I JOINED THE BRM TEAM when the first racing cars were being tested at Folkingham airfield and after a spell in the workshops at Bourne, was chosen to attend my first meeting as a motor racing mechanic in 1952, travelling to France for the Albi Grand Prix.

Over the next 17 years there were many similar assignments attending races in many countries in three continents but the highlight of my career with BRM was undoubtedly the time I spent as mechanic to Graham Hill in the run up to the world championship.

When we arrived in East London for the 1962 South African Grand Prix, we had already raced the cars at Johannesburg and Durban on the two preceding weekends and so the cars were getting a bit tired to say the least and we were also running short of spare parts.

The night before the race we worked all night trying to rebuild two raceworthy cars. But the good news was that someone came into the garage and said: "Cheer up lads. Lotus are in almost as bad a situation. They have gearbox problems." 

Another visitor to the garage was Sir Alfred Owen, owner of the BRM team. He must have been quite shocked to see the workshop floor strewn with precious racing car components. 

After a great deal of hard work we eventually had two raceworthy cars but their reliability could not be guaranteed by any means.

The situation now was critical. If Graham Hill won in the BRM he would be World Champion. If Jim Clark won in the Lotus he would be World Champion, and the truth was that Clark had a slightly faster car. Graham was ahead on points, but Jim could overtake him with a win.

Shortly before the race was due to start, Graham came to ask if all was OK. I assured him it was but little did he know that the clutch operating mechanism on his car had failed. With the assistance of John Sismey, we hastily changed the clutch master cylinder and all was well. To my knowledge Graham never knew of our problem.

The race began and as we expected, Jim Clark came round at the end of the first lap leading the race. His lead was increasing lap after lap until he was 30 seconds ahead. Graham was going well considering the cobbled up version of a racing car we had provided him with but it was just not fast enough to catch the flying Lotus.

At about three quarter distance, I could not believe my eyes when a faint trail of light blue smoke appeared from the rear of the Lotus. The smoke trail was more evident on the next lap and eventually it was forced to retire. No matter now, even if Graham failed to finish, he was the new World Champion. We were almost too tired to celebrate, but somehow we managed to do so.

It was an exhilarating time. BRM meant everything to me, good or bad. Travelling the world with the team following Grand Prix racing was challenging, hectic and stressful, sad and happy, the most glamorous of all sports. I rubbed shoulders with some of the best drivers of the day, including world champions, Juan Fangio and Mike Hawthorn, and worked with the best bunch of mates you could wish for. Though we toiled long hours in often difficult conditions, I consider myself privileged to have worked for BRM.

The BRM Day celebrations in Bourne in October 2012 were outstanding. I met many old friends from my racing days and also made some new ones. I sincerely thank the organisers for making this possible, to see and hear the old cars again was music to my ears. It is wonderful to know they are being so lovingly cared for. I am now in my 88th year and I am sure I will never see a day like this again.

WRITTEN OCTOBER 2012