F1Weekly Podcast # 1008
Play Podcast: 09-05-23f1weekly1008mp3
NASIR AND THE HOST CONTINUE CELEBRATING MAX’S MONZA VICTORY! MOTORSPORTS MONDIAL IS CHOCK FULL OF MONZA HISTORY, FACTS AND MORE. THIS WEEKS INTERVIEW FROM THE ARCHIVES, KARTING GURU…MULTIPLE WORLD CHAMPION…MARTIN HINES!
One man who is very well placed to explain the influence and inspiration of Hines is McLaren Group chairman Ron Dennis. The F1 team has helped and developed several young drivers who began in karting including, of course, Hamilton.
“There are many young drivers who can drive a kart quickly,” observes Ron, “but one of Martin’s great skills was to identify those extra qualities that made a driver stand out – the winner instinct. He believed in Lewis from the earliest stages. He could see that Lewis was a winner rather than someone who could merely drive quickly. When Martin told you that a young driver was the complete package, you could believe him. He realised that there was a substantial gap in the level of professionalism between karting and single-seaters, that this gap was an obstacle to many young drivers going forward, and he did his best to raise the level of karting so as to reduce the impact of that obstacle.
“Martin always believed that budget should not be the sole arbiter of whether a driver moves forward or not. There’s plenty of talent and commitment on display in karting, and once that talent has been identified it has to be developed and put to the test. I’m proud to say that McLaren has helped several drivers who are now racing at a senior level to take that step.”
One young karter who was guided along the path to glory is double British Touring Car Champion Jason Plato, who raced for Hines’s team from 1983-86. He says the world of karting will never be quite the same.
“Martin is irreplaceable, there will be nobody else like him who could do what he has done for the sport,” he says. “He was such a generous man, he bought me everything I needed as a young lad, did all the deals for us. But it wasn’t just the financial support – it was the advice he gave us. I will be eternally grateful for the start he provided. Karting was his passion, and his legacy will live on for longer than any of us. He could spot that extra special ingredient in a driver, see if there was a cake to be made if you like. He had the vision to understand who had the right ingredients, which he could then help mould into a winning racer. “The word ‘legend’ is so often misused but in this case it’s correct. At every level of the sport Martin enabled young drivers to achieve things that on their own they could not have done. Very few people actually make it to the top in motor sport, but Martin was involved with a great many of those who did.”
Hines’s autobiography is called Every Split Second Counts – My Life With Fast Karts, Fast Women and F1 Superstars. The first four words are a clue to how he lived his life because, as they suggest, he was very competitive. That much was obvious to anyone who worked alongside him in one of his businesses, at Grand Prix Racewear (GPR) or in one of his karting teams. At the GPR headquarters at Silverstone, the atmosphere is one of energy and passion and a drive to succeed that will remain despite the loss of its founder and leader.
“He had a spark that drew people to him, he was passionate about the sport. Just talking about him gives me a buzz,” says Tina, Martin’s wife of 32 years. “He was a ball of energy and it was tough to keep up with him at times. He was a hard man, yes, but the rows were soon over and done with. He never bore a grudge, everything had to be out in the open and when things bugged him they had to be aired. People knew where they stood with Martin and that was important to him.
“He just knew if a young driver was going to make it – not just their skills on the track but when he spoke to them, how they behaved. There was nobody like him for wheedling out fantastic drivers. He would see a young kid on a kart and he’d get so excited if he thought this was one who had what it takes. His spark will always be a part of ZIP karts, and all of us here will be working to guard his legacy. What we have lost is a great talent spotter.”
Among those at the BRDC clubhouse were the men who had raced alongside – or more often behind – Hines. They included Reg Gange, who was teamed with Martin at Hermetite, and who won the British Grand Prix on a ZIP kart at Silverstone – at the time the world’s fastest kart circuit.
“It was really very quick round here,” says Gange, looking at what used to be the old Woodcote corner, long ago emasculated into what we see today. “When I won, Martin had just produced the GP full body and only three of us had it. I had mine a week before the race and made some modifications… Fortunately they worked and I won the race by some distance. The following year Martin incorporated all my mods into his new kart, as you do. But it was hairy then, very fast, and there was catch fencing with virtually no runoff like you see today. We were doing 150mph under the bridge and into Woodcote, and the tyres weren’t really made to do those speeds, they used to pop if you weren’t careful.
“We took the racing seriously, but we partied hard too. It was different then – we had a laugh, we were all friends. Martin did so much for karting. Some people didn’t like what he did – they say it made karting unaffordable – but someone had to do it and we’d never have had Superkart racing without him. Martin made karting what it is today, no question. These days the rich and ambitious fathers are the problem – they all think their kid is the next Schumacher, and they’re not. Most kids will go quick on a kart by the time they’re 15, but it’s picking the special ones, that’s the trick. And Martin was very good at that.