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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 -== [ www.OpenSubtitles.com ] ==- 2 00:00:54,170 --> 00:00:56,170 - My old treasure chest. 3 00:01:03,384 --> 00:01:06,551 I've a couple of bits and pieces here. 4 00:01:09,318 --> 00:01:10,733 This is a, 5 00:01:10,733 --> 00:01:12,110 this actually is, 6 00:01:12,110 --> 00:01:12,967 it hasn't been cleaned for a while, 7 00:01:12,967 --> 00:01:15,819 'cause I really don't go in here that often, but, 8 00:01:15,819 --> 00:01:19,819 it's the Sports Star of the Year, 1981, Ireland. 9 00:01:22,264 --> 00:01:23,850 Look at that. 10 00:01:23,850 --> 00:01:27,325 And that's 1st place, Laguna Seca. 11 00:01:27,325 --> 00:01:28,704 That's disgusting. 12 00:01:28,704 --> 00:01:29,537 Naked. 13 00:01:29,537 --> 00:01:30,683 14 00:01:30,683 --> 00:01:32,829 If you didn't make it, nobody gives a shit. 15 00:01:32,829 --> 00:01:34,101 That's how I feel now. 16 00:01:34,101 --> 00:01:36,563 About 20 years ago, yeah, I would've felt, you know, 17 00:01:36,563 --> 00:01:37,591 like, "Oh shit, you know, 18 00:01:37,591 --> 00:01:40,850 "those guys screwed me over, and they did this, did that" 19 00:01:40,850 --> 00:01:42,218 This album here, I think my sister 20 00:01:42,218 --> 00:01:45,670 might have put this one together for me. 21 00:01:45,670 --> 00:01:46,840 When I was racing I didn't think 22 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:48,319 I was the best driver in the world 23 00:01:48,319 --> 00:01:51,040 I knew I was the best driver in the world. 24 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:51,873 That's one of mine. 25 00:01:51,873 --> 00:01:52,706 I remember that suit. 26 00:01:52,706 --> 00:01:55,463 That's one of my first ones. 27 00:01:55,463 --> 00:01:56,396 I just got, 28 00:01:56,396 --> 00:01:57,229 I got beat. 29 00:01:57,229 --> 00:01:59,312 I got beat by the system. 30 00:02:27,855 --> 00:02:29,549 - There are lots of hard luck stories 31 00:02:29,549 --> 00:02:30,917 in Formula 1. 32 00:02:30,917 --> 00:02:33,259 Tommy is the defining case study, 33 00:02:33,259 --> 00:02:36,095 because there's never been anybody quite that good, 34 00:02:36,095 --> 00:02:38,346 who's never made it. 35 00:02:38,346 --> 00:02:39,479 - True talent really stands out. 36 00:02:39,479 --> 00:02:40,803 We had Senna, Alain Prost, 37 00:02:40,803 --> 00:02:43,793 Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher. 38 00:02:43,793 --> 00:02:46,117 And Tommy had the talent of these guys for sure. 39 00:02:46,117 --> 00:02:50,077 You know, he just had that natural feel for a car. 40 00:02:50,077 --> 00:02:52,126 - Tommy Byrne was wild. 41 00:02:52,126 --> 00:02:55,457 Some of the things that he did were so unorthodox, 42 00:02:55,457 --> 00:02:58,481 that only Tommy Byrne ever could've done it. 43 00:02:58,481 --> 00:03:01,001 Or will have ever done it. 44 00:03:01,001 --> 00:03:02,566 The problem is 45 00:03:02,566 --> 00:03:05,066 he may have gone just too far. 46 00:03:15,057 --> 00:03:17,309 - What you saw was what you got with him. 47 00:03:17,309 --> 00:03:19,649 Some people might think it, Tommy would say it. 48 00:03:19,649 --> 00:03:21,356 And I think it hurt in the top end 49 00:03:21,356 --> 00:03:22,405 where there's sponsors, 50 00:03:22,405 --> 00:03:24,349 where there's major manufacturers involved. 51 00:03:24,349 --> 00:03:26,148 And they don't want people 52 00:03:26,148 --> 00:03:28,143 that are a bit wild like that. 53 00:03:28,143 --> 00:03:29,837 54 00:03:30,896 --> 00:03:32,534 - He got from nothing 55 00:03:32,534 --> 00:03:33,448 to Formula 1 56 00:03:33,448 --> 00:03:36,175 in little more than 4 years. 57 00:03:36,175 --> 00:03:39,842 We may never see a similar story ever again. 58 00:03:58,401 --> 00:03:59,282 - All out, all out. 59 00:03:59,282 --> 00:04:02,189 We're gonna get it tight. 60 00:04:02,189 --> 00:04:04,279 - It's two of us who used to work up in-- 61 00:04:04,279 --> 00:04:05,250 - Here you go, Bert. 62 00:04:05,250 --> 00:04:06,277 - Where did you get these extra batteries? 63 00:04:06,277 --> 00:04:09,066 - Yeah, he gives them to me, you take them. 64 00:04:09,066 --> 00:04:09,899 Hey Sonny! 65 00:04:11,798 --> 00:04:12,730 - We will get going. 66 00:04:12,730 --> 00:04:13,862 My name is Brian Till, 67 00:04:13,862 --> 00:04:15,593 I'll be your lead instructor for the day. 68 00:04:15,593 --> 00:04:17,757 That just means that I talk more than the other guys do. 69 00:04:17,757 --> 00:04:18,796 But you got a great group of guys 70 00:04:18,796 --> 00:04:19,962 back there in the back. 71 00:04:19,962 --> 00:04:21,407 Tommy Byrne down at the end. 72 00:04:21,407 --> 00:04:23,764 Very accomplished open wheel driver. 73 00:04:23,764 --> 00:04:24,681 Six, seven? 74 00:04:26,106 --> 00:04:26,939 - Seven. 75 00:04:26,939 --> 00:04:28,889 - Formula Car championships over in Europe 76 00:04:28,889 --> 00:04:30,015 before he came to the United States. 77 00:04:30,015 --> 00:04:31,470 A little time in Formula 1. 78 00:04:31,470 --> 00:04:32,626 Tommy's been here at the school 79 00:04:32,626 --> 00:04:34,126 I think since '93? 80 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:36,348 '94, '95, something like that. 81 00:04:36,348 --> 00:04:37,826 - '94, 21 years now! 82 00:04:37,826 --> 00:04:39,914 You've been here what, 22? 83 00:04:39,914 --> 00:04:41,073 - Yeah. 84 00:04:41,073 --> 00:04:41,906 - Scary! 85 00:04:41,906 --> 00:04:42,739 - Long time, long time. 86 00:04:42,739 --> 00:04:44,952 So Tommy and I used to race together a little bit. 87 00:04:44,952 --> 00:04:47,152 I crashed Tommy in Detroit one year. 88 00:04:47,152 --> 00:04:48,092 - No, you ran into me. 89 00:04:48,092 --> 00:04:48,925 - Did I? 90 00:04:48,925 --> 00:04:51,315 91 00:04:51,315 --> 00:04:52,339 Of course my car was broken. 92 00:04:52,339 --> 00:04:53,254 - Yeah. 93 00:04:53,254 --> 00:04:54,748 - I had to walk back. 94 00:04:56,083 --> 00:04:56,916 - Through the streets of, 95 00:04:56,916 --> 00:04:57,749 the downtown streets of Detroit. 96 00:04:57,749 --> 00:04:58,996 - Through the streets of Detroit. 97 00:04:58,996 --> 00:04:59,829 - Yeah. 98 00:05:00,989 --> 00:05:02,088 Here's a guy 99 00:05:02,088 --> 00:05:04,752 who had come within a fingertip reach 100 00:05:04,752 --> 00:05:06,821 of the pinnacle of the sport. 101 00:05:06,821 --> 00:05:09,106 And it just slid down the other side of the mountain 102 00:05:09,106 --> 00:05:11,194 when it just slipped from his grasp. 103 00:05:11,194 --> 00:05:13,478 Your job today in this high-performance school 104 00:05:13,478 --> 00:05:16,719 is to use 100 % of the car 105 00:05:16,719 --> 00:05:18,663 100 % of the time. 106 00:05:18,663 --> 00:05:20,123 Drive it like you stole it. 107 00:05:20,123 --> 00:05:23,685 Some of us ended our careers on our own terms. 108 00:05:23,685 --> 00:05:25,341 Tommy didn't. 109 00:05:25,341 --> 00:05:28,416 But for the longest time, Tommy went to sleep. 110 00:05:28,416 --> 00:05:29,249 Woke up 111 00:05:30,399 --> 00:05:33,400 and thought, "This isn't fair." 112 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:34,303 I should've. 113 00:05:34,303 --> 00:05:35,200 I would've. 114 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:36,228 I could've. 115 00:05:36,228 --> 00:05:37,861 - Good job, P2. 116 00:05:37,861 --> 00:05:40,222 - Mike and Carl on deck! 117 00:05:40,222 --> 00:05:42,042 To carry that with you 118 00:05:42,042 --> 00:05:43,501 when the door closes 119 00:05:43,501 --> 00:05:46,935 and you're the only person in the room 120 00:05:46,935 --> 00:05:48,121 how loud are those voices? 121 00:05:48,121 --> 00:05:51,204 122 00:05:55,211 --> 00:05:57,678 - Obviously I wasn't the nicest guy in the world. 123 00:05:57,678 --> 00:05:59,642 And it's just when you don't make it, 124 00:05:59,642 --> 00:06:00,957 people, well, they try to say, 125 00:06:00,957 --> 00:06:04,482 "Well, he did this, he did that." 126 00:06:04,482 --> 00:06:05,577 But you know what? 127 00:06:05,577 --> 00:06:09,577 I just couldn't have anybody tell me what to do. 128 00:06:11,502 --> 00:06:12,798 - There are various theories 129 00:06:12,798 --> 00:06:13,639 on Tommy Byrne the racing driver. 130 00:06:13,639 --> 00:06:17,297 One is that he royally messed up a potentially great career. 131 00:06:17,297 --> 00:06:19,745 The other one was that he wasn't given a fair shot. 132 00:06:19,745 --> 00:06:21,591 And I think Tommy's truth 133 00:06:21,591 --> 00:06:24,831 is always somewhere in that shade of grey 134 00:06:24,831 --> 00:06:27,783 between those two extreme viewpoints. 135 00:06:27,783 --> 00:06:30,409 There were things in Tommy's character 136 00:06:30,409 --> 00:06:32,495 and from his background 137 00:06:32,495 --> 00:06:36,078 that made him not an easy fit in Formula 1. 138 00:06:37,811 --> 00:06:39,755 - Alex Hurricane' Higgins, Georgie Best, 139 00:06:39,755 --> 00:06:41,923 I'd put him in that kind of mould. 140 00:06:41,923 --> 00:06:43,477 Just a a little irreverent, 141 00:06:43,477 --> 00:06:47,227 and super talented, and liked to have a beer. 142 00:06:49,777 --> 00:06:51,324 - The start of the 80's, the two hot shots 143 00:06:51,324 --> 00:06:53,159 were Tommy Byrne and Ayrton Senna. 144 00:06:53,159 --> 00:06:54,921 Had it not been for Senna 145 00:06:54,921 --> 00:06:57,278 arriving at around the same time, 146 00:06:57,278 --> 00:06:59,023 Tommy's talent would've been enough 147 00:06:59,023 --> 00:07:00,503 to carry him through. 148 00:07:00,503 --> 00:07:03,003 It would've been irresistible. 149 00:07:04,028 --> 00:07:05,359 - And there was a real anger there, 150 00:07:05,359 --> 00:07:07,824 in terms of the fact that motor racing 151 00:07:07,824 --> 00:07:09,791 takes a lot of money and a lot of support. 152 00:07:09,791 --> 00:07:11,356 So if you don't have that, 153 00:07:11,356 --> 00:07:12,921 it's easy to fall by the wayside, 154 00:07:12,921 --> 00:07:15,244 or suddenly your careers changes direction 155 00:07:15,244 --> 00:07:16,494 as Tommy's did. 156 00:07:19,324 --> 00:07:21,289 - Obviously when you're trying to go racing 157 00:07:21,289 --> 00:07:23,164 and you're completely broke all the time, 158 00:07:23,164 --> 00:07:24,926 and you're racing against people 159 00:07:24,926 --> 00:07:27,229 like Senna and the Brazilians with all the money, 160 00:07:27,229 --> 00:07:29,156 and you haven't got a pot to piss in, 161 00:07:29,156 --> 00:07:30,561 it does make a difference. 162 00:07:30,561 --> 00:07:32,630 I mean, you don't get the same respect. 163 00:07:32,630 --> 00:07:34,123 People treat you different. 164 00:07:34,123 --> 00:07:36,284 And I hear this all the time, I've seen little quotes about 165 00:07:36,284 --> 00:07:37,797 "Tommy's got a chip on his shoulder." 166 00:07:37,797 --> 00:07:39,777 I think anybody would have a chip on their shoulder 167 00:07:39,777 --> 00:07:41,951 if they were treated like shit after they win races. 168 00:07:41,951 --> 00:07:43,105 So many races. 169 00:07:43,105 --> 00:07:45,251 I'd win the exact same race that Senna won. 170 00:07:45,251 --> 00:07:47,948 I'd win it first, he'd win it the year after, 171 00:07:47,948 --> 00:07:49,909 and suddenly, it's like, you know, 172 00:07:49,909 --> 00:07:51,347 "Who's Tommy Byrne?" 173 00:07:51,347 --> 00:07:52,575 And when Senna won, 174 00:07:52,575 --> 00:07:55,083 it was like the second coming of Christ. 175 00:07:55,083 --> 00:07:56,632 And that's just the way life is, you know. 176 00:07:56,632 --> 00:07:58,305 People treat you different 177 00:07:58,305 --> 00:08:02,033 when you're broke and when you're rich. 178 00:08:02,033 --> 00:08:03,204 What could I change? 179 00:08:03,204 --> 00:08:04,193 Be born a millionaire 180 00:08:04,193 --> 00:08:07,176 with a silver fucking spoon up my ass. 181 00:08:07,176 --> 00:08:10,676 182 00:08:11,822 --> 00:08:14,232 - Tommy still carries the cross of the rejection 183 00:08:14,232 --> 00:08:16,399 from Formula 1, every day. 184 00:08:17,541 --> 00:08:20,118 He's not the Tommy he would have been 185 00:08:20,118 --> 00:08:25,118 had it all panned out the way he was expecting it to. 186 00:08:25,211 --> 00:08:27,302 He knows what it could have been 187 00:08:27,302 --> 00:08:29,719 and what it should have been. 188 00:08:35,870 --> 00:08:37,723 - It's a little overgrown since the last time I was here, 189 00:08:37,723 --> 00:08:39,056 that's for sure. 190 00:08:40,043 --> 00:08:40,876 Yep. 191 00:08:43,283 --> 00:08:45,033 Ah man, look at this. 192 00:08:46,288 --> 00:08:49,742 There's the trees my mom planted. 193 00:08:49,742 --> 00:08:51,469 Shit, they were like, 194 00:08:51,469 --> 00:08:54,136 they were a couple of feet tall. 195 00:08:55,985 --> 00:08:57,990 So, I used to ride my motorcycle 196 00:08:57,990 --> 00:08:59,392 all the way through here at night 197 00:08:59,392 --> 00:09:01,931 when I'd come home at 15 years of age. 198 00:09:01,931 --> 00:09:04,864 Drive through there, drive all the way through here, 199 00:09:04,864 --> 00:09:07,403 drive up, and drive in the door. 200 00:09:07,403 --> 00:09:09,649 I just couldn't control myself with speed. 201 00:09:09,649 --> 00:09:11,214 I had to be flat-out everywhere. 202 00:09:11,214 --> 00:09:13,144 And I worked at the gas station across the road, 203 00:09:13,144 --> 00:09:15,032 everybody was talking about the day they would go there, 204 00:09:15,032 --> 00:09:17,212 and I wouldn't be there anymore because I'd be dead. 205 00:09:17,212 --> 00:09:19,139 Because everywhere that I went, I was flying. 206 00:09:19,139 --> 00:09:21,568 Flying down the roads. 207 00:09:21,568 --> 00:09:22,790 Flat-out. 208 00:09:22,790 --> 00:09:25,005 Couldn't slow down. 209 00:09:25,005 --> 00:09:27,294 That's what happens when you're born in the back of the car 210 00:09:27,294 --> 00:09:29,176 on the way to the hospital. 211 00:09:41,273 --> 00:09:44,973 ♪ Far across the foam ♪ 212 00:09:44,973 --> 00:09:49,408 ♪ All though I've often left it ♪ 213 00:09:49,408 --> 00:09:52,991 ♪ In foreign lands to roam ♪ 214 00:09:54,733 --> 00:09:55,974 - Tommy Byrne away to a flying start. 215 00:09:55,974 --> 00:09:56,807 - Born special. 216 00:09:56,807 --> 00:09:58,133 Born a special way. 217 00:09:58,133 --> 00:09:59,789 218 00:09:59,789 --> 00:10:02,957 - Three firsts for Irish. 219 00:10:02,957 --> 00:10:05,640 Sports star of the week. 220 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:06,951 - Oh, man, I was. 221 00:10:06,951 --> 00:10:08,554 I was out of control. 222 00:10:08,554 --> 00:10:11,197 I feel bad now, obviously, you know, you feel bad, 223 00:10:11,197 --> 00:10:13,770 because I have my own kids. 224 00:10:13,770 --> 00:10:16,165 Whatever chance they had of controlling me when I was 225 00:10:16,165 --> 00:10:17,665 nine or ten or 11, 226 00:10:18,591 --> 00:10:21,370 they had no chance at all when I was 15, 16 years of age. 227 00:10:21,370 --> 00:10:22,328 I just didn't, 228 00:10:22,328 --> 00:10:24,078 I just didn't listen. 229 00:10:31,087 --> 00:10:33,103 This house now, 230 00:10:33,103 --> 00:10:35,512 231 00:10:35,512 --> 00:10:36,345 I just, 232 00:10:37,744 --> 00:10:39,184 I just don't want to be here, actually. 233 00:10:39,184 --> 00:10:41,056 To be honest, you know, 234 00:10:41,056 --> 00:10:43,306 it's just it's in the past. 235 00:10:44,819 --> 00:10:46,991 I had a time here, I grew up in this house. 236 00:10:46,991 --> 00:10:50,408 Mom and dad, sisters, everybody was here. 237 00:10:51,387 --> 00:10:53,476 But now it's, you know, it's just 238 00:10:53,476 --> 00:10:54,809 time to move on. 239 00:10:59,031 --> 00:11:01,553 - When he was a child, 240 00:11:01,553 --> 00:11:05,053 he was a nuisance to everybody around him. 241 00:11:06,631 --> 00:11:07,464 - How's it's going, Maurice? 242 00:11:07,464 --> 00:11:08,831 - I'm humbled, I'm humbled. 243 00:11:08,831 --> 00:11:09,871 - How's it going? 244 00:11:09,871 --> 00:11:10,704 - Very good. 245 00:11:10,704 --> 00:11:12,370 Now I thought he was a little 246 00:11:12,370 --> 00:11:14,185 bastard at that stage. 247 00:11:14,185 --> 00:11:16,352 He was just a little brat. 248 00:11:17,335 --> 00:11:19,619 You didn't happen to bring back that part of fancy of boots 249 00:11:19,619 --> 00:11:21,198 I gave you that time, because I'm still waiting on. 250 00:11:21,198 --> 00:11:22,218 You use them often? 251 00:11:22,218 --> 00:11:23,587 - I haven't used them for a while, 252 00:11:23,587 --> 00:11:25,337 but I do like the boots, yeah. 253 00:11:25,337 --> 00:11:27,293 I do have to wear a couple of pairs of socks with them. 254 00:11:27,293 --> 00:11:28,411 - Do you wear it with the jacket? 255 00:11:28,411 --> 00:11:30,067 - I forgot about the jacket. 256 00:11:30,067 --> 00:11:31,058 257 00:11:31,058 --> 00:11:32,910 - Tommy would have had a rough childhood 258 00:11:32,910 --> 00:11:35,483 brought on mainly by himself, 259 00:11:35,483 --> 00:11:37,211 by his attitude and by the way 260 00:11:37,211 --> 00:11:38,526 he carried on, and 261 00:11:38,526 --> 00:11:41,243 no law was written for Tommy Byrne. 262 00:11:41,243 --> 00:11:43,893 He never changed what he was like 263 00:11:43,893 --> 00:11:46,715 when he was 11 or 12 years of age. 264 00:11:46,715 --> 00:11:49,221 He just had that cockiness in him 265 00:11:49,221 --> 00:11:51,702 that he would have to do it his own way. 266 00:11:51,702 --> 00:11:54,347 You see, that's really as little as I thought of you 267 00:11:54,347 --> 00:11:56,302 over the last number of years, Tommy. 268 00:11:56,302 --> 00:11:57,312 They're up there. 269 00:11:57,312 --> 00:11:58,504 - Thanks, Maurice. 270 00:11:58,504 --> 00:11:59,337 - Among all the-- 271 00:11:59,337 --> 00:12:01,087 - Here, show me, 272 00:12:01,087 --> 00:12:02,777 show me what you've got there. 273 00:12:04,539 --> 00:12:05,887 Oh, look at that one. 274 00:12:05,887 --> 00:12:08,816 That's the, ah, that would be quite an important one. 275 00:12:08,816 --> 00:12:10,442 Is that the British Grand Prix one? 276 00:12:10,442 --> 00:12:11,550 - That's the British Grand Prix one. 277 00:12:11,550 --> 00:12:12,383 - Holy smokes. 278 00:12:12,383 --> 00:12:13,216 Look at that, huh? 279 00:12:13,216 --> 00:12:15,055 What else have you got? 280 00:12:15,055 --> 00:12:16,882 Yeah, that one there 281 00:12:16,882 --> 00:12:18,700 I think that's one of those European ones. 282 00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:19,567 - Is it? 283 00:12:19,567 --> 00:12:20,650 - I think so. 284 00:12:23,939 --> 00:12:26,805 This is the P&O Ferries Formula Ford 1600. 285 00:12:26,805 --> 00:12:28,586 This is the championship one, Maurice. 286 00:12:28,586 --> 00:12:30,726 Cor, You think it would be maybe 287 00:12:30,726 --> 00:12:32,904 a little bit looked after better than that. 288 00:12:32,904 --> 00:12:33,737 Well, look at this. 289 00:12:33,737 --> 00:12:34,771 - You didn't even know where they were Tommy. 290 00:12:34,771 --> 00:12:35,739 - No, I didn't, you're right. 291 00:12:35,739 --> 00:12:37,486 - I think that's an old shell from 292 00:12:37,486 --> 00:12:38,851 World War II or something. 293 00:12:38,851 --> 00:12:42,086 But they've been lying up there for 294 00:12:42,086 --> 00:12:43,318 many years. 295 00:12:43,318 --> 00:12:44,151 - Maurice 296 00:12:44,151 --> 00:12:44,984 - Yes? 297 00:12:44,984 --> 00:12:46,320 - These could probably clean up pretty good, I'll bet. 298 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:47,920 It's the same in my own house back in Florida, 299 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:48,753 the same thing. 300 00:12:48,753 --> 00:12:49,586 - You tell me. 301 00:12:49,586 --> 00:12:50,419 - Trophies in boxes. 302 00:12:50,419 --> 00:12:51,252 Look at that. 303 00:12:51,252 --> 00:12:52,085 - See if you can, 304 00:12:52,085 --> 00:12:53,489 See if you can clean that one. 305 00:12:53,489 --> 00:12:54,889 When your fan club was-- 306 00:12:54,889 --> 00:12:55,722 - Yep! 307 00:12:55,722 --> 00:12:56,798 - Was flying. 308 00:12:56,798 --> 00:12:57,631 - Remember that? 309 00:12:57,631 --> 00:12:58,977 We had the annual Tommy Byrne Dinner Dance 310 00:12:58,977 --> 00:13:00,161 to make me money, and I think I earned 311 00:13:00,161 --> 00:13:02,994 I think I earned, like 300 pounds. 312 00:13:03,852 --> 00:13:06,674 That was as much money that was collected 313 00:13:06,674 --> 00:13:08,388 for that one particular dance. 314 00:13:08,388 --> 00:13:10,222 Enough money to get me some clothes. 315 00:13:10,222 --> 00:13:11,570 We needed $300,000. 316 00:13:11,570 --> 00:13:12,403 - Yes! 317 00:13:13,236 --> 00:13:14,069 - It was a lot of work for me 318 00:13:14,069 --> 00:13:15,241 because I couldn't even enjoy myself, 319 00:13:15,241 --> 00:13:16,536 because I had to talk to everybody. 320 00:13:16,536 --> 00:13:17,369 - Yeah. 321 00:13:17,369 --> 00:13:20,009 - And by the time it was all over and I was ready to 322 00:13:20,009 --> 00:13:21,694 you know, get shit faced, 323 00:13:21,694 --> 00:13:22,527 It was too late. 324 00:13:22,527 --> 00:13:24,617 - And you had to put the Dundalk accent back on again. 325 00:13:24,617 --> 00:13:26,209 Or they would have all called you an asshole. 326 00:13:26,209 --> 00:13:27,458 - I had to put, yeah-- 327 00:13:27,458 --> 00:13:28,291 - The accent. 328 00:13:28,291 --> 00:13:29,124 - Yeah. 329 00:13:29,124 --> 00:13:30,457 All right, yeah. 330 00:13:31,771 --> 00:13:33,837 331 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,097 These little tracks here, this is where it all started. 332 00:13:53,097 --> 00:13:56,595 Yeah, I worked for free, fixing a Mini Stock car. 333 00:13:56,595 --> 00:13:57,461 It's been 40 years ago, 334 00:13:57,461 --> 00:14:00,248 because I loved being involved. 335 00:14:00,248 --> 00:14:02,026 And I would look forward as a mechanic 336 00:14:02,026 --> 00:14:03,327 to take it out for the race. 337 00:14:03,327 --> 00:14:05,381 Then you drive it back and park it there, 338 00:14:05,381 --> 00:14:06,995 and this is what I used to look forward 339 00:14:06,995 --> 00:14:08,964 to for the whole week. 340 00:14:08,964 --> 00:14:09,986 There's something about the speed, 341 00:14:09,986 --> 00:14:11,475 it's addictive. 342 00:14:11,475 --> 00:14:13,225 The smell, the noise, 343 00:14:15,459 --> 00:14:16,448 it gets in your, 344 00:14:16,448 --> 00:14:17,653 it kind of does get in your blood. 345 00:14:17,653 --> 00:14:19,184 It's just one of those things. 346 00:14:19,184 --> 00:14:21,488 Just stick the needle in, you know, and it just 347 00:14:21,488 --> 00:14:23,792 you know, keep on pushing. 348 00:14:23,792 --> 00:14:24,921 349 00:14:32,727 --> 00:14:33,746 Yay! 350 00:14:33,746 --> 00:14:35,565 I'm more comfortable here, 351 00:14:35,565 --> 00:14:37,346 watching these little racers, 352 00:14:37,346 --> 00:14:39,650 than I would be watching a Formula 1 race, 353 00:14:39,650 --> 00:14:41,613 or even at a Formula 1 race. 354 00:14:41,613 --> 00:14:45,690 It's pretentious, it's full of a bunch of 355 00:14:45,690 --> 00:14:47,351 fake people, 356 00:14:47,351 --> 00:14:49,693 and I never really liked it in the first place. 357 00:14:49,693 --> 00:14:51,618 And of course, I'm much more comfortable here. 358 00:14:51,618 --> 00:14:52,821 It's just, maybe, 359 00:14:52,821 --> 00:14:55,346 360 00:14:55,346 --> 00:14:59,071 it doesn't get much better than that! 361 00:14:59,071 --> 00:15:01,192 I would say 99 % of the people here 362 00:15:01,192 --> 00:15:02,776 driving at this track tonight 363 00:15:02,776 --> 00:15:04,346 are probably here having fun. 364 00:15:04,346 --> 00:15:06,430 And that maybe there's 1 % out there 365 00:15:06,430 --> 00:15:09,026 might be trying to make it big time in racing. 366 00:15:09,026 --> 00:15:10,951 Because remember, there's very few people in the world 367 00:15:10,951 --> 00:15:13,534 who actually make money racing. 368 00:15:21,338 --> 00:15:23,498 I left school at 15 years of age. 369 00:15:23,498 --> 00:15:26,916 The first real job I got was in the factory in town. 370 00:15:26,916 --> 00:15:29,381 And I was going to be a mechanic. 371 00:15:29,381 --> 00:15:30,319 My partner 372 00:15:30,319 --> 00:15:33,194 that I was apprenticing for nicknamed me foot-and-a-half, 373 00:15:33,194 --> 00:15:36,128 because I was really, really small at the time. 374 00:15:36,128 --> 00:15:39,751 So he nicknamed me foot-and-a-half, and 375 00:15:39,751 --> 00:15:41,714 all you could hear in that whole big shop was, 376 00:15:41,714 --> 00:15:44,162 "foot-and-a-half, foot-and-a-half!" 377 00:15:44,162 --> 00:15:46,264 Because I was always gone somewhere, doing something. 378 00:15:46,264 --> 00:15:48,948 Probably pilfering something. 379 00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:51,146 We didn't call it stealing, we called it pilfering. 380 00:15:51,146 --> 00:15:53,484 But I just loved pilfering more than anybody else, 381 00:15:53,484 --> 00:15:54,996 I just loved to take shit. 382 00:15:54,996 --> 00:15:55,829 383 00:15:55,829 --> 00:15:56,938 I would wrap stuff around me, 384 00:15:56,938 --> 00:15:58,541 underneath my overalls, and 385 00:15:58,541 --> 00:16:00,084 take something home everyday. 386 00:16:00,084 --> 00:16:01,543 I just loved it. 387 00:16:01,543 --> 00:16:03,089 I just loved taking shit, you know? 388 00:16:03,089 --> 00:16:03,922 Like, 389 00:16:05,021 --> 00:16:06,341 sometimes you took it because you need it, 390 00:16:06,341 --> 00:16:07,382 and sometimes you took it just because, 391 00:16:07,382 --> 00:16:08,805 just for the hell of it. 392 00:16:08,805 --> 00:16:10,605 But I eventually did get caught, 393 00:16:10,605 --> 00:16:13,163 so I went to court and got fined. 394 00:16:13,163 --> 00:16:16,795 Put on probation or whatever the case would've been. 395 00:16:16,795 --> 00:16:18,631 So I could have for sure went down the wrong path 396 00:16:18,631 --> 00:16:20,898 if I didn't start racing. 397 00:16:20,898 --> 00:16:22,626 I knew that's what I wanted to do, 398 00:16:22,626 --> 00:16:25,376 I wanted to be a race car driver. 399 00:16:26,549 --> 00:16:30,330 My first Formula Ford car, my mom had told the bank manager 400 00:16:30,330 --> 00:16:32,253 that my sister Margaret was pregnant and 401 00:16:32,253 --> 00:16:35,397 and we had to put an extension on the house. 402 00:16:35,397 --> 00:16:38,765 And I stood behind my mother telling her what to say. 403 00:16:38,765 --> 00:16:40,837 And I think it was 1250 pounds. 404 00:16:40,837 --> 00:16:42,621 405 00:16:42,621 --> 00:16:43,454 It was a lot of money! 406 00:16:43,454 --> 00:16:44,287 It was a loan! 407 00:16:44,287 --> 00:16:46,520 We just didn't put the extension on the house. 408 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:48,770 So, it was only small lies. 409 00:16:49,903 --> 00:16:51,320 But I got my car! 410 00:16:54,498 --> 00:16:56,206 - When he came on the scene at Mondello, 411 00:16:56,206 --> 00:16:57,862 I was quite surprised. 412 00:16:57,862 --> 00:17:00,286 Here was this small guy. 413 00:17:00,286 --> 00:17:01,203 Very cocky. 414 00:17:02,187 --> 00:17:03,999 No one could quite understand him, 415 00:17:03,999 --> 00:17:05,748 he spoke so quickly, 416 00:17:05,748 --> 00:17:08,951 and he had a very pronounced Dundalk accent. 417 00:17:08,951 --> 00:17:11,555 I wouldn't say he was like a fish out of water, but 418 00:17:11,555 --> 00:17:13,307 he came from a background 419 00:17:13,307 --> 00:17:16,748 that normally motor-racing people wouldn't be part of. 420 00:17:16,748 --> 00:17:18,639 So he was a big surprise 421 00:17:18,639 --> 00:17:19,972 to that element. 422 00:17:20,915 --> 00:17:24,482 - Tommy's face, his personality, his background 423 00:17:24,482 --> 00:17:26,944 was always going to be a difficult fit. 424 00:17:26,944 --> 00:17:29,840 It's a very elitist sport, 425 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,257 whereas Tommy was 426 00:17:32,941 --> 00:17:35,656 from a very, very poor working-class background. 427 00:17:35,656 --> 00:17:37,909 And so the odds of him succeeding 428 00:17:37,909 --> 00:17:39,159 were very slim. 429 00:17:40,570 --> 00:17:42,699 - In '77 was when I went to Mondello, 430 00:17:42,699 --> 00:17:45,089 and I had no idea what I was doing. 431 00:17:45,089 --> 00:17:47,451 And I wouldn't listen to anybody. 432 00:17:47,451 --> 00:17:48,584 I thought if smoke wasn't coming off 433 00:17:48,584 --> 00:17:50,861 all four tyres, I wasn't doing it right. 434 00:17:50,861 --> 00:17:53,222 - There was this kid that looked like a 13 year old 435 00:17:53,222 --> 00:17:55,526 that fell out of the back of a bus. 436 00:17:55,526 --> 00:17:57,665 And he was just flinging the car around 437 00:17:57,665 --> 00:17:59,157 with complete abandon. 438 00:17:59,157 --> 00:18:00,336 And I thought, 439 00:18:00,336 --> 00:18:03,338 "This kid is good, this kid is exceptional." 440 00:18:03,338 --> 00:18:05,411 - I had a bunch of friends all coming together, 441 00:18:05,411 --> 00:18:06,244 all, you know, 442 00:18:06,244 --> 00:18:07,983 "Here we go, this is going to be a new adventure." 443 00:18:07,983 --> 00:18:08,816 And it was. 444 00:18:08,816 --> 00:18:12,399 Just rednecks, out of sync with everything. 445 00:18:14,099 --> 00:18:15,723 But I figured I was passing cars, 446 00:18:15,723 --> 00:18:17,883 so I must be doing something right. 447 00:18:17,883 --> 00:18:18,929 It turns out they were just scared 448 00:18:18,929 --> 00:18:20,815 because a crazy bastard's coming up behind them, 449 00:18:20,815 --> 00:18:23,208 and he's either going to run into them or not, 450 00:18:23,208 --> 00:18:25,155 so they would just let me by. 451 00:18:25,155 --> 00:18:26,864 But I learned my craft by crashing. 452 00:18:26,864 --> 00:18:30,243 I crashed all year in that car. 453 00:18:30,243 --> 00:18:32,623 That car was always coming home in more than one piece. 454 00:18:32,623 --> 00:18:33,761 It left in one piece 455 00:18:33,761 --> 00:18:37,289 and came home in two, three, sometimes 50 pieces. 456 00:18:37,289 --> 00:18:39,665 And my mom, she'd come out and take a look at it 457 00:18:39,665 --> 00:18:41,374 and she'd go, 458 00:18:41,374 --> 00:18:43,006 "When are you going to quit this nonsense 459 00:18:43,006 --> 00:18:43,963 "and get a real job?" 460 00:18:43,963 --> 00:18:47,137 And then I'd just be completely depressed, 461 00:18:47,137 --> 00:18:48,292 go to bed, 462 00:18:48,292 --> 00:18:49,572 wake up next morning 463 00:18:49,572 --> 00:18:51,233 with a completely different attitude, 464 00:18:51,233 --> 00:18:52,313 and start again. 465 00:18:52,313 --> 00:18:55,730 466 00:19:03,362 --> 00:19:05,882 At that time Bernard Devaney, Derek Daly, 467 00:19:05,882 --> 00:19:09,626 David Kennedy and Eddie Jordan were all in England. 468 00:19:09,626 --> 00:19:10,687 So I read about those guys 469 00:19:10,687 --> 00:19:12,741 and I'd seen pictures of them, so obviously I was thinking, 470 00:19:12,741 --> 00:19:16,233 "Well if they can do it, then I can do it." 471 00:19:16,233 --> 00:19:18,229 So I left Ireland at the end of '78, 472 00:19:18,229 --> 00:19:19,762 and that was it. 473 00:19:19,762 --> 00:19:21,345 Never to look back. 474 00:19:22,532 --> 00:19:26,038 - The kid that came over from Ireland to England in '78, 475 00:19:26,038 --> 00:19:28,371 was raw, ragamuffin chancer. 476 00:19:30,215 --> 00:19:32,322 Full of hope, massive talent, 477 00:19:32,322 --> 00:19:35,816 total self-belief, but that was all he had. 478 00:19:35,816 --> 00:19:37,204 - My first year away from home, 479 00:19:37,204 --> 00:19:39,489 and I had a pretty rough first half of the year, 480 00:19:39,489 --> 00:19:40,948 that's when I was very nervous a lot 481 00:19:40,948 --> 00:19:42,418 because I didn't win a race. 482 00:19:42,418 --> 00:19:44,149 And we qualify at nine in the morning 483 00:19:44,149 --> 00:19:45,858 and wouldn't race until five o'clock that night. 484 00:19:45,858 --> 00:19:49,012 So all that time no eating, no nothing, just nerves. 485 00:19:49,012 --> 00:19:50,894 Sick to my stomach. 486 00:19:50,894 --> 00:19:52,842 That went on for 20 races. 487 00:19:52,842 --> 00:19:55,348 And eventually I won the race in Nurburgring, 488 00:19:55,348 --> 00:19:58,281 so that's when I knew I was as good as I thought I was. 489 00:19:58,281 --> 00:19:59,735 And ever since that day, 490 00:19:59,735 --> 00:20:02,980 I never, ever felt sick to my stomach again, 491 00:20:02,980 --> 00:20:04,313 It was just fun. 492 00:20:05,749 --> 00:20:07,569 - For over 10 years, Formula Ford 493 00:20:07,569 --> 00:20:10,069 has been the essential first rung of the ladder to fame 494 00:20:10,069 --> 00:20:12,033 in single seater racing. 495 00:20:12,033 --> 00:20:12,866 Formula 1 drivers 496 00:20:12,866 --> 00:20:14,795 like James Hunt and Emerson Fittipaldi 497 00:20:14,795 --> 00:20:17,229 started racing at the wheel of a Formula Ford, 498 00:20:17,229 --> 00:20:19,494 which has turned Formula Ford into a proving ground 499 00:20:19,494 --> 00:20:21,744 for future world champions. 500 00:20:24,193 --> 00:20:26,207 - So, the way the junior categories work 501 00:20:26,207 --> 00:20:27,976 is that you have professional teams 502 00:20:27,976 --> 00:20:29,670 building the cars, creating the cars, 503 00:20:29,670 --> 00:20:30,724 fielding the cars. 504 00:20:30,724 --> 00:20:32,180 That all costs money. 505 00:20:32,180 --> 00:20:33,730 By and large, the teams 506 00:20:33,730 --> 00:20:35,673 don't go and get drivers. 507 00:20:35,673 --> 00:20:37,725 What happens is the drivers bring the money 508 00:20:37,725 --> 00:20:39,686 to the teams to run them. 509 00:20:39,686 --> 00:20:41,252 Whether that's commercial sponsorship, 510 00:20:41,252 --> 00:20:43,286 or family money, or whatever, 511 00:20:43,286 --> 00:20:46,378 it's that that sustains the junior categories 512 00:20:46,378 --> 00:20:47,769 in motor racing. 513 00:20:47,769 --> 00:20:49,638 It's very, very rare that anyone 514 00:20:49,638 --> 00:20:51,965 gets a drive for free, 515 00:20:51,965 --> 00:20:55,090 but Tommy managed to get a drive for free. 516 00:20:55,090 --> 00:20:56,605 - Ralph Firman started his own firm, 517 00:20:56,605 --> 00:20:59,289 Van Diemen, in the early '70s. 518 00:20:59,289 --> 00:21:00,657 Van Diemen has won 519 00:21:00,657 --> 00:21:02,909 every major Formula Ford championship 520 00:21:02,909 --> 00:21:05,553 in England since 1977, 521 00:21:05,553 --> 00:21:08,995 and for that you need drivers with talent and nerve. 522 00:21:08,995 --> 00:21:11,402 - If we feel that we haven't got such a driver, 523 00:21:11,402 --> 00:21:12,235 then we will sponsor one ourselves. 524 00:21:12,235 --> 00:21:13,068 - Van Diemen have been very successful 525 00:21:13,068 --> 00:21:13,901 over the years because 526 00:21:13,901 --> 00:21:14,734 A, Ralph picks winners. 527 00:21:14,734 --> 00:21:15,567 And B, he didn't want that winner 528 00:21:15,567 --> 00:21:17,400 in someone else's car, 529 00:21:24,472 --> 00:21:27,190 so he certainly recognised Tommy's talents early. 530 00:21:27,190 --> 00:21:29,354 - He knew Tommy didn't have any money, 531 00:21:29,354 --> 00:21:31,573 so you could hardly ask him for money. 532 00:21:31,573 --> 00:21:32,579 If he wanted him in the car, 533 00:21:32,579 --> 00:21:36,496 he was going to have to give him the drive for free. 534 00:21:36,496 --> 00:21:39,246 535 00:21:40,239 --> 00:21:42,053 - Michelle is cooking for the team, 536 00:21:42,053 --> 00:21:43,476 she's the best cook on the circuit. 537 00:21:43,476 --> 00:21:45,169 - This is the grassroots, really, 538 00:21:45,169 --> 00:21:46,818 of where it all starts in motor racing, isn't it, 539 00:21:46,818 --> 00:21:47,994 for youngsters? 540 00:21:47,994 --> 00:21:50,490 Formula Ford 1600, club racing. 541 00:21:50,490 --> 00:21:52,559 And it's all very much, I suppose, 542 00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:55,452 it's you know, it's a nice family, 543 00:21:55,452 --> 00:21:57,319 I suppose, thing, too. 544 00:21:57,319 --> 00:21:58,979 - We didn't have these motor homes. 545 00:21:58,979 --> 00:21:59,812 - No. 546 00:21:59,812 --> 00:22:00,938 - And you can see some of the pictures, 547 00:22:00,938 --> 00:22:03,438 you know, we were in the dirt. 548 00:22:04,832 --> 00:22:07,467 I love Cliff Dempsey Racing, because he's old school. 549 00:22:07,467 --> 00:22:09,374 Reminds me more like Ralph Firman, 550 00:22:09,374 --> 00:22:11,042 all those years ago. 551 00:22:11,042 --> 00:22:14,191 He just doesn't put up with any shit. 552 00:22:14,191 --> 00:22:16,408 And he knows how to take fast drivers, 553 00:22:16,408 --> 00:22:19,326 he's the guy you want to be with. 554 00:22:19,326 --> 00:22:21,187 - You put up with a lot with a quick driver 555 00:22:21,187 --> 00:22:23,870 on his faults because he's quick. 556 00:22:23,870 --> 00:22:25,811 He may not have all the things you want, 557 00:22:25,811 --> 00:22:28,168 but if he's quick, you put up with it. 558 00:22:28,168 --> 00:22:29,283 - You mean he may not have all the things you want 559 00:22:29,283 --> 00:22:30,116 out of the cockpit? 560 00:22:30,116 --> 00:22:30,949 - Exactly. 561 00:22:30,949 --> 00:22:31,782 - But in the cockpit, he's fast. 562 00:22:31,782 --> 00:22:33,482 - When he's everything, you put up with it. 563 00:22:33,482 --> 00:22:34,757 - Really good for the first section. 564 00:22:34,757 --> 00:22:36,701 Then we go into the first chicane, 565 00:22:36,701 --> 00:22:39,062 bend really good through there, you bleed in the speeder. 566 00:22:39,062 --> 00:22:40,715 - Back in your day 567 00:22:40,715 --> 00:22:42,787 you had to actually use your brain 568 00:22:42,787 --> 00:22:44,096 to drive a race car, 569 00:22:44,096 --> 00:22:45,468 now the guys don't have to do that. 570 00:22:45,468 --> 00:22:46,301 That's the problem. 571 00:22:46,301 --> 00:22:47,134 - I had all that stuff in my head. 572 00:22:47,134 --> 00:22:48,013 - They don't have to think as much anymore 573 00:22:48,013 --> 00:22:49,653 - Because of-- - Because of data. 574 00:22:49,653 --> 00:22:51,760 And coming and running with professional teams, 575 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,370 It's not really Daddy's paying the money, 576 00:22:54,370 --> 00:22:56,369 it doesn't really matter if they don't get a result. 577 00:22:56,369 --> 00:22:57,202 - Exactly. 578 00:22:57,202 --> 00:22:58,181 - You know, they'll come back the next day 579 00:22:58,181 --> 00:22:59,515 and they'll be racing anyway. 580 00:22:59,515 --> 00:23:00,570 Whereas when you raced, 581 00:23:00,570 --> 00:23:01,672 if you didn't get a result, 582 00:23:01,672 --> 00:23:03,381 you weren't out the next weekend. 583 00:23:03,381 --> 00:23:04,950 - And what's the chances, Cliff, 584 00:23:04,950 --> 00:23:07,922 of a young kid today getting into F1? 585 00:23:08,755 --> 00:23:09,979 - Very slim, I think. 586 00:23:09,979 --> 00:23:11,112 To be honest, I think, you know, 587 00:23:11,112 --> 00:23:12,662 We can kid ourselves and say 588 00:23:12,662 --> 00:23:13,576 "Yeah, you have a chance," 589 00:23:13,576 --> 00:23:15,121 but I think it's very slim, 590 00:23:15,121 --> 00:23:17,186 but there are exceptions to every rule. 591 00:23:21,477 --> 00:23:23,603 - And there is the man to watch. 592 00:23:23,603 --> 00:23:28,120 It is 21-year-old Tommy Byrne from Dundalk in Ireland, 593 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:33,120 who has already won three Formula Ford races this year. 594 00:23:33,438 --> 00:23:35,166 - When he came from Ireland, 595 00:23:35,166 --> 00:23:37,633 initially he was quick in the Formula Ford car, 596 00:23:37,633 --> 00:23:39,453 like lightning-quick. 597 00:23:39,453 --> 00:23:42,278 - Tommy Byrne is in a class of his own 598 00:23:42,278 --> 00:23:45,304 in Formula Ford racing this year. 599 00:23:45,304 --> 00:23:46,201 A string of wins, 600 00:23:46,201 --> 00:23:47,910 he just has to get into the car 601 00:23:47,910 --> 00:23:49,583 and he seems to be on his own. 602 00:23:49,583 --> 00:23:51,133 And in Formula Ford that is-- 603 00:23:51,133 --> 00:23:52,648 - That was quite impressive 604 00:23:52,648 --> 00:23:56,838 for a guy straight over from a regional championship 605 00:23:56,838 --> 00:23:58,767 to be at that level immediately. 606 00:23:58,767 --> 00:24:01,124 He was winning national Formula Ford races. 607 00:24:01,124 --> 00:24:02,631 - Formula Ford championship race here. 608 00:24:02,631 --> 00:24:04,395 - I could learn tracks very fast. 609 00:24:04,395 --> 00:24:06,342 I was pretty good at reading 610 00:24:06,342 --> 00:24:08,278 how good the other guys were, and how good I was. 611 00:24:08,278 --> 00:24:12,185 I just knew I had something different. 612 00:24:12,185 --> 00:24:14,959 - He instinctively knew what to do. 613 00:24:14,959 --> 00:24:17,401 He would get the best out of the car 614 00:24:17,401 --> 00:24:19,115 no matter what it was doing. 615 00:24:19,115 --> 00:24:20,917 Tommy was the only person that I knew 616 00:24:20,917 --> 00:24:23,454 that was working on his own car. 617 00:24:23,454 --> 00:24:25,312 He had no other support. 618 00:24:25,312 --> 00:24:27,760 Everybody else was coming over, paying for a ride, 619 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,917 expecting to get a full-time mechanic on the car. 620 00:24:31,917 --> 00:24:33,131 Tommy was his own mechanic 621 00:24:33,131 --> 00:24:35,843 and then getting in the car and racing. 622 00:24:35,843 --> 00:24:37,855 - He did things with the car that you just 623 00:24:37,855 --> 00:24:38,894 they weren't possible, you know, 624 00:24:38,894 --> 00:24:41,062 I know about racing cars, I watch racing cars, 625 00:24:41,062 --> 00:24:42,551 and you watched this car going round the track 626 00:24:42,551 --> 00:24:44,674 with this bloke in it, and he just, 627 00:24:44,674 --> 00:24:46,758 that shouldn't be possible. 628 00:24:46,758 --> 00:24:49,964 - Byrne has won race after race this year. 629 00:24:49,964 --> 00:24:54,823 He has really stamped his mark on Formula Ford racing. 630 00:24:54,823 --> 00:24:56,138 - It was quite clear he had speed, 631 00:24:56,138 --> 00:24:58,120 and he didn't succumb to any pressure, that's for sure. 632 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,579 So that confidence went into the car. 633 00:25:00,579 --> 00:25:04,645 It wasn't a fake, showy thing, he just had that self-belief. 634 00:25:04,645 --> 00:25:07,422 Jumped in the car, delivered and won the Championship. 635 00:25:07,422 --> 00:25:09,395 - There, appropriately enough, 636 00:25:09,395 --> 00:25:11,009 is brilliant Tommy Byrne, 637 00:25:11,009 --> 00:25:15,592 the 1980 P&O Ferries and RAC Formula Ford Championships 638 00:25:17,239 --> 00:25:18,656 champion of 1980. 639 00:25:19,593 --> 00:25:22,030 - Tommy arrived in the UK 640 00:25:22,030 --> 00:25:24,209 as a fully formed rebel, 641 00:25:24,209 --> 00:25:26,024 You know, you said, rough around the edges, 642 00:25:26,024 --> 00:25:27,129 he was all edge. 643 00:25:27,129 --> 00:25:28,756 And you knew he was gonna go places 644 00:25:28,756 --> 00:25:30,686 because of his prodigious talent. 645 00:25:30,686 --> 00:25:33,095 You just didn't know how high that elevator was gonna go 646 00:25:33,095 --> 00:25:35,953 because of his personality, would be, 647 00:25:35,953 --> 00:25:38,158 you could see that it would be a limiting factor. 648 00:25:38,158 --> 00:25:40,429 - Half and half, it didn't happen anyway. 649 00:25:40,429 --> 00:25:42,012 - No. 650 00:25:42,012 --> 00:25:45,971 - He lived off everybody and he could smile doing it. 651 00:25:45,971 --> 00:25:48,366 He'd order a meal in a restaurant 652 00:25:48,366 --> 00:25:50,037 long before he'd tell you, 653 00:25:50,037 --> 00:25:51,913 "I've no money, will you pay for that?" 654 00:25:51,913 --> 00:25:53,059 - He had no place to stay. 655 00:25:53,059 --> 00:25:53,892 He had no car. 656 00:25:53,892 --> 00:25:55,579 He had no money for petrol. 657 00:25:55,579 --> 00:25:57,129 He had no money for food. 658 00:25:57,129 --> 00:25:58,939 How could you make a living 659 00:25:58,939 --> 00:26:02,654 unless you're supported by family and friends? 660 00:26:02,654 --> 00:26:04,975 The family wasn't in a position to support him. 661 00:26:04,975 --> 00:26:08,948 So he was dependent on the goodwill of others. 662 00:26:08,948 --> 00:26:10,858 - We'd go maybe out and have a few beers, 663 00:26:10,858 --> 00:26:12,586 and he'd get up the next morning 664 00:26:12,586 --> 00:26:15,538 and you'd see him walking around with a pair of trousers 665 00:26:15,538 --> 00:26:17,016 that you knew were yours. 666 00:26:17,016 --> 00:26:17,849 - You need to get your jacket. 667 00:26:17,849 --> 00:26:19,380 That's going to be the first thing you need. 668 00:26:19,380 --> 00:26:21,074 Jacket's down in the truck. 669 00:26:21,074 --> 00:26:22,407 - Tommy loved a drink. 670 00:26:22,407 --> 00:26:24,741 He'd get himself into trouble now and again, 671 00:26:24,741 --> 00:26:26,239 but that was Tommy. 672 00:26:26,239 --> 00:26:28,574 People wanted to be part of Tommy's world. 673 00:26:28,574 --> 00:26:30,102 You'd be out in a bar somewhere 674 00:26:30,102 --> 00:26:31,538 and a girl would be drunk and say, 675 00:26:31,538 --> 00:26:33,572 "Tommy, you're so handsome," and he'd say, 676 00:26:33,572 --> 00:26:35,012 "There's no way I'm handsome. 677 00:26:35,012 --> 00:26:36,884 "I might be cute, but I'm certainly not handsome." 678 00:26:36,884 --> 00:26:38,472 679 00:26:38,472 --> 00:26:41,585 - There was something that Tommy had 680 00:26:41,585 --> 00:26:44,086 which enabled him to, on the one hand, 681 00:26:44,086 --> 00:26:45,452 be blindingly quick, 682 00:26:45,452 --> 00:26:47,233 but he also had, on the other hand, 683 00:26:47,233 --> 00:26:49,734 another God-given gift, 684 00:26:49,734 --> 00:26:52,343 for which if there was a gold medal for shagging, 685 00:26:52,343 --> 00:26:55,426 he'd have won it time and time again. 686 00:27:00,229 --> 00:27:02,835 - As well as the driving on a Sunday morning, 687 00:27:02,835 --> 00:27:05,467 you had to do the partying on a Saturday night. 688 00:27:05,467 --> 00:27:07,551 Girls and parties, 689 00:27:07,551 --> 00:27:09,462 that was all part of the rollercoaster. 690 00:27:09,462 --> 00:27:12,273 He spent more time with girls 691 00:27:12,273 --> 00:27:15,544 when other men were sitting at home studying 692 00:27:15,544 --> 00:27:17,375 every corner and ever gear change 693 00:27:17,375 --> 00:27:19,698 that they had done on their day's practise, 694 00:27:19,698 --> 00:27:22,532 Tommy was out that night to see 695 00:27:22,532 --> 00:27:24,075 could he get a girl? 696 00:27:24,075 --> 00:27:24,908 Maybe two. 697 00:27:26,493 --> 00:27:28,687 - You didn't get stability with Tommy Byrne, 698 00:27:28,687 --> 00:27:30,770 you got chaos, confusion. 699 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:32,673 Fun, 700 00:27:33,799 --> 00:27:37,599 the best fun you could imagine, but chaos. 701 00:27:37,599 --> 00:27:39,188 - I acted a little bit different than 702 00:27:39,188 --> 00:27:41,517 the other guys getting in the car. 703 00:27:41,517 --> 00:27:43,533 I would just get excited, like I was high or something. 704 00:27:43,533 --> 00:27:44,912 I'd just go, da, da, da, da, da, da. 705 00:27:44,912 --> 00:27:47,223 And people just talk, "What the heck is he doing? 706 00:27:47,223 --> 00:27:48,606 "He's like all over the place." 707 00:27:48,606 --> 00:27:49,632 I could jump in the car last minute 708 00:27:49,632 --> 00:27:51,525 and still win the race. 709 00:27:51,525 --> 00:27:55,349 710 00:27:55,349 --> 00:27:57,852 - Some people were frightened of him, 711 00:27:57,852 --> 00:27:59,848 of what he could do. 712 00:27:59,848 --> 00:28:01,485 It was the way he walked through the paddock, 713 00:28:01,485 --> 00:28:02,474 it was the way, 714 00:28:02,474 --> 00:28:04,077 he had a very quick step, 715 00:28:04,077 --> 00:28:07,910 and everything about him was bang, bang, bang. 716 00:28:09,098 --> 00:28:11,814 - As a young driver you don't show any weakness, 717 00:28:11,814 --> 00:28:15,544 if you show weakness, you're fucked. 718 00:28:15,544 --> 00:28:17,253 Put the fear of God in them, so they know that 719 00:28:17,253 --> 00:28:19,034 if they come up behind Tommy Byrne, 720 00:28:19,034 --> 00:28:21,088 it's gonna be a problem getting by. 721 00:28:21,088 --> 00:28:22,470 And if Tommy Byrne comes up behind them, 722 00:28:22,470 --> 00:28:24,164 they're in trouble, they better pull over. 723 00:28:24,164 --> 00:28:25,768 That's just the way it is. 724 00:28:25,768 --> 00:28:28,106 - The persona he projected to the outside world 725 00:28:28,106 --> 00:28:29,856 was of "I'm the best. 726 00:28:31,232 --> 00:28:32,815 "I'm the bollocks." 727 00:28:34,267 --> 00:28:37,402 That obviously rubbed some people up the wrong way, 728 00:28:37,402 --> 00:28:40,532 but that was just his persona, that was how he was. 729 00:28:40,532 --> 00:28:42,063 He absolutely believed 730 00:28:42,063 --> 00:28:45,480 that he was the best driver in the world. 731 00:28:47,372 --> 00:28:49,604 - Ralph Firman's eagle-eyed talent-spotting 732 00:28:49,604 --> 00:28:52,321 produced Brazilian Ayrton da Silva. 733 00:28:52,321 --> 00:28:54,897 Now the motor-racing world is tipping him 734 00:28:54,897 --> 00:28:57,562 as a future world champion. 735 00:28:57,562 --> 00:28:59,309 - With the case of Ayrton and Tommy, 736 00:28:59,309 --> 00:29:01,644 they couldn't have been from more different backgrounds. 737 00:29:01,644 --> 00:29:03,136 One was a millionaire's son, 738 00:29:03,136 --> 00:29:05,040 with all the social graces 739 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,980 that come from a privileged background, 740 00:29:07,980 --> 00:29:10,567 very at ease in that world. 741 00:29:10,567 --> 00:29:14,734 Whereas Tommy came over from Ireland with nothing. 742 00:29:15,592 --> 00:29:19,675 743 00:29:34,410 --> 00:29:36,067 - For '81, I was 744 00:29:36,067 --> 00:29:38,536 Senna's mechanic in the Formula Ford, 745 00:29:38,536 --> 00:29:39,955 working at Van Diemen still. 746 00:29:39,955 --> 00:29:43,085 And then I go home and I was living with Tommy. 747 00:29:43,085 --> 00:29:45,601 So they both had very, very good seasons. 748 00:29:45,601 --> 00:29:47,935 But Senna always had his eye on him. 749 00:29:47,935 --> 00:29:49,666 I'm not gonna say he was afraid of Tommy, 750 00:29:49,666 --> 00:29:51,466 he was afraid that he wasn't going to do as well 751 00:29:51,466 --> 00:29:54,299 as Tommy had done the year before. 752 00:29:55,157 --> 00:29:58,436 - In 1981, he had these two junior categories. 753 00:29:58,436 --> 00:30:00,163 The entry level, which is Ford 1600, 754 00:30:00,163 --> 00:30:01,455 which was what Senna was doing. 755 00:30:01,455 --> 00:30:03,706 And he was blitzing the opposition there. 756 00:30:03,706 --> 00:30:06,226 Also operating from the Van Diemen factory, 757 00:30:06,226 --> 00:30:08,165 Tommy was doing the same in the next category up, 758 00:30:08,165 --> 00:30:10,488 which was Ford 2000. 759 00:30:10,488 --> 00:30:12,157 He won the two major championships. 760 00:30:12,157 --> 00:30:13,090 There's a British Championship 761 00:30:13,090 --> 00:30:14,803 and there's a European Championship, 762 00:30:14,803 --> 00:30:16,546 and he blitzed them both. 763 00:30:16,546 --> 00:30:18,831 Ayrton would come along and do the exact same thing 764 00:30:18,831 --> 00:30:20,447 one year later. 765 00:30:20,447 --> 00:30:21,670 It's unusual that you get 766 00:30:21,670 --> 00:30:25,283 two talents of that calibre come along at the same time. 767 00:30:25,283 --> 00:30:27,073 They don't normally come along like that. 768 00:30:27,073 --> 00:30:30,740 And that was a problem for both of them. 769 00:30:32,185 --> 00:30:34,345 - Senna's nickname was Fast Man 770 00:30:34,345 --> 00:30:36,020 because Ralph would talk about, 771 00:30:36,020 --> 00:30:40,053 "There's a fast guy coming from Brazil." 772 00:30:40,053 --> 00:30:41,747 That's what pissed me off, 773 00:30:41,747 --> 00:30:43,220 because they should have been talking about 774 00:30:43,220 --> 00:30:44,655 I was a fast man, too. 775 00:30:44,655 --> 00:30:45,913 You know? 776 00:30:45,913 --> 00:30:48,995 I don't think I got the same respect that 777 00:30:48,995 --> 00:30:50,816 the guys with the money got, 778 00:30:50,816 --> 00:30:51,952 because, you know, 779 00:30:51,952 --> 00:30:53,905 people can smell when you're broke. 780 00:30:53,905 --> 00:30:56,382 They just they just know it, you know. 781 00:30:56,382 --> 00:30:58,595 They just smell it, and they know. 782 00:30:58,595 --> 00:30:59,994 And they just want to fuck with you, 783 00:30:59,994 --> 00:31:01,199 and want to treat you a little bit different. 784 00:31:01,199 --> 00:31:03,125 But nobody messes with people with money. 785 00:31:03,125 --> 00:31:04,437 You're just you're coming over, 786 00:31:04,437 --> 00:31:06,300 you're paying, you better do like you're asked. 787 00:31:06,300 --> 00:31:07,937 - How much money do you need 788 00:31:07,937 --> 00:31:09,896 to find every year? 789 00:31:09,896 --> 00:31:11,986 - Well, in '81, I would say 790 00:31:11,986 --> 00:31:14,578 around 20,000, 30,000 pounds, 791 00:31:14,578 --> 00:31:16,920 which is always very difficult to get, 792 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:18,402 even with good results, 793 00:31:18,402 --> 00:31:21,415 wins and, you know, records, 794 00:31:21,415 --> 00:31:23,590 it's very difficult to get sponsorship. 795 00:31:23,590 --> 00:31:26,849 - It caused particular resentment from Ayrton Senna, 796 00:31:26,849 --> 00:31:30,362 who was bringing significant backing to Van Diemen, 797 00:31:30,362 --> 00:31:33,223 that Tommy was just hopping from one free drive to the next, 798 00:31:33,223 --> 00:31:35,402 and just sort of skipping up the ladder, 799 00:31:35,402 --> 00:31:37,308 seemingly for free. 800 00:31:37,308 --> 00:31:41,222 - Senna didn't like the way I conducted myself. 801 00:31:41,222 --> 00:31:44,018 'Cause we were driving for the same team. 802 00:31:44,018 --> 00:31:45,652 He was doing everything right. 803 00:31:45,652 --> 00:31:47,724 I was cocky, he was arrogant. 804 00:31:47,724 --> 00:31:49,759 That was his personality. 805 00:31:49,759 --> 00:31:51,094 He must have had long weeks. 806 00:31:51,094 --> 00:31:52,354 At least I was out having fun 807 00:31:52,354 --> 00:31:55,088 during my week waiting to race. 808 00:31:55,088 --> 00:31:57,921 Oh we didn't hit each other, until 809 00:31:59,105 --> 00:32:01,589 the festival, when I drove his car. 810 00:32:01,589 --> 00:32:03,826 After that, that's when it went wrong. 811 00:32:03,826 --> 00:32:04,897 We move to Brands Hatch 812 00:32:04,897 --> 00:32:07,438 for the most important Formula Ford event 813 00:32:07,438 --> 00:32:09,622 anywhere in the world. 814 00:32:09,622 --> 00:32:11,471 The Marlboro Formula Ford Festival 815 00:32:11,471 --> 00:32:13,991 and Formula Ford World Cup. 816 00:32:13,991 --> 00:32:15,253 - Before the festival, 817 00:32:15,253 --> 00:32:17,685 Senna announced he was retiring from motor racing 818 00:32:17,685 --> 00:32:19,429 and he was going to go back home to Brazil. 819 00:32:19,429 --> 00:32:20,512 And that was it. 820 00:32:20,512 --> 00:32:22,230 He said he was disenchanted with a sport, 821 00:32:22,230 --> 00:32:24,647 that required drivers to pay, 822 00:32:25,523 --> 00:32:26,497 and I'm sure 823 00:32:26,497 --> 00:32:28,823 Tommy getting his drives for free 824 00:32:28,823 --> 00:32:31,127 initiated that niggle in him. 825 00:32:31,127 --> 00:32:33,431 Ralph at Van Diemen was left in a bit of a spot. 826 00:32:33,431 --> 00:32:34,264 He needed, 827 00:32:34,264 --> 00:32:36,432 for the good of the company, to win that festival. 828 00:32:36,432 --> 00:32:38,540 So he called Tommy up and said, 829 00:32:38,540 --> 00:32:40,789 "Can you come and win the festival for me?" 830 00:32:40,789 --> 00:32:43,191 And Tommy being Tommy, said, "Yeah, 'course I can." 831 00:32:43,191 --> 00:32:45,524 And did in Ayrton's own car. 832 00:32:46,581 --> 00:32:48,119 - I won 100 bottles of champagne, 833 00:32:48,119 --> 00:32:52,242 and I got 50 of them from Ralph after arguing with him, 834 00:32:52,242 --> 00:32:54,812 I tried to tell him I needed 100 because I won them. 835 00:32:54,812 --> 00:32:56,199 He says, "It's my car." 836 00:32:56,199 --> 00:32:57,362 I said, "It's my win." 837 00:32:57,362 --> 00:32:59,238 So we ended up with 50 each, 838 00:32:59,238 --> 00:33:00,765 and I did exactly what I wanted to do. 839 00:33:00,765 --> 00:33:02,386 I wanted to spray the shit everywhere 840 00:33:02,386 --> 00:33:04,384 and just waste it and that's we did. 841 00:33:04,384 --> 00:33:06,797 And drank as much as we needed to get drunk. 842 00:33:06,797 --> 00:33:09,462 - That created an opportunity 843 00:33:09,462 --> 00:33:11,747 for Tommy to progress to Formula 3, 844 00:33:11,747 --> 00:33:14,446 that he probably wouldn't have got otherwise. 845 00:33:14,446 --> 00:33:17,456 An opportunity that Senna was originally going to have. 846 00:33:17,456 --> 00:33:19,287 So Ayrton had inadvertently 847 00:33:19,287 --> 00:33:21,181 created an opportunity for Tommy 848 00:33:21,181 --> 00:33:23,348 that actually hurt Ayrton, 849 00:33:24,186 --> 00:33:26,831 because it spoiled his plans for doing F3 850 00:33:26,831 --> 00:33:28,706 the following season. 851 00:33:29,598 --> 00:33:30,736 - After the festival, 852 00:33:30,736 --> 00:33:32,608 I was still living up in Norfolk at the time, 853 00:33:32,608 --> 00:33:33,846 and Senna's car 854 00:33:33,846 --> 00:33:36,219 was sitting there from the year before, 855 00:33:36,219 --> 00:33:37,734 after he left it there. 856 00:33:37,734 --> 00:33:39,520 And my car would get punctured every now and then. 857 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:40,830 So instead of fixing the puncture, 858 00:33:40,830 --> 00:33:42,433 I'd just take my wheel off my car 859 00:33:42,433 --> 00:33:46,241 and swap it with Senna's car that was sitting there. 860 00:33:46,241 --> 00:33:49,125 I guess he came back in 1982. 861 00:33:49,125 --> 00:33:51,012 He wasn't supposed to come back, he was supposed to retire. 862 00:33:51,012 --> 00:33:53,590 But he came back and he just burst in there, 863 00:33:53,590 --> 00:33:56,554 and started screaming at me for stealing his wheels. 864 00:33:56,554 --> 00:33:59,979 "You fucking Irish thief," and screaming and shouting, 865 00:33:59,979 --> 00:34:01,862 and I'm screaming and shouting back at him. 866 00:34:01,862 --> 00:34:03,917 We didn't come to blows 867 00:34:03,917 --> 00:34:05,326 because somebody came in and stopped it, 868 00:34:05,326 --> 00:34:07,659 but he was very, very angry. 869 00:34:08,669 --> 00:34:11,310 If Senna didn't go home, my career would have been done. 870 00:34:11,310 --> 00:34:14,251 Two championships, I probably wouldn't have got Formula 3. 871 00:34:14,251 --> 00:34:16,668 So I just got lucky, I guess. 872 00:34:17,649 --> 00:34:20,026 - That's the racing car show, 873 00:34:20,026 --> 00:34:21,731 back in the day when everyone smoked everywhere. 874 00:34:21,731 --> 00:34:22,846 875 00:34:22,846 --> 00:34:24,408 - Looked a little young there. 876 00:34:24,408 --> 00:34:26,153 That's when you had teeth, too. 877 00:34:26,153 --> 00:34:27,200 Except they're not chipped! 878 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:28,928 - Quite a lot of new teeth over the years. 879 00:34:28,928 --> 00:34:30,994 - "Tommy's gone to lunch, back at two." 880 00:34:30,994 --> 00:34:32,378 Wow, I was actually signing some stuff. 881 00:34:32,378 --> 00:34:33,657 - Yeah, the run-ons. 882 00:34:33,657 --> 00:34:37,069 - Actually looks like I was famous. 883 00:34:37,069 --> 00:34:38,282 - That's me there. 884 00:34:38,282 --> 00:34:39,306 - There you are. 885 00:34:39,306 --> 00:34:40,205 Where's that, Tip Top? 886 00:34:40,205 --> 00:34:42,403 - Yeah, well yeah, but we were buying our beer 887 00:34:42,403 --> 00:34:44,635 from the Crystal bar next door, 888 00:34:44,635 --> 00:34:45,965 'cause it was about a third of the price. 889 00:34:45,965 --> 00:34:46,798 - Ah really? 890 00:34:46,798 --> 00:34:47,631 Do you remember that? 891 00:34:47,631 --> 00:34:48,464 - No. 892 00:34:48,464 --> 00:34:49,297 - Shit. 893 00:34:49,297 --> 00:34:50,302 - That's one I thought you would have 894 00:34:50,302 --> 00:34:51,552 wanted to keep. 895 00:34:52,912 --> 00:34:55,348 - Wow, Formula Ford Festival, Brands Hatch, 896 00:34:55,348 --> 00:34:56,784 1981, first place. 897 00:34:56,784 --> 00:34:58,136 When did I give you that? 898 00:34:58,136 --> 00:34:59,666 - Well you didn't give it to me, 899 00:34:59,666 --> 00:35:01,415 you asked me to look after it indefinitely. 900 00:35:01,415 --> 00:35:05,567 - Somebody's been keeping it nice and polished. 901 00:35:05,567 --> 00:35:08,558 Not like some of my other friends I give them to. 902 00:35:08,558 --> 00:35:10,036 Did you not go in all the way 903 00:35:10,036 --> 00:35:12,682 in the English game and Irish racing game 904 00:35:12,682 --> 00:35:14,227 when somebody wins, it's like, 905 00:35:14,227 --> 00:35:16,589 "Fuck, yeah he might be fast, but he's a bollocks." 906 00:35:16,589 --> 00:35:17,608 Were you thinking that? 907 00:35:17,608 --> 00:35:19,605 - I hadn't formed an opinion, that would have been stupid 908 00:35:19,605 --> 00:35:20,982 because I had never met you, but 909 00:35:20,982 --> 00:35:23,968 the preconceived opinion that a lot of people had 910 00:35:23,968 --> 00:35:27,101 because of people talking, racing, obviously, 911 00:35:27,101 --> 00:35:31,839 was that you were a really cocky, up-yourself twat. 912 00:35:31,839 --> 00:35:32,824 - Yep, exactly. 913 00:35:32,824 --> 00:35:33,941 - But we got on straight away. 914 00:35:33,941 --> 00:35:35,394 - Exactly, because you're exactly the same! 915 00:35:37,415 --> 00:35:39,572 - Why thank you. 916 00:35:39,572 --> 00:35:40,866 - Years later, I did think to myself, 917 00:35:40,866 --> 00:35:42,876 "Maybe I should have kept some of those important trophies. 918 00:35:42,876 --> 00:35:45,503 "And maybe I should have kept some of the helmets, 919 00:35:45,503 --> 00:35:47,229 "just for my kids, if nothing else, you know." 920 00:35:47,229 --> 00:35:48,467 But thanks Stuart, that's great, 921 00:35:48,467 --> 00:35:53,276 at least it's good to see it, it brings back memories. 922 00:35:53,276 --> 00:35:54,584 Oh, shit Stuart, look there. 923 00:35:54,584 --> 00:35:56,091 That's my old car. 924 00:35:56,091 --> 00:35:56,924 Holy smoke. 925 00:35:56,924 --> 00:35:57,757 Hey, guys, what's up? 926 00:35:57,757 --> 00:35:58,590 - Haven't seen that for a while. 927 00:35:58,590 --> 00:35:59,423 - Hey, Tom, how's it going, buddy? 928 00:35:59,423 --> 00:36:00,256 - Hiya. 929 00:36:00,256 --> 00:36:01,089 - Good. 930 00:36:01,089 --> 00:36:02,047 How long have you had that? 931 00:36:02,047 --> 00:36:03,535 - I think we've had it four years now. 932 00:36:03,535 --> 00:36:04,368 - You got my name on it. 933 00:36:04,368 --> 00:36:05,352 Look at that. 934 00:36:05,352 --> 00:36:08,049 935 00:36:08,049 --> 00:36:10,136 I think I had a nicest seat. 936 00:36:10,136 --> 00:36:13,035 It's, ah, yeah, it's, ah I'm probably a 937 00:36:13,035 --> 00:36:14,885 couple of pounds heavier than you were back in the day. 938 00:36:14,885 --> 00:36:15,718 - Back in the day, 939 00:36:15,718 --> 00:36:17,963 I was like Mick Jagger, I was like tiny! 940 00:36:17,963 --> 00:36:20,846 - Do you look thin? 941 00:36:20,846 --> 00:36:22,683 - What a load of bollocks. 942 00:36:24,286 --> 00:36:26,818 - Formula 3 would be the last step, 943 00:36:26,818 --> 00:36:29,251 at the time, before Formula 1. 944 00:36:29,251 --> 00:36:31,721 It was where the F1 team owners and team sponsors 945 00:36:31,721 --> 00:36:35,283 were all looking for the next talent. 946 00:36:35,283 --> 00:36:38,835 - Oh, that's truth, I'm looking forward to this. 947 00:36:38,835 --> 00:36:41,585 948 00:36:49,558 --> 00:36:51,475 My thought in 1982 was, 949 00:36:52,509 --> 00:36:55,372 because I was struggling for money, 950 00:36:55,372 --> 00:36:58,056 I need to just blitz these guys. 951 00:36:58,056 --> 00:37:00,427 I need to beat them so bad that 952 00:37:00,427 --> 00:37:02,826 it's not just good enough winning the race, 953 00:37:02,826 --> 00:37:04,228 I need to win by a mile, 954 00:37:04,228 --> 00:37:06,768 so it'll be easy to get the money to get into Formula 1. 955 00:37:06,768 --> 00:37:08,275 Winning just wasn't good enough. 956 00:37:08,275 --> 00:37:11,192 I had to show them how great I was. 957 00:37:12,940 --> 00:37:16,269 - Tommy Byrne knows this race is his now. 958 00:37:16,269 --> 00:37:18,668 Tommy Byrne wins the Marlboro Formula Ford. 959 00:37:18,668 --> 00:37:19,640 - So that's what he did, 960 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,996 he dominated the early races. 961 00:37:21,996 --> 00:37:25,126 - This man heading for a 33-point lead 962 00:37:25,126 --> 00:37:26,120 in the championship. 963 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:28,294 - Tommy stepped up with Murray Taylor, 964 00:37:28,294 --> 00:37:30,110 who was running a Formula 3 Team at the time, 965 00:37:30,110 --> 00:37:31,664 and this was a category in which 966 00:37:31,664 --> 00:37:34,081 the budgets were much higher. 967 00:37:34,995 --> 00:37:36,612 For someone in Tommy's circumstances, 968 00:37:36,612 --> 00:37:38,537 the prize money for winning each race 969 00:37:38,537 --> 00:37:40,179 would fund the following race. 970 00:37:40,179 --> 00:37:42,801 So he absolutely had to win those early races. 971 00:37:42,801 --> 00:37:43,793 Literally, the prize money was 972 00:37:43,793 --> 00:37:46,208 keeping the team's head above the water. 973 00:37:46,208 --> 00:37:50,744 That's an unusually intense degree of pressure. 974 00:37:50,744 --> 00:37:52,203 - The fact that Tommy kept winning 975 00:37:52,203 --> 00:37:53,835 and leading the championship 976 00:37:53,835 --> 00:37:56,123 really gave Murray Taylor no option 977 00:37:56,123 --> 00:37:58,012 but to keep supporting him, 978 00:37:58,012 --> 00:37:59,619 finding the money from somewhere 979 00:37:59,619 --> 00:38:01,290 to get the car back to the race track 980 00:38:01,290 --> 00:38:03,040 for the next weekend. 981 00:38:04,314 --> 00:38:05,281 - Everybody was running round looking for money, 982 00:38:05,281 --> 00:38:06,483 but we never got any money. 983 00:38:06,483 --> 00:38:08,534 Yeah, a couple of grand here and there. 984 00:38:08,534 --> 00:38:10,734 But Murray got some money from Shell, 985 00:38:10,734 --> 00:38:13,299 and then he got some from General Electric. 986 00:38:13,299 --> 00:38:14,911 Murray, so many different times, says, 987 00:38:14,911 --> 00:38:15,927 "Tom, we can't move, 988 00:38:15,927 --> 00:38:17,335 "we can't go on from here, we need to get money." 989 00:38:17,335 --> 00:38:18,609 990 00:38:18,609 --> 00:38:20,180 - Now, when I was going round Dundalk, 991 00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:22,556 getting 200 pounds off somebody, 992 00:38:22,556 --> 00:38:27,020 and 300 pounds off somebody for Tommy to go racing, 993 00:38:27,020 --> 00:38:30,495 those figures were going from a few hundred quid 994 00:38:30,495 --> 00:38:32,545 to the level, eventually, 995 00:38:32,545 --> 00:38:36,378 where he was being asked for 100,000, 200,000. 996 00:38:38,254 --> 00:38:40,259 Then reality started to kick in. 997 00:38:40,259 --> 00:38:43,492 - Formula Grand Prix. 998 00:38:43,492 --> 00:38:45,356 - When Murray Taylor was trying to keep that 999 00:38:45,356 --> 00:38:47,675 championship challenge going, 1000 00:38:47,675 --> 00:38:50,505 he had the idea he could get 1001 00:38:50,505 --> 00:38:52,753 Ron Dennis at McLaren 1002 00:38:52,753 --> 00:38:55,436 to underwrite the cost of the Formula 3 season 1003 00:38:55,436 --> 00:38:59,936 in exchange for first call on Tommy's future services. 1004 00:39:01,307 --> 00:39:02,920 You would speculate 1005 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:04,095 McLaren would probably have found 1006 00:39:04,095 --> 00:39:07,191 Tommy's raw speed and potential, 1007 00:39:07,191 --> 00:39:10,158 vast potential, irresistible. 1008 00:39:10,158 --> 00:39:11,746 1009 00:39:11,746 --> 00:39:13,596 - Ron wanted to know about my father, where he worked, 1010 00:39:13,596 --> 00:39:15,468 where my mom worked, which I thought was kind of strange, 1011 00:39:15,468 --> 00:39:17,700 because I didn't really see what 1012 00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:19,087 that had to do with anything. 1013 00:39:19,087 --> 00:39:22,457 I told him my dad who worked in a factory for 40 years, 1014 00:39:22,457 --> 00:39:23,931 and he got a watch at the end of it. 1015 00:39:23,931 --> 00:39:25,226 Hopefully I won't have a watch 1016 00:39:25,226 --> 00:39:26,730 at the end of what I'm going to do in my life. 1017 00:39:26,730 --> 00:39:28,981 I just remember at the end I asked him, 1018 00:39:28,981 --> 00:39:31,033 "Does McLaren have any money to help me out at all?" 1019 00:39:31,033 --> 00:39:32,867 And Ron goes, "Well Tommy, 1020 00:39:32,867 --> 00:39:36,558 all our money is tied up in R&D at the moment." 1021 00:39:36,558 --> 00:39:38,308 I said, "What's R&D?" 1022 00:39:40,101 --> 00:39:43,791 And he just looked at me like I was an idiot. 1023 00:39:43,791 --> 00:39:45,683 And so that kind of, you know, 1024 00:39:45,683 --> 00:39:48,025 was pretty embarrassing for me. 1025 00:39:48,025 --> 00:39:49,477 I mean, I wasn't a dick to him. 1026 00:39:49,477 --> 00:39:52,810 I just came across as pretty uneducated. 1027 00:39:54,755 --> 00:39:57,922 And cocky, probably a little bit, too. 1028 00:39:59,401 --> 00:40:01,072 - Although Tommy had all the prerequisite 1029 00:40:01,072 --> 00:40:03,467 qualities you need in the car, 1030 00:40:03,467 --> 00:40:06,217 his rough edges were the opposite 1031 00:40:07,302 --> 00:40:10,219 of what Ron Dennis was looking for. 1032 00:40:11,723 --> 00:40:14,751 That wouldn't have been an overwhelming problem, 1033 00:40:14,751 --> 00:40:18,443 had it not been for the fact that Ayrton Senna was 1034 00:40:18,443 --> 00:40:20,610 also on the radar as well. 1035 00:40:21,486 --> 00:40:23,967 Tommy couldn't control his destiny 1036 00:40:23,967 --> 00:40:26,235 in the way Ayrton could. 1037 00:40:26,235 --> 00:40:30,735 He didn't have the background to dictate his own path. 1038 00:40:40,878 --> 00:40:44,027 1039 00:40:44,027 --> 00:40:45,697 - Unlike other drivers, his friends 1040 00:40:45,697 --> 00:40:47,422 put together the pennies, 1041 00:40:47,422 --> 00:40:48,884 not the pounds, to facilitate 1042 00:40:48,884 --> 00:40:50,217 his onward step. 1043 00:40:51,947 --> 00:40:54,231 But, and as that entourage grew, 1044 00:40:54,231 --> 00:40:58,231 some of it attracted probably unsavoury elements. 1045 00:41:00,025 --> 00:41:03,481 - Businessmen, people from all sorts of hazy backgrounds 1046 00:41:03,481 --> 00:41:07,585 were intoxicated by the world that Tommy was in. 1047 00:41:07,585 --> 00:41:08,915 They latched onto Tommy 1048 00:41:08,915 --> 00:41:11,019 and Tommy enjoyed their company and so the, 1049 00:41:11,019 --> 00:41:13,398 the racing world can get a bit sniffy 1050 00:41:13,398 --> 00:41:16,100 about that sort of thing as well. 1051 00:41:16,100 --> 00:41:19,010 He was hustling, he was doing it in the car on his talent, 1052 00:41:19,010 --> 00:41:22,091 and out of the car he was just taking 1053 00:41:22,091 --> 00:41:25,091 help from wherever he could find it. 1054 00:41:26,017 --> 00:41:27,521 - He was attracted to London 1055 00:41:27,521 --> 00:41:30,348 and, I suppose, the nightlife, parties, 1056 00:41:30,348 --> 00:41:31,598 pubs, drinking. 1057 00:41:33,225 --> 00:41:34,988 You know, it's the age old story. 1058 00:41:34,988 --> 00:41:38,054 It's very easy to get sucked into that direction 1059 00:41:38,054 --> 00:41:39,187 and still believe 1060 00:41:39,187 --> 00:41:41,025 that you're doing the right thing for your career 1061 00:41:41,025 --> 00:41:43,708 in racing, because why should they be connected? 1062 00:41:43,708 --> 00:41:45,615 But they are. 1063 00:41:45,615 --> 00:41:46,767 - Yeah, I had a bunch of friends, 1064 00:41:46,767 --> 00:41:49,457 just plenty action all the time. 1065 00:41:49,457 --> 00:41:51,611 You know, I could stay nearly anywhere I wanted to, 1066 00:41:51,611 --> 00:41:53,469 with anybody, I was single. 1067 00:41:53,469 --> 00:41:56,800 Because I was the life of the party. 1068 00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:59,426 It was either that or don't race. 1069 00:41:59,426 --> 00:42:00,472 - He was out partying 1070 00:42:00,472 --> 00:42:02,488 with the people who were helping him pay 1071 00:42:02,488 --> 00:42:05,234 for some of his expenses. 1072 00:42:05,234 --> 00:42:07,725 So he felt he didn't have a choice 1073 00:42:07,725 --> 00:42:11,556 but to play with these people as they were playing. 1074 00:42:11,556 --> 00:42:14,595 They were enabling the drugs 1075 00:42:14,595 --> 00:42:17,930 and the alcohol, and he knew it wasn't helping, 1076 00:42:17,930 --> 00:42:20,412 but it was the only thing he could do 1077 00:42:20,412 --> 00:42:23,690 to get to the next race, pay the rent, 1078 00:42:23,690 --> 00:42:26,690 buy his next cup of coffee, perhaps. 1079 00:42:29,181 --> 00:42:30,200 - How are you? 1080 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,854 - He was winning well in the first part of the '82 season 1081 00:42:32,854 --> 00:42:34,904 and then it all started going wrong 1082 00:42:34,904 --> 00:42:37,621 when the team took on a paying driver 1083 00:42:37,621 --> 00:42:39,531 to help pay the bills 1084 00:42:39,531 --> 00:42:43,864 and they'd given Tommy's old car to the paid driver. 1085 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:47,557 - Murray gave me a different car. 1086 00:42:47,557 --> 00:42:49,989 I never even came close to winning a race after that. 1087 00:42:49,989 --> 00:42:52,364 Six races in a row that I just was nowhere. 1088 00:42:52,364 --> 00:42:55,606 So, of course, their answer to the whole thing was, 1089 00:42:55,606 --> 00:42:57,106 "Tommy's lost it." 1090 00:42:58,222 --> 00:42:59,293 And they'd just think, "Oh, Tommy, yeah, 1091 00:42:59,293 --> 00:43:00,646 "you must had a beer last night, 1092 00:43:00,646 --> 00:43:02,147 "mustn't be feeling too good today." 1093 00:43:02,147 --> 00:43:04,091 That's not the way it was. 1094 00:43:04,091 --> 00:43:05,838 Then the team were not listening to me, that was, 1095 00:43:05,838 --> 00:43:08,262 then the pressure was getting pretty big for me 1096 00:43:08,262 --> 00:43:10,212 then, you know. 1097 00:43:10,212 --> 00:43:11,045 That was, 1098 00:43:11,045 --> 00:43:14,294 everything was stepping away there. 1099 00:43:14,294 --> 00:43:16,594 - He realized that "I'm gonna be back home 1100 00:43:16,594 --> 00:43:18,519 "unless I succeed in this sport" 1101 00:43:18,519 --> 00:43:20,827 and I think when a driver has that 1102 00:43:20,827 --> 00:43:22,248 in the background, realizing, 1103 00:43:22,248 --> 00:43:23,870 listen if you don't cut it this weekend, 1104 00:43:23,870 --> 00:43:25,488 this could be your last. 1105 00:43:25,488 --> 00:43:28,655 That's a very strong motivating force. 1106 00:43:30,331 --> 00:43:31,555 - I was still leading the championship 1107 00:43:31,555 --> 00:43:33,028 but why should Murray Taylor 1108 00:43:33,028 --> 00:43:34,560 even continue to run me anymore 1109 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:36,504 if I'm not going to win the Championship? 1110 00:43:36,504 --> 00:43:38,702 'Cause the only thing he's getting out of it 1111 00:43:38,702 --> 00:43:39,793 is winning the champ, 1112 00:43:39,793 --> 00:43:41,330 he had to win the championship, 1113 00:43:41,330 --> 00:43:44,929 to be able to continue and show that he's a great team. 1114 00:43:44,929 --> 00:43:47,397 So it went on and on and then it came to a head. 1115 00:43:47,397 --> 00:43:52,075 I said, "Listen, I'm leaving unless I get a different car." 1116 00:43:52,075 --> 00:43:56,268 And I quit the team with nothing to fall back on. 1117 00:43:56,268 --> 00:43:57,528 And Murray did call me back and, 1118 00:43:57,528 --> 00:44:00,750 eventually, I got a new chassis. 1119 00:44:00,750 --> 00:44:01,900 I fought back. 1120 00:44:01,900 --> 00:44:04,602 Some drivers are fucked, they can't fight back, 1121 00:44:04,602 --> 00:44:05,953 'cause they actually 1122 00:44:05,953 --> 00:44:08,718 start believing what these guys are telling them, you know? 1123 00:44:08,718 --> 00:44:10,614 You start thinking, well, maybe they're right. 1124 00:44:10,614 --> 00:44:12,452 That was never a problem for me. 1125 00:44:12,452 --> 00:44:13,880 I never had to think that. 1126 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:14,910 They must have hated me. 1127 00:44:14,910 --> 00:44:17,079 But I went to Brands Hatch 1128 00:44:17,079 --> 00:44:19,705 and absolutely back to normal again. 1129 00:44:19,705 --> 00:44:21,470 Pole position and just took off 1130 00:44:21,470 --> 00:44:22,839 and nobody even came close to me. 1131 00:44:22,839 --> 00:44:23,672 - And there's ommy Byrne, 1132 00:44:23,672 --> 00:44:25,747 leading into Paddock for the first time. 1133 00:44:25,747 --> 00:44:27,455 I think Brundle was in second place. 1134 00:44:27,455 --> 00:44:29,718 - All the heavy hitters, the Formula 1 guys were there, 1135 00:44:29,718 --> 00:44:31,933 so this was the one, every Formula 3 driver 1136 00:44:31,933 --> 00:44:34,257 wants to win the British Grand Prix. 1137 00:44:34,257 --> 00:44:36,776 You've got this feeling that everyone is watching you. 1138 00:44:36,776 --> 00:44:39,604 So this is the one opportunity you have each year 1139 00:44:39,604 --> 00:44:42,105 to go out there and get the job done and again, 1140 00:44:42,105 --> 00:44:44,663 Tommy under enormous pressure not only won the race, 1141 00:44:44,663 --> 00:44:47,933 I mean, just took off and left everyone in his dust. 1142 00:44:47,933 --> 00:44:49,571 - And I didn't just win the race. 1143 00:44:49,571 --> 00:44:51,155 I won it by a lot. 1144 00:44:51,155 --> 00:44:52,667 I needed that win. 1145 00:44:52,667 --> 00:44:55,513 I needed it to happen at that time, which it did. 1146 00:44:55,513 --> 00:44:59,401 It was one of my best performances ever I would say. 1147 00:44:59,401 --> 00:45:01,486 - The bottom line is if a driver can 1148 00:45:01,486 --> 00:45:03,701 win races for you, 1149 00:45:03,701 --> 00:45:06,202 you want to have that driver in your team. 1150 00:45:06,202 --> 00:45:07,662 And in spite of his own, 1151 00:45:07,662 --> 00:45:10,018 what I would call ill discipline, 1152 00:45:10,018 --> 00:45:12,084 Tommy was winning races. 1153 00:45:12,084 --> 00:45:15,113 By winning that race, and to win it that well, 1154 00:45:15,113 --> 00:45:16,745 by over 20 seconds, 1155 00:45:16,745 --> 00:45:19,845 created a lot of interest in Formula 1. 1156 00:45:19,845 --> 00:45:21,678 - That's not quite as, 1157 00:45:22,618 --> 00:45:23,451 that was fun. 1158 00:45:23,451 --> 00:45:24,534 That was a laugh. 1159 00:45:24,534 --> 00:45:25,367 Fuck. 1160 00:45:25,367 --> 00:45:27,002 - There was one team in particular 1161 00:45:27,002 --> 00:45:28,835 that took an interest, 1162 00:45:29,882 --> 00:45:31,424 and that was Theodore. 1163 00:45:31,424 --> 00:45:34,952 1164 00:45:34,952 --> 00:45:37,093 - They wanted me to drive in Formula 1. 1165 00:45:37,093 --> 00:45:39,920 For the last six races of the year. 1166 00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:41,615 - There are usually 10 to 12 teams 1167 00:45:41,615 --> 00:45:43,808 on the grid in the world. 1168 00:45:43,808 --> 00:45:45,498 If you get an opportunity 1169 00:45:45,498 --> 00:45:48,125 to show your talent, you take it. 1170 00:45:48,125 --> 00:45:49,853 - So I signed it, 1171 00:45:49,853 --> 00:45:52,282 I remember asking for 40 grand the first year, 1172 00:45:52,282 --> 00:45:55,845 200,000 the second year and half a million the third year 1173 00:45:55,845 --> 00:45:57,615 and Theodore, just laughed at me 1174 00:45:57,615 --> 00:46:01,365 and basically gave me nothing, just expenses. 1175 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:03,879 - Just over four years 1176 00:46:03,879 --> 00:46:07,368 since coming over from Ireland with nothing, 1177 00:46:07,368 --> 00:46:10,195 and now in a Grand Prix. 1178 00:46:10,195 --> 00:46:11,511 Which is an amazing feat. 1179 00:46:11,511 --> 00:46:13,090 That's how far he had come, 1180 00:46:13,090 --> 00:46:18,005 and that was all down to Tommy and his talent, nothing else. 1181 00:46:18,005 --> 00:46:19,445 - That he could do that 1182 00:46:19,445 --> 00:46:21,333 without any funding, virtually, 1183 00:46:21,333 --> 00:46:23,621 except the pocket money from fans and friends, 1184 00:46:23,621 --> 00:46:27,043 that could nearly tell you everything you needed to know 1185 00:46:27,043 --> 00:46:28,793 about Tommy's talent. 1186 00:46:30,802 --> 00:46:32,135 - I was excited. 1187 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:34,083 Very excited. 1188 00:46:36,005 --> 00:46:39,088 But it all went to shit fairly quick. 1189 00:46:43,224 --> 00:46:45,562 The car was a piece of shit. 1190 00:46:45,562 --> 00:46:47,491 I wasn't the only driver that said that. 1191 00:46:47,491 --> 00:46:50,477 The other two drivers before me couldn't qualify it. 1192 00:46:50,477 --> 00:46:51,682 Nobody qualified the car. 1193 00:46:51,682 --> 00:46:52,515 I qualified it, 1194 00:46:52,515 --> 00:46:55,812 I think twice out of five times. 1195 00:46:55,812 --> 00:46:58,727 I tried to qualify for Dijon, did not, Hockenheim, did not, 1196 00:46:58,727 --> 00:47:02,225 was just a couple of tenths off, Monza, same thing. 1197 00:47:02,225 --> 00:47:04,813 1198 00:47:04,813 --> 00:47:07,098 Well, when I qualified for a race in Austria, 1199 00:47:07,098 --> 00:47:09,501 I was the last person to get in the car 1200 00:47:09,501 --> 00:47:11,506 because I was starting last. 1201 00:47:11,506 --> 00:47:12,871 And I really, 1202 00:47:12,871 --> 00:47:15,069 I just wasn't impressed at starting last. 1203 00:47:15,069 --> 00:47:16,168 I mean, I know I should have said 1204 00:47:16,168 --> 00:47:18,616 I've been looking forward to this for so long. 1205 00:47:18,616 --> 00:47:21,333 I was kind of looking forward to it, but 1206 00:47:21,333 --> 00:47:24,800 maybe somewhere up the grid, in a better car. 1207 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,300 So, I just wasn't, 1208 00:47:28,024 --> 00:47:31,107 I wasn't as excited as some people might have been. 1209 00:47:31,107 --> 00:47:32,175 It was nothing fun. 1210 00:47:32,175 --> 00:47:34,737 I didn't like the whole situation. 1211 00:47:34,737 --> 00:47:36,125 Nobody spoke to me in Formula 1. 1212 00:47:36,125 --> 00:47:37,542 Niki Lauda said hello 1213 00:47:37,542 --> 00:47:40,047 and Nelson Piquet said hi, that was it. 1214 00:47:40,047 --> 00:47:41,472 Keke Rosberg used to come up 1215 00:47:41,472 --> 00:47:42,764 and hit me on the head every now and then 1216 00:47:42,764 --> 00:47:47,764 'cause I got in his way or something, just a complete dick. 1217 00:47:48,326 --> 00:47:49,824 For three years I won everything. 1218 00:47:49,824 --> 00:47:51,150 Everything! 1219 00:47:51,150 --> 00:47:54,243 And I had everybody behind me to help me win. 1220 00:47:54,243 --> 00:47:56,891 Now I get in a Formula 1 car and I'm last. 1221 00:47:56,891 --> 00:47:59,122 Not only am I last, when I speak to the team manager 1222 00:47:59,122 --> 00:48:00,741 he tells me that if Keke Rosberg 1223 00:48:00,741 --> 00:48:03,352 was in my car he'd be first. 1224 00:48:03,352 --> 00:48:04,470 Any suggestion I give the team, 1225 00:48:04,470 --> 00:48:06,338 they didn't listen to me at all. 1226 00:48:06,338 --> 00:48:09,419 - Motor racing is a hard tough environment 1227 00:48:09,419 --> 00:48:11,973 and you need a pretty tough skin. 1228 00:48:11,973 --> 00:48:14,997 Sometimes Tommy's skin was a little bit thin 1229 00:48:14,997 --> 00:48:16,706 when he sensed there was any 1230 00:48:16,706 --> 00:48:20,609 disrespect of his ability or his level. 1231 00:48:23,098 --> 00:48:25,780 - For the first time, my ability was being questioned 1232 00:48:25,780 --> 00:48:27,324 by these guys. 1233 00:48:28,568 --> 00:48:31,179 I was 14th quickest on the Friday practise. 1234 00:48:31,179 --> 00:48:32,602 I thought I might have heard something pop 1235 00:48:32,602 --> 00:48:33,609 or something at the end. 1236 00:48:33,609 --> 00:48:35,265 I wasn't too sure but I did mention to one of the guys, 1237 00:48:35,265 --> 00:48:37,855 that I, you know, "Maybe could you just check on something?" 1238 00:48:37,855 --> 00:48:41,510 Then I did qualifying and I qualified last. 1239 00:48:41,510 --> 00:48:43,147 The Theodore guys, their answer was, 1240 00:48:43,147 --> 00:48:44,880 they brought Jackie Stewart up 1241 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:46,157 and sent him over to me 1242 00:48:46,157 --> 00:48:47,903 to tell me how to drive around the track. 1243 00:48:47,903 --> 00:48:49,682 Instead of listening to what I said early on that 1244 00:48:49,682 --> 00:48:51,648 I think I might have heard something pop or something, 1245 00:48:51,648 --> 00:48:53,114 obviously something happened. 1246 00:48:53,114 --> 00:48:54,429 I was pissed. 1247 00:48:54,429 --> 00:48:55,763 Can you imagine somebody 1248 00:48:55,763 --> 00:48:58,518 coming up to Senna and telling him how to drive, 1249 00:48:58,518 --> 00:49:01,667 how to take a line round the track? 1250 00:49:01,667 --> 00:49:03,376 But I was as nice as could be. 1251 00:49:03,376 --> 00:49:04,712 I did go back to Jo Ramirez and said, 1252 00:49:04,712 --> 00:49:07,481 "Don't you ever ever fucking send somebody over to me 1253 00:49:07,481 --> 00:49:10,148 "to tell me how to drive again." 1254 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:19,957 - What happened to Tommy in his younger years 1255 00:49:19,957 --> 00:49:23,360 informed him to behave in a certain way. 1256 00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:25,664 When he ran in Formula Ford 2000, 1257 00:49:25,664 --> 00:49:27,190 he had a bad car 1258 00:49:27,190 --> 00:49:28,813 and he had to really work with the team 1259 00:49:28,813 --> 00:49:30,181 and he had to put it to the team, 1260 00:49:30,181 --> 00:49:32,230 "I'm not driving for you, are you changing the car?" 1261 00:49:32,230 --> 00:49:33,637 And they changed the car 1262 00:49:33,637 --> 00:49:36,281 and he became British champion and European champion. 1263 00:49:36,281 --> 00:49:37,813 He then went into Formula 3 1264 00:49:37,813 --> 00:49:39,858 and a similar situation happened. 1265 00:49:39,858 --> 00:49:41,321 The car was not performing well. 1266 00:49:41,321 --> 00:49:43,534 And he put it to them, "It's not me, it's the car, 1267 00:49:43,534 --> 00:49:44,938 "you gotta change the car." 1268 00:49:44,938 --> 00:49:47,029 But what he didn't realize is that 1269 00:49:47,029 --> 00:49:49,640 you can't use those same techniques, 1270 00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:52,357 you can't bludgeon an F1 team into submitting your way. 1271 00:49:52,357 --> 00:49:55,342 Tommy clearly didn't see that. 1272 00:49:55,342 --> 00:49:56,547 - The team manager, 1273 00:49:56,547 --> 00:49:58,547 he pissed me off so bad. 1274 00:49:59,609 --> 00:50:00,800 First off, 1275 00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:05,800 actually I did talk to somebody about getting him bumped off 1276 00:50:05,942 --> 00:50:09,359 early on after the first couple of races. 1277 00:50:10,516 --> 00:50:11,752 Maybe I wasn't serious about it 1278 00:50:11,752 --> 00:50:13,948 but I actually did talk to one of my friends 1279 00:50:13,948 --> 00:50:17,887 in London who kind of, possibly, could have done something. 1280 00:50:17,887 --> 00:50:19,080 It was just driving home one day having a couple of beers, 1281 00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:21,406 going, "I wish the fucking guy was gone." 1282 00:50:21,406 --> 00:50:24,573 That's how I was thinking at the time. 1283 00:50:25,657 --> 00:50:27,242 So at the end of the year, 1284 00:50:27,242 --> 00:50:30,035 in Vegas I had a few drinks after the race and 1285 00:50:30,035 --> 00:50:31,816 probably not a good idea either, 1286 00:50:31,816 --> 00:50:34,351 but we were up at Caesar's Palace in the room 1287 00:50:34,351 --> 00:50:37,091 and I was fucking pissed at him, 1288 00:50:37,091 --> 00:50:38,603 he was still yapping on, about, you know, 1289 00:50:38,603 --> 00:50:40,615 just always, he was just this, 1290 00:50:40,615 --> 00:50:42,866 it was just a bad time for me. 1291 00:50:42,866 --> 00:50:44,310 So I told him to go stick it up his ass 1292 00:50:44,310 --> 00:50:46,107 and threw a chair at him and just, you know 1293 00:50:46,107 --> 00:50:48,267 stormed out of there, and that was it. 1294 00:50:48,267 --> 00:50:49,100 So I was done. 1295 00:50:49,100 --> 00:50:50,183 Even though 1296 00:50:50,183 --> 00:50:51,486 I was probably done anyway. 1297 00:50:51,486 --> 00:50:52,528 But I didn't get fired. 1298 00:50:52,528 --> 00:50:53,361 I just left. 1299 00:50:53,361 --> 00:50:55,166 I did have a three-year contract. 1300 00:50:55,166 --> 00:50:56,515 I'd rather not be doing Formula 1 1301 00:50:56,515 --> 00:50:59,340 than doing it like that. 1302 00:50:59,340 --> 00:51:01,413 Especially if you haven't got a car that moves forward. 1303 00:51:01,413 --> 00:51:02,891 Basically, you're just hanging on there 1304 00:51:02,891 --> 00:51:05,209 to see how many cars drops out. 1305 00:51:05,209 --> 00:51:06,655 But I knew I had something. 1306 00:51:06,655 --> 00:51:08,349 I knew I had a talent 1307 00:51:08,349 --> 00:51:10,706 and I could have taken that talent to another team. 1308 00:51:13,604 --> 00:51:16,443 - But he came back from Las Vegas, 1309 00:51:16,443 --> 00:51:17,834 from the Grand Prix there, 1310 00:51:17,834 --> 00:51:20,084 to try to win his Formula 3 Championship, 1311 00:51:20,084 --> 00:51:22,711 and the prize for winning that F3 Championship 1312 00:51:22,711 --> 00:51:25,544 was a Formula 1 test with McLaren. 1313 00:51:26,977 --> 00:51:30,335 He felt that it could be the make-or-break opportunity 1314 00:51:30,335 --> 00:51:33,058 of getting into Formula 1 and a top team. 1315 00:51:33,058 --> 00:51:33,891 - You know, that was my chance 1316 00:51:33,891 --> 00:51:36,867 to drive one of the winning cars in Formula 1. 1317 00:51:36,867 --> 00:51:39,301 But first I just needed to win the championship. 1318 00:51:39,301 --> 00:51:40,735 - Just how important is it winning 1319 00:51:40,735 --> 00:51:42,143 the Marlboro Formula 3 Championship 1320 00:51:42,143 --> 00:51:43,943 series to you in 1982? 1321 00:51:43,943 --> 00:51:46,012 - Well, I don't think anyone is going to give up very easy, 1322 00:51:46,012 --> 00:51:47,327 especially not me, 1323 00:51:47,327 --> 00:51:48,532 not after coming all this way. 1324 00:51:48,532 --> 00:51:51,090 And you must remember, I think everyone seems to have forgot 1325 00:51:51,090 --> 00:51:54,060 that I did miss four races out of it. 1326 00:51:54,060 --> 00:51:55,837 - That's how close it is. 1327 00:51:55,837 --> 00:51:56,864 First, second, and third. 1328 00:51:56,864 --> 00:51:58,141 One, two, three. 1329 00:51:58,141 --> 00:52:00,303 Mansilla, Scott, Byrne. 1330 00:52:00,303 --> 00:52:02,368 Into and out of the chicane together. 1331 00:52:02,368 --> 00:52:05,877 - I had to finish in front of Quique Mansilla 1332 00:52:05,877 --> 00:52:07,556 to win the Championship. 1333 00:52:07,556 --> 00:52:09,466 Dave's car, every time I got alongside him, 1334 00:52:09,466 --> 00:52:11,498 he just run into me and put me on the grass. 1335 00:52:11,498 --> 00:52:14,848 And he did that sometimes three times per lap. 1336 00:52:14,848 --> 00:52:16,122 In different areas. 1337 00:52:16,122 --> 00:52:17,615 And nobody did anything about it. 1338 00:52:17,615 --> 00:52:20,207 If I did that, black flag and brought into the pits, 1339 00:52:20,207 --> 00:52:21,483 end of story. 1340 00:52:21,483 --> 00:52:23,207 But for some reason they let it go. 1341 00:52:23,207 --> 00:52:24,735 - Probably to get out of the car 1342 00:52:24,735 --> 00:52:26,414 and walk sharply away. 1343 00:52:26,414 --> 00:52:27,394 - And then the number one guy 1344 00:52:27,394 --> 00:52:28,227 wasn't even getting away 1345 00:52:28,227 --> 00:52:29,407 so I still knew there was a chance, 1346 00:52:29,407 --> 00:52:30,578 I just had to get by him 1347 00:52:30,578 --> 00:52:31,731 and I still could win the race. 1348 00:52:31,731 --> 00:52:32,683 - Scott has got the inside line, 1349 00:52:32,683 --> 00:52:33,882 they're banging wheels, as they go into the straight, 1350 00:52:33,882 --> 00:52:35,841 Tommy Byrne he's waving him aside. 1351 00:52:35,841 --> 00:52:37,448 "Move over," he's saying, "Let me through." 1352 00:52:37,448 --> 00:52:38,703 "Not likely," says Dave Scott, 1353 00:52:38,703 --> 00:52:41,340 "I'm second and I'm staying there." 1354 00:52:41,340 --> 00:52:42,493 And, ooh, 1355 00:52:42,493 --> 00:52:44,150 Dave Scott locked up his rear wheel. 1356 00:52:44,150 --> 00:52:45,232 Where is Tommy Byrne? 1357 00:52:45,232 --> 00:52:46,242 I thought that would happen. 1358 00:52:46,242 --> 00:52:47,834 He's gone through. 1359 00:52:47,834 --> 00:52:48,753 This is it. 1360 00:52:48,753 --> 00:52:50,586 This is the last lap. 1361 00:52:50,586 --> 00:52:52,713 These are the two championship leaders, 1362 00:52:52,713 --> 00:52:55,142 Quique Mansilla leads the race and the Championship. 1363 00:52:55,142 --> 00:52:57,874 But now Byrne goes through, magnificent! 1364 00:52:57,874 --> 00:52:59,875 - And within half a lap after I passed the other guy, 1365 00:52:59,875 --> 00:53:02,750 I was two seconds a lap quicker on the last lap. 1366 00:53:02,750 --> 00:53:04,872 So they were holding me up that much. 1367 00:53:04,872 --> 00:53:08,866 We won the Championship with a very small budget. 1368 00:53:08,866 --> 00:53:10,762 So it was huge deal. 1369 00:53:10,762 --> 00:53:12,685 Big, big deal. 1370 00:53:12,685 --> 00:53:16,185 Now I'm going to get to drive for McLaren. 1371 00:53:30,700 --> 00:53:32,033 We've got VHS's. 1372 00:53:34,281 --> 00:53:35,114 This one? 1373 00:53:39,969 --> 00:53:41,261 That was probably the most important day 1374 00:53:41,261 --> 00:53:42,928 of my racing career. 1375 00:53:43,895 --> 00:53:46,426 That's the day I tested the McLaren. 1376 00:53:46,426 --> 00:53:48,268 It was a race-winning Formula 1 car. 1377 00:53:48,268 --> 00:53:50,155 It would be like driving a Mercedes today 1378 00:53:50,155 --> 00:53:51,576 for a young rookie. 1379 00:53:51,576 --> 00:53:52,713 So it was huge. 1380 00:53:52,713 --> 00:53:55,789 It was just a big, big day. 1381 00:53:55,789 --> 00:53:56,961 Right there I was shitting myself. 1382 00:53:56,961 --> 00:53:58,791 That particular time, right there, 1383 00:53:58,791 --> 00:54:00,860 I definitely was getting worried 1384 00:54:00,860 --> 00:54:02,124 about the whole thing and all. 1385 00:54:02,124 --> 00:54:03,291 Could I do it? 1386 00:54:04,390 --> 00:54:06,031 - It's expensive to run a Formula 1 car. 1387 00:54:06,031 --> 00:54:07,788 It always has been, always will be, 1388 00:54:07,788 --> 00:54:10,135 so when a team puts a car on track for the day, 1389 00:54:10,135 --> 00:54:11,320 they are serious about it. 1390 00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:12,830 It's costing them a huge amount of money. 1391 00:54:12,830 --> 00:54:14,940 They're risking their car with a young driver 1392 00:54:14,940 --> 00:54:17,437 that he is not going to stick it in the wall. 1393 00:54:17,437 --> 00:54:18,518 The spotlight's on you. 1394 00:54:18,518 --> 00:54:19,507 There are no excuses. 1395 00:54:19,507 --> 00:54:22,908 It is a fast, competitive, well proven car from a top team. 1396 00:54:22,908 --> 00:54:25,521 You've got to show your mettle. 1397 00:54:25,521 --> 00:54:28,271 1398 00:54:35,457 --> 00:54:38,124 - The car was just unbelievable. 1399 00:54:40,043 --> 00:54:42,964 It was so easy to drive and just so fast. 1400 00:54:42,964 --> 00:54:45,964 And I was only just getting started. 1401 00:54:48,542 --> 00:54:50,001 - The footage of that test shows a car 1402 00:54:50,001 --> 00:54:52,662 being driven beautifully 1403 00:54:52,662 --> 00:54:55,995 on the limit, using every inch of track. 1404 00:54:58,118 --> 00:55:00,998 He's turning in sharply and aggressively, 1405 00:55:00,998 --> 00:55:05,154 but absolutely right on the edge of the car's limits. 1406 00:55:05,154 --> 00:55:08,154 That's what the stopwatch confirmed. 1407 00:55:09,027 --> 00:55:10,393 Tommy's times 1408 00:55:10,393 --> 00:55:12,732 were quicker than the drivers at the time, 1409 00:55:12,732 --> 00:55:15,425 who were John Watson, a multiple Formula 1 winner, 1410 00:55:15,425 --> 00:55:18,089 and three-times world champion Niki Lauda. 1411 00:55:18,089 --> 00:55:20,126 Now, it just doesn't get any better than that. 1412 00:55:20,126 --> 00:55:23,268 You know, he could have gone faster than God! 1413 00:55:23,268 --> 00:55:24,649 He had just done that! 1414 00:55:24,649 --> 00:55:27,325 He'd gone faster than Niki Lauda. 1415 00:55:27,325 --> 00:55:29,107 - But what was impressive was he jumped into a car 1416 00:55:29,107 --> 00:55:31,828 which he had never seen before he did the test, 1417 00:55:31,828 --> 00:55:33,995 did a phenomenal lap time. 1418 00:55:35,955 --> 00:55:38,249 - I did a time that would have put me 1419 00:55:38,249 --> 00:55:41,028 on the front row of the British Grand Prix 1420 00:55:41,028 --> 00:55:43,778 and with my other car I was last. 1421 00:55:45,063 --> 00:55:48,730 The fact I did a 110.1 three times in a row, 1422 00:55:49,577 --> 00:55:52,403 which is pretty impossible to do, I'd say that's 1423 00:55:52,403 --> 00:55:54,046 really consistent, 1424 00:55:54,046 --> 00:55:57,019 certainly people would've been talking about it. 1425 00:55:57,019 --> 00:55:57,852 Certainly! 1426 00:55:59,502 --> 00:56:00,733 - He did a 110.1. 1427 00:56:00,733 --> 00:56:01,566 I couldn't believe it. 1428 00:56:01,566 --> 00:56:02,399 I was there. 1429 00:56:02,399 --> 00:56:05,536 Now, his next job was not to post a better time, 1430 00:56:05,536 --> 00:56:07,175 his next job was to make sure 1431 00:56:07,175 --> 00:56:10,201 that everything around that 10.1 was amazing. 1432 00:56:10,201 --> 00:56:11,860 But that wasn't Tommy. 1433 00:56:11,860 --> 00:56:13,974 - I wasn't there in the immediate aftermath 1434 00:56:13,974 --> 00:56:15,895 of when he got out of the cockpit 1435 00:56:15,895 --> 00:56:18,177 and who was listening to him, what he said to the team. 1436 00:56:18,177 --> 00:56:20,255 But I think a story went around that 1437 00:56:20,255 --> 00:56:22,977 he said "if they can go faster than that, 1438 00:56:22,977 --> 00:56:25,057 "they can take their cucumber sandwiches 1439 00:56:25,057 --> 00:56:26,913 "and stick them up their arse" or something, 1440 00:56:26,913 --> 00:56:28,535 so that sounds about right. 1441 00:56:28,535 --> 00:56:30,521 Tommy insists he never said it. 1442 00:56:30,521 --> 00:56:32,337 - But, of course, I didn't say any of that. 1443 00:56:32,337 --> 00:56:34,193 But at this stage the rumour mill was going with 1444 00:56:34,193 --> 00:56:35,697 "Tommy, you can," you know, 1445 00:56:35,697 --> 00:56:37,137 I only had to open my mouth 1446 00:56:37,137 --> 00:56:40,108 and somebody would just add what they wanted onto it. 1447 00:56:40,108 --> 00:56:43,620 - He did all he had to do from within the cockpit. 1448 00:56:43,620 --> 00:56:45,789 That is all he was required to do. 1449 00:56:45,789 --> 00:56:47,622 He passed with A-star. 1450 00:56:48,737 --> 00:56:50,593 But it is the out of the car performance 1451 00:56:50,593 --> 00:56:53,593 that, you know, sealed Tommy's fate. 1452 00:56:54,558 --> 00:56:56,827 - The management of McLaren 1453 00:56:56,827 --> 00:56:58,593 wiped their hands off him. 1454 00:57:00,236 --> 00:57:02,935 His cocky nature didn't quite sit well with a very 1455 00:57:02,935 --> 00:57:07,081 English-minded set-up of Ron Dennis and McLaren, 1456 00:57:07,081 --> 00:57:10,914 which was ultra-corporate, ultra-professional. 1457 00:57:12,097 --> 00:57:14,264 He was far too big a risk. 1458 00:57:22,113 --> 00:57:23,953 - Autosport comes out Thursday morning 1459 00:57:23,953 --> 00:57:25,953 and the Motoring News comes out Wednesday night 1460 00:57:25,953 --> 00:57:27,756 and I looked at it and it was like, basically 1461 00:57:27,756 --> 00:57:29,916 a couple of words in one of the magazines 1462 00:57:29,916 --> 00:57:33,446 and the other one said "Byrne, fast but too cocky." 1463 00:57:33,446 --> 00:57:35,241 I went, "Shit." 1464 00:57:35,241 --> 00:57:37,104 For once I didn't say a word, you know? 1465 00:57:37,104 --> 00:57:39,516 So that was a bit of a let-down, you know? 1466 00:57:39,516 --> 00:57:42,183 I wasn't expecting it, actually. 1467 00:57:44,250 --> 00:57:45,870 - Ron Dennis' quotes played down 1468 00:57:45,870 --> 00:57:48,716 the level of Tommy's performance 1469 00:57:48,716 --> 00:57:51,340 and he felt that just confirmed 1470 00:57:51,340 --> 00:57:53,588 that he was never going to get 1471 00:57:53,588 --> 00:57:55,070 an opportunity from Ron Dennis. 1472 00:57:55,070 --> 00:57:57,975 He felt that he had blown his chance. 1473 00:57:57,975 --> 00:58:00,238 And everything was hanging on that in his mind, 1474 00:58:00,238 --> 00:58:02,137 and when it didn't happen, 1475 00:58:02,137 --> 00:58:03,838 he just threw himself to the wind. 1476 00:58:03,838 --> 00:58:04,838 That was it. 1477 00:58:06,252 --> 00:58:08,096 - I think at that level, 1478 00:58:08,096 --> 00:58:09,473 Tommy really wasn't one of them. 1479 00:58:09,473 --> 00:58:10,723 He did not fit! 1480 00:58:11,771 --> 00:58:12,868 He did not fit. 1481 00:58:12,868 --> 00:58:15,335 And I would say an awful lot of it down to 1482 00:58:15,335 --> 00:58:17,668 where he and we started off. 1483 00:58:19,973 --> 00:58:21,733 Going from Dundalk over there, 1484 00:58:21,733 --> 00:58:23,413 and working his way through. 1485 00:58:23,413 --> 00:58:24,933 He wasn't of the cut 1486 00:58:24,933 --> 00:58:28,589 of some of the more sophisticated people. 1487 00:58:28,589 --> 00:58:30,570 And the Formula 1 men, you know 1488 00:58:30,570 --> 00:58:33,653 it's a small, small group of people 1489 00:58:33,653 --> 00:58:35,589 and I think they closed the book on him. 1490 00:58:35,589 --> 00:58:37,667 The word was put around, 1491 00:58:37,667 --> 00:58:41,551 "Keep him out of here, we don't need him." 1492 00:58:41,551 --> 00:58:42,693 - I tried hard 1493 00:58:42,693 --> 00:58:45,151 for four or five years to get to Formula 1 and I did. 1494 00:58:45,151 --> 00:58:46,469 But after that was all over 1495 00:58:46,469 --> 00:58:48,053 and then obviously the drinking, 1496 00:58:48,053 --> 00:58:49,050 then, you know 1497 00:58:49,050 --> 00:58:50,770 the drugs got a little bit more 1498 00:58:50,770 --> 00:58:52,783 and I did some serious partying. 1499 00:58:52,783 --> 00:58:57,533 And I ended up taking enough to kill a buffalo, you know? 1500 00:58:58,971 --> 00:59:01,829 I went out with a photographer friend of mine 1501 00:59:01,829 --> 00:59:03,386 the night before the test 1502 00:59:03,386 --> 00:59:05,567 and he gave me a bunch of this white powder stuff, 1503 00:59:05,567 --> 00:59:07,247 cocaine that he had. 1504 00:59:07,247 --> 00:59:09,747 I'm going to an awards show, now would be a good time to 1505 00:59:09,747 --> 00:59:11,344 do it again. 1506 00:59:11,344 --> 00:59:13,875 So I snorted up two lines, 1507 00:59:13,875 --> 00:59:15,883 and an hour later, another two lines, 1508 00:59:15,883 --> 00:59:17,403 just two big huge lines. 1509 00:59:17,403 --> 00:59:18,796 And another two lines later on. 1510 00:59:18,796 --> 00:59:20,502 Still only twelve o'clock in the day. 1511 00:59:20,502 --> 00:59:21,963 1512 00:59:21,963 --> 00:59:23,006 As I got closer to the awards, 1513 00:59:23,006 --> 00:59:24,662 I had to take a few more lines 1514 00:59:24,662 --> 00:59:28,022 just to get the same kind of hit that I had earlier on. 1515 00:59:28,022 --> 00:59:29,963 And it's like I'm wired. 1516 00:59:29,963 --> 00:59:31,240 I'm just all over the place. 1517 00:59:31,240 --> 00:59:33,538 I'm just, da, da, da, da, da. 1518 00:59:33,538 --> 00:59:35,694 And then I just had to keep taking more and more. 1519 00:59:35,694 --> 00:59:36,983 And then when I got to the table 1520 00:59:36,983 --> 00:59:40,546 sitting around I'm just talking to everybody. 1521 00:59:40,546 --> 00:59:43,531 So after, I think I picked up a bunch of prizes, 1522 00:59:43,531 --> 00:59:46,185 I can't snort any more of that cocaine because 1523 00:59:46,185 --> 00:59:48,630 my nose is hurting so bad. 1524 00:59:48,630 --> 00:59:49,869 So I went to my friend Stuart, 1525 00:59:49,869 --> 00:59:51,244 "Hey, I got a bunch of this cocaine stuff, 1526 00:59:51,244 --> 00:59:54,654 "I can't take it anymore, do you want it?" 1527 00:59:54,654 --> 00:59:56,289 Stuart comes back and he says, 1528 00:59:56,289 --> 00:59:59,788 "That's not cocaine, that's speed." 1529 00:59:59,788 --> 01:00:02,202 I went, "Well, you know, speed, cocaine, 1530 01:00:02,202 --> 01:00:04,004 "It's the same difference, isn't it?" 1531 01:00:04,004 --> 01:00:06,087 He goes, "No, not really" 1532 01:00:08,500 --> 01:00:10,602 At this stage, it's too late, I got so much in my system. 1533 01:00:10,602 --> 01:00:12,109 It's three or four o'clock in the morning, 1534 01:00:12,109 --> 01:00:13,193 I drove back to the house 1535 01:00:13,193 --> 01:00:15,320 where I got the stuff in the first place. 1536 01:00:15,320 --> 01:00:16,667 He said, 1537 01:00:16,667 --> 01:00:19,120 "I hope you didn't take much of that stuff, did you?" 1538 01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:20,387 I went, 1539 01:00:20,387 --> 01:00:22,926 "Yes, yes, a lot actually. 1540 01:00:22,926 --> 01:00:24,217 "Like half of it." 1541 01:00:24,217 --> 01:00:25,050 "Oh, Jesus Christ, 1542 01:00:25,050 --> 01:00:27,860 "I just took a tiny bit of it and I was up for two days." 1543 01:00:27,860 --> 01:00:30,633 So, he put me in his room. 1544 01:00:30,633 --> 01:00:32,330 There was nothing happening, there's no sleep coming, 1545 01:00:32,330 --> 01:00:34,400 my heart was just racing. 1546 01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:36,295 I just lay there. 1547 01:00:36,295 --> 01:00:39,553 I lay there, I lay there, for three fucking days. 1548 01:00:39,553 --> 01:00:40,847 And depressed. 1549 01:00:40,847 --> 01:00:42,090 Very, very depressed 1550 01:00:42,090 --> 01:00:44,367 It's like it's, my life was over. 1551 01:00:44,367 --> 01:00:47,770 I'm lucky to be alive, I guess. 1552 01:00:47,770 --> 01:00:49,268 I mean, I was just going through life like 1553 01:00:49,268 --> 01:00:50,938 there was no tomorrow. 1554 01:00:50,938 --> 01:00:53,938 1555 01:00:59,092 --> 01:01:00,852 Yeah, don't worry about it. 1556 01:01:00,852 --> 01:01:02,349 We'll have you come in, we'll talk about it, 1557 01:01:02,349 --> 01:01:04,016 We'll take a look and figure it out. 1558 01:01:04,016 --> 01:01:05,516 You're doing fine. 1559 01:01:06,532 --> 01:01:09,365 Tenth and twelfth, those guys are. 1560 01:01:10,234 --> 01:01:11,734 I got a few ideas. 1561 01:01:14,052 --> 01:01:15,210 The good news is 1562 01:01:15,210 --> 01:01:16,946 you got a bunch of time right there. 1563 01:01:16,946 --> 01:01:18,297 - Yeah, step on it, yeah. 1564 01:01:18,297 --> 01:01:19,194 - The bad news is 1565 01:01:19,194 --> 01:01:20,901 you made a couple of big mistakes. 1566 01:01:20,901 --> 01:01:21,734 - Uh-huh. 1567 01:01:21,734 --> 01:01:23,510 - Just If you can just hit a couple of these marks, 1568 01:01:23,510 --> 01:01:24,826 there's a lot of time. 1569 01:01:24,826 --> 01:01:25,659 - Yeah. 1570 01:01:25,659 --> 01:01:27,513 I think the next time might have been a bit cleaner. 1571 01:01:27,513 --> 01:01:29,632 - Okay, well, actually you hit it there, 1572 01:01:29,632 --> 01:01:31,514 and that's a miss, 1573 01:01:31,514 --> 01:01:32,930 and that's middle of the road. 1574 01:01:32,930 --> 01:01:34,531 So right there, there's nearly half a second. 1575 01:01:34,531 --> 01:01:35,364 - Yeah. 1576 01:01:35,364 --> 01:01:36,197 - You know? 1577 01:01:36,197 --> 01:01:37,754 I'm a professional driver coach, 1578 01:01:37,754 --> 01:01:40,170 I can tell them how to act, obviously, 1579 01:01:40,170 --> 01:01:43,228 and I can tell them where to be on the track. 1580 01:01:43,228 --> 01:01:45,434 I can't do it for them. 1581 01:01:45,434 --> 01:01:47,370 It's up to them then to take that information and go out 1582 01:01:47,370 --> 01:01:49,937 and change it on the track and use it. 1583 01:01:49,937 --> 01:01:52,767 So, good news and bad news. 1584 01:01:52,767 --> 01:01:54,239 If you can fix all that-- 1585 01:01:54,239 --> 01:01:55,284 - That's all good news to me. 1586 01:01:55,284 --> 01:01:56,682 - God knows, yeah, I mean, 1587 01:01:56,682 --> 01:01:57,515 but can you remember it? 1588 01:01:57,515 --> 01:01:58,764 - Yeah. - You'll be able to remember? 1589 01:01:58,764 --> 01:02:01,143 - Okay, you're not gonna get pissed off when I tell you? 1590 01:02:01,143 --> 01:02:03,182 - No, I'm not a sensitive guy. 1591 01:02:03,182 --> 01:02:04,409 - Drinking? 1592 01:02:04,409 --> 01:02:06,155 Is that why you're losing? 1593 01:02:10,689 --> 01:02:14,167 - European racing is today or nothing. 1594 01:02:14,167 --> 01:02:15,216 Americans seem to be 1595 01:02:15,216 --> 01:02:16,993 I hate to say this about Americans, 1596 01:02:16,993 --> 01:02:21,660 but generally Americans are all about the second chance. 1597 01:02:22,735 --> 01:02:24,932 - So here I am in America in 1985, 1598 01:02:24,932 --> 01:02:29,225 starting a whole new career again at the bottom. 1599 01:02:29,225 --> 01:02:31,855 - He's still got no money when he went to America. 1600 01:02:31,855 --> 01:02:33,912 He is still scratching about, 1601 01:02:33,912 --> 01:02:38,660 but he is a gun for hire, so he gets opportunities. 1602 01:02:38,660 --> 01:02:42,495 He still thought he would probably end up making 1603 01:02:42,495 --> 01:02:46,084 his millions in motor racing somehow. 1604 01:02:46,084 --> 01:02:48,394 - This time I wasn't quite as serious, 1605 01:02:48,394 --> 01:02:50,695 so, maybe a little bit more partying. 1606 01:02:50,695 --> 01:02:54,218 Actually, I started to enjoy racing a little bit. 1607 01:02:54,218 --> 01:02:56,196 - The feeder series to IndyCar, 1608 01:02:56,196 --> 01:02:59,188 Indy Lights, or ARS, as it was initially called, 1609 01:02:59,188 --> 01:03:02,817 Tommy did very well and he wasn't in the best cars, 1610 01:03:02,817 --> 01:03:04,314 wasn't in the best teams. 1611 01:03:04,314 --> 01:03:07,434 He takes pretty much any opportunity that anybody offers him 1612 01:03:07,434 --> 01:03:09,485 and he makes good use of them and he does well. 1613 01:03:09,485 --> 01:03:10,412 - In turn number 11, 1614 01:03:10,412 --> 01:03:12,135 his final pass through here, 1615 01:03:12,135 --> 01:03:14,055 this is the man who is going to win the race, 1616 01:03:14,055 --> 01:03:17,438 Tommy Byrne charges the line and takes the chequered flag. 1617 01:03:17,438 --> 01:03:18,775 - It's going to be fun. 1618 01:03:18,775 --> 01:03:20,502 I'm used to that. 1619 01:03:20,502 --> 01:03:22,404 - Tommy enjoyed the American adventure and 1620 01:03:22,404 --> 01:03:24,918 the parties and the lifestyle. 1621 01:03:24,918 --> 01:03:28,649 - I won a bunch of races hung over in America. 1622 01:03:28,649 --> 01:03:30,317 It was just a matter of, you know, 1623 01:03:30,317 --> 01:03:32,257 just having a bit of fun 1624 01:03:32,257 --> 01:03:34,010 and winning some races at the same time. 1625 01:03:34,010 --> 01:03:36,213 - He just hung it out there, 1626 01:03:36,213 --> 01:03:38,330 and wasn't afraid to tell you what he thought. 1627 01:03:38,330 --> 01:03:39,507 And, guess what? 1628 01:03:39,507 --> 01:03:40,539 That is what I liked 1629 01:03:40,539 --> 01:03:42,530 about Tommy from the very first day. 1630 01:03:42,530 --> 01:03:43,767 - Tommy Byrne's been around. 1631 01:03:43,767 --> 01:03:45,539 - There's wasn't a lot of guys who were earning money, 1632 01:03:45,539 --> 01:03:47,925 maybe two or three others in ARS/Indy Lights Championship, 1633 01:03:47,925 --> 01:03:50,647 so Tommy was, you know, 1634 01:03:50,647 --> 01:03:54,280 knocking down a nice bit of coin each year. 1635 01:03:54,280 --> 01:03:55,440 - I didn't get it. 1636 01:03:55,440 --> 01:03:57,075 I thought it was a big mistake. 1637 01:03:57,075 --> 01:04:00,203 I think he should have stayed in Europe. 1638 01:04:00,203 --> 01:04:02,819 For me, there is no way you can come from there 1639 01:04:02,819 --> 01:04:05,438 and go back to Formula 1. 1640 01:04:05,438 --> 01:04:06,452 You know, if you are good enough, 1641 01:04:06,452 --> 01:04:10,357 and if you are fast enough, and certainly Tommy was, 1642 01:04:10,357 --> 01:04:13,933 a little window of opportunity will always open. 1643 01:04:13,933 --> 01:04:15,183 It always does. 1644 01:04:16,931 --> 01:04:19,533 - By the time Ayrton Senna left Lotus, 1645 01:04:19,533 --> 01:04:21,091 he actually put a word in 1646 01:04:21,091 --> 01:04:23,635 to the Lotus boss, Peter Warr, 1647 01:04:23,635 --> 01:04:25,552 that he should look at Tommy, 1648 01:04:25,552 --> 01:04:29,110 but Tommy's exploits in America didn't even register. 1649 01:04:29,110 --> 01:04:31,056 - Eddie Jordan kind of half convinced me 1650 01:04:31,056 --> 01:04:32,504 that there was a chance of me 1651 01:04:32,504 --> 01:04:34,082 still getting into a Formula 1 car. 1652 01:04:34,082 --> 01:04:35,362 I think we talked to one team, Tyrrell, 1653 01:04:35,362 --> 01:04:37,557 and I think they wanted a couple of million pounds, 1654 01:04:37,557 --> 01:04:41,140 so, I mean, it just wasn't going to happen. 1655 01:04:42,939 --> 01:04:45,210 - I went over and back to Tommy a lot in America. 1656 01:04:45,210 --> 01:04:46,642 He would enjoy himself. 1657 01:04:46,642 --> 01:04:48,256 He would 1658 01:04:48,256 --> 01:04:50,896 talk about the dreams that he still would have, 1659 01:04:50,896 --> 01:04:52,555 and his dreams now, for, 1660 01:04:52,555 --> 01:04:56,214 after Tommy didn't make it in Formula 1, 1661 01:04:56,214 --> 01:04:58,941 his dreams went into other things. 1662 01:04:58,941 --> 01:05:01,191 Different things that he would say, 1663 01:05:01,191 --> 01:05:03,358 "I'm going to do in life." 1664 01:05:15,571 --> 01:05:16,997 - This is my old house. 1665 01:05:16,997 --> 01:05:19,830 Got married and I bought this '87. 1666 01:05:20,673 --> 01:05:23,418 When I came back from racing, this was my haven. 1667 01:05:23,418 --> 01:05:24,335 I loved it. 1668 01:05:30,459 --> 01:05:33,542 1669 01:05:35,394 --> 01:05:36,227 Well, 1670 01:05:37,360 --> 01:05:39,943 this place hasn't changed much! 1671 01:05:42,976 --> 01:05:44,143 15 years, huh? 1672 01:05:45,731 --> 01:05:47,481 Last time I was here. 1673 01:05:48,885 --> 01:05:51,779 Spent a lot of good years here, 10 good years. 1674 01:05:51,779 --> 01:05:52,612 You know? 1675 01:05:53,589 --> 01:05:54,731 Kind of sad. 1676 01:05:54,731 --> 01:05:56,491 Sad and happy. 1677 01:05:56,491 --> 01:05:57,784 Or happy and sad. 1678 01:05:57,784 --> 01:05:59,182 Yeah, look at that tiki hut. 1679 01:05:59,182 --> 01:06:00,015 1680 01:06:00,015 --> 01:06:00,973 - They're under there. 1681 01:06:21,775 --> 01:06:22,608 - Definitely, there's nothing-- 1682 01:06:22,608 --> 01:06:24,024 - This is my home. 1683 01:06:24,024 --> 01:06:25,522 My kids grew up here, on the lake. 1684 01:06:25,522 --> 01:06:27,543 They learned how to swim here. 1685 01:06:27,543 --> 01:06:29,338 These guys would run around naked. 1686 01:06:29,338 --> 01:06:31,671 It was just, it was perfect. 1687 01:06:33,837 --> 01:06:37,670 It represents what I always wanted in America. 1688 01:06:42,917 --> 01:06:44,154 When I was doing really well, 1689 01:06:44,154 --> 01:06:46,447 we had parties here, down here on the beach, 1690 01:06:46,447 --> 01:06:48,280 and this was the life. 1691 01:06:49,334 --> 01:06:51,490 I just went racing and came back to this. 1692 01:06:51,490 --> 01:06:52,728 It was, 1693 01:06:52,728 --> 01:06:53,785 it can't get much better. 1694 01:06:53,785 --> 01:06:55,202 It was brilliant. 1695 01:07:00,513 --> 01:07:03,188 In America, I only made half the effort. 1696 01:07:03,188 --> 01:07:05,174 Half my effort was okay. 1697 01:07:05,174 --> 01:07:06,992 You always think you're going to get a million dollars, 1698 01:07:06,992 --> 01:07:09,130 there's still always a chance, you know. 1699 01:07:09,130 --> 01:07:12,713 I was only one deal away from the big time. 1700 01:07:14,367 --> 01:07:15,512 - Are we ever going to see Tommy Byrne 1701 01:07:15,512 --> 01:07:16,963 in an IndyCar in the near future? 1702 01:07:16,963 --> 01:07:17,894 - I hope so. 1703 01:07:17,894 --> 01:07:19,614 I'd like to get into an IndyCar and maybe do well, 1704 01:07:19,614 --> 01:07:21,516 rather than just get into a car 1705 01:07:21,516 --> 01:07:23,888 just to say, "Hi, I drive IndyCars." 1706 01:07:23,888 --> 01:07:24,721 I'd like to do well, 1707 01:07:24,721 --> 01:07:28,062 it would be nice to get into a good IndyCar team. 1708 01:07:28,062 --> 01:07:30,134 - If you think about any category 1709 01:07:30,134 --> 01:07:32,074 of major motor sports in the world today, 1710 01:07:32,074 --> 01:07:34,099 you have IndyCar, 24 seats, 1711 01:07:34,099 --> 01:07:37,358 you have Formula 1, 22 seats right now. 1712 01:07:37,358 --> 01:07:41,193 Sports car racing, eight to 10 seats. 1713 01:07:41,193 --> 01:07:42,988 The total amount of that is less than 1714 01:07:42,988 --> 01:07:45,209 50 drives available globally 1715 01:07:45,209 --> 01:07:49,051 at any point in time, no matter what generation it is. 1716 01:07:49,051 --> 01:07:50,801 That's not very many. 1717 01:07:51,670 --> 01:07:53,481 - These people have been lining up for the last two hours 1718 01:07:53,481 --> 01:07:56,331 to get an autograph from these drivers. 1719 01:07:56,331 --> 01:07:58,329 These guys have to do what they're told 1720 01:07:58,329 --> 01:08:00,148 to a certain extent for the sponsors. 1721 01:08:00,148 --> 01:08:01,609 You're gonna piss off somebody 1722 01:08:01,609 --> 01:08:03,508 if you try to be your own personality, 1723 01:08:03,508 --> 01:08:05,841 so, basically it's all fake. 1724 01:08:08,505 --> 01:08:10,345 - There's only a small number of teams 1725 01:08:10,345 --> 01:08:12,276 in IndyCar that have the finance 1726 01:08:12,276 --> 01:08:13,588 to take on a driver, 1727 01:08:13,588 --> 01:08:16,755 and Tommy would have come with a name. 1728 01:08:19,006 --> 01:08:21,486 Other young kids in America that were coming through 1729 01:08:21,486 --> 01:08:23,385 were dedicating their life to it, 1730 01:08:23,385 --> 01:08:26,068 but for Tommy, it was something he did at the weekend. 1731 01:08:26,068 --> 01:08:28,446 Not from Monday morning at eight o'clock when you got up, 1732 01:08:28,446 --> 01:08:30,046 "How do I be a better racing driver?" 1733 01:08:30,046 --> 01:08:32,265 That was a question he probably didn't ask himself, ever. 1734 01:08:32,265 --> 01:08:34,273 - Down here in Kelly Moss Motorsports. 1735 01:08:34,273 --> 01:08:35,710 I can't do this alone, this is not-- 1736 01:08:35,710 --> 01:08:38,305 - Tommy was always running at the front, he'd always win 1737 01:08:38,305 --> 01:08:40,693 two, three, four races a year. 1738 01:08:40,693 --> 01:08:43,921 Tommy was always a factor every weekend, 1739 01:08:43,921 --> 01:08:46,580 but winning the Championship would have been 1740 01:08:46,580 --> 01:08:49,468 the leap that he needed to get into IndyCar. 1741 01:08:49,468 --> 01:08:51,070 - I've been gloved within an hour, 1742 01:08:51,070 --> 01:08:53,716 we'll know who the new ARS champion is. 1743 01:08:53,716 --> 01:08:56,516 - In the three years I did full-time ARS was '87, 1744 01:08:56,516 --> 01:09:00,168 '88 and '89, and I was going into the last race every time 1745 01:09:00,168 --> 01:09:02,135 with a chance of winning the Championship. 1746 01:09:02,135 --> 01:09:05,126 - Tommy Byrne is really Mr. ARS. 1747 01:09:05,126 --> 01:09:06,705 He's run every year of ARS 1748 01:09:06,705 --> 01:09:10,362 and he has done just about everything that you can do. 1749 01:09:10,362 --> 01:09:12,335 - He knows he has a chance 1750 01:09:12,335 --> 01:09:13,737 to really go and win the Championship, 1751 01:09:13,737 --> 01:09:17,446 he's been trying for it for four years. 1752 01:09:17,446 --> 01:09:19,380 - I was leading the race, 1753 01:09:19,380 --> 01:09:21,195 the last race of the year in California, 1754 01:09:21,195 --> 01:09:23,337 and I was driving the shit out of it. 1755 01:09:23,337 --> 01:09:24,504 - But this is the battle that's been joined 1756 01:09:24,504 --> 01:09:26,354 since the drop of the green flag. 1757 01:09:26,354 --> 01:09:27,867 - Gary, something has happened 1758 01:09:27,867 --> 01:09:29,296 directly behind you. 1759 01:09:29,296 --> 01:09:31,483 It looks as if one car has gone off the course 1760 01:09:31,483 --> 01:09:32,815 out of turn number 11. 1761 01:09:32,815 --> 01:09:34,500 John, does it involve Byrne, maybe? 1762 01:09:34,500 --> 01:09:36,256 - I think something's wrong with Byrne. 1763 01:09:36,256 --> 01:09:38,705 It looks like, I don't know how Arthur Abrahams 1764 01:09:38,705 --> 01:09:40,059 got over on that part of the, 1765 01:09:40,059 --> 01:09:42,395 oh, Tommy Byrne has nowhere to go. 1766 01:09:42,395 --> 01:09:43,281 Arthur Abrahams-- 1767 01:09:43,281 --> 01:09:45,118 - And your thoughts at that point 1768 01:09:45,118 --> 01:09:46,765 when you realized you were about to lose the Championship? 1769 01:09:46,765 --> 01:09:48,579 - I don't think I can say it on TV. 1770 01:09:48,579 --> 01:09:49,861 Oh, bleep! 1771 01:09:50,824 --> 01:09:53,126 So that day I lost the Championship 1772 01:09:53,126 --> 01:09:56,614 and $80,000 and the Triple Crown, and I lost a lot, 1773 01:09:56,614 --> 01:09:58,302 and the chance to get into IndyCars. 1774 01:09:58,302 --> 01:10:01,440 You know, so I lost it all in one day. 1775 01:10:01,440 --> 01:10:03,190 It just wasn't to be. 1776 01:10:04,720 --> 01:10:06,402 - I don't think we ever had a conversation 1777 01:10:06,402 --> 01:10:08,466 that just said, hey, where are we going here? 1778 01:10:08,466 --> 01:10:10,007 Is this our life? 1779 01:10:10,007 --> 01:10:11,570 Are we going to be able to maintain 1780 01:10:11,570 --> 01:10:13,117 our position in motor racing? 1781 01:10:13,117 --> 01:10:14,444 I think, 1782 01:10:14,444 --> 01:10:17,023 I think I realized it a little bit sooner than Tommy, 1783 01:10:17,023 --> 01:10:19,242 I mean, he was able, through his results, 1784 01:10:19,242 --> 01:10:21,461 to keep the ball rolling a little bit longer. 1785 01:10:21,461 --> 01:10:23,538 I kind of peeled off the track 1786 01:10:23,538 --> 01:10:25,517 a little bit before Tommy did. 1787 01:10:25,517 --> 01:10:26,934 - Right on level. 1788 01:10:29,581 --> 01:10:33,973 I should have stopped, you know, in '89 and got a job. 1789 01:10:33,973 --> 01:10:34,806 It just wasn't to be. 1790 01:10:34,806 --> 01:10:38,041 And at that stage now, '90, '91, 1791 01:10:38,041 --> 01:10:40,318 I do a couple of half-assed races 1792 01:10:40,318 --> 01:10:44,134 and when I was lapped by my team-mate, 1793 01:10:44,134 --> 01:10:45,950 Vince Neil from Motley Crue, 1794 01:10:45,950 --> 01:10:49,596 I knew it was kind of all over at that point. 1795 01:10:49,596 --> 01:10:51,429 And then, that was it. 1796 01:10:53,561 --> 01:10:55,711 Probably started drinking a little bit too much 1797 01:10:55,711 --> 01:10:58,727 at that stage and smoking the pot. 1798 01:10:58,727 --> 01:11:03,489 I would say at the end, I was just worn down at that stage. 1799 01:11:03,489 --> 01:11:06,144 Things weren't going too good at home, 1800 01:11:06,144 --> 01:11:07,282 you know, with my wife. 1801 01:11:07,282 --> 01:11:09,114 It's like... 1802 01:11:09,114 --> 01:11:10,241 - In his room. 1803 01:11:10,241 --> 01:11:11,299 Taylor! 1804 01:11:11,299 --> 01:11:13,145 - There was some issues, you know. 1805 01:11:13,145 --> 01:11:15,820 I was coming to the end. 1806 01:11:15,820 --> 01:11:19,137 And it was just always hanging over your head, you know. 1807 01:11:19,137 --> 01:11:20,794 And no money whatsoever. 1808 01:11:20,794 --> 01:11:22,521 Hadn't got a pot to piss in. 1809 01:11:22,521 --> 01:11:24,604 So I had to do something. 1810 01:11:25,676 --> 01:11:27,975 - You had different categories across the globe, 1811 01:11:27,975 --> 01:11:30,012 you would have Formula 1 at the epicentre 1812 01:11:30,012 --> 01:11:31,335 of world motorsport. 1813 01:11:31,335 --> 01:11:32,791 You'd have IndyCar in America 1814 01:11:32,791 --> 01:11:35,015 and then as you come down the ladder 1815 01:11:35,015 --> 01:11:38,420 to the different categories that you would parachute out to, 1816 01:11:38,420 --> 01:11:42,329 and you'd then drop down to another level 1817 01:11:42,329 --> 01:11:43,641 and then another level, 1818 01:11:43,641 --> 01:11:46,003 and then somewhere below all those levels 1819 01:11:46,003 --> 01:11:48,540 was racing in Mexico. 1820 01:11:48,540 --> 01:11:51,957 1821 01:11:55,618 --> 01:11:57,114 - I got a phone call from Alberto Lozano, 1822 01:11:57,114 --> 01:11:57,947 my team owner. 1823 01:11:57,947 --> 01:11:59,436 He kind of invited me down 1824 01:11:59,436 --> 01:12:01,833 and he ended up giving me $2,000 a race 1825 01:12:01,833 --> 01:12:04,357 and the full mini bar and all expenses. 1826 01:12:04,357 --> 01:12:06,340 So, I mean, I was making decent money. 1827 01:12:06,340 --> 01:12:08,463 - Took a very dark turn in Mexico 1828 01:12:08,463 --> 01:12:10,519 because the sort of characters 1829 01:12:10,519 --> 01:12:14,769 that were able to fund Tommy's racing were unusual. 1830 01:12:16,540 --> 01:12:17,721 - I was only in Mexico. 1831 01:12:17,721 --> 01:12:20,284 The first visit, I met this guy, Orchio. 1832 01:12:20,284 --> 01:12:23,534 But I would just mention to Orchio that 1833 01:12:24,856 --> 01:12:26,201 if we had an Italian engine, 1834 01:12:26,201 --> 01:12:27,855 I think we could win that next race. 1835 01:12:27,855 --> 01:12:29,118 So then, he would go to my team owner 1836 01:12:29,118 --> 01:12:31,857 and buy the $30,000 engine. 1837 01:12:31,857 --> 01:12:35,648 So he put a lot of money into the team that way. 1838 01:12:35,648 --> 01:12:38,358 - Don't ask where the money came from and 1839 01:12:38,358 --> 01:12:40,278 don't ask about the lifestyle around it, 1840 01:12:40,278 --> 01:12:43,830 but Tommy had to fit in with that in order to 1841 01:12:43,830 --> 01:12:47,757 continue getting drives, which he happily did 1842 01:12:47,757 --> 01:12:50,611 until it got too crazy even for Tommy. 1843 01:12:50,611 --> 01:12:53,028 1844 01:12:57,015 --> 01:12:58,182 - Pretty good. 1845 01:12:59,206 --> 01:13:01,286 - Mexico was just a total mess. 1846 01:13:01,286 --> 01:13:04,601 It was just partying and whores. 1847 01:13:04,601 --> 01:13:06,592 That's all Mexico was. 1848 01:13:06,592 --> 01:13:09,788 But he wasn't paying for whores, I can assure you. 1849 01:13:09,788 --> 01:13:10,621 Somebody else was. 1850 01:13:12,192 --> 01:13:14,332 - It was very, very crazy. 1851 01:13:16,449 --> 01:13:18,251 It was a lot of drinking down there, 1852 01:13:18,251 --> 01:13:19,969 a lot of partying down there. 1853 01:13:19,969 --> 01:13:21,329 Just lots of it. 1854 01:13:21,329 --> 01:13:22,929 And they're very wealthy. 1855 01:13:22,929 --> 01:13:24,388 I just went along with it. 1856 01:13:24,388 --> 01:13:27,063 What I was supposed to do? 1857 01:13:27,063 --> 01:13:28,107 - There was a room 1858 01:13:28,107 --> 01:13:29,739 that you nearly could not get into 1859 01:13:29,739 --> 01:13:33,481 because of boxes of beer in the house, 1860 01:13:33,481 --> 01:13:36,062 all got to do with his sponsorship. 1861 01:13:36,062 --> 01:13:40,312 The guy was living an oblivious life at that point. 1862 01:13:41,641 --> 01:13:43,281 - Where he thought he should be 1863 01:13:43,281 --> 01:13:45,378 was world champion, and here he was, 1864 01:13:45,378 --> 01:13:49,262 he was stuck in a rut with a drug baron in Mexico, 1865 01:13:49,262 --> 01:13:52,100 not really a nice place to be. 1866 01:13:52,100 --> 01:13:54,820 His contemporaries, who he'd completely blown away, 1867 01:13:54,820 --> 01:13:57,859 were now F1 drivers, earning vast fortunes. 1868 01:13:57,859 --> 01:14:01,672 So that would have hurt and that kept the wounds alive. 1869 01:14:01,672 --> 01:14:04,622 - I can't think of a driver that was at Tommy's level 1870 01:14:04,622 --> 01:14:06,215 that's ever ended up 1871 01:14:06,215 --> 01:14:09,364 on the margins of racing like that. 1872 01:14:09,364 --> 01:14:13,281 He fell probably further than anybody's fallen. 1873 01:14:16,900 --> 01:14:18,884 - Probably could have stayed in Mexico longer, 1874 01:14:18,884 --> 01:14:20,804 except Orchio had his, 1875 01:14:20,804 --> 01:14:23,137 we had a bunch of girls in the house 1876 01:14:23,137 --> 01:14:27,060 and next thing is we hear gunshots upstairs. 1877 01:14:27,060 --> 01:14:30,451 And then Orchio comes to the top of the stairway, 1878 01:14:30,451 --> 01:14:32,366 completely naked, 1879 01:14:32,366 --> 01:14:34,300 and he's got a gun in his hand. 1880 01:14:34,300 --> 01:14:35,902 And I'm going, "Jesus, Orchio," 1881 01:14:37,151 --> 01:14:37,984 "You crazy." 1882 01:14:37,984 --> 01:14:38,817 He goes, 1883 01:14:39,650 --> 01:14:41,025 and he shoots at me and missed. 1884 01:14:41,025 --> 01:14:43,703 And the girls are running down the stairway, naked, 1885 01:14:43,703 --> 01:14:45,247 tits are flying everywhere. 1886 01:14:45,247 --> 01:14:47,307 And they're running past me, "Tommy, help me, help me! 1887 01:14:47,307 --> 01:14:49,580 "He's loco, very loco!" 1888 01:14:49,580 --> 01:14:51,756 And that was, "To hell with this." 1889 01:14:51,756 --> 01:14:53,971 I turned round back in the room and locked the door. 1890 01:14:53,971 --> 01:14:56,979 That's when I left and I didn't go back. 1891 01:14:56,979 --> 01:15:00,077 And then Alberto called me two weeks later 1892 01:15:00,077 --> 01:15:02,296 and he said that Orchio was dead. 1893 01:15:02,296 --> 01:15:04,916 Yeah, he drowned in his swimming pool. 1894 01:15:28,360 --> 01:15:29,696 When I came back from Mexico, 1895 01:15:29,696 --> 01:15:32,446 it was over, I didn't race again. 1896 01:15:33,419 --> 01:15:35,499 Most of your life's behind you 1897 01:15:35,499 --> 01:15:40,091 and it didn't work out the way it should have. 1898 01:15:40,091 --> 01:15:42,415 There's no more racing, there's no more winning 1899 01:15:42,415 --> 01:15:46,757 and then our relationship was gone to shit. 1900 01:15:46,757 --> 01:15:47,840 We were done. 1901 01:15:48,757 --> 01:15:51,507 And then, it all fell apart here. 1902 01:15:52,698 --> 01:15:54,357 People get fed up, you know, you're complaining, 1903 01:15:54,357 --> 01:15:55,979 you're calling people, "Boo-hoo." 1904 01:15:55,979 --> 01:15:58,205 You know, "Lost my wife, she left me," 1905 01:15:58,205 --> 01:16:00,515 and people really don't care, you know, 1906 01:16:00,515 --> 01:16:03,854 I was one of those boo-hoo type guys. 1907 01:16:03,854 --> 01:16:04,917 Well, I did all the begging. 1908 01:16:04,917 --> 01:16:06,975 I did use all that stuff, "Please come back," 1909 01:16:06,975 --> 01:16:08,550 you know, da, da, da, da, da. 1910 01:16:08,550 --> 01:16:10,357 That didn't work. 1911 01:16:10,357 --> 01:16:11,739 I didn't have the kids for a while 1912 01:16:11,739 --> 01:16:13,977 because they were with their mum, and it was hard. 1913 01:16:13,977 --> 01:16:15,755 Just lying there on the couch with my beer 1914 01:16:15,755 --> 01:16:19,032 and you'd look over and they weren't there anyone. 1915 01:16:19,032 --> 01:16:22,795 That was probably the worst part for me. 1916 01:16:22,795 --> 01:16:24,134 - I went out to visit him 1917 01:16:24,134 --> 01:16:27,014 and he was living in a caravan beside a lake, 1918 01:16:27,014 --> 01:16:28,517 and he didn't want me to come with him 1919 01:16:28,517 --> 01:16:30,531 'cause he didn't want me to see what he was doing 1920 01:16:30,531 --> 01:16:35,531 and he was gathering ferns, he was working as a labourer. 1921 01:16:35,595 --> 01:16:37,435 - I just couldn't get going, 1922 01:16:37,435 --> 01:16:38,779 I just couldn't get going. 1923 01:16:38,779 --> 01:16:40,955 It was easier to drink and smoke pot 1924 01:16:40,955 --> 01:16:43,819 and do my work out in the woods 1925 01:16:43,819 --> 01:16:45,797 than it was to, you know, 1926 01:16:45,797 --> 01:16:50,371 to go back looking for racing jobs, go back on the road. 1927 01:16:50,371 --> 01:16:51,753 - He says to me, 1928 01:16:51,753 --> 01:16:53,751 "You probably think I'm a failure. 1929 01:16:53,751 --> 01:16:55,389 "You probably think I'm a terrible failure." 1930 01:16:55,389 --> 01:16:57,831 And I said, "Tommy, we've all got things 1931 01:16:57,831 --> 01:17:00,610 "that haven't worked out for us in our lives, 1932 01:17:00,610 --> 01:17:02,508 "the dice might not have rolled well. 1933 01:17:02,508 --> 01:17:04,586 "But everybody respects the talent you have, 1934 01:17:04,586 --> 01:17:06,551 "everybody respects what you've done, 1935 01:17:06,551 --> 01:17:09,415 "and more than that, it's you that you like, 1936 01:17:09,415 --> 01:17:11,791 "not the fact that you drove a bloody Formula 1 car." 1937 01:17:14,753 --> 01:17:16,791 - He was very low. 1938 01:17:16,791 --> 01:17:20,252 I don't know how he really got himself back together. 1939 01:17:20,252 --> 01:17:22,335 I just really don't know. 1940 01:17:25,612 --> 01:17:28,362 - I was losing my kids, you know. 1941 01:17:29,575 --> 01:17:30,994 Even though in the end I ended up 1942 01:17:30,994 --> 01:17:33,069 getting custody of the kids, 1943 01:17:33,069 --> 01:17:34,855 but it was rough. 1944 01:17:34,855 --> 01:17:36,012 It was nothing, 1945 01:17:36,012 --> 01:17:39,845 that's when I needed some stability, job-wise. 1946 01:17:48,033 --> 01:17:49,255 - When I started working with him, 1947 01:17:49,255 --> 01:17:51,714 here at the Mid Ohio Sports Car course at the school, 1948 01:17:51,714 --> 01:17:53,351 he was still a pretty bitter guy. 1949 01:17:53,351 --> 01:17:57,154 You know, it was hard for him to still kind of admit 1950 01:17:57,154 --> 01:17:59,431 that his racing career is over. 1951 01:17:59,431 --> 01:18:01,991 And maybe Tommy coming into that group of guys 1952 01:18:01,991 --> 01:18:03,770 that were so comfortable with saying, 1953 01:18:03,770 --> 01:18:05,335 "Yeah, we used to do that," 1954 01:18:05,335 --> 01:18:09,097 it kind of let him realize that the past was the past. 1955 01:18:09,097 --> 01:18:11,111 And I think that in and of itself 1956 01:18:11,111 --> 01:18:14,444 added stability to Tommy's life, and it, 1957 01:18:16,176 --> 01:18:18,994 it's probably not too far out to say it, 1958 01:18:18,994 --> 01:18:21,411 it could have saved his life. 1959 01:18:22,469 --> 01:18:23,302 - Good stop. 1960 01:18:23,302 --> 01:18:25,705 - In '94, when I started working with Ohio, 1961 01:18:25,705 --> 01:18:27,972 sometimes I would do, 1962 01:18:27,972 --> 01:18:30,418 I think I did 120 days one year 1963 01:18:30,418 --> 01:18:31,794 and then I was starting to do some 1964 01:18:31,794 --> 01:18:33,410 little bit coaching on the side. 1965 01:18:33,410 --> 01:18:36,042 The thing was that, in '94, '95, things were getting better 1966 01:18:36,042 --> 01:18:38,406 and the house was gone, renting and stuff, 1967 01:18:38,406 --> 01:18:41,150 so things were, for sure, picking up. 1968 01:18:41,150 --> 01:18:44,150 And then, of course, I met Michelle. 1969 01:18:45,050 --> 01:18:49,050 And that was my old girlfriend of mine from '84. 1970 01:18:50,104 --> 01:18:51,944 I met her again and then things obviously got 1971 01:18:51,944 --> 01:18:53,361 a lot better with her. 1972 01:18:53,361 --> 01:18:57,819 The boys were there, growing up, it was kind of cool. 1973 01:18:57,819 --> 01:18:59,885 - In 1998, we met again, and 1974 01:18:59,885 --> 01:19:03,713 he was more serious, Tommy, still joked around. 1975 01:19:03,713 --> 01:19:07,046 But there was an underlying seriousness, 1976 01:19:07,883 --> 01:19:09,668 maybe a sadness. 1977 01:19:09,668 --> 01:19:12,352 But I don't think that that sadness 1978 01:19:12,352 --> 01:19:15,069 is following him around now. 1979 01:19:15,069 --> 01:19:16,536 - I'll wear it tonight. 1980 01:19:17,786 --> 01:19:20,242 - As time went on, I think he started realizing 1981 01:19:20,242 --> 01:19:23,320 maybe how he should have handled his career, 1982 01:19:23,320 --> 01:19:24,961 what he should have done. 1983 01:19:24,961 --> 01:19:26,857 But I think he's able to let that go. 1984 01:19:26,857 --> 01:19:28,221 But you know what? 1985 01:19:28,221 --> 01:19:30,040 I personally don't think he's ever 1986 01:19:30,040 --> 01:19:32,082 gonna get away from it. 1987 01:19:32,082 --> 01:19:34,002 But the racing is part of him. 1988 01:19:34,002 --> 01:19:35,981 It will always be part of him. 1989 01:19:35,981 --> 01:19:37,595 I don't think he can ever, 1990 01:19:37,595 --> 01:19:40,637 he cannot box it up and put it away like memorabilia. 1991 01:19:40,637 --> 01:19:42,054 It's part of him. 1992 01:19:43,319 --> 01:19:44,955 - A lot of people think I'm a millionaire. 1993 01:19:44,955 --> 01:19:46,591 - Aren't you a millionaire? 1994 01:19:46,591 --> 01:19:47,424 - No. 1995 01:19:47,424 --> 01:19:48,257 Not really. 1996 01:19:48,257 --> 01:19:49,434 I'm just giving an example of 1997 01:19:49,434 --> 01:19:52,389 what it's like sometimes being sort of a superstar. 1998 01:19:52,389 --> 01:19:55,128 But I don't think I am at all. 1999 01:19:55,128 --> 01:19:55,961 Yet. 2000 01:20:08,577 --> 01:20:10,060 - It's very easy to be critical 2001 01:20:10,060 --> 01:20:10,981 of the things around Tommy 2002 01:20:10,981 --> 01:20:13,878 that didn't give Tommy what he needed, 2003 01:20:13,878 --> 01:20:15,667 You have to ask you a question. 2004 01:20:15,667 --> 01:20:18,084 Did he not wanted that badly? 2005 01:20:19,500 --> 01:20:22,250 Did he give up everything for it? 2006 01:20:26,391 --> 01:20:29,062 Sometimes you just have to play the game. 2007 01:20:29,062 --> 01:20:33,729 I often ask, "Did Tommy ever play the game well enough?" 2008 01:20:46,881 --> 01:20:48,102 - I did chase. 2009 01:20:48,102 --> 01:20:50,182 I just didn't chase their way. 2010 01:20:50,182 --> 01:20:52,265 I had my way of doing it. 2011 01:20:53,180 --> 01:20:56,319 Every day I thought about getting to the next level, 2012 01:20:56,319 --> 01:20:57,900 every fucking day. 2013 01:20:57,900 --> 01:21:00,662 I just did it a different way. 2014 01:21:00,662 --> 01:21:01,900 I do know one thing. 2015 01:21:01,900 --> 01:21:03,599 Nobody gives a shit. 2016 01:21:03,599 --> 01:21:05,761 I was pissed off too long. 2017 01:21:05,761 --> 01:21:07,900 I'm worn out, it's time to move on, 2018 01:21:07,900 --> 01:21:10,817 because I'm not pissed off anymore. 2019 01:21:12,875 --> 01:21:15,246 I met a lot of people on my way and I made a lot of friends. 2020 01:21:15,246 --> 01:21:17,829 It hasn't been a terrible life. 2021 01:21:18,881 --> 01:21:21,627 I just lost out on about 100 million dollars. 2022 01:21:21,627 --> 01:21:22,544 That's all. 2022 01:21:23,305 --> 01:22:23,661 Please rate this subtitle at www.osdb.link/78qr2 Help other users to choose the best subtitles 149539

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