Inside line -- Matthew Watts

HSCC Classic Racing Cars

How has 2005 gone?

A brilliant year. It started with a win at Donington Park and I had a good race with Steve Worrad at Silverstone. But the definite highlight of the year was beating Edwin Jowsey fair and square at Brands Hatch. That was superb!

What’s the history of your car?

It was Brabham’s works F2 car in 1965: a BT16.  Then John Watson fitted a Lotus twin-cam, which is its current form, right down to the colour. Racing a piece of history in this championship is superb. It’s that power-to-grip-to-performance ratio: 195bhp with a car that weighs 420kg on treaded tyres is exciting.

You prepare other cars too, don’t you?

My father Peter has been running the Retro Track and Air business for 20 years and I’ve been in it for 10. We currently have 15 cars on the go and take anything up to seven at a time to race meetings. We’ve got a great team and we’re extremely busy. We’re seeing particular interest in sportscars. People are looking for value for money and time is at a premium, so they want more track time at an event once they’ve got away from business commitments.

What are you planning for 2006?

Maybe I’ll just step back a little from Classic Racing Cars next year and look at what other things fit in with the work schedule. I’ve also driven a FJunior Lola Mk5A at Spa for David Brown, and a Chevron B6 and an Elva Mk7. I probably won’t chase a championship next year. Although that wasn’t really the plan for this year. It just sort of happened!