From Rock Bottom to Beating Senna

In 1982, BP took me to F3 full-time. I finished 2nd in my first F3 race of the season; I was going really well. I remember getting taken down to BP HQ in Victoria because Les Thacker (BP Competitions Manager) thought I’d been a bit cocky afterward, which I didn’t remember. I remember being extremely happy because I’d felt a little bit under pressure, to be honest, because this was way beyond my sort of experience, really, to be in the British Formula Three Championship up against some good kids at the time. And there were a lot of people saying, “Why has he got BP backing, why has he got a Ralt, why is he with Dave Price? He’s a tin-top driver,” and all that sort of thing. So I felt a little bit of pressure up against more elite drivers.

In spite of finishing 2nd, I got such a bollocking about something, and I didn’t really understand it. So I came home in a huff really. I’d gone down there expecting a bit of a pat on the back and to talk about some other things, so came home in a bit of a huff and got nicked for speeding!