ANOTHER RECORD BREAKING KGPFH
More than 70 Formula 1 cars, dozens of legendary drivers, a new record attendance, the 2026 KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique didn’t just break every record: it proved, once again, that the bond between the event and the brand is built on something no sponsorship deal could ever buy: shared (and sheer) passion.
▌THE ONLY PLACE IN FRANCE WHERE F1 STILL ROARS
This is no ordinary historic meeting. The KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique remains the only event in France to stage genuine Formula 1 races. Organised by HVM Racing, in partnership with the Circuit Paul Ricard and the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile, the 2026 edition delivered a staggering +70 Formula 1 cars across the weekend, the largest gathering ever in the World!
For its 8th edition (the 5th held at Le Castellet, in the sun-soaked Provençal hills of southern France) the KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique raised the bar to a level few thought possible.
In a world racing toward electrification, a world where six-, eight-, ten and twelve-cylinder engines are too often singled out, the 2026 KGPFH offered something defiantly different. Here, every start-up became an event. Every engine note lit up the stands. This is the unifying power of the machine, and it is exactly the kind of authentic, mechanical emotion, that KENNOL was born to defend.
▌LEGENDS, GENERATIONS, AND GOOSEBUMPS
The driver line-up read like a hall of fame. Eleven former Formula 1 drivers shared the track with three current grand prix stars: Jean Alesi, Philippe Alliot, René Arnoux, David Coulthard, Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar, Mika Häkkinen, Jacques Laffite, Franck Montagny, Esteban Ocon, Olivier Panis, Alain Prost, Jacques Villeneuve and Mark Webber all answered the call.
The images were unforgettable. Isack Hadjar tamed the 2011 Red Bull RB7 and its atmospheric V8. Mika Häkkinen returned to the wheel of his McLaren MP4/9, powered by a Peugeot V10, a moving reunion with the very origins of his legend. René Arnoux climbed back into the Ferrari 126 C4 he hadn’t driven since 1984. And in one of the weekend’s most emotional moments, Loïc Depailler took the wheel of his father Patrick’s six-wheeled Tyrrell P34, the only running example of its kind anywhere in the world. Add the 50th anniversary of Ligier’s F1 debut and the 30th anniversary of Olivier Panis’s Monaco triumph, and the weekend became a genuine celebration of memory.
▌A PROVIDER OF PASSION
This is where the singularity of the partnership truly comes into focus. As title partner of the event, KENNOL doesn’t come for visibility. The brand was born on the track, in Cholet, France. Its founders driven by a love of mechanics and fine engineering. The Grand Prix is, in every sense, KENNOL‘s open-air laboratory and its natural home.
KENNOL was there when no one believed in the project. This is French excellence. To me, France is the greatest country in motorsport. People tend to forget that the very term “Grand Prix” was actually coined by the French!
Laurent Vallery-Masson – HVM Racing CEO
That philosophy is the heart of it. The true judge of the KGPFH is the public, there is no other measure that counts. And on this score, the 2026 KENNOL Grand Prix de France Historique was an absolute success. More than a sponsor’s name on a banner, KENNOL has become a genuine provider of passion: for the spectators in the grandstands, for the fans in the paddock, and for everyone who still believes that the sound of a great engine is a story worth telling.
And this history continues. See you for the KGPFH 2027.
