11 years ago, JB and Rubinho were enjoying a career renaissance as Brawn GP was birthed from the ashes of Honda’s F1 operation. Button won the title, Barrichello took his first win in five years (and the last two of his F1 career) as the team won the constructors’ title in its only F1 season, completing one of the most remarkable stories in the history of the sport.
Now, the two of them will be back racing on the same grid for the first time since 2011 – albeit a virtual one. That’s because they’re two of the big names to join The Race’s Legends Trophy event on rFactor 2.
Last weeks inaugural race proved to be massively popular as Juan Pablo Montoya punted Emanuele Pirro off at the first corner, allowing Dario Franchitti to win, while 73-year-old Emerson Fittipaldi grabbed headlines – and did anything but disgrace himself.
Today, the Legends Trophy returns with an even bigger grid and double the action. Fittipaldi, Franchitti, Montoya, and Pirro are all returning, as are David Brabham, Adrian Fernandez, Helio Castroneves, Gil de Ferran, Tony Kanaan, Jan Magnussen, Tiago Monteiro, Andy Priaulx, Max Papis, and Darren Turner. Joining them will be new faces Button and Barrichello, as well three more former F1 drivers in the form of Vitantonio Liuzzi, Olivier Panis, and Mika Salo. Just like last time, they’ll all be driving the Brabham BT44.
Instead of just the one race, this time there will be two chances for the Legends to shine – the second of which will have a reverse grid, which should guarantee just a touch of chaos. The venue this time is the slightly left-field NOLA Motorsports Park – a track which hosted a single, extremely wet IndyCar race in 2015 and not much else since.
Interested? Of course you are. All the action kicks off today at 17:00 UK time over on The Race YouTube channel. The Legends Trophy gets things underway before the pro and sim drivers do their races, with the reverse grid Legends race providing the perfect warm-up for the final of the All-Star Esports Battle.
17:00 – Broadcast Live
Legends Trophy Race 1
17:15 – 17:20 Qualifying
17:20 – 17:30 Race
Pro Driver Group Race 2
17:35 – 17:40 Qualifying
17:40 – 17:50 Race
Pro Driver Group Race 3
17:55 – 18:00 Qualifying
18:00 – 18:10 Race
Sim Driver Group Race 4
18:15 – 18:20 Qualifying
18:20 – 18:30 Race
Pro Driver LCQ Race 5
18:35 – 18:40 Qualifying
18:40 – 18:50 Race
Legends Trophy Race 6 (Reverse Grid)
18:55 – 19:05 Race
All-Star Esports Battle Race 7
19:10 – 19:15 Qualifying
19:15 – 19:35 Race
19:35 – 19:45 Driver Interviews/Race Review
