Adrian Reynard is a tricky man to pin down for an interview, and his diary is just about as full as anyone at the cutting edge of motorsport today. The design guru and engineer has a zest for life which burns as strong as it ever has.
Reynard opened the doors into the motor racing world himself. Without a leg-up or a shortcut to the sport’s inner sanctum, he took control of his destiny and created his own chassis. The firm he built went on to dominate the junior ranks of motorsport.
The now 73-year-old can reflect on a career that has included multiple wins in Formula 3000, IndyCar and Formula 3. The passion and the desire to get to grand prix racing was nearly materialised twice, but on each occasion it faltered. That is something he can regret when he looks back, but he can reflect on a career which has launched hundreds of stars to the top of the sport he still loves.
That passion has yet to be sated. As well has having a guiding hand on various panels overseeing the future generations of engineers, he is a regular on the race tracks of the UK in the Historic Formula Ford 2000 category – all in Reynard chassis of course.
We caught up with him as he prepares for another season in the cockpit, and we are grateful for his time.
Question: Where did the initial interest in motorsport come from – you are a racer today, so did you think you could make it as a driver?
James Hilton
Via email
Adrian Reynard: “I guess the interest came from my dad, who worked for BP. He was, at some stage, involved with fuelling cars for Formula 1 in America when we used to live there in the 1960s. He did some grands prix and would also go to the sportscar race at Sebring.
“I think my passion developed when he took me to the British Grand Prix in 1958. I have actually got a photograph of myself standing next to Ivor Bueb’s Connaught-Alta, which was entered by one Bernard Charles Ecclestone. I remember at the end of the race seeing Stirling Moss. He used to wear those racing goggles, and when he took them off his face was completely black apart from the rings around his eyes.
“Having a dad who was an engineer helped fire my interest. He bought himself a go kart when I was about nine years old and he raced it at Stevenage Kart Club, which was just a grass circuit at the time. He would let me drive it, but I couldn’t even reach the pedals because I was so small and I kept stalling it! It was fixed drive and no clutch.
“Eventually got to figure out the two controls and I would pound around, so I guess I had a lucky start because I had a dad who was interested in motorsport and it didn’t take me long to decide that this is where I wanted to be. It was a few years later that I determined I wanted to be a driver. I did some karting when I was 15 before my dad stopped me because I was meant to be studying for O Levels. I was runner-up in the Cambridge Kart Club Championship in Juniors – it was an old aerodrome track on a concrete layout. I loved those days and I learned about oversteer, car control, late braking and maintenance.
“I carried on in school and college and then I got my driving licence. As soon as I had that, I did a course at Brands Hatch in a Formula Ford car and that convinced me I was going
