Tiff Needell at Fast Car Festival

We’re very pleased to announce that former Top Gear and current Fifth Gear presenter, plus Formula One, Le Mans and Touring Car superstar Tiff Needell will be coming to The Fast Car Festival. 

We will be offering you the chance to win passenger laps with him in a Lotus Evora 400 throughout the day on the legendary Donington track! To win, head over to our Facebook page and comment and share why you should win!

Tiff’s racing career began back in 1971 when he fortuitously won an Autosport Magazine competition. The prize was a Lotus 69F Formula Ford racer and it wasn’t long before Tiff embarked on what would become a lifelong obsession with motorsport.

After a stellar rise through the ranks of single-seat racing Tiff found himself strapped into an Ensign Formula One car on the grid of the 1980 Belgian GP. This brush with F1 left him wanting more but he couldn’t secure a drive for the ’81 season and therefore switched to sports cars and touring cars, where he’s never looked back. Le Mans was next where Tiff managed to secure Group C drives for Nimrod-Aston Martin, Dome & TOM’S Toyota all of which culminated in a third place finish in an Alpha Porsche 962 in 1990.

In addition to racing competitively for over a decade Tiff’s career took another fateful turn when he was invited to join Murray Walker on BBC’s Grandstand, providing commentary for the 1981 Formula Two season. Shortly after this Tiff turned his hand to writing and became the track tester for Autosport magazine, which increased his media profile and directly led to an invitation to join the Top Gear team. Tiff became a cornerstone of the show for the following 15 years alongside his colleagues Quentin Wilson and Jeremy Clarkson.

Fancy hopping in the passenger seat of a Lotus Evora 400 with Tiff Needell behind the wheel? Then head over to The Fast Car Festival Facebook page for your chance to win a passenger ride. There are 12 chances to win, so don’t miss out!

“Adding power makes you faster on the straights; subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” These were the famous words from the legendary Colin Chapman and represent the philosophy that Lotus was, and is, built on. The Evora 400 epitomises this. Its diet shed 42kg from the original Evora, while a new charge cooler, exhaust and ECU boosted power to 400bhp, hence its name. Lotus cars have never been just about power, so stiffer springs were employed, a relocated steering rack and mechanical limited-slip differential was used to shave seven seconds over its predecessor around the famous Hethel test track. Experience the thrill at The Fast Car Festival with Tiff behind the wheel! 

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!