THE LONG INTERVIEW THIS IS TONY BROOKS
Somehow, it’s rather appropriate that the crowd enjoying the bank-holiday sunshine at the Brooklands Museum should be oblivious to a truly outstanding grand prix driver heading towards our lunch in the clubhouse. Tony Brooks has been described by his great rival and friend, Sir Stirling Moss, as “The greatest ‘little-known’ driver of all time.”
How else could you sum up a driver who has won at Spa, the Nürburgring Nordschleife and Monza; a man with a start-to-win ratio of 26 per cent while racing for Connaught, Vanwall and Ferrari, yet who is so rarely mentioned? Modesty has been a hallmark of Tony Brooks since he drove a Connaught to victory in Sicily to produce the first win for a British car and driver abroad in 31 years. Imagine if it happened now; in 1955, it barely got a mention. And nearly 60 years on, he still melts into the background. I can’t wait to shine a spotlight on this quiet hero…
Maurice Hamilton: Your start in F1 was unorthodox. You were a dental student, you’d been racing at Goodwood and places like that, and you got a call asking if you’d like to race in a grand prix [the 1955 non-championship Syracuse GP]. That sort of thing is hard to grasp these days. Were you surprised?
Tony Brooks: Well, yes; very surprised because I’d never even sat in a Formula 1 car, let alone driven one. The only thing that reduced the surprise slightly is I had driven a works Connaught sportscar a few weeks before. So I presumed they were reasonably happy with that.
MH: Was your priority to qualify as a dentist?
TB: Definitely. In no way did I regard motor racing as a long-term, or even medium-term way of earning a living. It was so dangerous then that you couldn’t think of that seriously. It was always my intention to finish my qualifications so I had a good means of earning a living.
MH: The danger element, as you say, was very evident then. Did that not concern you?
TB: Well, you either accepted the risk or you didn’t. But the point is, I never psyched myself up. I was fortunately blessed with a reasonable amount of natural ability and I always drove within that. I never frightened myself as a result of something I did.
MH: You obviously took a great deal of pleasure from being able to control a car, judging by the numerous pictures of you in a four-wheel drift.
