Discussion
Someone has kindly uploaded some early 80's BBC races on yt, noticed he was racing for mclaren, he was also British, being northern Irish. Yet he remains almost forgotten, and is never ever mentioned in any discussion re mclaren or the time he was active. It's also worth noting he won races so wasn't a 'nearly man'. Why is this? Did he not catch the audiences attention? .
markcoznottz said:
Someone has kindly uploaded some early 80's BBC races on yt, noticed he was racing for mclaren, he was also British, being northern Irish. Yet he remains almost forgotten, and is never ever mentioned in any discussion re mclaren or the time he was active. It's also worth noting he won races so wasn't a 'nearly man'. Why is this? Did he not catch the audiences attention? .
He won the British in great style and the fans, as they say, went wild. I would assume that most of those who were there, or watched the race on TV, remember him well. I would doubt that he is forgotten amongst fans, although he's always worth a punt on Pointless. He was a difficult bloke to get to like. Yet he seemed polite, modest and friendly with interviewers. But I think you are correct in that he didn't catch the attention of TV audiences. He was no Moss, Hunt or Mansell, who were great at generating headlines.
Watson is not my favourite UK (not British of course) driver. I went off him when he started commentating. Think of your favourite moany driver and Watson would make them look cheerful in comparison. I remember one race where he suggested that a certain well known, and well liked, driver would not last the first five laps and was wondering when his crash might occur up until a couple of laps from the end when the guy finished in the top six.
He wasn't a great driver but he was capable and would, on occasion, do something outstanding. There's no comparison with Irivine for instance, he's much better than that, but Eddie was good when a microphone was thrust in his face and once out of the cockpit could drive an outstanding race.
In NI he is still well known.
GB has supplied lots of drivers over the years, I doubt most of them would be household names now. You need to have done something stand out to be remembered, and although John was a great driver, he wasn't someone who did anything that would give him that standout position long term.
1982 was a year where a whole bunch of drivers could have been World Champion. Watson led the championship on and off throughout the year. He ended up joint second with Didier Pironi, five points behind the eventual champion. Keke Rosberg.
Technical point, you don't have to be British born to be British. It's true that Watson hailed from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK but not Great Britain - but Wattie was definitely British.
I always liked him. He didn't have the most sparkly personality but he always came across as an honest and decent chap.
Technical point, you don't have to be British born to be British. It's true that Watson hailed from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK but not Great Britain - but Wattie was definitely British.
I always liked him. He didn't have the most sparkly personality but he always came across as an honest and decent chap.
jsf said:
GB has supplied lots of drivers over the years, I doubt most of them would be household names now. You need to have done something stand out to be remembered, and although John was a great driver, he wasn't someone who did anything that would give him that standout position long term.
His driving was smack bang in the BBC walker hunt era, but despite winning races he would be totally unknown to the British public. rubystone said:
He’s great vfm and irreverent. Perhaps that’s why he can wind some people up. He’s in great demand for commentating too, so some clearly like his style!
I’m looking forward to his reunion with Paul Michaels and the Hexagon crew on November 4th. Should be a great occasion.
I agree, he's dry and doesnt suffer fools, I think that's why he winds a lot of people up. He was one of Bernie's Brabham boys and according to the Sid Watkin's autobiography they remained close.I’m looking forward to his reunion with Paul Michaels and the Hexagon crew on November 4th. Should be a great occasion.
Oh yeah and Cox/Watson was the best commentry pairing BTCC ever had
On his day he was every bit as good as Hunt or Lauda - or anyone else around at the time. I am not really very interested in how well the Great British Public know him as drivers tend to become well known for stuff they do outside the cockpit more than what they do behind the wheel - and WTF do the public at large know about motor racing anyway ?
Watson was more than good , he was top drawer , but could be inconsistent .
I was at Silverstone for his 81 win and I have seen few Grand Prix I have enjoyed more .
Podcast with Motor Sport is revealing - I think Watson is a difficult man to like but judged as a driver he's up there with the nearly men who won races but rarely looked like winning a championship. If that Brabham Alfa hadn't kept breaking in '77 however...who knows?
Watson was more than good , he was top drawer , but could be inconsistent .
I was at Silverstone for his 81 win and I have seen few Grand Prix I have enjoyed more .
Podcast with Motor Sport is revealing - I think Watson is a difficult man to like but judged as a driver he's up there with the nearly men who won races but rarely looked like winning a championship. If that Brabham Alfa hadn't kept breaking in '77 however...who knows?
When I was about 8, I started watching formula one with my dad and he was definitely my hero at the time. I think Lauda was his team mate one year. Watson always seemed to qualify better than him but Lauda would do better in the race, IIRC. I remember the McLaren's not being as quick as the Brabham (1.5l BMW turbo?). Was that Piquet?
Err.difficult to summarise such a fascinating era in Grand Prix racing but yes . the Brabham BMW was bonkers fast , in Piquet's hands especially and was in the vanguard of F1 turbo power . But the better resolved V6s from TAG (ie Porsche ) and Honda eventually reigned supreme . Get a DVD or youtube F1 from 83 to 87 - still, in my view the most exciting era of all .
louiechevy said:
He also had the first win in a carbon fibre tub car and later in the season had a massive shunt got out and walked away, bearing in mind nobody was sure how the tub would behave in an impact nowadays all race and super cars have carbon fibre tubs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPZ_eU8rHWUHe was well a respected McLaren driver when I started watching f1 and won races eg US Grand Prix in 1982 when he was 3rd in the driver's championship that year. He had the normally aspirated engine but the turbo era was then starting and he became a reserve driver when the infamous McLaren TAG turbo was introduced.
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