52Paddy
7th October 2012, 23:46
A thought occured to me earlier while watching the BTCC race from Snetterton this year. How often has it happened that relatively old rookies have went on to have some form of success in motorsport? Here's a few I can think of but would be great to hear everybody else's suggestions. "Successful" is a word you can interpret your own way - it is not necessarily relating to statistics because they only tell so much.
Dave Newsham: Of course, the main inspiration for this thread. He became a race winner in the BTCC from that Snetterton round but, according to his wikipedia article, he only started racing in 2007. Having been born in 1967, Newsham was 39 or 40 years of age by that point.
Graham Hill: Having not passed his driving test till he was 24, Hill didn't get behind the wheel until his debut in 1954. Although this was not madly out of kilter for that time, being a double world championship over 10 years later is.
Damon Hill: Like father, like son. Damon started at 21 in motorbikes and was 32 when he got his first F1 drive. He quickly proved a real threat to a much, much younger Michael Schumacher.
Tommi Makinen: Admittedly a different route than F1, Makinen was still not behind the wheel until he was 23 upon entering the 1987 1000 Lakes Rally. A full factory drive didn't come until Mitsubishi, 1995 (aged 31). Then he took four titles on the trot.
I will research further but I'll let yous come up with your findings!
Dave Newsham: Of course, the main inspiration for this thread. He became a race winner in the BTCC from that Snetterton round but, according to his wikipedia article, he only started racing in 2007. Having been born in 1967, Newsham was 39 or 40 years of age by that point.
Graham Hill: Having not passed his driving test till he was 24, Hill didn't get behind the wheel until his debut in 1954. Although this was not madly out of kilter for that time, being a double world championship over 10 years later is.
Damon Hill: Like father, like son. Damon started at 21 in motorbikes and was 32 when he got his first F1 drive. He quickly proved a real threat to a much, much younger Michael Schumacher.
Tommi Makinen: Admittedly a different route than F1, Makinen was still not behind the wheel until he was 23 upon entering the 1987 1000 Lakes Rally. A full factory drive didn't come until Mitsubishi, 1995 (aged 31). Then he took four titles on the trot.
I will research further but I'll let yous come up with your findings!