Goodwood’s local racing heroes

From 1976 to ’81 I was hosting the Track Torque programme on Radio Victory in Portsmouth, just half an hour down the road from what had become a little enclave of motor racing folk.

In those days the famous drivers weren’t all sheltering from the taxman in Monaco. John Watson and Derek Bell lived in Pagham. David Purley, whose Formula 1 cars were built at his Father's LEC fridge factory, lived in Itchenor. Tucked away in Littlehampton was Mike Earle’s Onyx Race Engineering F3000 team whose driver Stefano Modena rented a flat nearby.

Hardly Monte Carlo, but still a sunny place by the sea away from the rigours of racing, and rich pickings for our radio show which was starting to get some national coverage.

Wattie, ‘Dinger’ Bell and Purley, three contrasting characters, all at the top of their game, all helped along the way by Mike Earle, a highly respected team manager and racing guru. Mike had run Church Farm Racing for Bell,  named after Derek’s family farm at Pagham, before Derek caught the eye of Enzo Ferrari. He’d also taken Purley to a Formula 5000 championship with LEC in 1976 and given Watson a roof over his head before he won his first Grand Prix with Penske and hit the big time with Brabham and McLaren.

These four ‘local heroes’ became regular guests on our increasingly popular radio show, Bell and Purley coming to the studio after setting another ‘record run’ from Pagham to Portsmouth in David’s Range Rover.

John Watson

Having become an established F1 ‘star’ John ‘Wattie’ Watson had moved into a smartly renovated fisherman’s cottage in Pagham where he re-charged his batteries between Grands Prix. Less gregarious, more reserved than his racing neighbours, and a keen fisherman in retirement, he was always thoughtful and analytical about his racing.

A gifted driver, I’ve always thought his natural talent was not given the accolades it deserved. When he won the British Grand Prix for the new McLaren International team in 1981 I was with him throughout the weekend. His parents and sister were there too, emotions ran high, and he was rightly given a rousing reception by the fans. His drive through the field from the back of the grid at Detroit in 1982 was exhilarating and by the end the year he was in with a shout of winning the title, missing out by just five points to Keke Rosberg. He didn’t have the ruthless streak of his Brabham team-mate Niki Lauda but he had speed and talent to spare. Now living in Oxford, he still enjoys a day’s fishing at Pagham.

Derek Bell

Derek Bell, by contrast, was what is sometimes known as ‘God’s gift to the media’, a naturally talkative and articulate fellow. Despite signing with Scuderia Ferrari in 1968, following impressive results in F3 and F2, his Formula 1 ambitions were thwarted. This turned out to be a good thing, however, as he moved into sportscars and established a reputation as one of the greatest endurance racers the sport has seen.

Like Watson, he was blessed with a natural talent which, coupled with mechanical sensitivity, served him well over long distances. The stats speak for themselves. The lad who won his first ever race at Goodwood in a Lotus 7 went on to win Le Mans five times, the Daytona 24 Hours three times and the World Sportscar Championship twice. These days he and his wife Misty, whom he met at Le Mans, live in Florida but come back to their harbourside house in Pagham every summer.

David Purley

Different again, in every way, was David Purley. A maverick character, not a playboy, but a man who lived life on the edge. Fast, brave and determined this former paratrooper feared nothing and nobody. He wasn’t really interested in motor racing, didn’t read the magazines, just loved driving and was fiercely competitive.

David’s career was largely funded by his Father Charlie who had made a fortune from his LEC refrigeration business in Bognor Regis where the cars were built in a renovated chicken shed behind the factory. All the technical stuff was left to Mike Earle, Greg Field and Martin Dixon. David’s job was  simply to get the best out of the car. This he did to great effect, dominating the F5000 championship, earning his place in F1 and displaying extraordinary bravery when he tried to rescue Roger Williamson from his burning car at Zandvoort in 1973. Having survived a horrendous crash at Silverstone in 1977, and recovering from multiple injuries, he stopped racing and got his kicks from flying his Pitts Special plane. Tragically, David was killed when he crashed into the sea while flying some aerobatics over Bognor beach in the summer of 1985.

Three big characters, local heroes who, for different reasons, are for ever written into the history our sport.

Derek Bell image by Toby Adamson, other images courtesy of Motorsport Images.