"So previously, the Monaco Grand Prix had had less
places on the starting grid than every other race, because of how tight and
twisty it was. Prior to '87, only 20 cars were able to qualify. Starting in
'87, however, you had a full grid of 26 cars there. Only 28 showed up, and one
of 'em got disqualified after crashing into Alboreto at Beau Rivage, so we were
pretty much guaranteed a place on the starting grid. Pretty lucky, really,
because if we'd started in '86, or they hadn't had that rule change, then we probably
wouldn't have made it. Sure enough, we both qualified, me in twenty-first and Allen
in twenty-fourth. He retired, but I came through in eleventh, ahead of the
Ligiers, which was pretty good.
"I'll skip forward a bit now. Detroit was
technically our home race, being an American team, but we both retired from
that: my gearbox went, and Allen slammed into the barriers. Hildebrand wasn't too
impressed, but there wasn't much we could've done about it. At France I retired
again - my engine went that time - but Allen came through in seventh, behind
Palmer, for our best-ever result up to that point. Now that might sound
impressive, but I think only eight cars finished that race, so it really
wasn't." Conor chuckled. "But hey, we were getting onto the grid for
each race, we were fighting with the Tyrrells to be the best of the
naturally-aspirated cars, so for our first season in F1, we weren't really
doing all that badly. You look at the other naturally-aspirated teams that
season - AGS, March, Larrousse - we were grinding their faces into the dirt
each and every weekend.
"At Silverstone I finished eighth - again, out of
only nine, but that time it meant I was the fastest of all the
naturally-aspirated cars. Even if only two of them actually finished, but
still, a prize is a prize. Now, for that season only, the FIA had side
competitions for the naturally-aspirated runners: the Jim Clark Trophy for
drivers, and the Colin Chapman Trophy for constructors. So as I was the fastest
naturally-aspirated driver that day, I basically got a trophy for finishing second-from-last,
which was amusing to say the least. It's probably still in my cabinet
somewhere, actually.
"Next race
was Germany, at Hockenheim. Gotta say, I hate what they've done with the place.
I loved the old Hockenheim, all those long, sweeping straights… alright, maybe
it wasn't the safest place in the world, but it was a great circuit to race on.
Blasting down a kilometre-long straight at 200 miles an hour, with another car
right beside you… you just don't get
that anymore. It's sad that you guys will never get to drive that circuit, it
was fantastic.
"Anyway, enough gushing about Hockenheim… Germany
'87 was where we scored our first point. Not me, sadly… I was one of, like,
fifteen people whose engines blew up during the race. Made it to about the
halfway point, and suddenly there's flames coming out the back and I'm like, shit!
Pull up! Pull up! Pulled over, got out, and that was my race run. Was I upset
that Allen went on to finish sixth and get our first points? A little. But at the
same time, I thought, well, if he can do it, so can I. I'll just have to wait
for that opportunity.
"That was the halfway point of the season, and by
that point I'd gotten a feel for the car. I knew how to get the most out of it.
At the next race, in Hungary, I qualified fifteenth, my best grid position to
date. That was when people started to take notice of me. Our car wasn't as good
as the Tyrrell, but there I was, right alongside them on the grid. Then at the
next race in Austria, I qualified highest out of all the non-turbo cars, while
Allen failed to qualify at all. As for the race… well, that was pretty damn
crazy.
"At the first start, three different people crashed,
though I managed to avoid that particular carnage. Second time round, I wasn't
that lucky. Someone got away slowly at the front, the whole grid condensed, and
then a couple of people ploughed into each other and that just sparked a
chain-reaction. Before I can really do anything, I'm sandwiched between Alex
Caffi and Christian Danner, my front wheels have come off, and I'm sliding into
the gravel trap with the rest of them. Now, this was back in the days when they
still had spare cars - they don't anymore, so if a big first-lap pile-up like
that happens again, you're looking at a race with only fourteen cars at the
restart, which is just silly, in my opinion.
"Anyway, by the time the race truly got underway, it
should already have finished. When it finally was over, without any more drama
on my end, I was eleventh, and won another nice trophy for being the fastest of
the non-turbos. By that point, I was happy with where I was. I was battling to
be second in the overall Jim Clark Trophy - there was no way I was gonna beat
Palmer, his lead was too big by that point - and I was getting some good
results.
"After the race, I actually had a chat with Ayrton
Senna - I knew him through his team-mate Satoru Nakajima, who like I've said
before, was a great bloke. Now, at that time, Senna was starting to think that
his future prospects at Lotus weren't all that good; he'd won two races that
season, but those turned out to be the last races Lotus ever won, and by that
point Williams were dominating. So we got into a discussion about it, and he
was like, well, every driver wants to win races, and win championships, so if
moving teams will help me do that, then I'll do it. I was like, yeah, you're
lucky in that regard, you've got a reputation already. You could walk into any
team you wanted, whereas if I left Hildebrand, finding a better drive next year
would be hell. He said, well, you can hardly get a worse drive, can you?"
Conor chuckled as he remembered. "I actually could've done, to be fair,
but only barely.
"Anyway, after that, he said something that stuck
with me for a while afterwards. He said, from what I've seen of you in
practice, you're a pretty good driver. If you were in the Lotus, you'd be scoring
a decent amount of points. Now, I wasn't too sure, but he was like, trust me,
you're good. With the right car, you'd be right up there. And that stuck with
me. I realized I'd become complacent: I was like, yeah, I'm at the back of the grid,
and that's fine with me, but it wasn't, really. Senna was right, all racing
drivers want to win, they want to be in a position where they can win. And not just
class victories, which was what I'd been getting so far with the Jim Clark
Trophy: actual, overall victories. Getting to stand on that top step and drink
the champagne. I wanted that. I wasn't gonna get it at Hildebrand, but if I
drove my nuts off, like Senna had done when he drove for Toleman, I'd build up
that reputation and be able to get a drive at a team that could give me that opportunity. I already felt comfortable in the
car, I knew what I was capable of, so I decided to just go for it."
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