DEREK WARWICK

“I WASN’T BRAVE – I JUST GET IT EVERYTHING I HAD”

Derek Warwick was the blue-eyed boy of British motorsport in the early 1980s, but nothing came easy. He had started his Formula 1 career in probably the most unwieldy chassis on the grid, and used his determination and persistence to make the very most of the chances that came his way. However, lady luck never shone on him and he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time when the big opportunities landed.

He battled on in F1 and can consider himself unlucky not to have claimed a victory.

His career did shine in sportscars, with Le Mans glory for Peugeot in 1992, and there was a sojourn in the British Touring Car Championship, which also led to the formation of the title-winning Triple Eight Race Engineering team.

As well as his on-track highlights, Warwick is still a keen champion of young British talent and has used his presidency with the British Racing Drivers’Club, which he headed from 2011 to 2017, as a chance to push forward the next wave of drivers.Here, he takes time to answer some posers from the Motorsport News readership.

MN sets the scene: Before bursting onto the Formula Ford 1600 stage and mopping up all the major spoils, Derek Warwick’s early competitive urges had been sated by battling wheel-to-wheel on the short ovals. It was an unusual career step, but the family Warwick Trailers firm and an enthusiastic family eased the path somewhat.

Question: “Your upbringing in motorsport was different to most: you came from stock cars. Why didn’t you do karting?

Graham Compton

Via email

Derek Warwick: “I did Formula 2 Superstox. It was simple: you’d make your own space frame chassis and it had independent suspension. In my day, they used an 1800cc MG B engine, which we built ourselves. I actually started when I was 12: I raced karts for one season, but we ran out of money. Then dad and uncle Stan started Superstox when I was about 14. It was a natural thing for me. I was already driving anything from a forklift, a crane, a tractor unit – anything I could get my hands on in the yard. When I was 15, I put my age on a year when I registered and I raced an MG Magnette. Then, when I was 16, I built a car and went into Superstox.

“I could do anything mechanical. I could weld, I could spray, I could press the metal,