IAN TITCHMARSH: I’M THERE TO HELP SPECTATORS ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE
It is not at all hyperbole to say that it is hard to imagine a more appropriate readers’ Q&Aguest than the one we have this week. It is circuit commentator extraordinaire Ian Titchmarsh, a familiar voice to any of us who have been to UK race meetings at any point in close to the last half century.
Titchmarsh commentated on his first race in the mid-1970s, and was a journalist and a fan long prior to that.All in, he’s watched in person well upwards of 15,000 races, including several British Grands Prix, many Le Mans as part of the Radio Le Mans coverage plus plenty other events besides at home and abroad.
His first copy of Motoring News purchased was from May 8, 1958, and he’s not missed an edition since.
Here he offers a treasure trove of memories, allied to an exceptional knowledge depth and breadth. Little wonder we got a lot of questions in, and we got plenty more messages saying what a legendary figure he is plus a good few saying he’s a great guy.
From asking him your questions, we are able to attest.
Question: Which was your favourite motorsport era?
Willie Callaghan Via email
Ian Titchmarsh: “Crikey, it’s very difficult to answer that because there were so many aspects to each era. But my favourite one would be the 1970s in Formula 1 and 1980s in sportscar racing.”
MN: So what was it about either that you liked?
IT: “[In F1 it’s] partly because it was my generation, the drivers were the ones I knew best. The cars were different, I know most of them had the same engine, the Cosworth DFV engine, but they were all different shapes, there were large grids in Formula 1, there were some great races, just everything about it.
“Not to say Formula 1 hasn’t been good in other eras as well, and it would be terribly easy to go back to when I first went to Formula 1 in the 1950s and say that was great. Well it was, but the cars were different and it was more the novelty of being able to go to grand prix racing than the cars themselves. The cars in the 1970s were pretty, and of course we still see them racing in the Masters Historic Formula 1 events today.
“Sportscar racing, Group C for me is the best sort of sportscar racing.Again I can go back to the 1950s and saw races like the TT in 1959 whenAston won the World championship. But the Group C cars and being able to do Radio Le Mans and see the cars, the Porsche 956s, 962s, the Silk Cut Jaguars, the Sauber Mercedes, and Toyotas and Nissans, it was just an amazing era, Group C.”
In both cases do
