As someone who has been brought up to appreciate the talent and skill of a racing driver, regardless of gender, nationality, appearance, when it comes to the Jorda / Sorensen debate I know who my money would be on. Carmen Jorda is a very attractive young woman. And while her looks, that have not escaped […]
In the summer school holidays of 1993 I went to Spa with my father for the Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. It was the first time I had gone to a race with just him, and I was more excited than ever to spend the weekend at the track. It didn’t matter […]
If you’re reading this as an F1 fan the first thing that will probably pop into your head is, that’s the year Ayrton Senna died. Well of course you’d be correct, but for the Collins family that wasn’t the only tragic event to occur that year. My father had been fighting what seemed like an […]
I wouldn’t be surprised if you have been wondering as you have read these blogs, how much my mother supported my father; the man who spent their entire wedding night on the phone to the UK trying to get a job interview with Colin Chapman? Then, barely a month later, he whisked her off to […]
Tuesday 24 March 1981 Peter Collins nearly drowned in Brazil. Nigel Mansell saved him. Here’s what happened… In the midst of the Lotus Type 88 saga, and having squeezed in some extra testing while in the States, the Team took a well deserve two days break upon their arrival in Brazil ahead of the second […]
Having grown up in motorsport, and having been involved across a number of categories, I have met many drivers from Karting to Formula One to the World Endurance Championship. I am even lucky enough to call some of these drivers my friends and having grown up with some they even feel like family. The notion […]
The late seventies/early eighties was a time of great excitement and innovation in Formula One. Downforce was the aim of the game and teams were experimenting with skirts, wings and underbodies to try to get as much downforce as possible. Before carbon fibre was used in Formula One the car’s monocoques were constructed from single […]
So while I’m waiting for the technical details to be checked on the next Lotus blog (the reason for the lengthy delay!) we’re jumping ahead a couple of years to 1982 when my father had moved from Lotus and was now Team Manager at Williams who were running Keke Rosberg and Derek Daly. The start […]
I’d like to start by saying I do not currently possess a Formula One Super License, nor have I previously, nor will I ever have one. So although I don’t feel that I am adequately qualified to comment on the driving skills of those who are in possession of an F1 Super License and have […]
It had been a pretty intense introduction into the world of Formula One for my father. Colin Chapman was a perfectionist and a hard taskmaster to say the least. And emotions were high as Lotus were having a particularly bad season. After a lot of struggles with the Lotus 80 at the start of the […]