DOWN THE PUB

WITH SAM WILSON

33 Leicester Historic Lotus racer

He drives a Lotus 18 “It is John Chisholm’s Lotus 18 and it is an ex-works car, chassis 372, and it is very original. It was the car that Jim Clark drove in his first major single-seater win at Brands Hatch in 1960, so it is quite a significant car. Iain Rowley rebuilt it a couple of years ago and then John brought it to us and since then I’ve been driving it. We’ve done some HGPCA races and John will do some more events with it this year.”

He took it to Donington “It was a rush to get it ready for the Jim Clark celebration on Saturday as we’ve just put it back to 1.5-litres. It was lovely to see the Lotus 18 there with the other cars and it was fantastic to see so many people there to remember Jim Clark. My dad was there as well.”

There is a baby on the way “I was hoping to race the 18 at Monaco but we’ve got a little one on the way. My wife Janine is due to give birth to a boy in early May. He’s due the weekend of the Donington Historic Festival and we’re only half an hour away from Donington. But Monaco the following weekend is probably not such a good idea. I’ve bought him a 1962 pedal car that’s like a little Lotus 20. Damon Hill had one when he was a little boy.”

His dad is involved “I’ve heard endless stories from my dad Rob because he was the chief mechanic at the Donington Collection when Tom Wheatcroft first started rescuing grand prix cars. There were a lot of Jim Clark stories and he was just an incredible driver.”

He’s a Jim Clark fan “It was quite an emotional moment on the grid on Saturday. They were asking some questions over the commentary and they asked me what I thought of Jim Clark and I was starting to get emotional. In my opinion he was the best racing driver of all time. I love the cars from that era: they are pure and it is before slicks and wings and I’ve been around them since I was a baby.”