Stewart and Jenkinson clash over safety as Rindt wins at Clermont-Ferrand

There are a small number of racing drivers whose stories only truly reveal themselves, or even make sense, when you stop thinking about lap times and start thinking about geography: terrain, climate, temperature and distance. Heikki Kovalainen’s life can be understood best when you begin not with his sole Formula 1 grand prix victory in Hungary in 2008, but with the frozen wastelands of eastern Finland, where the silence can feel as heavy as the snow, and where a young car nut’s ambition to race or even rally must be self-generated because there is so little around to feed it.

“I grew up in Suomussalmi, in the east of Finland, near the Russian border,” he tells me in January, speaking via Teams, sitting in his cosy-looking kitchen in the house that he shares with his English wife Catherine and their two-year-old son Emil. He’s in Ruka, just 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle, which makes it “a 90-minute drive north of Suomussalmi”. So do you live in Lapland, I ask him? “Ruka is technically not quite in Lapland, no, although some people classify it as in Lapland. But it’s been cold here recently. It was –30˚C last week, but it’s warmer today: –25˚C.”

Young Kovalainen races a Ward Racing kart, number 29, on track. — By 2000, Heikki Kovalainen was well-known in Scandi karting – and able to find sponsorship

Jacky Foulatier/DPPI

That last sentence says a lot. Neither Ruka, where he lives, nor Suomussalmi, where he was born and raised, sits on the familiar Finnish motor sport conveyor belt that runs through the south of the country. “Yes, it’s an unusual place for a racing driver to come from,” Heikki confirms. “All the other Finnish F1 drivers, and most of the Finnish rally drivers as well, come from the south of the country, in or around Helsinki. Where I come from, it’s more winter sports – ice hockey, cross-country skiing, tobogganing, ice fishing, that sort of stuff.”

Even so, motor sport arrived early in young Heikki’s life. “My father [Seppo] was doing a bit of rallying when I was young,” he says, “and almost as soon as I was able to walk I started watching him.”

Heikki’s motor sport initiation is not therefore the typical story of a child glued to a television, watching Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher. No, his is a story of sub-zero mornings, snowy boots and practical involvement: “Soon I started cleaning his rally cars. That’s where my passion for rallying first came from, because rallying was my first experience of motor sport.”

“Dad never bought the best kit. We did good deals. I wasn’t particularly successful at first”

That distinction matters. Rallying teaches different lessons from racing, especially in territories where the winter mercury rarely approaches the zero mark: hardiness, obviously, but also patience, mechanical sympathy and the understanding that speed is contextual rather than absolute. It also instils humility. “I’d often spend early mornings at the service parks,” Heikki remembers, “where everyone had to work hard on their own cars, in the cold, in the dark.” It was all normal to him: snow, ice, tools and effort.

Kovalainen drives the Opodo-sponsored number 23 car during a GP2 race. — Racing with Fortec in the F3 Korea Super Prix, 2001

Sutton Images

His initial competitive experience came not through careful planning but via pure chance. “My first time in a kart was when I was six,” he recalls. “A family friend was visiting us from the south of Finland, he had a kart in the back of his van, and he let me have a go in it. That’s how I ended up going in a racing direction rather than rallying. Before that, I wasn’t even following F1.”

Yet if the racing seed was planted early, the soil was not especially fertile, for the Kovalainens were resolutely ordinary. “We were a normal family,” Heikki says when I ask him about finances. “My dad ran a property maintenance business with his brother. It was a small firm that put food on our table, but nothing more than that. I had to do my bit during the school holidays. In summer I was cutting grass and in winter clearing snow.”

His mother, Sisko, worked even harder. “She ran a weather station from our house,” Heikki explains, “and, because the technology wasn’t what it is today, she had to read and report all the data every three hours, day and night, 365 days a year.”

Money was tight, and karting inevitably required sacrifice, but the Kovalainens managed. Their nearest kart track was a two-hour drive away in Oulu, western Finland, near the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, the northern part of the Baltic Sea. “We started to go there a few times a month, just for me to practise a little bit at first, initially with borrowed karts. It wasn’t until I was 10 that I got a kart of my own. Then we went to Oulu more often, to compete in local events. After that we started to go south, to where there was more karting, and we began to enter better-quality kart races. We had a little van, we put our kart in the back of it, and we slept in that van as well.”

Their equipment was far from state-of-the-art. “Dad never bought the best kit,” Heikki says. “Instead we always tried to do good deals.” His results reflected that pragmatism. “I wasn’t particularly successful at first,” he admits, smiling sheepishly. But, together, father and son kept plugging away, but there was trouble ahead.

Kovalainen stands on the Oulton Park podium after a British F3 Championship race victory. — A win in British F3, centre, in 2002 at Oulton Park

LAT

“In the summer of 1997, when I was 15, we drove to Gothenburg in Sweden to compete in the Scandinavian Karting Championship. Someone spun ahead of me, I couldn’t avoid him, we made heavy contact, my kart rolled, and the impact broke my left leg. My left femur was totally smashed. I was taken to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg [which, if you are interested, is the third-largest hospital in Europe], I had an operation there, I was put on a medical flight to Oulu, and eventually I got home. It was a setback, but my passion never died, and once I’d recovered we continued.”

Momentum began to build properly between 1998 and 2000, thanks in no small part to Heikki’s unique and unexpected selling proposition. “The one good thing about living in such a remote part of Finland was that, because competing in motor sport was so unusual there, I began to attract a bit of local interest. As a result I was able to win sponsorship more easily than the other Finnish guys of my age who were living in the south, where motor sport was more popular and there was therefore more competition for local sponsorship. We began to gather together a few sponsors, particularly Timo Hulkkonen, who was a rally driver and a businessman. I contacted him, I went to see him, I told him my story – that I wanted to go all the way, that I wanted to become a professional racing driver, that I wanted to race in F1 – and he bought it.”

Better results began to follow, and in 2000 “my karting career kind of hit the pinnacle”, as Heikki puts it. “I finished third in the Formula Super A World Championship in Portugal, I won the Nordic Championship and the Paris-Bercy Elf Masters. That led to Bruno Michel [arguably junior racing’s most influential impresario] contacting me, and he offered me a place on Renault’s young driver programme.”

From there, Kovalainen’s progress quickly became steeper. He won races in Formula Renault UK, British Formula 3 and World Series by Nissan, competing for Fortec, Gabord and Pons. For the latter team, in 2004, he became World Series by Nissan champion, as a result of six race wins. “Next, in 2005, came GP2, with Arden,” he relates, warming to the subject. “The championship was between me and Nico [Rosberg], who was racing for ART. Most people said that ART was going to be the team to beat, but we got going well, and soon we started winning, too.”

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Indeed they did: Kovalainen won for Arden at Imola, Nürburgring, Magny-Cours, Istanbul and Monza, after which, with two rounds remaining, he headed the championship standings, four points ahead of Rosberg, 99 points to 95. Because GP2 was an F1 support series – as is its successor, Formula 2, today – we F1 insiders were able to watch the battle between the two young guns at close quarters. Rosberg, the son of 1982 F1 world champion Keke, was clearly quick and obviously clever, and we knew that his father had supported him with not only hard-won expertise but also significant funding. By contrast, we regarded Kovalainen as the boy from the sticks who had worked his way up by the sweat of his brow.

The championship went all the way to the final round, in Bahrain. “In the end Nico took the title,” says Heikki, shrugging. “I was a bit sad not to win it, but it was a good year all the same, because I’d pushed Nico hard and everyone in F1 knew that Nico was Keke’s son, and there was money behind him; and the Renault guys were happy with what I’d done.”

In 2006 he raced not at all – but only because in those days F1 outfits had dedicated test teams and required full-time test drivers. Ferrari had Luca Badoer, McLaren had Pedro de la Rosa, Williams had Alex Wurz, Honda had Anthony Davidson, Red Bull had Robert Doornbos and Michael Ammermüller, BMW–Sauber had Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, and Renault had Kovalainen: a posse of A-listers. “I was present at pretty much all the tests,” he says, “and I took care of most of the tyre-testing work. I did about 30,000km [more than 18,000 miles] of testing in Renault’s F1 car that year – quite a bit more in total than the team’s two race drivers, Fernando [Alonso] and Giancarlo [Fisichella], and I learned everything.

2004 World Series by Nissan champ, having finished second in ’03

Francois Flamand/DPPI

“In the middle of that year, 2006, there was a Jerez test, and I wasn’t supposed to know that it was a try-out to see whether I’d be ready to race in F1 in 2007. Luckily, one of my engineers secretly let me know, so I focused harder than I would in a normal test, and the result was that, when Fernando left for McLaren at the end of that year, I was selected to be Giancarlo’s team-mate.”

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Then came the 2007 Australian Grand Prix, Kovalainen’s F1 debut, and a brutal awakening. “I hadn’t felt that good during the winter,” Heikki says, frowning. “Physically, I was struggling a bit. On Friday it was wet, and I did OK. Then, on Saturday, qualifying was a disaster.” He is being unfair on himself. Fisichella qualified sixth, Kovalainen 13th. Yes, he was the slower of the two, but, lest we forget, Giancarlo had driven 176 grands prix, and had won three, whereas Heikki was doing everything for the very first time.

“Well, OK, but the race was even worse,” says Heikki, reluctant to accept mitigating factors, and it is true that he spun at Turn 2, the Jones Chicane, on lap 40; he ran wide more than once in the first two-thirds of the race; and he ended up 10th, a lap behind the leaders. “Flavio Briatore wasn’t happy,” Kovalainen mumbles ruefully. That is undoubtedly true. A notoriously hard taskmaster, after the race the Renault team principal told us reporters that his rookie’s performance had been “rubbish”. To add injury to insult, Fisichella had driven well to finish fifth, and the other rookie in the race, Lewis Hamilton, had shown himself to be a megastar in the making. Salvation came not from confrontation but from the wisdom and composure of an old hand, Renault’s engineering director Pat Symonds. “I had a long chat with Pat afterwards,” Heikki says, “and he was very calm. That was important, because he gave me direction again.”

Kovalainen drives a Red Bull-liveried car during the 2003 World Series by Nissan. — Arden’s Kovalainen was GP2 runner-up in 2005

Eric Vargiolu

Improvement duly followed. Kovalainen scored points in Sepang and Barcelona, and a breakthrough came in Montreal. Despite a 10-place grid penalty caused by an unscheduled engine change, which resulted in his starting the race from P19, he drove hard and well to fourth place at the flag. Again, however, Hamilton hogged the limelight, scoring his maiden grand prix win in only his sixth F1 start. “That fourth place was a great relief,” says Heikki. “Then, the very next weekend, at Indy, I finished fifth.”

From the British Grand Prix onwards, points became routine. He was seventh at Silverstone, eighth at Nürburgring, eighth again at Hungaroring, sixth in Istanbul, seventh at Monza, eighth at Spa, and – his first F1 podium – second at Fuji.

“In Japan I remember that I had massive jet lag,” he recalls, “and I had trouble sleeping throughout the weekend. I qualified 12th, on race day it was raining really heavily as we drove to the grid, and I was struggling to keep the car straight even on the formation lap. So I said to my race engineer, Adam [Carter], ‘Look, it feels really bad, but I’ll try my best and we’ll see what happens.’ Honestly, the car was terrible. The race started behind the safety car, and I actually started to feel sick because we spent so long braking and accelerating and weaving to keep the brakes and tyres warm. Then, after 20-odd laps of that [19 actually], we eventually got going, and I realised that, OK, my car didn’t feel great, but everyone else was also struggling, and I could keep up with the cars around me.

Kovalainen, Alonso and Fisichella pose with the Renault F1 car at a launch event. — By 2006, Kovalainen, *left*, was a full-time F1 test driver at Renault – here with eventual title winner Fernando Alonso and his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella

Grand Prix Photo

“Then, little by little, I began to overtake a few of them, there were some accidents ahead of me, and I started moving up the order. In the end I found myself in second place, between Lewis’s McLaren and Kimi’s [Räikkönen] Ferrari. I couldn’t keep up with Lewis, but I could stay ahead of Kimi, and second is where I finished. It felt good to be standing on the podium with them, but to be honest my strongest emotion was relief.”

Briatore had already left the circuit. “He thought we weren’t going to achieve a mega result, so off he went. But he called me later and said, ‘Yeah, OK, well done.’”

Flavio, in Heikki’s telling, was complex. “He wasn’t a great coach,” he says, slowly and carefully, “but he was a highly influential person and you’d always want him on your side. He was my manager at the time, not only my team boss, and he was doing good deals for me. I fell out with him eventually, we parted, and that was a mistake. I shouldn’t have left his management. I mean, I wouldn’t go out to dinner with him, and I wouldn’t hang out with him or play poker with him like Giancarlo would. But he looked after his drivers well, and he was very good mates with Bernie [Ecclestone], so it probably would have been better for me to stay with him.”

“It felt good to be on the podium with Lewis and Kimi, but my strongest emotion was relief”

The move to McLaren for the 2008 season came via a little-known plot twist. First there was interest from Toyota, then an offer, and that was the route that Kovalainen and Briatore, wearing his manager’s hat, were minded to take. Then, in late November, by which time the Toyota deal was inching its way towards contractual ink, a McLaren proposal arrived. “I called [Toyota’s] John Howett myself,” Heikki remembers, “and I said, ‘Look, there’s a seat for me at McLaren, and I think I have to go for it.’” Howett, famously mild-mannered, reluctantly but politely accepted the change of plan. Once again Kovalainen would be inheriting a seat vacated by Alonso.

“McLaren felt different from Renault straight away,” says Heikki. “It was more formal and less emotional, but I could feel that the team was a bit broken after what had happened with Alonso [and the damaging Spygate saga of 2007]. McLaren needed a team player and I thought that would suit me. I remember thinking, ‘This is going to be a great match.’ Also I immediately liked the McLaren bosses – Ron [Dennis] and Martin [Whitmarsh] – and I felt comfortable with their style, which was less emotional than Flavio’s.”

Kovalainen races his ING Renault F1 car during the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. — In 2007, the Finn was given a Renault F1 seat. After a sluggish start results picked up with a fourth place in the Canadian GP; a podium was just three months away

LAT

And Lewis, I ask? “I wasn’t afraid of him,” Heikki says quickly and confidently. “In fact I thought I could challenge him.” In qualifying, he sometimes did. “On one lap, yeah, I was able to push him pretty hard, but race days were trickier. He was always very good at looking after his tyres, he was brilliant on slow and medium-speed corners, and he could brake later than me and get the car turned better than me even when he’d braked later.” He pauses, looks up, smiles, then adds: “I guess that’s the difference between a genius and someone who’s not quite so genius.”

“The reality is that, although it was my best ever result, it wasn’t my best ever performance”

That year, 2008, Hamilton became F1 world champion; Kovalainen finished seventh. Lewis bagged 10 podium finishes, Heikki three. The arithmetic is clear. “Lewis and Fernando are the best drivers I’ve been able to compare relevant data with, no question about it. It would be hard to say which was better, because both of them were brilliant. When I was at McLaren with Lewis, I always had to really stretch myself to match him or even get near him. I was never comfortable. It was always that way around – you know, that I was chasing him. He was almost never chasing me. And, even then, if I managed to really stretch myself, often he managed to stretch himself a bit more, and stay ahead of me. Just occasionally I was able to match him. But I have to admit, over a long season, when you’re really stretching yourself all the time, unless you’re one of the really special drivers – a Hamilton or an Alonso – at some point you run out of energy because it drains you to have to operate over your limit all the time. And 2009 was a textbook example of that, because our car wasn’t great and I just couldn’t stretch myself like Lewis could. That season is the biggest regret of my career. I should have done better.”

Heikki’s modesty is admirable, but I will not let him gloss over the highlight of his career: Hungary 2008. “Ah, yes, well, Lewis and Felipe [Massa, of Ferrari] were faster than me that weekend,” he begins – and, again, I am struck by his diffidence. “But Lewis had a puncture, so he was out of the game. Then, three laps from the end, I went past a car on the main straight with a blown engine – and, when I looked, I thought, ‘That looks like a Ferrari.’ Then Steve [Hallam, a senior McLaren engineer] came on the radio and said, ‘You’re leading the race.’ I was like, ‘Wow! Now it’s looking pretty good.’ I won, and it was the day that I’d been dreaming of all my life, ever since I was a little kid, but somehow it didn’t feel like I’d always hoped it would. The reality is that, although it was my best ever result, it wasn’t my best ever performance. There’s no getting away from that.”

Kovalainen celebrates arms aloft on the Budapest podium after winning the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. — Elation after an F1 win in the 2008 Hungarian GP, when driving for McLaren – his sole victory

Gilles Levent/DPPI

By the end of 2009, Dennis and Whitmarsh were ready to hire a driver who they felt would be able to support Hamilton with stouter results. I was working for McLaren at the time, as its communications and PR director, and I was aware of their plans before Kovalainen was. Towards the end of the season, I remember having a coffee with him in the McLaren paddock hospitality unit, and our conversation was poignant in the extreme. It became clear to me that he thought he would be racing for us in 2010. I knew that he would not be. Nervously, wondering whether I was doing the right thing, but acutely conscious that his unawareness would scupper his efforts to find an alternative race seat, I broke the news to him. “Yeah, I remember that well,” he says 17 years later. “That was disappointing. You’d kind of expect to hear news like that from the people who’d made the decision. Oh well.”

He found an F1 seat for 2010 – Lotus Racing, which became Team Lotus in 2011 and Caterham F1 Team in 2012. It was the same team, based first in Hingham, Norfolk, then in Leafield, Oxfordshire, and, although its cars were reliable, they were never competitive. In Kovalainen’s three seasons there his best result was 12th at Suzuka in 2010. “I should have made a move,” says Heikki, “and I had a chance to do so. In Valencia in 2010 Éric Boullier offered me a drive for Renault, the Enstone team that I already knew well, for 2011. But, because I’d just gone through a court case to exit Flavio Briatore’s management company, and because I had a contract with Tony Fernandes [the head honcho at Team Lotus], I couldn’t face the pressure of trying to get out of my contract. That was another mistake. OK, I was never going to be as good as Lewis or Fernando, or Senna or Schumacher, but I think I could have had a longer and better career without some of the bad decisions I made along the way. But that’s what F1 is like, isn’t it? It’s a tough business. I think 2011 would have been the right time to jump ship back into a better car, at Renault, and I might have been able to get some good results and extend my F1 career. As I say, it was a mistake.” It was indeed. A Renault driver scored a podium finish in each of the first two grands prix of the 2011 season, Vitaly Petrov in Australia and Nick Heidfeld in Malaysia. Kovalainen’s results in those two races were DNF and 15th.

Kovalainen's McLaren-Mercedes speeds through the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. — Heikki would go on to finish 2008 in seventh position in the standings, the same as in ’07; McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton was champion

Grand Prix Photo

Then there is the strange tale of Heikki’s Cambodian property empire. “Well, it’s a strange story,” he says, laughing at my use of the word ‘empire’, which as you will see was ironic. “I was at an Amber Lounge fashion event in Monaco in 2010, sitting next to Tony, my boss. There was a charity auction for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and one of the items was a pledge to fund the building of some houses in Cambodia, at €1000 each. Little houses for families to live in, to avert poverty, a good idea. Suddenly, Tony tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Go on, bid. Buy 300 of them. I’ll pay you back.’ And I was like, ‘Er, no, maybe not.’ But he said, ‘Yeah, go on, go for it, I’ll pay you back.’ Well, he was my boss, I had no reason to doubt that he’d pay me back, so I raised my hand and bid for 300 pledges. No one else bid for them, so I bought them for €300,000. I had to give my bank details there and then, and the money left my account the Monday after the grand prix.

“I assumed that at some point Tony would pay me back – but, as the weeks went by, he didn’t, and I was thinking, ‘Well, I don’t really want to nag him for the money, and, if he doesn’t pay me back after all, at least I’ve done something good.’ And, 16 years later, he never has paid me back. Whenever I tell the story to my mates, they always say that I should insist on getting the money back, and of course they’ve got a point. But, at the same time, Tony managed the team well, I spent three seasons racing for it, it’s all in the past now, and at least hopefully I helped some poor people in Cambodia. Oh and a few years later I met Elton John, in Abu Dhabi, when Catherine and I went to a concert of his there, and we met him backstage. I’ve always liked his music, and I’ve always thought he was a good person, so it was great to meet him and spend time with him.”

Kovalainen steers the Lotus Racing F1 car at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka. — From McLaren, the next stop for Heikki was Lotus, but he’d never trouble Formula 1’s top 10 again

Thierry Bovy/DPPI

The story is a microcosm of what Heikki is like: warm, trusting, modest and generous, but above all gentle. He is that rare thing: not only a gentleman but also a gentle man. But perhaps he has been too forgiving of Fernandes. Certainly, every other F1 driver I know would have made stout efforts to be reimbursed, especially as those three seasons with Fernandes’ team were so unsuccessful.

“I admit I missed being in a competitive car,” is how Kovalainen puts it now. He would not have to miss it for long. “In the autumn of 2014 I got a message from Toyota Japan, out of the blue, inviting me to test a Lexus Super GT car. I didn’t really know that much about Super GT at the time, but I thought I might as well do the test, which was at Suzuka, a circuit I love. They told me it wasn’t a shootout, but Nicolas Lapierre was there, and a few other guys too, and I was thinking, ‘OK, maybe it’s not a shootout, but all these guys are here with me, so I’m going to treat it like a shootout.’ Anyway, the test went well, I was quickest, and I felt very good about it.”

Kovalainen and Tony Fernandes sit together at the 2010 Monaco Amber Lounge event. — Lotus principal Tony Fernandes, *left*, with Heikki at an Amber Lounge show; credit cards accepted

Sutton Images

He got the gig. The next year, 2015, the racing went every bit as well as the testing had, and the following year, 2016, Kovalainen became Super GT champion, taking the title with a fine victory in the last round, at Motegi. He raced in Super GT for five more seasons after that, 2017 to 2021, winning four more races. “I really enjoyed it,” he says, grinning broadly. “I realised how much I’d been missing fighting for poles, and battling for wins, and now I was doing that again. It was great. Also, we raced on some fantastic circuits, and there were a lot of fans at all the races, so it was a great atmosphere.”

“I couldn’t face the pressure of trying to get out of my contract. That was another mistake”

In 2022 he continued to compete for Toyota Japan – albeit in rallying, his first love. “I really enjoyed that too, and I still do,” he says. “I won the Japanese Rally Championship in 2022, 2023 and 2025, and, although I’m 44, so I know I’m not going to get any faster now, I still love competition, I still enjoy doing well, and, in 2026, I’m planning to rally in Italy, with the support of some Japanese companies. So it’s all good.”

Now seems like the right time to ask a more difficult question: “You say it’s all good, Heikki, but there’s one thing I should mention that’s surely not been all good, and that’s your heart disease.”

CV

Born: 19/10/1981 Suomussalmi, Finland

● 1991 Begins karting in Finland.
● 2000 Wins Nordic Championship.
● 2001 Competes in Formula Renault UK with Fortec; 4th, with two wins.
● 2002 Full season in British F3 with Fortec; 3rd, with five victories.
● 2003-04 World Series by Nissan; second in ’03, champion in ’04.
● 2005 Moves to GP2; runner-up to Nico Rosberg, 120 points to 105.
● 2005-06 Test driver at Renault F1.
● 2007 First F1 season, with Renault; 2nd in Japanese GP, ends season 7th.
● 2008 Joins McLaren; earns only F1 win, at the Hungarian GP, ends season 7th.
● 2010 Shifts to Lotus; best result 12th.
● 2015-21 To Super GT in Japan. Takes GT500 title with Lexus in 2016; race victories continue until 2020.
● 2022-25 Wins Japanese Rally Championship in ’22, ’23 and ’25.

He pauses, then he embarks on a lengthy technical description of his condition that I know from my own experience of heart disease bespeaks extensive exposure to cardiologists and a number of cardiac operations. We end up having a long conversation on the subject: I guess you could call it a heart-to-heart. I will not share it all for two reasons: first, it is personal to us both; and second, Motor Sport is not The Lancet. Suffice it to say that Heikki was diagnosed with a significantly dilated ascending aorta; he had open-heart surgery in March 2024, in Tampere University Hospital, Finland; and you will be pleased to hear that it was a complete success. “I’m just thankful that my heart is beating well again, that I can take exercise, that I can do rallies, and that I can be happy.”

A shift to the Far East to race in Super GT reinvigorated Kovalainen, who in 2016 was GT500 winner with Kohei Hirate

LAT

And that is where Heikki leaves me: not with a celebration of his racing or rallying successes, nor regret that he did not achieve more, but with gratitude. From the icy wilderness of Suomussalmi to the central plinth of an F1 podium in Budapest, from a Hungarian Grand Prix win to a cardiac operating theatre back in his native Finland, he has travelled a road that few would choose and fewer still could navigate with such quiet dignity. He was never a megastar. He has never pretended to be one. But he was, and he still is, something rarer: a good man who made the most of his opportunities, accepted his limits, and faced and continues to face adversity with courage worn lightly.

Stewart and Jenkinson clash over safety as Rindt wins at Clermont-Ferrand

The broad-brushstrokes generalisation of 1976 is that this was the year when motor sport moved from the back pages of the newspapers to the front. But, in reality, it had merited only the briefest of mentions in the sports coverage, far below the football, cricket and rugby. It’s 50 years since James Hunt and Barry Sheene – champions at the pinnacle of four and two-wheeled racing respectively – smashed through a ceiling, their fame refracting upon the sport, putting it at the front and back of the popular press. It was the success, the love lives, high jinks and controversy that did it. Here’s how an incredible year unfolded.

James Hunt with McLaren crew in pit lane, 1976 — James Hunt and Barry Sheene, championship-deciding Japanese GP, 1976

Getty Images

December 10, 1975

Marlboro and McLaren confirm their signing of James Hunt to replace Emerson Fittipaldi. Hunt has also held talks with Lotus: “They seemed to be of the opinion that their drivers shouldn’t be paid. They didn’t even buy me lunch.” Hunt’s 40-a-day habit is no problem for Marlboro, but his refusal to sign a contract that stipulates blazer-wearing at official functions nearly scuppers the deal, until the company’s John Hogan – a friend of Hunt’s – says that he will not enforce this.

December 11, 1975

Hunt turns his first laps at the wheel of a McLaren M23 at Silverstone. Just a few, due to fog. Another test is similarly hampered. Hunt spends Christmas and New Year in Gstaad with his estranged wife Suzy and some friends. He then returns to his tax-exiled home in Spain, happy to leave Mrs H in Switzerland, where she meets Richard Burton…

Barry Sheene on classic motorcycle, 1976 — *Daily Mirror* photo shoot, January 1976

January 16, 1976

Barry Sheene’s first big national story of the year appears in the Daily Mirror: “Barry Sheene, the Cockney genius of the superbike circuits, has had a rough old year, with several disastrous smashes. But with a new season ahead and a new Suzuki to ride, there’s only one thing for a whiz-kid to do: grin and bear it!” The 25-year-old, whose dad is a two-stroke engine specialist, has played a big part in the Suzuki RG500’s development, including months in Japan over the winter, which he describes as “the hardest of my life”.

January 24, 1976

Pole position at Interlagos on Hunt’s McLaren debut. He’s too tall for the cockpit, so on Friday night modifications are made, and he responds in style. The following day, a loose engine inlet trumpet slows him in the Brazilian Grand Prix, then a sticking throttle causes a spin into the fence, damaging the oil cooler and forcing him out.

February 24, 1976

Hunt takes to the track at Kyalami for the second day of pre-South African Grand Prix testing. Off track, he is having a ‘good time’ with a South African actress, before a quick pitstop at the hotel means a Portuguese ex-army lieutenant is hanging off his arm.

James Hunt with companion in paddock, 1976 — Hunt with female company, Kyalami, ’76

LAT Images

March 6, 1976

Another pole for Hunt, but he drops to fourth at the start at Kyalami. After an early battle with Tyrrell’s Patrick Depailler and Vittorio Brambilla in a March 761, he sets off after the Ferrari of race leader Niki Lauda. The 312T slows late on with a left-rear puncture, but Lauda holds on to defeat Hunt and take his second win of the season. The Austrian is 12 points clear at the top of the driver standings.

March 7, 1976

Over in the US, Sheene contests the opening round of the Formula 750 world championship, the Daytona 200, on Suzuki’s ageing and uncompetitive 750cc triple. It’s exactly one year after he nearly died at Daytona when his 750’s rear tyre exploded at 175mph. American superbike star Steve McLaughlin remembers: “I visited Barry in hospital, and looking through the little window before I went in I could see him with both legs and one arm elevated, and he was with a nurse. He signalled to me with his free hand – ‘give me a couple more minutes’.” A year later he’s still in agony; he qualifies 13th, before his drive chain snaps in the race.

March 14, 1976

It’s the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. Hunt, who arrives at the track with a Swedish model, emerges from the early battling on a slippery track in second place, but has to work hard to pass the surprising Surtees of Alan Jones for his first win for McLaren. “He really was driving magnificently,” says Hunt. “I was getting worried.”

March 21, 1976

Sheene qualifies second for the Formula 750 round at San Carlos in Venezuela, but his conrod breaks in the race.

March 28, 1976

An early collision with Depailler at Long Beach puts Hunt out of the US GP West. He stands by the track for a few laps to wave his fist at the Frenchman, then, two hours later, livens up the post-race press conference with a tirade against the sheepish Frenchman. Meanwhile, a mechanic drives the McLaren, which is only cosmetically damaged, back to the pits.

April 4, 1976

It’s another Formula 750 event for Sheene. This time he finishes third at Imola.

April 11, 1976

A dominant win in the International Trophy at Silverstone for Hunt, after early pressure from Brambilla fades. He returns to Spain, and wife Suzy flies out to join him for coffee in Málaga. Here they realise that there is no prospect of reconciliation. Hunt goes to a Marbella nightclub, jumps fully clothed into a swimming pool, and gets into an altercation with the doorman when he tries to return.

Barry Sheene riding Suzuki number 7, 1976 — Sheene had a horror accident in the 1975 Daytona 200

Sutton

April 16-19, 1976

After Hunt’s two wins in the UK’s non-championship F1 races, it’s Sheene’s turn to star at home over the Easter weekend. The Transatlantic is a series of match races between UK and US riders, with two races per round at Brands, Mallory Park and Oulton Park. “Grands prix are an utter financial disaster,” said Sheene, who lost money at every GP he contested. “Someone’s making a lot of money out of them and it’s definitely not the riders.” Not so away from the GP scene… “Barry was getting ten grand in brown paper envelopes at British meetings,” remembers his best mate and future team-mate Steve Parrish. At Brands on Good Friday, Sheene is second and third (he also wins the Motor Cycle News Superbike and ShellSport races). At Mallory on Easter Sunday, he takes a win and a third (plus ShellSport victory). At Oulton on Easter Monday, he has a third and a crash (plus another ShellSport triumph).

April 23, 1976

McLaren joins the pre-Spanish GP test at Jarama. Hunt is joint quickest with Depailler, who is preparing to give the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 its debut.

April 25, 1976

It’s the first 500cc World Championship round, the French GP at Le Mans. Sheene wins from Yamaha rider Johnny Cecotto and Suzuki privateer Marco Lucchinelli. The start/finish is uphill, and GP starts are with dead engines, so Sheene – still recovering from his Daytona crash – requests a pusher, starting from the back of the grid. He is refused. This is the first race that new girlfriend Stephanie attends…

James Hunt celebrating Brands Hatch victory, 1976 — F1 non-championship victory in April for Hunt – the BRDC International Trophy

April 28, 1976

…The Sun front page headline: Race ace stole my wife – Page 3 girl Stephanie in love triangle. McLean is married to fashion photographer Clive McLean. “Barry liked the women,” said American champion Gary Nixon, one of Sheene’s best mates. “He slept with 186 different chicks in one year, plus he lived with a good-looking one.”

May 2, 1976

Hunt passes Lauda shortly before half-distance to win the Spanish GP. He is parched after the race and is handed an orange juice. This is clumsily knocked out of his hands by a local, whom Hunt punches: “I felt awful about it afterwards and tried to find him to apologise.” Controversy erupts after the race, the first to be held to new regulations on car dimensions. The McLaren is measured at 216.8cm width when the maximum is 215cm. Hunt is excluded, and team boss Teddy Mayer fumes: “We feel we have been given a death sentence for a parking ticket.” Over at Salzburgring for the Austrian 500cc GP, reporters besiege Sheene for his response to The Sun story. Things are more serene on track, where he takes victory from Lucchinelli and twice-world-champion British veteran Phil Read.

Barry Sheene racing Suzuki RG500, 1976 — Sheene representing the UK in the Transatlantic Trophy, Mallory Park

LAT

May 5, 1976

A tribunal of the Spanish federation rejects McLaren’s appeal. The team is not allowed to present its case, so now asks the RAC to take the matter to the FIA.

May 9, 1976

Sheene takes a win at Cadwell Park in the MCN Superbike championship.

May 16, 1976

Hunt’s Belgian GP weekend unravels after lapping Zolder quickest in the first qualifying session. He ends up third on the grid, collides with Jacques Laffite in the race, proves a roadblock to Jody Scheckter, and finally retires with a seized gearbox. Things are going rather better for Sheene at the Italian 500cc GP. He makes it three out of three with victory over Read at Mugello, although two riders lose their lives at the meeting.

Victorious driver celebrates crossing finish line before cheering crowd — A win for Hunt in Spain… eventually

DPPI

May 30, 1976

Another forgettable race for Hunt. Lack of grip plus gearbox problems restrict him to 14th on the grid for the Monaco GP. He spins down to last at Tabac on the eighth lap, before engine failure puts him out of his misery. The following day, Sheene is fourth at Brands in the MCN Superbike round, and second to Read in the King of Brands race.

June 4, 1976

Things look up for Hunt in a test at Swedish GP venue Anderstorp, where he is quickest from John Watson’s Penske. Stories also emerge that he is to tackle the Tour of Britain with popular bearded TV and radio presenter Noel Edmonds in a Vauxhall Magnum backed by BBC Radio 1.

James Hunt racing Vauxhall Magnum, Tour of Britain 1976 — Hunt and Noel Edmonds were a Magnum force

Shutterstock

June 6, 1976

The non-championship 500cc race on the Chimay road course in Belgium, see Great Lost Circuits, pays very, very well. Sheene wins it from Read and Lucchinelli.

June 13, 1976

Testing proves to be a red herring. Hunt’s McLaren is uncompetitive at Anderstorp, but he battles oversteer to hold off Clay Regazzoni and Ronnie Peterson for a fine fifth. It is one of his best performances of the season, and the two points won will later prove crucial… Sheene takes another MCN Superbike triumph, this time at Mallory.

June 25, 1976

More testing for Hunt, this time at French GP venue Paul Ricard. He is second behind the Brabham of Carlos Pace, despite engine failure.

Barry Sheene smiling in Team Suzuki race suit, 1976 — Sheene was first in five out of six 500cc grands prix

June 26, 1976

Sheene is back on 500cc world championship duty for the Dutch TT at Assen. All the leading runners have skipped the UK’s round a fortnight earlier – the infamous Isle of Man TT. Sheene wins again, from Suzuki privateers Pat Hennen and Wil Hartog. In the long, hot summer of 1976, it’s 37°C here.

July 4, 1976

McLaren has been all at sea since Hunt’s Spanish GP exclusion, after tweaks to the M23’s oil cooler, rear wing and wheelbase to make sure it conforms to the regulations. But aero changes in time for the French GP have the desired effect. Hunt claims pole at Paul Ricard. He is beaten away by Lauda but the Ferrari is soon trailing fluid, and retires on lap nine. Hunt wins from Depailler despite feeling sick – a malaise attributed to overdoing the pâté de foie gras on the Friday night. In Belgium, Sheene is second at Spa in the 500cc GP behind Suzuki team-mate John Williams. He makes his only good start of the year because the start/finish is downhill, and leads the race before he suffers fuel vaporisation in the heat.

July 5, 1976

Two wins in two days for Hunt! An FIA tribunal, comprising five international jurors including a major-general from the Finnish army, overturns his Spanish GP exclusion and substitutes a £1600 fine.

James Hunt with Miss U.S. Grand Prix West, 1976 — Hunt gets to know the locals at the US Grand Prix West in 1976; his smile vanished in the race when Patrick Depailler pushed his car into the barrier

Alvis Upitis/Getty Images

July 9, 1976

Disaster for Hunt on the Tour of Britain… Stories include an unruly battle on the road with the non-competing Rolls-Royce of Lord Hesketh, V-signs brandished to cheery motorists waving at the Radio 1 Vauxhall, a crash into a tree on a Norfolk stage, and a run-in with the police for speeding. Hunt and Edmonds arrive for the Cadwell Park race with the fuzz on their tail, and quick-witted team-mate Jimmy McRae manoeuvres his Magnum to block in the constabulary. Edmonds implores Hunt to continue for the sake of his radio listeners, but the police’s insistence that the lights on the much-abused Vauxhall are repaired means they can’t get to the next stage on time, and withdraw.

July 11, 1976

Just two days after Hunt races the Magnum at Snetterton, Sheene is at the Norfolk track to win the ShellSport 500 round, but crashes out of the Race of Aces when the front brake pads fall out. He is treated in the ambulance, and badly battered. “I hurtled into the banking and went end over end – sheer luck prevented it from being a bloody major spill.”

First-corner chaos as F1 cars tangle at packed circuit — Clay Regazzoni spins at the start of the Brands Hatch ’76 British GP, and is hit by Hunt (No11)

LAT Images

July 13, 1976

After the chaos… Hunt appears at the Kent County Show to present the prizes for a children’s safety competition. He has been staying with his parents: “I realised I had been living my life up to the red line and I had drained myself completely.” He also performs an unexpectedly competent turn on the trumpet as part of the Grand Prix Night of the Stars at the Albert Hall.

July 18, 1976

Hunt is caught up with the spinning Ferraris at the first corner of the British GP at Brands Hatch, is pitched into the air and lands his McLaren with a hefty thump. Trigger-happy RAC officials red-flag the race, causing a massive rumpus as to whether Hunt will be allowed to take the restart. While beer cans and crisp packets rain down on the Brands track from the disgruntled and sunbaked crowd, McLaren’s mechanics work miracles to repair Hunt’s car. Poleman Lauda leads the restart for 44 laps, but the Ferrari’s gearbox has begun playing up and Hunt passes, pulling away to win by 42sec. Ferrari appeals the result, saying Hunt should not have taken the restart. Hunt doesn’t care; he’s celebrating with chums, who have brought plenty of beer. Sheene is here too to cheer his pal on.

James Hunt in racing gear talking at Brands Hatch — Sheene and girlfriend Stephanie McLean in support of Hunt at the British GP. Hunt won but would be disqualified

Mirrorpix via Getty Images

July 22, 1976

McLaren’s new M26 – raced just once in 1976, by Jochen Mass at Zandvoort – is tested by Hunt at Silverstone. His right thumb is in pain and, on his return to Spain, a specialist diagnoses torn ligaments from the Brands bump. Meanwhile, Mayer confirms an intriguing plan for Hunt to contest the Ontario 500 IndyCar race in early September in a second Cosworth DFX-powered M24 alongside McLaren team leader Johnny Rutherford.

July 25, 1976

Sheene wins the Swedish GP at Anderstorp from Jack Findlay and Chas Mortimer to secure the 500cc world title, and his entourage celebrates at a local hotel: “We drank our way through 30 bottles of champagne – and at Swedish prices of £14 a bottle [that’s around £95 in today’s money!].” There is no need for him to contest the final rounds in Finland, Czechoslovakia and Germany, which take place on the high-risk Imatra, Brno and Nürburgring circuits.

Barry Sheene with fellow Suzuki rider, 1976 — Sheene, Suzuki RG500 and a cigarette – with British racer Paul Smart; Barry’s sister Maggie married Smart

Grand Prix Photo

August 1, 1976

The day Lauda nearly dies, when fire engulfs his Ferrari after crashing out of the German GP at the Nürburgring. The subsequent red flag robs Hunt’s McLaren team-mate Mass – due to being the only driver to correctly choose slick tyres for the drying track, he was holding a huge lead. Hunt blitzes the restart to lead home the Tyrrell of Scheckter.

August 5, 1976

The day after RAC stewards reject his appeal over the British GP result, Enzo Ferrari withdraws his team from F1. He cites discontent over this, and the overturning of Hunt’s Spanish GP exclusion – the latter point has been roundly condemned, even in the British media. “Unless there is a return to the spirit of the sport’s law, I do not feel like going ahead,” grumbles the Old Man.

Classic Marlboro-liveried Formula One car on white background — Another win for Hunt, this time at Zandvoort, and the Brit moves to within two points of Lauda

August 8, 1976

Sheene is back at Brands for an MCN Superbike race, which he wins.

August 15, 1976

No Ferrari or Lauda at the Austrian GP, but the Österreichring race is a classic. Hunt damages a front fin when he takes to the mud at Hella-Licht avoiding Scheckter’s crash after the Tyrrell suffers suspension failure. He then tweaks the other while lapping Harald Ertl. But he finishes fourth, on the tail of Laffite and Gunnar Nilsson, as Watson steers his Penske to a popular win. Sheene is in action at Silverstone at the 750cc British GP meeting, where he is second to American Steve Baker: “It couldn’t be said Steve outrode me – his Yamaha was just far superior to my Suzuki.”

August 17, 1976

It is confirmed that Hunt will drive an Ecurie Canada March in the Formula Atlantic race at the Trois-Rivières street circuit; the same date as the Ontario 500 he was slated to contest. His team-mate will be Canada’s most exciting young talent, Gilles Villeneuve.

James Hunt in Marlboro McLaren cockpit, 1976 — Hunt, Jarama

Sutton

August 21, 1976

Suzy Hunt and Richard Burton are married in Arlington, Virginia, two months after they received their respective divorces in Haiti from James, and Elizabeth Taylor.

“Grands prix are an utter financial disaster. Someone’s making money. It’s not the riders”

August 23, 1976

Enzo Ferrari U-turns on his decision to quit F1, and a single car will be run for Clay Regazzoni in the upcoming Dutch GP. He requests that the FIA re-examines the Spanish and British GP cases.

August 27, 1976

At the Earl’s Court Motorbike Show in London, Sheene collects a Suzuki GS750 road bike, the company’s first four-stroke. Two-strokes are being legislated off the road by emissions laws.

Barry Sheene on Suzuki RG500 in pit lane, 1976 — Sheene at the Powerbike International, Brands Hatch, October – he has been 500cc world champion for three months

LAT Images

August 29, 1976

Zandvoort hosts another thriller of a GP. Hunt is third early on, but benefits when Watson runs wide at Tarzan while trying to pass Ronnie Peterson’s leading March. They each divebomb the Swede on lap 13, and Watson spends the next 35 tours stuck behind Hunt, whose McLaren is understeering due to a loose front brake scoop. Gearbox failure for Watson is but a temporary reprieve for Hunt, because he has Regazzoni and Mario Andretti breathing down his neck at the finish. It’s Hunt’s birthday, and his mum Sue, younger brother David and a cake are in attendance. All are involved in a drunken campfire singalong in the dunes well into the night. The following day, Sheene is third at Oulton in the latest MCN Superbike round.

September 5, 1976

On his first outing in FAtlantic, Hunt passes Patrick Tambay, Bobby Rahal and Brambilla (deranging his nose on the Italian’s car) to finish third at Trois-Rivières. The dominant winner is Villeneuve, and Hunt returns raving about the Québécois’s talents to Marlboro and McLaren… Sheene is at a rather different venue: the scary Scarborough parkland road course. He is fourth in the MCN Superbike round. A second successive win for Kawasaki rider Mick Grant means he closes on Sheene.

James Hunt racing at Fuji Japanese GP, 1976 — Third place at Fuji was enough to land Hunt the world championship

September 12, 1976

Lauda’s miraculous return to the cockpit at Monza, but the Italian GP weekend is soured when scrutineers exclude Hunt, Mass and Watson from qualifying because their fuel exceeds the maximum octane rating. Each scrapes onto the grid due to others withdrawing. Hunt is up to 12th by lap 11 when he skates off at the second chicane while battling Tom Pryce’s Shadow and gets stuck in the sand. He is spat at and jeered by the crowd as he stalks back to the pits. Sheene is at Mallory for another MCN Superbike triumph; he’s second to Baker in the Race of the Year.

September 18, 1976

Hunt competes in the IROC race at the Michigan superspeedway. He takes pole among a field of identical Chevrolet Camaros, but a roughing-up from Johnny Rutherford, David Pearson and Gordon Johncock causes him to crash out on lap eight: “To tell you the truth I was scared shitless.” The following day, Sheene scores maximum points at Cadwell in the latest MCN Superbike round.

James Hunt with IROC Camaro drivers, Michigan 1976 — To Michigan for Hunt, *third from left,* for an IROC race in Chevrolet Camaros; he took pole position

September 24, 1976

McLaren is already testing at Mosport for the upcoming Canadian GP when news arrives that the FIA Court of Appeal has accepted Ferrari’s case and excluded Hunt from the Brands Hatch race, on the grounds that his car was being pushed by mechanics at the time of the red flag. Hunt is now 17 points behind Lauda with just three races left.

October 2, 1976

Hunt beats Peterson to pole for the Canadian GP. The McLaren man has gone “quite lunatic” since his Brands exclusion, in the words of team manager Alastair Caldwell, who is quoted in Gerald Donaldson’s James Hunt – The Biography (1995): “He proceeded to drink whatever was at hand and poke anything that would stand still or lie down long enough.” The night before the race, Hunt takes a shine to the singer of a band that is performing in the team’s motel. Between sets, he and the chanteuse ‘relax’ together in his room; while she performs, he is downing beer – till 2am.

Racing drivers chatting casually during flight, relaxed candid moment — Flight home from the Japanese GP

When Hunt the underdog bit back with a shock maiden F1 victory

James Hunt and a Hesketh in Holland. It all aligned 50 years ago when the future world champion pulled off one of F1’s most unlikely wins at Zandvoort, as Matt Bishop recounts

24th June 2025

By Matt Bishop

October 3, 1976

Peterson wins the start, but Hunt shrugs off his hangover to pass him on lap nine. He then has a fired-up Depailler to fend off, the six-wheeled Tyrrell frequently right on the McLaren’s tail before a broken fuel pump sprays fuel in the Frenchman’s face. He plugs on to finish second behind Hunt, who is now just eight points behind the non-scoring Lauda.

October 10, 1976

After a test on the Wednesday, Hunt tops the only dry(ish) qualifying session at Watkins Glen to claim pole for the United States GP. Snow falls on Saturday night but the track is dry – if cold – for the race. Lauda, with whom Hunt has had a brief falling-out in Canada, is staying in an adjoining room. He wakes his old friend up at 7am while sporting full racegear and proclaims: “Today I win ze championship!” Scheckter beats Hunt away and the Tyrrell is in command. But Hunt reels the South African in and takes the lead on lap 37. Four laps later he gets boxed in behind a backmarker at the chicane and Scheckter is back in front. Hunt reclaims the advantage with 13 laps to go for victory. Lauda is third, but is now just three points ahead. McLaren sends an M23 straight to Fuji for testing prior to the Japanese GP; Ferrari is outraged, claiming this goes against a written agreement signed at Mosport.

Barry Sheene racing Suzuki in wet conditions, 1976 — Sheene wrapped up the 500cc title with three races still to go

October 17, 1976

It’s a week before the Japanese GP, and Sheene is with Hunt in Tokyo, shortly after they have attended the International Motor Show at the Birmingham NEC together. To Hunt’s delight, their hotel is also used by British Airways flight crew, which means a new batch of stewardesses every day. “We had the same daft kind of mentality then,” said Sheene in the Donaldson biography. “We were both sportsmen and we both drank and smoked and chased women, went to places you shouldn’t go and did things you shouldn’t do.”

“Lauda wakes Hunt up at 7am in full racegear and proclaims: ‘Today I win ze championship!’”

October 24, 1976

Heavy rain delays the start of the Japanese GP, for which Hunt has qualified second, one place behind the Lotus of Andretti; one ahead of Lauda. Hunt accesses his car by wooden planks laid by the McLaren mechanics across the track torrent: “I’m not going to race. I’m just going to drive around.” Lauda doesn’t even do that, pulling in to retire after two slow laps. An inspired Hunt splashes away in front but, after the rain stops and the track begins to dry, he is killing his tyres. Eleven laps to go: Depailler and Andretti pass him, but third is OK – with Lauda out, any place in the top four will suffice. Eight laps to go: one of Depailler’s six tyres bursts and Hunt is now second. Five laps to go: Hunt’s left-front shreds, but it’s just before the pit entry and he dives in for new rubber. Now he’s fifth. Penultimate lap: Regazzoni and Jones, each with tyre problems of their own, are simultaneously passed by the McLaren. Hunt is third. He’s done it.

October 26, 1976

Hunt arrives at Heathrow to a hero’s welcome. The flight from Tokyo has included a stopover in Anchorage and, apart from two hours of sleep, Hunt has been drinking and leading the party. JAL offers him first class but he wants to stay in economy with his friends – other than trips to the ‘posh’ bar.

James Hunt judging Miss World, 1976 ceremony — Hunt judging Miss World

October 30-31, 1976

Sheene wins the final rounds of the MCN Superbike and ShellSport 500 series at Brands to put both championships to bed, and add to his 500cc world title glory. He is fourth in the Powerbike International race.

November 7, 1976

Hunt appears at the Tribute to James meeting at Brands Hatch, with the magnanimous Lauda also joining in festivities – plus Sheene.

November/December 1976

The week after Tribute to James, Hunt’s appearance on the BBC’s popular Superstars programme is aired. He’s last in the 100m, but his runner-up performances in the cycling and 600m steeplechase propel him to third behind hurdler David Hemery and boxer John Conteh. It’s undocumented whether hellraising QPR midfielder and fellow contestant Stan Bowles is a drinking partner once the Aldershot track-and-field exertions are done… The rest of the year is a blur. As a favour to Lauda, Hunt goes to Austria to open the Jochen Rindt Show – an annual motor exhibition – in Linz. He arrives at the hoity-toity BRDC dinner with jeans, sandals, open-necked shirt and French model, and staggers into a touring car driver, smashing his gin glass and cutting his eyebrow; he then steps back and tramples on the spectacles belonging to the tin-top man’s lawyer. Hunt and Sheene attend the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year; the new F1 champion is runner-up to Olympic figure skating gold medallist John Curry. And, naturally, Hunt is a judge of Miss World. Is Lando Norris taking notes?

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