JOCHEN MASS
McLAREN TEAM-MATE 1976-77
“I’d just come to grips with Emerson Fittipaldi when James arrived at McLaren. He was younger than me but he’d matured a lot, won a grand prix, and he was the British driver in a British team, so it wasn’t easy. When he was within sight of the championship in ’76 he became very intense and hyped up, so uptight that he used to pee up against the fence in front of the spectators before the start.
“There was always a mutual respect between us. I could match him sometimes but he trusted me to back him up at the last race at Fuji in 1976. One story, I think, typifies both James and the times in which we lived. At the Spanish GP in ’76 we went to lunch with King Juan Carlos and he asked if we’d like to see the cheetahs he kept. James’s girlfriend ‘Hottie’ [Jane Birbeck] went in with them first and a cheetah clawed at her skirt to reveal an early version of a string thong. James called out, ‘Bet you’re glad you’re wearing your knickers today.’ The King laughed but Queen Sophia was not so amused.
“James was wild. He never calmed down completely and I think there was a reckless streak that came between him and his well-being. As a driver he was masterful and brave. When he came to McLaren from Hesketh he was used to a
