GARY PAFFETT I SEIZED ALL MY CHANCES FOR SUCCESS

Britain is the second most successful nation in terms of DTM winning drivers behind the motherland itself, and most of those triumphs have been down to one man: Gary Paffett.

The two-time tin-top champion in Germany is fourth on the all-time winners’ list himself and was a mainstay of the category for 15 years.

It is an impressive record that can sometimes go overlooked in his homeland. Paffett is an unassuming racer who grabbed all the chances that came his way to climb the motor racing ladder.

He was on the brink of a Formula 1 drive on more than one occasion and was the architect of Lewis Hamilton’s success with his role as a test and development driver for the McLaren team. The dream never came true for the Bromley man but, as he puts it, there was little more he could have done in his career to be considered for a Formula 1 seat.

Since 2019, he has been a regular in the Formula E paddock and is now the team manager of the title-winning Mercedes-Benz squad. He might not be behind the wheel, but he is still collecting trophies.

He kindly took time out of his schedule after the opening Formula E rounds in Saudi Arabia to tackle the MN readers’ questions.

Question: How did you discover karting and motorsport in general?

Dean Matthews Via email

Gary Paffett: “Although I was born in Bromley, we moved to Devon when I was relatively young – so that was even further away from the major race tracks! My dad owned the village petrol station in a place called Spreyton on the hills of Dartmoor.

“My dad Jim has a passion and interest in motorsport. He used to race lots of things just for fun at club level. He did some saloon car stuff, 210 Villiers karts, gearbox karting, all sorts. Him and his mate would go off racing on the weekends. He would go off and watch Formula 1 races, all sorts of things.

“That is where the seeds of my interest were planted. I probably did go racing with him, but I don’t remember it. When I was eight years old, my dad bought me a kart. The local track was about an hour away at Dunkeswell and the next nearest one was a couple of hours and that was Clay Pigeon. Anything beyond that was a long way away.

“At the start, it was racing like he did it: just for the enjoyment and the fun we would be able to have together. We weren’t looking