PUB PUBPDOUWNB DOWN THE
WITH IAN SKAILES
Age: 71 Lives: Nottingham Period Chevron racer He only raced Chevrons “I started racing in 1967 and only raced Chevrons. I bought a second-hand B6, which wasn’t really a good move as it was a fairly used motor car and by 1968 they’d brought out the B8 and the B8 was a better car and had wider wheels.”
He raced across Europe
“I did about six races in the B6 and then bought a brand new B8 from Derek Bennett in British Racing Green and that was a terrific car and much more competitive. I think I did about 25 races in the year, all over the place. I did a lot of club races but also did Mugello, Vila Real, the 12-hour race at Barcelona, the 1000km race at Montlhery and Jarama.”
A B16 came next “Probably the most satisfying result I had was qualifying on pole for the Martini Trophy at Silverstone in the B8. I hadn’t been racing for that long and I had a steep learning curve. The following year I had a B16, which did Le Mans and the BOAC 1000km at Brands. We nearly finished Le Mans, contrary to many people’s predictions, and retired an hour and a half from the finish. That was a bit agonising. I was sharing with John Hine and Chevron supported us. They paid for the engine rebuild after the race, amongst other things.”
Le Mans was a challenge “It was a beautiful car to drive for 24 hours and very safe and stable, and it had a very slippery shape. We were clocked at 177mph on the Mulsanne Straight, which wasn’t bad for 1790cc. There were no chicanes at Le Mans and you still had the old White House Corner and there were plenty of things to hit. So you had to drive with care and not have too much of a do-or-die approach.”
He retired aged 23 “At the end of that year I called it a day for business reasons. Sponsorship was coming in heavily and I was pretty much self-funded. I’ve got some wonderful memories and a lot of good friends and I had quite a useful career in a short space of time, and didn’t hurt myself. The circuits were definitely men’s circuits in those days.”