![[ Auto Express ]](/front_website/images/ae_website_logo.gif){kind=logo}
Tiff Needell's Column
Our racing man explains why he will never retire from competition.
If there’s one word that upsets me more than any other, it’s ‘retire’. It’s bad enough when used to announce the premature end of a particular race, but when the word means ‘giving up completely’ I feel distinctly uncomfortable. In fact I can officially announce right here and now I will never retire from racing cars round tracks – but I have to accept that one day, the invitations might stop coming!
Having been fortunate enough to have been a professional for the best part of 25 years, I am now doing it simply for fun. But ‘she who must be obeyed’ has made it clear that, with my family responsibilities, self-funded campaigns are out of the question! I enjoy regular outings at the Goodwood Revival in Sussex and this simply wondrous event – which takes place in September – looks likely to be around for at least a few more years.
But it was the only race meeting I attended last month. Mind you, I did compete three times, hopping from a 1958 Lister Jaguar ‘Knobbly’ to a 1965 BMW TiSA and finally a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. That was a handful! With no power-steering and constant twitches of opposite lock as the torquey V8 powerplant made mincemeat of its puny rear tyres, it’s clear why these machines are called muscle cars. Goodwood has only six very different corners in two-and-a-half miles, which is all you need. Modern circuits have twice that number with short straights in between, so it’s no wonder there is so little overtaking.
Fordwater – a kink in the back straight, over a slight crest that a modern racer wouldn’t even think of as a corner – is the best bend of them all. For cars without aerodynamic aids, it’s half a lift off the throttle and then a balanced 130mph drift.
It’s this raw thrill and enjoyment of simply driving a machine to its limit that will always keep me wanting to get out on a race track and deter all thoughts of the word ‘retire’. Racing is addictive and, if you look back over the years, few have managed to kick the habit completely.
Over the last four decades, only two Formula One world champions have retired and actually stayed that way. Jackie Stewart has avoided temptation since 1973 – although he never stops telling everyone else how they should be driving – while Jody Scheckter stepped out of his Ferrari in 1979 initially to sell guns in the US, and now organic food over here. The jury is still out on Damon Hill, who has been tempted back on to the track a couple of times recently, but still looks a good bet to make retirement stick. But who can predict what Michael Schumacher will do next?
Of course, not many former champions return to the F1 grand prix scene – unless, like Niki Lauda, your airline’s gone bust. Nigel Mansell was greatly embarrassed by an uncompetitive Ford Mondeo in the British Touring Car Championship and tried again only when a formula was invented that made him win. However, that’s now gone bust, as well.
Alain Prost slipped back behind the wheel to go ice racing in order to get his adrenaline kick back, while the likes of Keke Rosberg and now Mika Hakkinen found a competitive haven in the German Touring Car series. And it is there that I see the most likely return for Schuey when that nagging itch gets the better of him – a return to Mercedes perhaps, where of course his career began.
But next time you’re chatting to a racing driver, I suggest you don’t use the ‘r’ word because it’s just not something most of us want to consider – ever! Roll on next September...
 | |
| It’s the raw thrill and enjoyment of simply driving a machine to its limit that will keep me wanting to get out on a race track | |
 |
Having been fortunate enough to have been a professional for the best part of 25 years, I am now doing it simply for fun. But ‘she who must be obeyed’ has made it clear that, with my family responsibilities, self-funded campaigns are out of the question! I enjoy regular outings at the Goodwood Revival in Sussex and this simply wondrous event – which takes place in September – looks likely to be around for at least a few more years.
But it was the only race meeting I attended last month. Mind you, I did compete three times, hopping from a 1958 Lister Jaguar ‘Knobbly’ to a 1965 BMW TiSA and finally a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. That was a handful! With no power-steering and constant twitches of opposite lock as the torquey V8 powerplant made mincemeat of its puny rear tyres, it’s clear why these machines are called muscle cars. Goodwood has only six very different corners in two-and-a-half miles, which is all you need. Modern circuits have twice that number with short straights in between, so it’s no wonder there is so little overtaking.
Fordwater – a kink in the back straight, over a slight crest that a modern racer wouldn’t even think of as a corner – is the best bend of them all. For cars without aerodynamic aids, it’s half a lift off the throttle and then a balanced 130mph drift.
It’s this raw thrill and enjoyment of simply driving a machine to its limit that will always keep me wanting to get out on a race track and deter all thoughts of the word ‘retire’. Racing is addictive and, if you look back over the years, few have managed to kick the habit completely.
Over the last four decades, only two Formula One world champions have retired and actually stayed that way. Jackie Stewart has avoided temptation since 1973 – although he never stops telling everyone else how they should be driving – while Jody Scheckter stepped out of his Ferrari in 1979 initially to sell guns in the US, and now organic food over here. The jury is still out on Damon Hill, who has been tempted back on to the track a couple of times recently, but still looks a good bet to make retirement stick. But who can predict what Michael Schumacher will do next?
Of course, not many former champions return to the F1 grand prix scene – unless, like Niki Lauda, your airline’s gone bust. Nigel Mansell was greatly embarrassed by an uncompetitive Ford Mondeo in the British Touring Car Championship and tried again only when a formula was invented that made him win. However, that’s now gone bust, as well.
Alain Prost slipped back behind the wheel to go ice racing in order to get his adrenaline kick back, while the likes of Keke Rosberg and now Mika Hakkinen found a competitive haven in the German Touring Car series. And it is there that I see the most likely return for Schuey when that nagging itch gets the better of him – a return to Mercedes perhaps, where of course his career began.
But next time you’re chatting to a racing driver, I suggest you don’t use the ‘r’ word because it’s just not something most of us want to consider – ever! Roll on next September...
More TIFF NEEDELL'S COLUMN articles
- News
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Auto Express News: Tiff Needell's column
- Advertisement -
RELATED OFFERS:
Cheap Car Insurance
Quality car insurance from the UKs top insurers. Start saving money today!
www.bewiser.co.uk