This was going to be an important year for me. My win at Oulton Park, in Richard Attwood’s Cooper, had impressed the MRP gang and for 1963 I was offered a full season with them in a brand-new car. The team had done a deal with Lola boss Eric Broadley to race his factory Formula Juniors, and the new Lola Mk5A was a very nice little car, maybe not quite as good as the Brabham BT6 that Denny Hulme, Frank Gardner and Paul Hawkins all drove, but certainly promising. Our cars gave about 102–103 bhp, a really good engine maybe 105 bhp.
One of MRP’s existing drivers, David Baker, a successful businessman who was a good bit older than the rest of us, decided to hang up his helmet to become the team manager, so I took over his seat in effect, and received payment of £25 a race. There was a bit of a catch, however, as all the hangers-on at MRP were major fans of Richard Attwood and that became increasingly apparent as the year unfolded.
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