MY TOP FIVE
Ted and Bob( right) in mid-1985, and then again at Brands Hatch, 35 years later
3
Learn from your losses – Brands Hatch, 1985
I was racing in the JPS‘ Champion of Brands’ series in 1985 and, along with my brother Ted, was forming a wonderful relationship with Ray Formula Cars and the amazingly talented and kind-hearted Bert Ray. We had a great season and I was running second right up until the very last race, when a combination of events caused problems that prevented us from finishing as strongly as we needed to do. Heartbreakingly for everyone, we dropped back to fourth – but that race taught me that sometimes you have to dust yourself off, take a deep breath, and just keep on moving. It was tough and it was character building, but learning from it made me stronger and better in the end.
4
Use your passion as a driving force – Brands Hatch, 1987
Over the course of 11 years, I had been having a blast running cars for various FF1600 racers and driving in up to 20 races a year myself, with one or two memorable wins and podiums. I was in my second race with a new car and all was going well when two cars in front of me got tangled up going into Graham Hill bend. One of them spun onto the grass, shot back across the track and I hit it head-on. If it were not for the amazing strength of the Ray chassis it may have been far worse, but it still caused considerable damage to both feet and ankles. At the same time, my wife Julia was due to have twins within a few weeks, so I decided to be responsible and get a‘ proper job’ – as my parents called it – outside of motorsport. Over the next 22 years, I was successful in business, enjoyed the challenges and had a wonderful family life, but one of the things that always kept me motivated was that, in my mind, there was still unfinished business in motorsport and one day, at the right time, I would return.
62
Revolution- April 2025