Famous/semi famous people you know/knew

[classic33]

I went to school with Sir Trevor Brooking's daughter. She was in my year though not in my class. She wasn't a very nice person, but then again, I wasn't in any of the cool people / beautiful people cliques.

That aside, loads people involved with motor racing; as a fan, in my decade of working the fenceline as a snappy, and also in the assorted times I was doing research in academia and for a book that ended up being an aborted project. Far too many to mention individually really.

Plus I was interviewed for a job by John Barnard (a former chief technical bod for the Ferrari F1 team) - didn't get the job, but he did give me some excellent advice.

And I will say that Derek Warwick is an absolute diamond. Even if he does have this innate ability to reduce me to a stammering wreck unable to string a coherent sentence together...

Not McLaren?

 

[Reynard]

Not McLaren?

Both, actually... He moved from McLaren to Ferrari - designed the 639/40 Ferrari for the '89 season, driven by Mansell and Berger, the first F1 car with a semi-automatic flappy paddle gearbox.

John, along with Brabham's Gordon Murray, were two of the best designers / innovators of the time. They didn't *always* get it right, though...

Although at that time, I was an Arrows gal... IMHO, Ross Brawn's Arrows A11 is still one of the prettiest F1 cars ever made.

 

[classic33]

Got a few quid spare?
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/arrows/f1/1991/488553

 

[Reynard]

Got a few quid spare?
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/arrows/f1/1991/488553

Hmm... It's a bit "butchered" from the original A11 - which was built to run the V8 cosworth.

 

[classic33]

"The Arrows - Porsche A11C chassis 01 is one of the Footwork sponsored cars that debuted the 1991 season with Michele Alboreto and Alex Caffi. They were an evolution from the A11 designed in 1989 by the great Ross Brown and raced the first three Grand Prix of the season with the all new Porsche V12 engine. From the fourth round of the championship they were replaced by the A12s which had a long gestation and weren’t ready on time to debut the season."

I like the description, left-hand drive convertable!

 

[Reynard]

I like the description, left-hand drive convertable!

 

[Drago]

I actually found a picture of me with Trevor Bayliss. He was very short and I'm pretty tall so it looks comical.

 

[Sharky]

I actually found a picture of me with Trevor Bayliss. He was very short and I'm pretty tall so it looks comical.

Is this a wind-up?

 

[Cavalol]

That bloke who played the builder called Owen on Coronation Street lives not far from here somewhere. He was once in the park and said our dog looked like a cloud. I don't know him or anything, but clearly you all need to know that.

 

[MontyVeda]

None... although i know a bloke (who's gigs i tend to avoid like the plague) who's former drummer, Tom English is now the drummer in Maximo Park. A wise move.

Oh... Andy Serkis used to drink in my local, which was his local too. Didn't really know him though; a friend of friends.

But... looking the wikipedia page for Lancaster, it mentions the ACME Bass Company, 'pioneers in the field of the free party' ...of which i was one of four founder members... does that make me semi-famous?

I've just remembered that i know a war veteran who was national news in the mid 80s, and had a movie made about his experience.

 

[Profpointy]

Jim once fixed it for me to milk a cow blindfolded.

you're a bad man Drago !

 

[Brains]

I've told this here story before, but it gets better every time .....

I'm an Arsenal fan, I've been a fan through thick and thin for the last quarter century. When I say I'm an Arsenal fan I've never been to a match, or even watched a match on telly, I've no idea where they are in the league, I've no real interest in football, but as the wife supports Man U and the father in law is an Arsenal fan, I therefore am also an Arsenal fan.

Some years ago I went on a long cycle ride with many thousands of other riders (it was a test run for the Tour de France), after a few miles I found my pace, and got talking to the rather nice chap call Ian as we pootled through the Kent countryside for the day. He rode at the same speed as me and we discussed many topics, the weather, the best bike, the people cycling around us, our interests, family, jobs etc. he lived locally to me and worked for the BBC, which for Londoners is not unusual. We shared our picnic lunch in a pub and then carried on to the end of the ride.

As we passed through the finish line the combined press corps surged forward, my new mate Ian had a number of TV cameras pointed in his face and several journo's came up and asked him his impression of the ride, what he thought of his time and so on, as he worked for the BBC this did not strike me as odd as I assumed most of the TV crews would be work colleagues.

Later that evening, watching the local news on the telly, there I was with my new mate Ian as we crossed the line, even the wife was impressed and the father in law phoned up. I had to very quietly ask who he was, as I had no idea he was famous.







Ian Wright, Arsenal striker and 30+ caps for England.

 

[cisamcgu]

I know Nick Cave's sister

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I used to get a lift to school with a mate now and then
His dad drove us and he is Keith Hackett

Although I never did like footy anyway!

 

[C R]

Brian Cox was a postdoc when I was doing my PhD in Manchester. Coincided with him in some courses and labs, he even showed some genuine interest in my research.