RICK PARFITT: LIVING HIS WILDEST DREAMS ON TRACK
Rock and Race: that is Rick Parfitt Junior’s brand, and it sums up the British Touring Car Championship battler perfectly.
The son of the Status Quo legend didn’t start car racing until he was in his mid-30s, but cars and going quickly have been long-held passions for him.
He spent much of his early career being successful in karting but having Crohn’s Disease meant the switch to car racing was an ambition held at arm’s length.
Winning a celebrity race at Silverstone in 2010 was the kick-start he needed. He trod the well-worn Ginetta path before graduating to the British GT Championship in 2013, where he claimed the GT4 category honours.
Just four years later, he landed the big one: the British GT3 title alongside Seb Morris in a Team Parker Racing-run Bentley.
The achievement was remarkable as Parfitt, alongside his activities in the cockpit, operates the RPJ Band, which has become the biggest act in corporate entertainment gigs. He has spun a lot of plates with managing his health, forging a music career and perfecting his lap times.
For the last two seasons, Parfitt has been taking his formative steps in his tin-top career in the British Touring Car Championship. It has proven a tough nut to crack and this year he is aiming to break into the points-paying positions in his Team Hard-run Infiniti Q50.
We are grateful that Parfitt took time out of his preparations for the BTCC meeting last weekend to tackle the Motorsport News readers’questions.
Question: How did the motor racing interest spark in you?
Abi Crowther
Via email
Rick Parfitt Junior: “Well, my family is from Woking and it was just around the corner from the then McLaren headquarters – it is nothing like the McLaren you see today. It was literally just some huts. We would drive round there and try to get a glimpse of them wheeling the race cars in and out. My dad went to school with Ron Dennis too, so there was a real affinity there.
“James Hunt used to come to Status Quo gigs too and he and my dad got to know each
