About

So what is the project all about? Well, it’s not about this website alone but about a book I am writing in 2017 called Refuge of The Roads. It’s part autobiographical and part reportage and its subject is motorsport , cars and the driving community itself , past, present and possibly even the future as well. During 2017 not only will I be writing the autobiographical stuff – which will go back to the late Sixties as I am well into old fart status – but I’ll be visiting lots of motor sport events, as I’ve done for many years. But this year I’m going to be talking to a lot more people , and you may even be one of them , who I meet trackside , in the paddock or in the circuit café because I want to write a profile of the motor sport scene in 2017 , its highlights and its low lights . I want to know what you enjoy, why you are at an event and what you think the future may hold for the sport. With Brexit on the horizon , widespread concern about climate change, a more litigious and risk averse society and the world becoming a more confusing and conflicted place , our favourite sport isn’t without some pretty scary challenges. And, unlike some, I don’t think the sport can just stick its corporate fingers in its ears and pretend nothing’s happening . So I am hoping that my book will have some thoughts on how the wider world might view us , and perhaps a few ideas on how the sport could better get its act together and adapt to the changing environment - in every sense .

My cunning plan is to have no real plan at all so I will only be making appointments where I really have to, such as with the circuit commentator, the site manager or the race team boss , all of whose time is much more precious than mine . But as for the rest of you , I am taking a wholly random approach by just asking a driver, spectator or marshal if they have ten minutes to talk and then we will do just that. I will record our encounter and once I’ve transcribed and edited it , the results may well appear in the book.

I’ve loved cars and motorsport since I was a teenager and I have been involved in various capacities ever since . I’ve marshalled everything from club level rallycross and racing to Formula One , I’ve helped organise the odd event, I’ve written about and reported on events , I’ve driven enough on track to know that I shouldn’t think about giving up the day job and I’ve reviewed motoring and motor sport books and driver biographies. Most years I manage to attend twenty or thirty motor sport events either just to watch or sometimes to write about them too and whilst for many people , motor sport means only F1 and motoring journalism means only Jeremy Clarkson, things are very different in my world - and maybe they are in yours too ?

I’ve been to many Grands Prix in the UK , the odd European race too and I’ve been privileged to see drivers as diverse as Jackie Stewart and James Hunt , Ayrton Senna and Fernando Alonso from trackside , as well as witnessing legendary events such as Nigel’s Mansell’s mugging of Nelson Piquet’s Williams-Honda FW11B at Silverstone’s Stowe corner in 1987 . But I strongly believe that motor sport is a much, much broader church than just televised F1 . We have an amazing motor sport community in the UK , even though not enough of us seem able to drag ourselves from our big TVs to watch events live . I think some of us are missing out big time as the real thing is always better than the virtual .

During 2016 I watched rallying, rallycross, drag racing , sprints and speed hillclimbs , autograss , national and international racing at a dozen different venues from my local circuit at Croft in North Yorkshire to Silverstone and Santa Pod. I stood in sun , gales , rain and hail and I loved every minute ; I saw some wonderful machines and I met some great people. And it’s that experience , with your help , that I want to convey.

So that’s racing and competitive stuff – what else do I want the book to cover ? To be honest , half the problem is deciding what to leave out as I’ve probably read well over five thousand car magazines – from 60s Car and Drivers (then the best US magazine by far) to Car and Autocar from the 60s to now . Motor Sport? But of course . Autosport, Performance Car , Evo and Motor ? Guilty as charged .So I might have a lot to say , not only about the cars I have enjoyed driving (and those I’ve hated too), but about the people who wrote about them for a living. Legendary writers like Denis Jenkinson , Pete Lyons , David E Davis , LJK Setright and Russell Bulgin - the latter being the best of them all in my view. And some not so legendary writers at all, some rank bloody amateurs in fact . And maybe I’ll even talk about that Clarkson bloke too – let’s see .....

Just like you , I’m one of those people who knows exactly what my dream garage would contain but sadly I’ve only owned four Ferraris- a 250GTO, a 288GTO , a ’57 Testa Rossa and an F40 – and if that isn’t a bad collection I maybe should point out they’re all Tipo Burago , and therefore in 1/12^th scale .So I’m not rich , but I have been able to scratch one automotive itch for twenty odd years by owning a couple of Caterham Sevens . My current one has 225bhp and is a lot faster than its driver but we’ve had a lot of adventures together – from blatting around Cadwell Park to 500 hundred mile solo drives to the North West Highlands. Few things feel better than driving my Seven on a perfect spring morning across the legendary Pass of The Cattle - or Bealach Na Ba if your Gaelic is up to speed. Anyway ...I’ll be writing about Sevens and the Seven community , many of whom have become good friends over the years. But not just them , the virtual community as well , from the insightful academics who populate Autosport’s Nostalgia Forum to some of the more excitable ranters , ravers and conspiracy theorists who skulk around some other websites , ready to pounce on some innocent punter with their trademark righteous outrage.