When top BBC Formula One presenter Jake Humphrey needed a lift to the official launch of the Motor Sport Hall of Fame, he certainly struck lucky! For this John Player Lotus Renault 98T is the very same model in which the late Ayrton Senna achieved an incredible eight pole positions and two GP victories during the 1986 F1 season. The 98T became the fastest Lotus of all time and was the last ever John Player Lotus to be seen after some 14 years of sponsorship.

The inaugural Motor Sport Hall of Fame takes place on 10th February 2010 at Camden’s iconic Roundhouse, where drivers past and present, celebrity car enthusiasts, commentators and opinion formers will meet to honour the heroes of the motor racing world.

Hosted by Humphrey and attended by motoring legends such as Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart and Mario Andretti, plus celebrity guests including entrepreneur Peter Jones, Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud and Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay, the ceremony will see four of the greatest names in motor racing inducted. Four more individuals will then join their ranks each year thereafter.

Entertainment on the night will be provided by the Kyle Eastwood Band. An acclaimed jazz musician, Kyle is also a renowned film composer, having written music for many films directed by his father, Clint Eastwood. Their latest collaboration, the movie Invictus, will be released in the UK on 5th February, and Kyle will be playing songs from the soundtrack on the night. He will also be joined by Ben Cullum, brother of Jamie.

Said Jake Humphrey: “I am honoured to be launching a night full of the greatest names in motor sport. As a Norfolk boy, I grew up watching Ayrton Senna driving this Lotus and dreamt perhaps one day that I might be involved in a sport as exciting as Formula One.”

The four names who will be inducted on the night are being kept a closely guarded secret. In the interim, Motor Sport magazine has been asking some of the nation’s leading car-loving celebrities who they would like to see enter the Hall of Fame.

For Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond there is one man in particular who deserves the ultimate honour. “Stirling Moss is quite simply motor racing for me. Being the first proper professional racing driver, he blazed a trail for all other British Grand Prix race winners and world champions.” Also making his list would be Barry Sheene and James Hunt, and on a personal level, Professor Sid Watkins, the leading neurosurgeon whose love of the sport extended to saving many drivers’ lives, his own included.

Grand Designs’ presenter Kevin McCloud meanwhile would vote for Mario Andretti, “the man who liked to fly Concorde (in pre carbon-conscious days) so he could race an F1 meeting on Sunday and a dirt car track the next day.” Interestingly, Kevin also picks a woman, namely Shirley Muldowney who raced equally against men for over 40 years in one of the most petrifying sports, Top Fuel drag racing. “She won 18 races and three championships. All without balls!” Completing Kevin’s list would be Ron Dennis for his part in “propelling F1 into a technological super-league and raising everybody's game” and Jerry Eisenberg and Iwao Takamoto, “two of the most influential motor racing impresarios on the planet.”

Finally, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason is with Richard Hammond when it comes to lauding the achievements of Stirling Moss, “the ultimate GB racing icon, and probably as well known as Lewis, Damon and Jenson forty years later and without a world championship.” Nick’s Hall of Fame inductees would also include Bernie Ecclestone as “love him or hate him, he's the man that made GP racing into a global big business” and Barry ‘Whizzo’ Williams who, “despite being the most irritating men in motor sport, is a true sportsman, talented driver and real enthusiast.” Nick would also like a posthumous award given to Enzo Ferrari, “still the man who is better known, and who probably will remain so, than all of the above.” 

We will have all the images and interviews from the night later in the week.