Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2011 | Page 75

on the water

Island Life - February/March 2011

Roy and team with James Hunt in
1976 at the Zandvoort GP

spare parts. He smiled: “I really was
thrown in at the deep end.”
That was in 1972, and apart from a
break of a little over six years, he has
been an integral part of the McLaren
Formula One backroom team ever since.
In the early years he was one of just
12 people – these days the numbers
are more like 100 – who ran the show,
burning the midnight oil truck driving,
building, re-building and sometimes
repairing cars.
He also became responsible for all
the ‘paperwork’; the documentation
when the team travelled the globe
for Formula One races, ensuring all
was correct and in order, from flights

to hotel accommodation and vehicle
shipment. He explained: “It as just
another expansion of the job; what you
are expected to do within the industry
of motor sport. The numbers were small
so it was all about multi-tasking.”
In the early days Roy became friendly
with 1974 world champion Fittipaldi
and Maas, the latter giving him a Moto
Guzzi V700 motorcycle as a present
when he left McLaren. The friendships
have stood the test of time. Roy also
has particularly fond memories of the
legendary James Hunt, who won the
F1 drivers’ championship in 1976 in his
first year with McLaren.
“James was one of those guys who

Visit our new website - www.visitislandlife.com

was motor racing – life in the fast
lane; sex, drugs and rock and roll!
Ripped jeans, tee shirt and flip-flops
– that was him. We had lots of good
times work-wise and outside work,”
Roy recalls. “Most of the people still
at McLaren from those days have very
fond memories of the guy.
“When he won the F