A SPECIAL MEETING DURING BRANDS’ HEYDAY

For me, the summer of 1986 was an exciting time. Aged 19, I’d just completed my A-levels (disinterest in the subjects had held me back a year) and was waiting to hear whether my results would get me in to Plymouth Polytechnic for a degree course – they did, just… While I was pretending to study for the exams, the distraction of the World Cup in Mexico proved too much to resist. Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ helped England onto an early flight home, but who could not fail to be moved by his feet of angels that carried Argentina to victory in the final? In June, I had also made my debut as a motorsport writer, my account of the Aston Martin Owners Club meeting at Silverstone appearing in the pages of Motoring News – and kick-starting my career.

That wasn’t my first involvement ‘on the inside’ of motorsport. My dad had noticed my proficiency with the split-timing function on my wristwatch, and in 1984 encouraged me to write to the UK motorsport governing body to enquire about becoming