris Hemsworth.
The history behind Hesketh Racing, is yet another one of those amazing stories which became woven into the fabric of time throughout the glorious (but incredibly tragic) years of Formula One and a team famous for its flamboyant and patriotic approach to the sport and for refusing sponsorship – until 1976 anyway.
A lot has been said of the Hunt vs. Lauda years, but even more interesting is the story of where it all began for James Hunt and also Hesketh Racing.
Lord Hesketh himself, born Alexander Fermor-Hesketh in 1950, and the son of Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, succeeded his father as the 3rd Baron of Hesketh at the tender age of four, after his father’s untimely death at the age of 39.
In 1972, Hesketh used his immense wealth to start his own racing team - Hesketh Racing, with his friend and ex-used car dealer Anthony “Bubbles” Horsley, with one aim. To have as much fun as possible! Starting in F3, Hesketh bucked the trend of other teams, booking his team into five star accommodation, and arriving to race meetings in a Rolls-Royce, and drinking champagne after races – no matter where they finished!
Anthony Horsley was the teams first driver competing in F3, with the then unemployed James Hunt being recruited soon after. The team had very little success in those early days of F3 with both drivers writing off both cars, and forcing the team to rent an F2 March for Hunt for the remainder of the 1972 Formula Two season, with Horsley deciding that racing wasn’t for him and instead took up an administration role with the team.
It was around this time, that Lord Hesketh had come to the conclusion that running an F1 team wasn’t much more expensive than racing in F2 and the team was then entered into F1 in 1973 renting a Surtees TS9.
After some success and prize winnings, the team then purchased a March 731 and along with it, signing junior March Engineering designer, Harvey Postlethwaite to modify the chassis, working out of the stables of the Hesketh family estate in Northamptonshire. Wild!
The car would make it’s first appearance at the 1973 Monaco Grand Prix and then securing multiple podiums later that season.
Postlethwaite would design an all new car for 1974, powered by the most succsesful winning engine in F1 history, the Cosworth DFV V8, and the Hesketh 308 was born. The car was a jet straight out of the box winning it’s first race, the 1974 Silverstone International Trophy, with Hunt at the wheel, and would later make it’s F1 debut at the 1974 South African Grand Prix. Later that year, the car would finish 3rd in the Swedish, Austrian and United States Grand Prix.
It was in 1975 though, that the team would finally break through for it’s first and only F1 win at the Dutch Grand Prix with Hunt beating off Lauda’s dominant Ferrari in mixed conditions. Hunt would finish fourth in the championship that year and later leave for McLaren in ’76 where he would win the F1 drivers’ championship.
At the end of 1975, Lord Hesketh, announced he would leave the team, which would later live on through Horsley as Hesketh Racing, until the end of the 1978 season where the team would fold. Postlethwaite would join Wolf-Williams Racing in 1976 taking his designs with him.
You can witness this incredible car in all its glory and step back in time, at the 2026 Phillip Island Penrite 100 Classic and see the mighty Hesketh 308 in the flesh, along with over 350 incredible historic racing machines.
March 13th – 15th 2026. Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Tickets available on-line or at the gate. Patrons under 17 enter free, companion cards accepted.
Be There!
Learn more here.
