Jackie Stewart interview

[Drive Blind]

I caught bits of this in the car on radio scotland on sunday. He didn't say anything I hadn't heard before (dyslexia, spa crash, safety, deaths, etc) but I think its still worth a listen.

Get the whole interview here

BBC said:

Sun, 3 May 15

The latest in our 'big interview' series features the life and career of a Scot who went to the very top of the Motor Racing world - Sir Jackie Stewart, winning three World Drivers' Championships. BBC Sport's Tom English met Sir Jackie at his home in Buckinghamshire.

[SeeFive]

Sorry, I did not follow the link.

I have a significant respect for what Sir Jackie achieved in his career and his undoubted talent in the car in his day, but have never been one to want to hear him speak. He has always appeared to be very conceited and condescending in the televised and personal conversations I have experienced it just annoys the hell out of me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching him drive. The car balanced on a knife edge etc... One of the greats, a magnificent safety advocate who has given all drivers a greater chance of surviving incidents, but sadly he seems to know it, possibly beyond reality.

Just my personal opinion - I am sure others have different experiences.

ETA: I have no idea why I posted all that, it is very subjective... Must be the rum and a bad frame of mind. Others, please enjoy the interview.

[vx220]

SeeFive said:

Sorry, I did not follow the link.

I have a significant respect for what Sir Jackie achieved in his career and his undoubted talent in the car in his day, but have never been one to want to hear him speak. He has always appeared to be very conceited and condescending in the televised and personal conversations I have experienced it just annoys the hell out of me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching him drive. The car balanced on a knife edge etc... One of the greats, a magnificent safety advocate who has given all drivers a greater chance of surviving incidents, but sadly he seems to know it, possibly beyond reality.

Just my personal opinion - I am sure others have different experiences.

ETA: I have no idea why I posted all that, it is very subjective... Must be the rum and a bad frame of mind. Others, please enjoy the interview.

I kinda get where you're coming from.

Maybe read his autobiography, as I really enjoyed most of that

[Europa1]

vx220 said:

I kinda get where you're coming from.

Maybe read his autobiography, as I really enjoyed most of that

I enjoyed it too, and an interesting snapshot of the time it was written - praising Fred Godwin of RBS...

[tuffer]

SeeFive said:

Sorry, I did not follow the link.

I have a significant respect for what Sir Jackie achieved in his career and his undoubted talent in the car in his day, but have never been one to want to hear him speak. He has always appeared to be very conceited and condescending in the televised and personal conversations I have experienced it just annoys the hell out of me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching him drive. The car balanced on a knife edge etc... One of the greats, a magnificent safety advocate who has given all drivers a greater chance of surviving incidents, but sadly he seems to know it, possibly beyond reality.

Just my personal opinion - I am sure others have different experiences.

ETA: I have no idea why I posted all that, it is very subjective... Must be the rum and a bad frame of mind. Others, please enjoy the interview.

Agreed.

[Megaflow]

SeeFive said:

Sorry, I did not follow the link.

I have a significant respect for what Sir Jackie achieved in his career and his undoubted talent in the car in his day, but have never been one to want to hear him speak. He has always appeared to be very conceited and condescending in the televised and personal conversations I have experienced it just annoys the hell out of me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching him drive. The car balanced on a knife edge etc... One of the greats, a magnificent safety advocate who has given all drivers a greater chance of surviving incidents, but sadly he seems to know it, possibly beyond reality.

Just my personal opinion - I am sure others have different experiences.

ETA: I have no idea why I posted all that, it is very subjective... Must be the rum and a bad frame of mind. Others, please enjoy the interview.

I have to agree. I used to like the guy, but these days he just seems to stick his oar into anything related to F1, even if nobody actually asked for his opinion.

[Drive Blind]

SeeFive said:

Sorry, I did not follow the link.

fairy muff

I enjoy listening to him speak about his F1 era

[DanielSan]

vx220 said:

I kinda get where you're coming from.

Maybe read his autobiography, as I really enjoyed most of that

Brilliant read up until the last fifth or so when it becomes a long list of adverts. Shame really.

[chevronb37]

vx220 said:

I kinda get where you're coming from.

Maybe read his autobiography, as I really enjoyed most of that

The best bit of that book is when he's talking about his love of dogs. I had the chance to meet him a couple of years back (albeit extremely briefly). He was brilliant fun but I still kick myself that I didn't think to talk to him about our mutual fondness for our canine companions.

As an aside, the bit in Weekend of a Champion where he's sat in his pants drinking tea a couple of hours before the Monaco Grand Prix is pure genius.

I really like the guy and he was head and shoulders above his peers. He could've won five titles had he not retired when he did - though acknowledge that he could equally well have been killed. Pete Lyons' and Jenks' contemporary accounts of his talents were hugely revealing.

[gshughes]

chevronb37 said:

Pete Lyons' and Jenks' contemporary accounts of his talents were hugely revealing.

Any links to these as I like Jenks and JYS?

One of the bits I like in his autobiography is the section about him taking the Ford Execs for a drive during the development of Mondeo and how surprised they were about how slow he was driving - 50 mph being the ideal speed to assess a road car apparently. He describes a circular route in Perthshire near Gleneagles which is ideal for this purpose as it contains a good mix of lots of different type of road. I've still to drive it, but hopefully will later this month.

[anonymous-user]

DanielSan said:

vx220 said:

I kinda get where you're coming from.

Maybe read his autobiography, as I really enjoyed most of that

Brilliant read up until the last fifth or so when it becomes a long list of adverts. Shame really.

Yes. Wouldn't say a 'great' but a good read until the name dropping and ego trips started. I don't care which royals, despots or captains of industry he calls his pals, especially as many have proved to even worse than one might think. IMO JYS exhibits a form of social dyslexia when it comes to his circle of friends.

Stopped reading when all that started, never opened the book since sadly.

[jbudgie]

chevronb37 said:

vx220 said:

I kinda get where you're coming from.

Maybe read his autobiography, as I really enjoyed most of that

The best bit of that book is when he's talking about his love of dogs. I had the chance to meet him a couple of years back (albeit extremely briefly). He was brilliant fun but I still kick myself that I didn't think to talk to him about our mutual fondness for our canine companions.

As an aside, the bit in Weekend of a Champion where he's sat in his pants drinking tea a couple of hours before the Monaco Grand Prix is pure genius.

I really like the guy and he was head and shoulders above his peers. He could've won five titles had he not retired when he did - though acknowledge that he could equally well have been killed. Pete Lyons' and Jenks' contemporary accounts of his talents were hugely revealing.

Dont think I have seen Pete Lyons name mentioned here before--his writings were superb (as were Jenks in a different way.)

[chevronb37]

gshughes said:

chevronb37 said:

Pete Lyons' and Jenks' contemporary accounts of his talents were hugely revealing.

Any links to these as I like Jenks and JYS?

One of the bits I like in his autobiography is the section about him taking the Ford Execs for a drive during the development of Mondeo and how surprised they were about how slow he was driving - 50 mph being the ideal speed to assess a road car apparently. He describes a circular route in Perthshire near Gleneagles which is ideal for this purpose as it contains a good mix of lots of different type of road. I've still to drive it, but hopefully will later this month.

Check out Lyons' Can Am book and Can Am Thunder DVD: he talks of JYS's driving of the Lola T260 in reverential tones. Certainly I do not believe anybody could've dragged that car to the results that Stewart did.

Roebuck recently recounted a Jenks tale in his MotorSport column. Apparently Jenks used to gain access to the first floor of the farm house located on the Masta Kink where he would watch qualifying. For him, a driver's commitment through there was the ultimate arbiter of his / her talent and bravery. Apparently JYS and Chris Amon were head and shoulders above their peers. I suspect they are among the very few who ever took Masta flat in a DFV-power GP car, though I'd be prepared to be proven wrong. That probably means 180mph...

For all his rallying in the name of safety, JYS laid it on the line in a way I really don't believe any of his contemporaries were capable of. In fact, for a triple world champion, I actually think he's slightly under-rated! I really couldn't care less if he soundbytes occasionally for the press, he was the best driver of his generation and the fact that he's survived to tell the tale is a blessing.

One of my absolute racing heroes.

[Rangeroverover]

The Jackie Stewart story I like is back in the late seventies there was a major snowfall, he was staying at Gatcome Park with Princess Anne, the Queen and D of E were there also and had to be back in London. Weather prevented heli option.

Stewart offered to drive Mr and Mrs Queen plus detective back to London in a Range Rover

an hour into what became a long journey Queen wanted the loo so they stopped at a village pub, shock on face of landlord when JYS walks in, even more shock when Mr & Mrs Q walk in asking for coffe and the loo.

[gshughes]

Rangeroverover said:

The Jackie Stewart story I like is back in the late seventies there was a major snowfall, he was staying at Gatcome Park with Princess Anne, the Queen and D of E were there also and had to be back in London. Weather prevented heli option.

Stewart offered to drive Mr and Mrs Queen plus detective back to London in a Range Rover

an hour into what became a long journey Queen wanted the loo so they stopped at a village pub, shock on face of landlord when JYS walks in, even more shock when Mr & Mrs Q walk in asking for coffe and the loo.

Nice story! It seems that the George Harrison video he appears in is based on some modicum of truth then.

[jbudgie]

chevronb37 said:

gshughes said:

chevronb37 said:

Pete Lyons' and Jenks' contemporary accounts of his talents were hugely revealing.

Any links to these as I like Jenks and JYS?

One of the bits I like in his autobiography is the section about him taking the Ford Execs for a drive during the development of Mondeo and how surprised they were about how slow he was driving - 50 mph being the ideal speed to assess a road car apparently. He describes a circular route in Perthshire near Gleneagles which is ideal for this purpose as it contains a good mix of lots of different type of road. I've still to drive it, but hopefully will later this month.

Check out Lyons' Can Am book and Can Am Thunder DVD: he talks of JYS's driving of the Lola T260 in reverential tones. Certainly I do not believe anybody could've dragged that car to the results that Stewart did.

Roebuck recently recounted a Jenks tale in his MotorSport column. Apparently Jenks used to gain access to the first floor of the farm house located on the Masta Kink where he would watch qualifying. For him, a driver's commitment through there was the ultimate arbiter of his / her talent and bravery. Apparently JYS and Chris Amon were head and shoulders above their peers. I suspect they are among the very few who ever took Masta flat in a DFV-power GP car, though I'd be prepared to be proven wrong. That probably means 180mph...

For all his rallying in the name of safety, JYS laid it on the line in a way I really don't believe any of his contemporaries were capable of. In fact, for a triple world champion, I actually think he's slightly under-rated! I really couldn't care less if he soundbytes occasionally for the press, he was the best driver of his generation and the fact that he's survived to tell the tale is a blessing.

One of my absolute racing heroes.

Those Jenks race reports were great, I remember that one about the Masta kink.
The detail he put in them was unbelievable.
I remember one about the Monza GP in the mid/late sixties where he detailed which spark plugs they were using.

Wish I had kept them now.

(And the Pete Lyons ones.)