Multiple Formula 1 race winner and World Endurance Champion Mark Webber is to star in a panel discussion at the forthcoming The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering, part of Monterey Car Week.
The Quail takes place on Friday August 16, and features more than 200 of the world’s finest and rarest collector cars. This year’s will be the 17th running of the annual gathering, and once again it is being held on the grounds of Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel, California. One of its regular features is a series of ‘Fireside Chats’, up-close and relaxed panel conversations with significant figures from motoring and motorsport. And this year’s line-up is led by nine-time F1 race winner Webber.
Webber became one of F1’s most popular, outspoken and successful drivers during his 12-year spell competing in motorsport’s top echelon, driving for the Red Bull, Williams, Jaguar and Minardi teams. As well as his nine race wins, he took 13 pole positions and appeared on the podium 42 times in total. He also came close to clinching the F1 world drivers’ championship in 2010. Webber then, following his F1 career, bagged the WEC championship with Porsche in 2015, as well as finished runner-up in the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year. Now, having retired from frontline racing, Webber is a regular F1 TV pundit. Webber’s Fireside Chat is to take place at 2:30pm on the day of The Quail event.
Alex Hirschi also is getting a Fireside Chat at The Quail this year. She is known to fans as Supercar Blondie and has over 12 million social media followers. Hirschi has won several major awards, including Esquire Middle East magazine’s 2018 Influencer of the Year, as well as has hosted a talk radio show in Dubai and her first television show, called ‘Car Crews with Supercar Blondie’, is to start later this month on August 22.
Hirschi’s Fireside Chat panel will be moderated by noted automotive journalist Hannah Elliott, who has written on cars, culture, travel and luxury for outlets including Bloomberg, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. Hirschi’s Fireside Chat panel is scheduled for 12:30pm. There also will be a third Fireside Chat panel with a surprise guest to be announced on the day of the event.
“The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering is excited to welcome these incredible personalities for our 2019 Fireside Chat panels,” said The Peninsula Signature Events’ director of motorsports Gordon McCall. “It’s an honor to host these leading voices in our community to share and inspire enthusiasts with their stories.”
This year’s The Quail will host no fewer than 11 vehicle debuts, including the unveiling of the Lotus Evija all-electric hypercar as well as the world debut of a new limited-edition Bugatti and the North American debut of the Aston Martin Valhalla supercar. And three special display classes celebrating significant automotive milestones are added for this year’s event over and above the traditional displays. These are ‘100 Years of Bentley Motors’, ‘The 25th Anniversary of the McLaren F1’ and ‘A Tribute to the Electric Car Movement’.
Images courtesy of The Quail and Octane Photography
