The Ultimate Road Trip Podcast James Whalley & Louise Irving

Chef Ben Robinson from the superyacht reality TV series ’Below Deck’ joins me this week on the podcast! Ben’s experience in Michelin starred kitchens and on yachts, along with his British sense of humour and outlook on life obviously ticked all the producer’s boxes, as he appeared in the first series of the show back in 2013. Six further Seasons later and after gaining a huge following, he decided to concentrate on his own international catering business, specialising in holistic nutrition. As well as the road trip we chatted about getting through the pandemic, his current projects and of course ’Below Deck’ - as you’ll hear, the cooking wasn’t an issue, but his first time in front of the camera was a different kettle of fish!

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen driver Zhou Guanyu was one of the star drivers at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in June and I was very lucky to spend a few minutes with him on the Alfa stand in the middle of his packed schedule. After chatting about his move to the UK and rapid rise through the motorsport ranks to the heady heights of F1 and a successful start to his debut season, along with his thoughts on the Alfa Tonale, we then got onto his Ultimate Road Trip. As you’ll hear, I wished him all the best for the British Grand Prix the following weekend, but any luck for a successful result at Silverstone would be used up, walking away with just a few bruises after that terrifying crash at the start of the race.

This week on the podcast I’m joined by the Chief Executive Officer of W Series, Catherine Bond Muir. We met at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed where one of her Tatuus-Alfa Romeo F3 cars was just about to be driven up the famous Goodwood hill in front of thousands of spectators. 
Before we talked about her Ultimate Road Trip, Catherine told me why she started the W Series championship and how encouraged she’s been in making so much progress in a traditionally male dominated sport, in such a short period of time.

I’m joined by London-based automotive artist Ella Freire on this week’s episode of the Ultimate Road Trip Podcast. Inspired by stories of her Grandfather racing at Brooklands and in the Mille Miglia, Ella creates stunning silk screen prints of classics and supercars, framed in flame brushed acrylic and aluminium. She has exhibited at shows and events across the UK alongside taking on many private commissions, and has recently been involved in exhibitions to help raise funds for the London Air Ambulance and Auto Artists for Ukraine. Check out her fabulous pieces at www.freireprintz.co.uk

On this week’s episode I’m very lucky to be joined by one of the UK’s most popular entrepreneurs, Theo Paphitis. He’s best known for the BBC show ”Dragon’s Den” and his incredibly popular ”Small Business Sunday” weekly competition on Twitter, but I’ve known about his love of cars for many years, so thought he’d be the perfect guest for the podcast. But before going through his Ultimate Road Trip, we talked about the business of shopkeeping and how the industry has been affected by the pandemic.

On this week’s episode of the podcast I’m joined by one of the most influential designers of his generation and a man who likes his cars - a lot. Marc Newson has designed everything from an ashtray to an airport departure lounge and last year during lockdown it was great to chat with him online, touching on early years in Australia, his Ford concept car design and his Ultimate Road Trip, which he would like to undertake in two very different machines...