Graham Hill: Driven


Graham Hill: Driven

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'It was late last night when Hill's own Piper Aztec

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'smashed into a screen of trees and burst into flames.

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'The plane burnt out in minutes,

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'but from the start, there was little doubt

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'that Britain had lost one of its greatest racing personalities.

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He was a regular bloke, with an irregular and extraordinary ability.

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An absolute icon of that period.

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He used to be in the middle of it all.

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He was the man.

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Graham was a giver.

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Full of humour and style.

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And he was a bloody good racing driver.

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I'd never been to a motor race,

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I'd never seen a motor race until the very first race I was in.

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It had never been a lifelong ambition or anything.

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So I was sitting on the start line,

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you know, wondering what the blazes was gonna happen

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and watching the flag, and somebody told me

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that the engine revs had 6,000 revolutions per minute,

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so I wound it up to 6,000 revs a minute

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and sat there, looking at the starter.

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He dropped the flag, I slipped my foot off the clutch

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and went up the road like a rocket! And I was in the lead, wasn't I?

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The popular image of the late Graham Hill

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was that of a fun-loving, fast-driving,

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quintessential Englishman with a keen sense of humour.

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Inevitably, the full picture was more complex.

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He was many things to many people.

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For my whole life, I've met people who've said,

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"Oh, I knew your dad, he was great."

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I've never met anyone that said,

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"Actually, this is the truth about your dad."

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He was a bit of a rascal, whatever you want to call that.

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He was just such a lot of fun.

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And yet frightening when he was serious.

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If things went wrong, he would get very, very angry indeed.

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Oh, my God, he was impossible.

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He was never punctual, ever, ever, ever.

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-He just broke the...

-The rules.

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He broke the rules, yeah. Exactly. He broke the rules.

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Who really was this man that lived by his own set of rules?

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What was he like to live and work with?

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30 years on from his untimely death, those that knew him best

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have decided to tell their side of his story.

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A story which began in the suburbs of north London in 1929.

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The son of a city stockbroker,

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Graham's childhood contained few clues

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that he would one day move amongst the most glamorous

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and influential people in the world.

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War broke out when he was 10, but the conflict had just ended

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by the time he was old enough to enlist.

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He spent his late teens as a technical apprentice

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at Smiths Industries, making clocks, before King and country called.

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When I first met Graham, he was doing his National Service

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in the flagship of the home fleet, which was HMS Swiftsure,

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and he was a petty officer, and he had to do two years,

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and we met at a rowing club.

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In addition to rowing, a passion for motorbikes provided some outlet

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for his adventurous spirit.

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But Graham was still searching for the ultimate thrill,

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until one day, he found it.

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I picked up a magazine that happened to be passing through the office

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and I saw an advert which said,

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"You can drive a racing car at Brands Hatch

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"for five shillings a lap."

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So I went down and had a quid's worth,

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which entitled me to four laps, and it was those four laps

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that the bug bit. It was then that I decided this is what I wanted to do.

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So then I sort of chucked up my job

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and I went as a sort of freelance mechanic,

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working on people's cars for the sake of a drive.

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I wouldn't accept money. I'd barter with them, saying,

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"If I prepare your car for you, will you let me drive it?"

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It was hard. It was very hard.

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People didn't get into motor racing as they do now, with backing.

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He was driving anything that anybody would offer him.

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And he did a few races,

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and one day, on his way back from Brands Hatch,

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he got a lift with a chap who turned out to be Colin Chapman,

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who built Lotus racing cars.

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And he gave him a job as storeman in the Lotus engineering factory.

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Then they said "Well, you can have a drive," and he was quite good at it,

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so they signed him up.

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But he had no money.

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In those days, you couldn't commit yourself to a marriage

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unless you had at least enough to pay for the reception,

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which I paid for.

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Graham threw everything he had into the sport,

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gaining valuable experience and steadily climbing

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the motor racing ladder.

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The whole atmosphere just entranced him

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and he was just completely hooked.

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And so it went on.

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And in 1958 at Monaco, he lined up in his first Formula 1 Grand Prix.

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Well, a great start, and off I went.

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And after 75 laps, I found myself in fourth place.

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I thought, "This is great, Formula 1 racing's a piece of cake."

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And then my back wheel fell off.

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The trouble was, Colin could build a very light, very competitive car,

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but he couldn't build one that would last a race,

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and it simply fell to pieces.

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And it fell to pieces race after race after race.

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And Graham got increasingly disgruntled by that.

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It was becoming harder and harder for him to contain his frustration.

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Graham recorded some of his frustrations in a series of diaries,

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now in the hands of his son, Damon.

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This book is from 1959.

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What he's recorded in this particular piece

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is something to do with his relationship with Colin Chapman.

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There appears to be a breakdown in the relationship

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where he says something to the effect of,

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"As the designer, I felt he should have been working on the cars

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"to try and discover why they were so slow."

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And he goes on to say, "I suggested to him

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"that he had lost interest in Formula 1 racing.

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"He assured me that he had not,

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"and that he was very busy with the new factory."

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Needless to say, my dad wasn't racing for Lotus the next year!

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With clouds of discontent gathering over the Lotus factory,

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Graham was offered a drive with rival team BRM.

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It was a gamble, but he took it.

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When I joined BRM, everyone was saying,

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"Well, that's a mistake," you know, "He's joined a losing team."

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It wasn't beating the foreign cars, Ferraris, Lancias and Maseratis,

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it was being thoroughly trounced.

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Graham adopted a hands-on approach to the task

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of producing a car capable of winning races,

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working closely with the team's chief designer, Tony Rudd.

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It proved to be a formidable partnership.

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Graham and Tony Rudd clicked immediately.

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They worked very well together,

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and they both had this same burning desire to win.

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'The Grand Prix of Italy at Monza,

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'counting in the World Driving Championship, a 310-mile race.

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'Surprise of the racing season is the sensational advance of Graham Hill.'

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'Driving a BRM, he was in the lead early in his race.

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'Hardly challenged, Hill won easily.

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'He's set for the World Championship.'

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They were racers through and through, and they found their quarry,

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which was the World Championship, and they bloody well won it.

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We were so excited. I mean, he was beside himself,

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and I was so thrilled and everybody was thrilled for him,

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so it was a fantastic occasion.

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These are cuttings when Graham won the World Championship

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in South Africa, with the lovely BRMs.

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Look at that.

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They've been up in that wardrobe for years,

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since I've been here, 13 years.

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Amazing how we used to keep them... religiously.

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Tony Rudd.

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Oh, look, this is outside our home at Mill Hill.

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He looks so young.

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But what are people's reactions to you?

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I mean, you stop at a set of traffic lights, and you do this,

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and they see it's Graham Hill there, or...

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Well, it varies, it depends on what I've just done, but I mean...

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But you can see, you're sitting there waiting

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and then you see a lot of white things moving like this

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and you look across, and everyone's going like this,

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and then they all start going over the wheel...

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Revving up, when the lights go green, there's great waves

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and they wave you on like this.

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It's...you know, I mean, I get thoroughly spoilt.

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Graham was now a top contender on the Formula 1 grid.

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But back at Team Lotus, former boss Colin Chapman

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had found a talented new driver by the name of Jimmy Clark.

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The early '60s bore witness to titanic battles between the two,

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with Clark taking the Drivers' Championship twice,

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and Graham runner-up three years in a row.

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But there was one race on the calendar

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where Graham was second to no-one.

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Monaco.

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Here, the tight, twisting Mediterranean street circuit

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provided exactly the kind of challenge that Graham thrived on.

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Graham simply outclassed all his rivals to win,

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not just once, but three times in a row.

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When he won for the third time, that really was a performance

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that matches with the best of all the greats, going back through history.

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Fantastic day.

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As the Monaco public hailed their new hero,

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few of them could appreciate the hard work of the mechanics

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taking place behind the scenes.

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It was hard work, there's no doubt about it.

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I don't know if the mechanics these days work the hours we used to,

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but if we were working late, Graham would come back

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and check out, see what we were doing.

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That's one way I think he got the better out of us,

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through doing that.

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He was very, very demanding,

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and he could be very brief and abrupt with them.

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On the other hand, he'd be the bloke to pitch up at the transporter

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with a crate of beer.

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He was one of us. I think he was happier in the carriages

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than he was mixing with the royalty.

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But he was hard, he was a hard man.

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And on race morning, or immediately before a race, don't go near him.

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Intense focus, incredibly short fuse.

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As a young journo, he crushed me a couple of times before I learned.

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Few could challenge Graham's authority,

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either off or on the track.

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But in 1965, the team signed up a pint-sized Scotsman

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with big potential.

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I could have gone to Cooper, I could have gone to Lotus,

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but I chose to go to BRM

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because I thought it would be a more thorough apprenticeship.

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I thought I would get more testing.

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I saw Graham as a good man to understudy.

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Graham recognised the challenge was coming from Jackie.

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He never really showed it, but I could sense it.

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And Jackie was very quick.

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I mean, it really was a bit irksome at times

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to see this young whippersnapper from the Highlands

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come and beat everybody, you know.

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I explained to Graham

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that because he was a bigger driver,

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and they were small cars in those days, he had a bigger windscreen,

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and Jackie's car would be quicker than Graham,

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and Graham said, "Well, what are you gonna do about it?

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"Chop me bloody head off?"

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For a number one driver to suddenly be threatened

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by the new little whippersnapper, if you like, a younger driver,

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was a very difficult thing, I would have thought,

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for anybody to deal with.

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And Graham dealt with it fantastically.

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But although they were intensely competitive,

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they genuinely seemed to have had this remarkably friendly,

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supportive relationship one to the other.

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This is a very painful business for me,

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to come here and present this award to Jackie.

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I'm only too delighted to see that it's for one month!

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AUDIENCE LAUGH

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But he thoroughly deserved it, he's had a fantastic season.

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But for Christ's sake, lay off!

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AUDIENCE LAUGH

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Graham wasn't above playing mind games, you know.

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He'd hop out of his car on the starting grid

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and wander across, and sniff around his rivals' cars on the grid.

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Then he'd suddenly glance at a tyre,

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and his eyes would go wide, and then he'd give a little knowing smile

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and just make sure that the driver sitting in the car

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had seen that knowing smile.

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Then, without saying another word, he'd just walk back to his car

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with an extra spring in his step.

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But Graham understood there was a time and place for gamesmanship.

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When team-mate Jackie Stewart crashed

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during the 1966 Belgium Grand Prix, he came to the rescue.

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He'd aquaplaned off, and he found, in the ditch, Jackie's car

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with Jackie trapped inside it.

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Graham saw me from inside his car.

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He looked down and saw me in this drop-off area.

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Could have continued, but didn't. He came to help me.

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And Jackie was sitting, sort of half way up to his waist in fuel,

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and he was trapped, he couldn't get out.

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And it took them 25 minutes at least to get me out the car.

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The steering wheel trapped me in the car.

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They eventually found some way of taking the steering wheel off

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and getting him out.

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And Graham said, when they got him out, they took his overalls off

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because they were soaked in petrol.

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In those days, we were using high-octane aviation fuel,

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and that is very corrosive, and it was burning my skin off.

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So Graham took all my clothes off.

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Literally, I was lying naked in the back of a farm truck.

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And the story is, and it's a true story, nuns arrived

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and found me naked in the back of this truck.

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And you can imagine what the nuns were thinking.

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Poor injured racing driver being taken advantage of

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by devilish-looking racing driver with moustache.

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In spite of being keen rivals, the bond and mutual respect

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amongst drivers of that era was, in fact, remarkably high.

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They were a close-knit fraternity, a unique band of brothers.

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I mean, I love the other drivers, I was going to say intimately,

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but that's not the right word I was looking for.

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I know them quite well, and we're just good friends. But, er...

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Graham, Jackie and Jimmy in particular became firm friends.

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With their sharp suits and even sharper wit,

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they were the Three Musketeers of Formula 1.

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We just had fantastic times together.

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And we all moved around together.

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We either played golf together, or shot together,

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or we partied together.

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Graham was extroverted,

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and he, therefore, was the kind of leader of the pack.

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Yeah, Graham was always up to something.

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Team owner John Coombs recalls one of Graham's more infamous antics

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that went disastrously wrong.

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A charity party,

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and the entertainment was strippers.

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And I'll never forget Graham getting up

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and suddenly taking his trousers off.

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And then decided to run down the table to the lady at the end.

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What he intended to do when he got there, I don't know.

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And he suddenly tipped over some glasses,

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tripped up, and the glass broke,

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and the stem of this long glass and goblet went right up his leg,

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right into the calf of his leg, the muscle of his leg.

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Of course, we had to take him to hospital and get this taken out.

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It was sticking in like a dagger!

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You know, you have to say, he got a reaction from people.

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Otherwise he wouldn't have done it, and he knew that made people laugh

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and it seemed to break the ice, or it broke something,

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and that's what I think my dad loved.

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I think he actually knew that here he was, with an opportunity

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to crack a smile, and so he did more and more outrageous things.

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Graham embraced the swinging '60s with a passion.

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He found a kindred spirit in the sculptor David Wynne,

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who recalls his friend having a keen eye for the ladies.

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He had a keen eye for the ladies.

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It's not only fair, it's dead on the mark.

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I loved women, he loved women,

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and he took much more liberties than I ever did.

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If you put it that way!

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The girls flocked round him, old gentlemen flocked round him,

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the young boys flocked round him. He was the man.

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There was David Niven and people like that,

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and, you know, Errol Flynn, all these guys with moustaches

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and who kind of had that sort of image.

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And I think that my dad sort of slotted into this idea

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of a kind of cad, kind of British person

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who could be a charmer one minute,

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the next minute, be standing on the table, dropping his pants.

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No, not really, no.

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It is a way of life, if you like, it's a profession,

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and it's something I really enjoy doing,

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it gives me a great kick out of life and it pays well.

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You have to put this in, because, I mean, I'm able to afford

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to go motor racing, cos I get paid very well for doing it,

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so this puts the icing on the cake.

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Graham was always intensely interested in making money.

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And the biggest money in motor racing was in America.

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'Racing's greatest day begins, the Indianapolis 500 Classic.

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'Number 24, Graham Hill of London leads,

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'number 19, Jim Clark of Scotland.

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'The chequered flag ends it, Hill the winner, winning over 156,000.

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'Hill takes the Classic 500 on his first try.'

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Well, he wouldn't let me go there.

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He said it wasn't a place for women.

0:21:490:21:52

To begin with, when he went there,

0:21:520:21:54

they didn't have doors on the toilets.

0:21:540:21:57

The cubicles had no doors on them.

0:21:570:22:01

Now, in Europe, there was a little dignity involved,

0:22:010:22:05

that you had a door to the loo.

0:22:050:22:08

Graham absolutely got obsessed by this.

0:22:080:22:13

He solved that one. There were doors on the toilets the next day.

0:22:130:22:17

He thought it was terribly rude,

0:22:170:22:21

and they thought it was terribly English.

0:22:210:22:23

Prize money from the Indy 500 enabled Graham to splash out

0:22:250:22:28

on his own twin-engine aircraft.

0:22:280:22:30

Yeah, he bought himself a plane.

0:22:300:22:32

I think Jackie Stewart was learning to fly.

0:22:320:22:35

Jimmy flew, and so Graham had to fly.

0:22:350:22:39

It cut down the travelling.

0:22:390:22:41

And he just loved the flying.

0:22:410:22:44

I wasn't too keen.

0:22:440:22:46

A packed international racing schedule

0:22:460:22:48

ensured Graham made much use of his new plane.

0:22:480:22:51

He was always on the move.

0:22:510:22:54

He was also, by now, the father to three children,

0:22:540:22:57

Brigitte, Damon and Samantha.

0:22:570:22:59

But the time they could spend together was all too rare.

0:22:590:23:02

How about the family?

0:23:040:23:05

How do they find your being away as often as you are?

0:23:050:23:08

Difficult to say, I think.

0:23:080:23:11

I think they're quite used to it, the young ones,

0:23:110:23:13

it's always been the same for them, so they don't know any different.

0:23:130:23:17

They probably assume everybody's daddy does the same thing.

0:23:170:23:20

I know they seem to be fairly pleased to see me.

0:23:200:23:23

I think it gives them a bit of relief when I do go away!

0:23:230:23:28

I think we were... I was aware of long absences,

0:23:290:23:32

I was aware of him not being there,

0:23:320:23:34

and I think that there were times

0:23:340:23:40

when you wanted him to be there.

0:23:400:23:42

And I remember Christmases, him flying off on Boxing Day

0:23:420:23:47

you know, it was Christmas Day, and then you're back onto the next.

0:23:470:23:50

But that's the way it was.

0:23:500:23:52

We were aware in the family that he had a mission,

0:23:520:23:55

that he was someone going somewhere,

0:23:550:23:56

so whenever we did anything together,

0:23:560:23:58

it was in almost a military operation.

0:23:580:24:00

And he was the commander, and we jumped when he said,

0:24:000:24:04

"Right", you know, "In the car," or, "In the plane."

0:24:040:24:08

He was very Victorian, actually, in that respect,

0:24:080:24:11

because he expected them to get up when he arrived home and say hello.

0:24:110:24:17

And children just don't do that sort of thing,

0:24:170:24:20

especially when they're engrossed in a television programme.

0:24:200:24:23

So we used to always say, "Ah, I hope he doesn't,

0:24:230:24:26

"that's not him, is it, coming down the drive?" You know?

0:24:260:24:29

One place Graham felt he was losing control was at BRM.

0:24:290:24:33

Their best days were now behind them and it was time to find a new team.

0:24:330:24:39

He surprised everyone by rejoining his old one, Team Lotus.

0:24:390:24:43

Colin Chapman had approached me

0:24:430:24:47

to see if I'd join his team, with Jimmy Clark.

0:24:470:24:50

And it was a hell of a decision to make,

0:24:500:24:52

having been with the team for seven years,

0:24:520:24:54

and there I was, going to move to another team,

0:24:540:24:57

somebody else's team, with another driver,

0:24:570:24:59

the regular number one.

0:24:590:25:02

Colin Chapman's number one priority was caring for Jimmy.

0:25:020:25:06

I don't think there was a problem,

0:25:060:25:08

it's just that Jimmy was the chosen one.

0:25:080:25:11

He was so talented, you see, and he was so...

0:25:180:25:21

Which was infuriating, actually, because it was so easy for him.

0:25:210:25:25

In theory, it seemed like the ultimate dream team.

0:25:270:25:30

Two World Champions, a brilliant designer,

0:25:300:25:34

and some quick, new machinery.

0:25:340:25:36

But it wasn't long before the old problems resurfaced.

0:25:370:25:40

Chapman's cars were fast, but still fragile.

0:25:400:25:44

'More bad luck for Hill,

0:25:440:25:46

'whose engine has gone beyond the point of no return.

0:25:460:25:50

'A season's run of ill fortune

0:25:500:25:51

'hasn't affected the patience and good humour of this popular driver.'

0:25:510:25:55

But when the camera stopped rolling and the crowd had dispersed,

0:25:580:26:01

patience and good humour were often in short supply.

0:26:010:26:04

If things went wrong, he would get very, very angry indeed,

0:26:060:26:10

and the atmosphere within that team and around him

0:26:100:26:13

could be absolutely foul, I think.

0:26:130:26:16

Graham's former race mechanics at Team Lotus

0:26:160:26:19

remember some of those testing times.

0:26:190:26:22

Graham was a great guy.

0:26:240:26:25

No mistake about that, you know?

0:26:250:26:29

Wonderful bloke to be with, terrific company, etc, etc, etc.

0:26:290:26:34

Put him in a car and he's bloody impossible...

0:26:340:26:38

because he kept records of everything he ever did

0:26:390:26:46

in every car he'd ever driven, you know?

0:26:460:26:49

You'd say, "What did you have here last year, Graham?"

0:26:490:26:53

and he could tell you the ride heights

0:26:530:26:55

and the spring rates, you know.

0:26:550:26:58

Lovely man, but he was a nightmare to work for during the race meeting.

0:26:580:27:03

-Really was.

-He could be difficult.

-Difficult.

0:27:030:27:06

And I know I've got a bit of a reputation for being awkward,

0:27:060:27:10

so I'm told.

0:27:100:27:13

And I think this is because, you know, I expect,

0:27:130:27:15

I set very high standards for myself

0:27:150:27:18

and I expect other people to come up to that same standard.

0:27:180:27:22

So you're bound to be...

0:27:220:27:23

If you don't get what you want, you're bound to press for it

0:27:230:27:26

and although it might mean somebody else working that little bit harder,

0:27:260:27:30

they might think I'm being particular,

0:27:300:27:32

but I want everything to be exactly right,

0:27:320:27:34

and that's the way I drive and the way I expect things to be done.

0:27:340:27:38

On the whole, I think it pays off.

0:27:380:27:41

Graham's opinions on improving the car's performance

0:27:410:27:44

were not always welcomed by his designer, Colin Chapman.

0:27:440:27:47

Clashes were inevitable.

0:27:470:27:49

He'd been kingpin at BRM for years,

0:27:500:27:55

and he was used to getting his own way.

0:27:550:27:58

Now, when he came to us, we had a different way of working,

0:27:590:28:04

because the guy who set the cars up

0:28:040:28:08

was actually the old man, not the driver.

0:28:080:28:11

Brian would come along all smiles.

0:28:110:28:14

"How're we doing, lads?

0:28:140:28:16

"Now, what have we got on?" And he'd start to look at the car.

0:28:160:28:20

"What springs have you got on there?"

0:28:200:28:22

And you would end up changing the springs,

0:28:220:28:25

changing the roll bars, altering the ride heights.

0:28:250:28:28

Started practice with an unknown car, basically.

0:28:280:28:32

And then there's a shout from the pit counter.

0:28:320:28:34

"What the hell are you doing there?"

0:28:340:28:36

You know, "It's my car and you'll do what I tell you".

0:28:360:28:42

So things could get, you know, a little bit fraught

0:28:420:28:49

on that sort of basis.

0:28:490:28:50

When temperatures reached boiling point,

0:28:500:28:54

Graham had the perfect solution.

0:28:540:28:55

Throw a party.

0:28:550:28:57

When the race was over, Graham would enjoy life.

0:29:000:29:03

He loved parties. Great party man.

0:29:030:29:06

And gave some good parties.

0:29:060:29:07

When Graham arrived, the party was...the room was alive.

0:29:070:29:11

I think we had some of the best parties

0:29:130:29:15

that anyone ever gave at Mill Hill.

0:29:150:29:18

And we had all the racing drivers.

0:29:180:29:20

Jimmy used to bring a different girl every time, and things like that.

0:29:200:29:25

There's loads of pictures of people like Jim Clark

0:29:260:29:29

jumping up and down on trampolines in the back garden,

0:29:290:29:32

and the whole Formula 1 fraternity in our back garden,

0:29:320:29:35

jumping up and down on trampolines!

0:29:350:29:38

And there was a woman there.

0:29:400:29:42

She had a very thin, narrow, long, black dress on,

0:29:420:29:46

and she just ripped it up the sides, and did the limbo

0:29:460:29:50

under this sort of bamboo stick. It was wonderful.

0:29:500:29:54

The police turned up and they were invited into the party,

0:29:540:29:58

and before you knew it...

0:29:580:29:59

Two of the girls disappeared, and they'd gone with the policemen.

0:29:590:30:04

They ended up staggering out of the party many hours later,

0:30:040:30:08

and the next day, they had to come back

0:30:080:30:10

cos they'd forgotten their helmets and their truncheons!

0:30:100:30:14

Riotous times. There were some riotous times.

0:30:140:30:17

It was wonderful.

0:30:170:30:19

We had children and life was lovely, you know.

0:30:210:30:25

We had money, we had a house.

0:30:250:30:26

Things were very on the up and up,

0:30:260:30:29

and, you know, we were living in the sort of luxury

0:30:290:30:32

that we never dreamt that we would have.

0:30:320:30:35

You know, it was wonderful times. Wonderful times.

0:30:350:30:39

-There you are.

-Oh, there's me! Oh, gosh.

-Wow.

0:30:410:30:44

Oh, glamour puss.

0:30:440:30:46

Absolutely.

0:30:460:30:48

THEY LAUGH

0:30:500:30:52

-There's daddy.

-There's daddy. Gosh, look. Yeah.

0:30:550:30:59

# Guantanamera

0:31:030:31:06

# Guajira, Guantanamera

0:31:060:31:10

# Guantanamera

0:31:120:31:15

# Guajira, Guantanamera

0:31:150:31:20

# Yo soy un hombre sincero

0:31:200:31:23

# De donde crece la palma

0:31:240:31:28

# Yo soy un hombre sincero

0:31:280:31:33

# De donde crece la palma

0:31:330:31:37

# Y antes de morirme quiero

0:31:370:31:42

# Echar mis versos del alma

0:31:420:31:45

# Guantanamera

0:31:470:31:51

# Guajira, Guantanamera

0:31:510:31:53

# Guantanamera

0:31:560:32:00

# Guajira, Guantanamera... #

0:32:000:32:05

But Graham had been in the game long enough

0:32:260:32:28

to know that the sport he loved had a serious downside.

0:32:280:32:31

It was extremely dangerous.

0:32:330:32:35

I mean, you know, I get afraid and I think everybody gets afraid.

0:32:440:32:48

Everybody, any normal person does.

0:32:480:32:50

If you don't get afraid,

0:32:500:32:52

you've got no imagination and you won't last long.

0:32:520:32:54

And we saw so much of death, it was hideous.

0:33:030:33:07

There's no question that the danger element was felt.

0:33:130:33:18

As I grew up, I must have become gradually more and more aware

0:33:180:33:22

of the fact that he was doing something not only unusual

0:33:220:33:24

that people reacted to, but also that it was dangerous.

0:33:240:33:27

But then, in April '68, it happened to Jimmy Clark.

0:33:320:33:37

And that just didn't seem possible, because Jimmy was just the best.

0:33:400:33:45

And Graham said, if it can happen to Jimmy,

0:33:510:33:53

it makes you realise it can happen to any of us.

0:33:530:33:55

You know, it's a terrible time for any driver.

0:34:000:34:03

And it's very difficult to describe loss

0:34:030:34:06

and how it affects you, but you've just got to draw a blank across it.

0:34:060:34:13

Jimmy going and Graham taking the team over and replacing Jimmy

0:34:150:34:21

put unbelievable weight on Graham.

0:34:210:34:27

He literally picked those mechanics up, you know, by their trouser legs

0:34:270:34:31

and, "Come on, we've got to do something about this!"

0:34:310:34:34

And he was amazing, you know.

0:34:340:34:36

That's when the toughness came in, you know.

0:34:360:34:39

It's a character of the man, really amazing.

0:34:390:34:43

When he won the next race after Jimmy's death,

0:34:450:34:48

the Spanish Grand Prix, that was fantastic.

0:34:480:34:51

Come back and hit them where it hurts straight away.

0:34:510:34:53

It came down to the very last race in Mexico City.

0:35:190:35:24

And we raced...

0:35:240:35:28

and Graham won.

0:35:280:35:29

And that was when he won his 1968 Championship.

0:35:380:35:42

It was the right thing.

0:35:440:35:46

He was a very worthy and a very good World Champion for the sport.

0:35:460:35:51

And he was very much the people's champion.

0:35:550:35:57

Very much the people's champion.

0:35:570:35:59

Graham's second World Championship cemented his popularity

0:36:010:36:05

throughout the entire world.

0:36:050:36:06

But nowhere was he more revered than at Monte Carlo.

0:36:060:36:11

Going to Monte Carlo was like going home.

0:36:110:36:14

It really was.

0:36:140:36:15

Coming out of the Hotel de Paris

0:36:150:36:17

and walking down that hill to the pits,

0:36:170:36:21

people were throwing roses at Graham.

0:36:210:36:23

I was quite emotional about the fact that they loved him so much.

0:36:230:36:28

And they did, you know.

0:36:280:36:30

"Graham Hill!" You know.

0:36:300:36:32

And he used to wave away.

0:36:320:36:34

He just loved it.

0:36:350:36:37

And then, of course, the moment he got there with his car,

0:36:370:36:41

different character.

0:36:410:36:42

When he won there for the final time,

0:37:040:37:06

that was really, absolutely, the pinnacle of his career.

0:37:060:37:10

And that really was absolutely his stage, you know,

0:37:100:37:18

and he just sort of bestrode it like a colossus, quite honestly.

0:37:180:37:22

Graham Hill was Mr Monaco.

0:37:320:37:34

I mean, he won the Monaco Grand Prix five times

0:37:340:37:39

and it was kind of his patch.

0:37:390:37:41

The penniless part-time mechanic from north London

0:37:500:37:53

had indeed come a long way.

0:37:530:37:55

By the end of the '60s, you know, my father was a wealthy man,

0:37:580:38:02

and he was enjoying the spoils of success.

0:38:020:38:07

That shifted him into another arena.

0:38:070:38:09

You see, I think he was starting to find

0:38:090:38:11

that there was a Graham Hill that didn't need to race a car.

0:38:110:38:14

He used to do a lot of work for charity, a lot of work for charity.

0:38:140:38:19

And of course, there was always the dinner dances to go to.

0:38:190:38:23

And people enjoyed his company.

0:38:230:38:26

What I thought I'd do, I thought I'd bang on for a bit,

0:38:260:38:29

and then if you have any questions that you might like to ask,

0:38:290:38:34

I'll give a little opportunity to get them in.

0:38:340:38:37

But don't worry if you can't think of any,

0:38:370:38:40

because I've got several that I can ask myself

0:38:400:38:43

and I'd like to know the answers to anyway.

0:38:430:38:47

Graham was incredibly funny and had a great turn of words,

0:38:470:38:51

and had that po-face that suddenly would open up

0:38:510:38:55

and break into the most fantastic smile.

0:38:550:38:59

And he stood up, looked around,

0:38:590:39:02

and with his little smile he could put on, said, "Ladies and gentlemen,

0:39:020:39:10

"it gives me great pleasure..."

0:39:100:39:13

And sat down!

0:39:130:39:16

I find it very difficult to talk really seriously

0:39:160:39:19

for any length of time on any one subject

0:39:190:39:22

without slipping in something ridiculous.

0:39:220:39:25

I find I really can't do that.

0:39:250:39:29

It's as though I'm sending myself up, you know.

0:39:290:39:31

If I start to think, "Well, you pompous twit,

0:39:310:39:34

"banging on like this," and then, you know,

0:39:340:39:36

slip something in which breaks it down.

0:39:360:39:39

He broke up any sense of pomposity or...he just broke the ice.

0:39:390:39:45

-He broke the rules.

-Yeah, exactly, broke the rules.

0:39:450:39:48

Graham appeared to be living a charmed life,

0:39:520:39:55

but as a glorious decade of achievement drew to a close,

0:39:550:39:58

his luck finally ran out during the American Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

0:39:580:40:05

Car turned upside down, Graham got thrown halfway out

0:40:080:40:11

and his legs went the wrong way from his knees.

0:40:110:40:15

Just cracked his knees in the wrong direction. A hideous accident.

0:40:150:40:20

He could have lost his knees,

0:40:230:40:24

but they were absolutely brilliant there at the hospital.

0:40:240:40:28

They had to give him something like five pints of blood

0:40:290:40:32

before they could fly him back to England.

0:40:320:40:36

He was very ill.

0:40:360:40:37

Very seriously ill.

0:40:370:40:39

And when I arrived at the hospital,

0:40:410:40:45

there were all these girls in his ward, you know, in his room.

0:40:450:40:51

And television cameras. And I said, "What are these people doing here?"

0:40:510:40:56

We went and saw him in hospital and there was banners everywhere

0:40:560:40:59

wishing him well, and there was press,

0:40:590:41:01

and he almost seemed to be involved in some sort of carnival.

0:41:010:41:05

His name is Graham Hill, and here he is!

0:41:050:41:08

APPLAUSE

0:41:080:41:10

I'd like to say how sorry I am that I didn't dress for dinner.

0:41:120:41:15

I've got a cast right up to here, I don't know whether you can...

0:41:150:41:19

No, no, I don't want to look, no thanks!

0:41:190:41:21

LAUGHTER

0:41:210:41:23

Graham, are you going to be driving again?

0:41:230:41:26

Well, I expect to be, yes.

0:41:260:41:27

I mean, it was like, "Great, now I can show everyone

0:41:270:41:31

"how determined I am to get well again."

0:41:310:41:33

And that's exactly what he did.

0:41:330:41:36

Up here, in, and straighten.

0:41:360:41:39

Hard, and keep your toes up.

0:41:390:41:43

Now turn your toes down here, out,

0:41:430:41:45

and bend under the bed as hard as you can. Good.

0:41:450:41:48

Just coming up to 3.2 miles.

0:41:580:42:02

His aim, you see... he always had an aim,

0:42:080:42:11

and that was to race in March in South Africa.

0:42:110:42:14

Graham wasted no time in getting back to the things he loved,

0:42:160:42:19

and in typical style, was determined to fly,

0:42:190:42:22

even before he could walk.

0:42:220:42:24

He had, by then, started to shoot.

0:42:320:42:34

He'd go to a pheasant shoot, and he had a Land Rover.

0:42:380:42:40

And on the top of it he had put, like, a secretary's circulating seat,

0:42:400:42:46

so he could swing around if the pheasants were flying.

0:42:460:42:50

Blast!

0:42:530:42:55

It must have been enormously painful, because, in those days, you know...

0:42:550:42:59

modern knee surgery is still one of the most painful things to have.

0:42:590:43:03

And he endured that and then went back to drive racing cars.

0:43:030:43:08

No, it's all right.

0:43:090:43:10

I think a mark of Graham's extraordinary enthusiasm

0:43:120:43:16

and extraordinary will to go racing

0:43:160:43:19

was the fact that he came back at all after that accident.

0:43:190:43:23

Yeah. Well, me...

0:43:230:43:26

-That heel rest isn't... isn't belted in.

-No, it's not.

0:43:260:43:31

Graham had by now been replaced at Team Lotus,

0:43:360:43:38

but an opportunity to race in 1970 was provided

0:43:380:43:42

by private entrant Rob Walker.

0:43:420:43:45

I didn't really want him to do it, but I couldn't stop him.

0:43:450:43:49

But it was very hard, very hard for all of us.

0:43:530:43:55

Motor racing regulations today

0:43:550:43:57

would never allow a driver in Graham's condition

0:43:570:44:00

to take part in a Grand Prix.

0:44:000:44:02

Nonetheless, he managed to bring his car home

0:44:020:44:04

in a point-scoring sixth place,

0:44:040:44:06

a performance that Graham himself ranked amongst his very best.

0:44:060:44:11

He couldn't get out of the car at the end of the race.

0:44:130:44:17

They had to lift him out of the car.

0:44:170:44:19

Incredible, wasn't it?

0:44:190:44:21

With the new decade came a new generation

0:44:300:44:33

of talented young drivers.

0:44:330:44:35

Jochen Rindt.

0:44:350:44:36

Emerson Fittipaldi.

0:44:360:44:38

Nikki Lauda.

0:44:380:44:40

And a more familiar face had finally come of age.

0:44:420:44:46

With Jackie Stewart now is a former world motor racing champion,

0:44:460:44:50

his rival and colleague, Graham Hill.

0:44:500:44:52

APPLAUSE

0:44:520:44:54

Firstly, Jackie, I'd like to congratulate you

0:44:580:45:01

on your fantastic success this year.

0:45:010:45:03

You won six Grand Prix, which is, you know,

0:45:030:45:05

it's hogging it slightly. What do you...

0:45:050:45:07

LAUGHTER

0:45:070:45:09

How do you view...

0:45:100:45:11

I mean, there's...seven Grand Prix is the sort of record.

0:45:110:45:14

You're obviously hoping for this.

0:45:140:45:16

Where do you think you could have done it and it didn't happen?

0:45:160:45:19

LAUGHTER

0:45:190:45:21

I don't think that's a fair question.

0:45:270:45:28

APPLAUSE

0:45:280:45:30

Actually, what I think it did to him was make him realise

0:45:330:45:38

that he wasn't as young as he would like to be.

0:45:380:45:42

By whatever standards you apply,

0:45:430:45:46

Graham was over the hill by '71, '72.

0:45:460:45:50

I mean, the fat lady was beginning to sing, really.

0:45:500:45:53

A miserable two-year stint with the fledging Brabham team

0:45:530:45:56

did nothing to enhance his trophy collection.

0:45:560:45:59

And now, in his early 40s, questions concerning his retirement

0:45:590:46:03

began cropping up with increasing regularity.

0:46:030:46:05

Graham's response was clear.

0:46:050:46:08

He confounded his critics with a remarkable win at Le Mans,

0:46:160:46:19

becoming the only racing driver in history

0:46:190:46:22

to win the famous 24-Hour Race, the Indy 500

0:46:220:46:25

and the Formula 1 World Championship,

0:46:250:46:28

a feat that is unlikely ever to be equalled.

0:46:280:46:31

Back in the Formula 1 paddock, it meant nothing.

0:46:320:46:35

Hard-nosed team bosses were looking to the future,

0:46:350:46:39

and Graham was yesterday's man.

0:46:390:46:42

In fact, nobody was prepared to give him a drive

0:46:420:46:45

and pay him for doing it.

0:46:450:46:47

The only way Graham could stay in Formula 1,

0:46:470:46:50

it became apparent, was to operate his own car and his own team.

0:46:500:46:55

Graham was without doubt one of the most experienced drivers around.

0:46:570:47:01

But as far as managing a racing team was concerned,

0:47:010:47:04

he was venturing into new waters.

0:47:040:47:07

I did actually read about it. I must confess, I thought you were mad.

0:47:080:47:12

I mean, you know, we just wonder, really,

0:47:120:47:15

if you honestly have thought out just what a job you've taken on,

0:47:150:47:18

-because it is different, it's a hell of a challenge.

-Mmm, mmm.

0:47:180:47:22

You've got to be in the front office and the back office,

0:47:220:47:25

stage director, driver and the whole shooting match.

0:47:250:47:28

Yes, I'm beginning to find out

0:47:280:47:30

the cost and the economics of motor racing.

0:47:300:47:34

That was incredible hard work and a great struggle,

0:47:370:47:41

and I wish that when he started doing it, that I had said to him,

0:47:410:47:47

but I didn't dare, "Don't do it."

0:47:470:47:50

You reckon there's no way we can get there

0:47:510:47:53

now we've had to dismantle the car and then take the engine off?

0:47:530:47:57

No. We've just got a lot of work to do.

0:47:570:47:59

And we need more time to do it.

0:47:590:48:01

-That's very disappointing, isn't it?

-It is.

0:48:010:48:04

Graham's time was rapidly running out.

0:48:060:48:09

Each day in his life was an exercise in juggling his many roles.

0:48:090:48:12

Racing driver and team manager, husband and father.

0:48:120:48:16

He had an office at home,

0:48:180:48:20

and I feel that that's where he, if he was going to have a mood,

0:48:200:48:25

that's where he would shut the door and that's where he would do it.

0:48:250:48:29

No, I knew, I think when he was in the office and the door was shut,

0:48:290:48:34

-you left him there.

-He was working.

-He was working.

0:48:340:48:39

He would have been in the office,

0:48:420:48:43

which, we had a little office by the front door, and it was just stuffed

0:48:430:48:47

with pictures and papers, and so to see my dad,

0:48:470:48:50

you'd have to go into the office, and so I'd toddle in there,

0:48:500:48:53

and he'd be on the phone,

0:48:530:48:55

and I think my memory of him is that he was on the phone a lot!

0:48:550:48:58

He loved his motorbikes.

0:49:000:49:02

When he'd come home, I used to go out with the bikes

0:49:020:49:05

with daddy and Damon, and you could see that he was actually relaxed,

0:49:050:49:10

just standing up on his bike,

0:49:100:49:13

going up and down hills and just enjoying himself.

0:49:130:49:20

Yeah, I remember lots of joy with him...

0:49:200:49:23

which was lovely.

0:49:250:49:27

Such moments were short-lived.

0:49:300:49:33

All too soon, there was another problem to solve,

0:49:330:49:36

another deadline to meet, another race to run.

0:49:360:49:39

By the mid '70s, Formula 1 had changed.

0:49:500:49:54

There was more frustration and aggravation, perhaps,

0:49:540:49:58

than fun involved,

0:49:580:50:00

and the days when a team could be run by a former driver

0:50:000:50:06

were really fast ebbing away.

0:50:060:50:10

And when a racing driver, even a great racing driver,

0:50:220:50:25

gets to a situation in his career where he's driving an also-ran,

0:50:250:50:32

which, even with the best good fortune in the world,

0:50:320:50:37

you're not going to cut it.

0:50:370:50:39

And I think that arrived for Graham at Monaco '75,

0:50:390:50:43

when he, ironically, demeaningly, failed to qualify.

0:50:430:50:48

'It's a very, very disappointing game.

0:50:570:50:59

'It's a shatteringly disappointing game.

0:50:590:51:01

'You can really be doing well,

0:51:010:51:03

'and every time something lets you down,

0:51:030:51:05

'the car lets you down, something fails.

0:51:050:51:08

'And you just never seem as though you're going to win a race

0:51:080:51:11

'or get anywhere.'

0:51:110:51:12

It's always difficult to know when to stop, though.

0:51:150:51:18

He just didn't want to give it up.

0:51:200:51:22

And then, of course, he had to.

0:51:220:51:25

Couldn't race and run the team as well. Very hard.

0:51:250:51:28

He realised that the gung-ho, jolly japes,

0:51:280:51:31

jumping in a racing car and racing your mates thing,

0:51:310:51:35

he'd have to say goodbye to, and that was hard, I think, for him.

0:51:350:51:39

Well, I do miss it and I miss, as I say,

0:51:390:51:42

the physical sensation of controlling a racing car

0:51:420:51:46

through corners and down straights,

0:51:460:51:49

and I've missed the competitive stimulus that it gives also,

0:51:490:51:54

and also trying to do it better than somebody else.

0:51:540:51:56

And something I've done for so many years, almost all my adult life now,

0:51:560:52:00

and now I've got to look forwards,

0:52:000:52:02

and I've got to make myself another life, if you like.

0:52:020:52:05

And of course, I'm still running my own Formula 1 team.

0:52:050:52:08

And so, I'm still in motor racing.

0:52:080:52:10

I haven't cut the ties like that, you know, I'm still in there.

0:52:100:52:13

But in a different role altogether.

0:52:130:52:15

He'd thrown himself into this new project, race team,

0:52:200:52:24

which took up more of his time.

0:52:240:52:26

And I was getting to the age, I was 15, so I was just...

0:52:260:52:29

I'd been to a few races with the team and I was getting into it.

0:52:290:52:33

And I can remember him packing to go testing,

0:52:330:52:38

getting his kit together, and I'd go off to school.

0:52:380:52:42

That was the last time I saw him.

0:52:420:52:45

He was flying back from the Paul Ricard circuit

0:52:510:52:54

with his mechanics and his young driver with him.

0:52:540:52:56

And he crashed, tragically and fatally for everyone on board.

0:52:590:53:03

'At daylight, with fog persisting,

0:53:030:53:07

'the detailed investigation got underway.

0:53:070:53:10

'What is known is that, as the plane came in over the golf course

0:53:100:53:14

'toward Elstree Airfield, it was already too low.

0:53:140:53:17

'In dense fog, it clipped a group of trees,

0:53:170:53:20

'hit the ground and careered along the fairway to the 4th green.'

0:53:200:53:24

I was watching television with my sister, Samantha,

0:53:240:53:30

and a news flash came on the television.

0:53:300:53:33

Damon came through the kitchen door and said,

0:53:330:53:36

"Mummy, they say there's a plane crash at Elstree,

0:53:360:53:39

"and they think it's Daddy."

0:53:390:53:41

Just as I got there, the phone went.

0:53:410:53:44

And that's when I kind of knew this was not good.

0:53:440:53:48

And so that's really when our world was pretty smashed to bits.

0:53:480:53:54

At his funeral, which was at St Albans Abbey,

0:54:000:54:03

I don't think I've ever seen so many people.

0:54:030:54:07

There were so many people, and there were barriers,

0:54:070:54:11

and there were just people, you know, it was just a huge event.

0:54:110:54:16

And...you know, this was... this was our daddy, you know?

0:54:160:54:24

Couldn't quite get to grips with that.

0:54:240:54:27

To lose a friend like that,

0:54:310:54:33

and the character of Graham,

0:54:330:54:36

was just so shattering, unbelievable.

0:54:360:54:42

For me, that was the saddest day of motor racing.

0:54:420:54:46

30 years on from the accident, a small group of family and friends

0:55:170:55:23

have gathered outside the Hills' former home in north London.

0:55:230:55:26

The occasion is a special one, for Graham is about to be honoured

0:55:260:55:30

by the unveiling of an English Heritage blue plaque.

0:55:300:55:33

Well, I'd like to welcome you all on behalf of English Heritage,

0:55:350:55:39

This is, in fact, the first ever plaque to a racing driver

0:55:390:55:43

that we've unveiled, and actually one of the very few plaques

0:55:430:55:47

to a sporting personality,

0:55:470:55:49

so it really is a very special occasion today.

0:55:490:55:51

He's still very much in people's memory,

0:56:040:56:08

and I think that's wonderful. He hasn't disappeared.

0:56:080:56:11

He really did enjoy his life,

0:56:140:56:17

and I have a belief that racing drivers never die.

0:56:170:56:22

The spirit's too strong and they never go away,

0:56:220:56:25

and I still see Graham regularly, as I do a whole lot of friends,

0:56:250:56:31

and he's still the same.

0:56:310:56:33

Many people loved him, many people loved him.

0:56:350:56:38

And he had a quality, a humanity, I think,

0:56:380:56:42

which is the thing that makes sportspeople transcend whatever it is

0:56:420:56:47

that they've done, and I think my dad had that ability

0:56:470:56:51

to transcend just the mere fact of being a sportsperson.

0:56:510:56:56

Graham, you have one son, Damon.

0:56:570:56:59

Are we ever going to see another Hill in the sport?

0:56:590:57:01

Would you like to see Damon in goggles and helmet?

0:57:010:57:04

Frankly, I don't think I would, no.

0:57:070:57:09

I'm honestly sure that it makes me the only woman in motor racing

0:57:140:57:19

that has a World Champion husband and a World Champion son,

0:57:190:57:24

which is very special, isn't it?

0:57:240:57:26

Now, unfortunately, the man who polled the most votes this year

0:57:280:57:33

is a man who, for reasons you all know, cannot be with us tonight.

0:57:330:57:37

He's a man who established a record

0:57:370:57:39

that will never be equalled, I feel, in motor racing.

0:57:390:57:42

He won five Monaco Grand Prix. His name is Graham Hill and here he is.

0:57:420:57:47

APPLAUSE

0:57:470:57:49

Well, you seem to be having a fairly jolly time.

0:57:500:57:53

You're laughing a lot, I notice.

0:57:530:57:55

Anyway, I don't know what's going to happen to you lot after this,

0:57:550:57:59

but...the rest of the evening for you,

0:57:590:58:01

but I know what's going to happen to me.

0:58:010:58:03

I'm going to have a couple of little darlings come in and rub my bottom.

0:58:030:58:07

LAUGHTER

0:58:070:58:09

So, if you can beat that, good luck!

0:58:090:58:11

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:58:110:58:13

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:420:58:46

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0:58:460:58:49

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