Robert Blakemore

From an early age Robert Blakemore had a passion for pre-war racing cars, particularly Aston Martins. His father owned a MkII, and the young Blakemore would wile away hours just sitting in the driver’s seat imagining he was racing at some of the world’s famous circuits…being careful not to touch any of the dials and switches! Work found commercial aircraft playing a big part of his life following a university education, although the racetrack occupied some of his spare time. However, accepting voluntary redundancy, former Captain Blakemore grasped a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join Ecurie Bertelli, a well-established center of excellence for pre-war Aston Martins, with a view to becoming the owner over a five-year period. VR’s European Editor, Mike Jiggle, took time to understand his journey from boyhood dreamer to managing director of the company from which his father purchased the MkII Aston he once played in.

Many young boys have dreams of becoming a racing driver or a pilot. In your particular case your career and interests have led you to doing both, two bites of the cherry you might say. Was this all to do with a love of speed?