Show Notes
Tommy Byrne is every driver’s worst nightmare: a natural born racer. Someone who has such an innate feel for driving that driving fast is second nature. In this interview Tommy reveals the truth behind why he didn’t stay in Formula 1 and dominate in the way that his abilities predicted. He also discusses his unique speed secrets and a career overlapping with Ayrton Senna. Tommy has something in common with pretty much every top level Champion I’ve studied from his era of racing. He was a factory driver at Van Diemen in Formula Ford in the 80's. That fact alone doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, but what it did guarantee was SHED LOADS of seat time – fine-tuning the chassis – and developing as a driver. Practice perfects the art. My impression from speaking to Tommy is that he’s a real seat-of-the-pants cowboy who drove the wheels off everything he sat in. Watching his racing footage, you can tell that his style is cavalier but perfectly balanced. There’s plenty of archive footage of his driving for you to decide for yourself. I’m always fascinated by what makes someone ludicrously fast and it’s every racing driver’s job to observe and poach as much information from other competitors as possible. In the era before data-logging it was much harder to do so and the only way to observe was to follow in their wheel tracks, gauge their lines and braking points, the shifting weight of the car at turn in and hear the throttle inputs. Maybe one day I can get on track with Tommy in identical cars and have at it !!!
More from Some Say
That's the question that Ben Collins is asking in this episode of Some Say. It's been a long winter, but Ben is out of hibernation and ready for the new F1 season which is shaping up to be one of the best in the modern era, with a whole crop of new drivers joining the grid.
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I was lucky enough to recently visit the one and only Mat Armstrong's garage, to see just what it is that makes this YouTube sensation tick. I check out some of the latest exotic cars that he’s saving from the scrap heap, and hear more about his fascinating past and ambitious future plans. Mat is one of the nicest, most genuine guys on the scene, so it was great to finally see where most of his incredibly popular YouTube content is filmed from for myself. Thanks so much to Mat for having me down, and stay tuned for much more content with him very soon.
In my latest 'Some Say...' podcast, I sit down with the one and only @BenPearson1965 – one of the most familiar faces from the iconic Channel 5 'Police Interceptors' TV series, to get a candid and no-holes-barred insight into what really goes on behind the scenes with the British Police. Ben really did see it all during his time on the force, and thankfully, was willing to share some of the grittiest, surprising and sometimes alarming anecdotes with me during our chat.
"If you enjoyed part 1, brace for impact. Wilman tells us what really went down in the Deep South on the American Special, the Argentina debacle, why & how Top Gear became a hit, Clarkson vs Special Forces. How Wilman identifies as David Brent. I also included some revenge from the editors whose eyes bled on many a late night working with Wilman into the small hours to whittle the show into the masterpiece we wanted to see on Sunday at 8pm. This one's for the Top Gear die hards!!!! :)