DOWN THE PUB

Age: 84 Lives: Buckingham Formula Junior racer Single-seater racing was a mistake

“By 1961 I was already rallying but I wanted to try racing and I had a run at Brands Hatch. But it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I was better at rallying than racing.” He raced in Formula Junior “I raced in Formula Junior in 1960 and 1961. But I was only on the fringe of Formula Junior. I drove a Lotus 18 and I was stupid enough to buy an Elva 200. I used to borrow the Lotus from a friend of mine called Charlie Eyre-maunsell to race on the street circuit at Dunboyne in Ireland.”

It was dangerous “I thought I might take up this motor racing business and Ken Tyrrell was there. So I led into the first corner at Dunboyne and suddenly I had wheels in my cockpit from Peter Procter and someone else. I thought it was very rude and very dangerous!”

He turned down Ken Tyrrell “I made a ‘Horlicks’ of it after that and didn’t win the race. But Ken Tyrrell asked me if I would drive for him and I said ‘no, it’s much too dangerous’. So I’m probably one of the few people who turned down a drive with Ken Tyrrell. But I’m still alive, so it was the right decision. However, I did race for Ken in Minis as I liked racing saloon cars with some bodywork around me.”

He only raced FJ in Ireland “I did about half a dozen Formula Junior races and raced the Elva at Kirkistown and Phoenix Park as well as Dunboyne. I also did some hillclimbs in it. But I only raced in Formula Junior back home in Ireland and I never raced open-wheelers in England.”

He preferred the Lotus “The Elva was a very difficult car to drive: well, I couldn’t drive it, anyway. The Lotus was better. I bought the Elva first and raced it in 1961 and then I borrowed the Lotus for three races the following summer. At the start of 1962 I finished third on the Monte Carlo Rally in a Sunbeam Rapier.”

He was at the NEC “It was great to see Fjunior being celebrated at the Autosport Show in January and to see some of the old names including Peter Procter.”