on air diary...
F1 PREP... The story so far!
posted by Lee McKenzie on 04/03/2009
Working for the BBC is a massive honour, as is covering Formula One, but when I was told that I would be driving at the Top Gear test track against The Stig I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!
I am not a driver! I can drive; I have co-driven in a couple of rounds of the WRC and presented most forms of motorsport from F1, to A1GP, from Champ Car to DTM. But to race against The Stig, I just hoped the insurance was good, for all of us!
Luckily over the years I have made lots of great friends in motorsport and it was time to tap into their knowledge. Adam Carroll, the 6 time GP2 winner, is a great friend and I have done his PR for years, he basically just laughed as he has seen my driving. Next was Audi DTM driver Oliver Jarvis - his great advice: “Don’t worry Babe; the car is so so slow anyway.” Was this the best I could do?
I decided driver coaches were the way forward. Tom Gaymor talked me through braking and even how to hold the steering wheel! Whilst Pirelli Star Rally driver, Adam Gould said the same and added “if you remember to brake and hold the steering wheel then I you’re not going to completely embarrass yourself!” I ditched the boys after that!
I arrived at the Dunsfold Test Track in Surrey full of excitement. My fellow BBC colleagues all turned up with a tip off that I was bluffing and that I was actually really a very good driver. I was not amused as the pressure to win was suddenly upon me! I didn’t think I would beat Eddie Jordan who was getting increasingly competitive as the day wore on but I thought I might be faster then the others! As always tactics were coming in to play. Weather, tyre wear and brakes were all being discussed which was quite amusing as we were driving a purple Chevrolet Lacetti not exactly the MP4-24 that Lewis will be piloting this year!
Commentator Jonathan Legard was first in - not a bad effort. Then it was me. The Stig drove me round a couple of laps and then it was my turn to get in. The main difference between him and me was when he drove it seemed like he had all the time in the world to turn, change gear, ride kerbs, flick the mean machine back into line. When I got in the car it was a complete commotion. He was already not impressed when I told him that I drove an automatic so that was not a great start but I quickly got in to the swing of it and before I knew it, I had to do my timed lap! It went well for me! I did it in 1:52 - 12 seconds of the lap record. Anyway what does the time matter, The Stig said I was good for a first timer and that made me very happy indeed!
To talk you through the rest of the group would take too long but Jake Humphrey was the surprise package and was fastest in the dry. Although by the time Eddie Jordan got behind the wheel the heavens had opened and the track was very wet. He was still extremely fast and would have been the quickest by over 4 seconds apparently, had it stayed dry.
There was one amusing situation (I use the word amusing in hindsight. At the time it was rather terrifying!). The photographer wanted Jake, Ted Kravitz and I to look scared and run towards the camera the next time Eddie drove past us out of the final turn. I was standing worryingly close to the line he would hopefully be taking to get on to the final straight. As I fluffed my hair and stood smiling, waiting…. Then I heard the horrendous noise of tyres screeching. Jake and I fled as EJ and the Lacetti came past us, half sideways and facing the wrong direction. My acting skills were not put into use and my fear was so real I would have easily beaten Kate Winslet to any Oscar! I just hope the photographer got the shot! These shenanigans will be featuring in a Top Gear BBC F1 special magazine out before the start of the season!
It has not all been a complete jolly in my build up to the start of the season. I have toured lots of the Formula One factories and met some of the major players from BMW’s Mario Thiessen to Red Bull’s Christian Horner.
I had arranged a great feature with Sebastian Vettel, I can say this because it didn’t happen! The Red Bull driver just loves British culture, can quote most of Little Britain and Fawlty Towers and loves The Beatles. He was arriving at 9am, I wanted him to walk over Zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios and all that kind of thing and then…..it snowed! The zebra crossing was under 6 inches of snow, Vettel was stuck in an airport in Finland and in the mean time, just in case he made it to the BBC, I put on my spanking-new Snow Boots and walk the 3 and a half miles to the office. And then 3 and a half miles back again about an hour later! The glamour of Formula One!
Lee x
