I worked as the chief engineer at Lola (1969–1981) during one of their most productive and interesting periods. The number...
I was a student at the University of Grenoble, when I became very friendly with the children of the organizer...
I was born in Italy into a family that was involved in motor racing—both my father and my uncle were racecar drivers. I believe from the time of my birth, in 1964, to my early teens was one of the best eras of motor sport. From my experience, we had...
We had run the Datsun roadsters for a season and a half before we ran the 510 and won the...
I have been quoted as saying that I didn’t much like the Tommy Atkins Cooper-Maserati. Now, I don’t know if...
My father ran in the first NASCAR Cup race in 1949, when I was 11 years old, but I went along to spectate. When I was old enough, I became a racer too. Let me say though I was nearly 21 years old before I sat behind a wheel to...
Canadian Bill Brack was running a Lotus 41 in 1968, as well as the “Hot Wheels” Mini Cooper, and I...
I can still hear my father, Walter Hayes, saying to me: “Sit there and do not, under any circumstances, move.”...
Jürgen Barth There is no question that the greatest race for me was winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1977 with Jacky Ickx and Hurley Haywood. There was the story of running from the back of the field, of all the problems we had, switching Ickx from his...
I was born in Capetown, South Africa, a very long way from the epicenter of motor racing, Central Europe. Motorsport,...
My first experience with a front-engine roadster was when I first went back east to race. I wound up driving...
I guess the best period in motor racing for me was when I managed to have my first drives in Formula 1. That came about because I knew Paul Emery. I had put an entry in myself for the Brussels Grand Prix in April 1962 for a Lotus. The Emeryson...
In the late 1960s—1969 I think—I started racing motorbikes in local races in Belgium. Not too powerful machines, just 50-cc,...
For many years now, I have been synonymous with sports cars and sports car racing. Of course, when I started...
The rules were: One lap of Lime Rock, driving backwards from a standing start. You could bring any car, use any tires, sit however you wanted in the car, and take any drugs you thought might be suitable to the occasion. The event was sanctioned by Road and Track. The...
When I attend race meetings, I am often sought by those collecting autographs. I think I must be on the...
John WatsonPhoto: Mike Jiggle To many, although it may have seemed so, my first Grand Prix win at the Österreichring,...
I started my racing career with BMW in a touring car in the middle of the1960s. It was a BMW 1,800-cc Ti SA; I used it to drive in the Austrian Touring Car Championship, a series that I won, which led to my being supported by the factory for many...
We raced the car with the V-12 for the first time at Brands Hatch, at the Race of Champions.I remember...
The FIA regulations governing Formula One for 1977 allowed for a 3-liter normally aspirated engine or a 1.5-liter turbo-charged engine....
Before the Tasman Cup was introduced in 1964, most of us were using Climax engines, 2-liter, 2.2-liter or 2.5-liter, but there were a couple of odd cars. I was also racing little Elfins but, for my Lotus 19B, I had taken my Climax engine out to 2.6-liter with pistons made...
An invitation to drive in the Tulip Rally of 1959 led to my meeting Norman Garrad, manager of the Rootes...
My first visit to Donington Park motor racing circuit was as an 11 year old lad, with my father. It...
Following the sudden and tragic death of my father Reg, my move into team management was both swift and unexpected. I took over the Reg Parnell Racing team in 1964 and later became manager of the Owen Racing Organisation. In those roles, I had the pleasure in dealing with some...
Probably the most important thing I considered in designing a racecar back in the ’50s was to try to achieve...
I first met Maurice at the Castle of Galifet in 1979 or 1980 at a funeral. It was a funeral...
I made my first visit to the Silverstone circuit in the 1960s. It was just a mission of curiosity at first but I was soon bitten hard by the racing bug, and club racing was my staple diet for the first few years. I was particularly involved with the embryonic...
Michael Turner Atmosphere and emotion are two ingredients I have tried to incorporate into my painting. It was Tony Kydd,...
Teddy Pilette It was almost certain that I would be a racing driver because my grandfather raced, my father raced,...
The 2005 Walter Hayes Trophy meeting at Silverstone took me full circle back to Formula Ford, the formula I started my racing career in. I was working for (Sir) Frank Williams—he head-hunted me to join him as a mechanic—and I built my own Formula Ford car from a wrecked Formula...
