SLIDING DOORS: BERNARD DOLAN – THE OH-SO NEARLY MAN
Bernard Dolan is widely respected by his rivals from the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of Formula 1 and IndyCar winners citing him as the “best talent who never made it.”
When told that Bernard laughs and says in his full Dublin accent: “Yes, but they made it and I didn’t!”
Despite a variety of opportunities that others took, the cards never landed in his lap.
As you will read, he’s raced and beaten the best. His 1988 Formula Ford Festival competitors included future star Michael Schumacher.
With next-to-zero budget throughout his career, he has beaten Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard, Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack and countless others whose careers progressed to the big time, worldwide. His own career is also linked pretty much throughout with two-time IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran.
On his own terms in late 1991 Dolan walked away from racing completely.
No turning back, not even watching F1 on TV. Today he is back, and since 2015 has successfully run his own Formula Ford team, winning in 2015-16, 2018-19 and this year with Chris Middlehurst and is planning to run at least five cars in next weekend’s Formula Ford Festival.
His passion for the category has not diminished in the slightest. Missing driving? Not at all.
While doing this feature it was pointed out we’d been talking for more than three-and-a-half hours. In true Irish style he came back with “Christ I talk a lot of shite, don’t I?”!!!
Well actually, no, he doesn’t.
Question: How did you start racing?
Harvey Belmont Via email Bernard Dolan: “I was always watching Formula 1 on TV. The very first grand prix I went to was Silverstone in 1981 when John Watson won. My dad also liked motorsport, but we were never from a motorsport family. It was all horses.
My brother and sister were into horses, cars weren’t really a thing.
“I remember watching as a kid, and my dad liked it as well. He fancied going to the grand prix. You know when you look back on your life and certain memories are very vivid, with a picture in your head?
I remember arriving at Silverstone and parking up in the field and we were walking along the back of the start-finish straight and we could hear the cars.
Television doesn’t really give you an appreciation of noise. I could hear the cars, and I thought ‘oh wow’. That noise was the first thing that hit me. I could see beneath the grandstand and all I could see was the rollhoops of the cars going by on the straight, and I recall physically running just to see them! That was a real thing that hit me. I never thought I’d drive a car, that never came into it.
“Through the horses there was a girl we knew and her brother was racing, so we asked if there was any chance I could go down to Mondello Park and meet him? His name wasAlan Hick.
“From there I bought his car, a Crossle 32F. I never did any karting, and that was
