• Member Bio
• Formula One
  
  Birthdate: December 23, 1962
  
  Birthplace: England
  
  Residence: France
  
  Three favorite books:
  Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome.
  Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell.
  The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway.
  
  Three favorite movies:
  Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  Casablanca.
  Some Like it Hot.
  
  Three favorite thread sizes:
  Metric Fine
  Metric Coarse
  UNF
  
  Burning ambition:
  To be offered a cameo role in an episode of Futurama, ideally in a scene with Amy Wong and Bender. That would be extremely cool.
  
  Philosophy:
  Honestly, the world confuses me. The real world that is. I don’t understand it and I don’t really desire to. I’ve tried and I’ve failed. I used to follow the news, keep up with current affairs but I found I was becoming so disheartened by all the things in the world that we, as individuals, have no control over, that I made a conscious effort to shut it out. The facts are these: I can help someone to cross the road; prevent a kid from running under a bus; help a neighbor with a leaky tap or a reluctant starter motor. But there is nothing on earth I can do, absolutely nothing to prevent a bomber (for reasons I find totally unfathomable) blowing himself and countless innocents to death. All I can do is to weep and feel beyond useless.
  
  So, some years ago I made a simple decision: to help where I can and do what I can to shield myself from the bad stuff, the evil oily slick that threatens to engulf us. For some time now my hearing and my short-term memory haven’t been so great, I wonder if some of this is a result of my attitude to what’s happening around me?
  
  Some may call this simple philosophy running away from reality, escapism, but, frankly, I don’t care what they call it. I do know this, however: by immersing myself only in what inspires, I have become a considerably happier person. A friend once told me that my approach to life has the feel of Buddhism about it. I’m not particularly religious, certainly not a practicing Buddhist, but if we do share a similar ethos, well, it does make me feel a little less selfish. And I’m all for that.
  
  Formula 1 is part of my life: Escapism in its purest form. It’s a world I do understand, that I do follow and I take great enjoyment from sharing my thoughts of that world. The competition between Ferrari and McLaren, the passionate, heart-pounding desire for each team to beat the other to the winner’s trophy? Yes, I get that. The rifle crack of an exhaust as the throttle is blipped; the banshee-like wail from an engine running at 19,000rpm? Yep, I get that too! Just the thought of it sends a tingle down the spine! Problems in a pit stop, a wheel nut spinning out of reach of a mechanic’s grasping fingers! React! React! Reach for the spare nut; set the gun to tighten, align the drive pegs twixt wheel and axle; pound the nut home; release the car back into action! No panic, just ultra-swift beautifully poised efficiency! Yes, yes, I get it, I get all of that! Wow, I’ve never typed so fast or used so many exclamation points! Forgive me but that is what grand prix racing does for me. It excites! It’s so much more that the greatest sport in the world, it’s the greatest lifestyle in the world. I know I’m exceedingly lucky to have it, to be a part of it, and to share it with friends, with colleagues and Speed’s viewers, well, it’s just the icing on a fabulous cake.
  
  CAREER HISTORY:
  
  Race mechanic for Benetton Formula One team 1990-98 … author of three books, The Chariot Makers, The Mechanic’s Tale, and Life in the Fast Lane.
  
  Hobbies: "Following Hemingways footsteps in search of the perfect martini."