I was thrilled and honoured that Great British Racing Drivers was invited to launch the GBRD book, along side a dedicated exhibition, as part of the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed 30th anniversary celebrations.
Surrounded by many of the drivers featured in the book, in the very place that had inspired the project, it was the perfect venue.
GBRD at FOS
The GBRD project came about after a slight cycling mishap. Lying face down in the middle of the A24 courtesy of a lady in a 4x4, I had no idea it would ultimately lead to the most exciting and rewarding project to date.
Battered, bruised … and slightly delirious, I decided it was time for a project. My partner Paul, also a photographer, suggested that racing drivers would make excellent subjects and as I would be surrounded by legends of motorsport at Goodwood Festival of Speed, it would be the ideal place to chat to them.
A previous commission from Country Life magazine ‘The Great British Hobby’ gave me the idea for the title and ‘Great British Racing Drivers’ was born
I thought it would be a good idea to have a few motorsport portraits to convince drivers to participate in the project. Step up Sir Stirling Moss OBE and John Surtees CBE, the first two drivers ... err legends, who kindly agreed to be photographed, quickly followed by Sir Jackie Stewart OBE. Three icons of British motorsport - not bad for starters and of course they did all the convincing I needed !
In the past nine years, I have photographed 136 drivers, battled with the elements, having been frozen and boiled in equal measure. I’ve got covered in dirt, locked in Paddy Hopkirk’s loo and leaned on by Nigel Mansell. I’ve sat in a Le Mans winning Aston Martin and on the podium at Silverstone with three former F1 drivers looming over me brandishing microphones. I’ve survived boisterous puppies, wayward dogs and riding bareback on an enormous horse. I’ve spent hours in Blue Peter corner making an oil drip for Abbie Eaton, had happy birthday played to me on the piano by the original Stig and had pizza with Jason Plato - twice. I’ve endured bad dad jokes, had loads of laughs, met some incredible people and drunk lots of tea !
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know all the drivers. They’ve all been great company, good fun, highly entertaining, extremely generous with their time and have shown great support for the project. They are all delighted about the creation of this unique catalogue and were excited when GBRD was invited to be the very first visiting exhibition featured at the opening of The Silverstone Interactive Museum (SIM) in 2019. GBRD at SIM ran for two years, closing in October 2021. GBRD then went to Motorsport UK, Bicester, with a special exhibition for their members’ weekend April 2022, continuing with a mini exhibition until April 2023.
It’s not only the drivers who have been very supportive. The support and assistance from family, friends, the BRDC, MSUK and The Duke of Richmond has been invaluable. The Duke, with his knowledge and passion for both photography and motorsport, kindly writing the foreword and generously facilitating the Goodwood Estate as a location throughout the project. Thank you to all the drivers and everyone along the way that's helped. I've had a blast.
