Some Say Ben Collins

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 !!!

In the second episode of my chat with my old Top Gear crew, I get Richard Porter to tell me what was the real story behind that number plate in Argentina, and Jim Wiseman tells me how those epic races between Clarkson and Hammond & May were always so close. Plus we find out who really were the best and worst guests. There may be a few naughty words in this episode. Produced by The Content Works. 

The real story behind Top Gear

He used to be The Stig, who never said anything, but now that's all about to change with Ben Collins' brand new podcast, Some Say.