Stirling Moss Racing Legends


Stirling Moss

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Transcript


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'I'm Patrick Stewart - actor

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'and lifelong motor racing fan.

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'Now I'm about to embark on a journey that will bring to life the career

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'of one of my all-time heroes -

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'1950s racing legend, Sir Stirling Moss.'

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It's...breathtaking.

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A bit tighter. Bit tighter. That's the field.

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'I'm getting behind the wheel of the cars he drove to glory...'

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Sorry about that.

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'..and re-living his most memorable victories first hand...'

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It's Moss who crosses the line to win in record time.

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That's beautiful.

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'..all to help me understand how one man won the hearts and minds of the British public.

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'It's a tale of fast cars...'

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Stirling holds a ten-second lead.

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'..epic battles...'

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He's gone!

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'..and survival against all the odds.'

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-Are you going to try and persuade him to stop racing after this?

-I shall ask him.

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-That shows it there.

-Oh, Lord.

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Do you think you're indestructible?

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Why should I have another accident?

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'Now I'm going to experience the Stirling Moss story...

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'from the driver's seat.'

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This beats the Enterprise any day.

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We're here at Silverstone and I'm driving in a celebrity race.

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I want to be driving over the finishing line

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on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone

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when I take the chequered flag.

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In 15th position. There are 15 of us.

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Acting might be my passion, but I've always loved cars

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and at the age of 72...

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..I've just been awarded my racing licence.

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One of the problems with motor racing is that

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I actually don't like going very fast.

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Number 12 there, Sir Patrick Stewart

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looking as though he's sitting in an armchair. Totally relaxed.

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I get to a point where I think that's just fast enough.

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And that's a handicap.

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For me, racing a car for a living is a farfetched fantasy,

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encapsulated by a man I have always envied and respected.

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When I was a kid, there was an English driver called Stirling Moss.

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He was living in a world that was as remote from my world as possible.

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A working-class kid growing up in a mill town in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

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As an aspiring actor,

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I was seduced by Stirling's world of speed and glamour.

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It's difficult to communicate

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to the enthusiast of today who wasn't lucky enough to be alive at the time

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just how great a driver he was.

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Five world records all broken by about 20%.

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His name stands for being a true racer.

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This is a country

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that loves motor racing

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and he is probably the biggest star of all.

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When he passed people, which he frequently did, of course,

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he would always give them a gentlemanly wave.

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Stirling waving his hand.

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They must have been very irritated indeed by his skill and his decency.

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But I want to get to know the real Stirling Moss...

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Patrick Stewart taking ninth place.

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..and, under his watchful eye,

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try and emulate one of his greatest-ever victories.

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I wonder if that means I'll have to get better at driving fast.

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In a way I could never have anticipated, these things have come together.

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Two people.

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Before meeting the man himself,

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I need to know more about why Stirling Moss was such a successful driver...

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Stirling Moss, Maserati, number 28,

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took an early lead and held it.

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..so I've enlisted the help of a man

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who's driven in nearly as many disciplines as Moss.

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Tiff Needell has raced Formula One in Monaco, sports cars at Le Mans

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and rallied in the forests of England.

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If anyone knows what it takes to be an all-round driver, he does.

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Tiff, look at this.

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Sir Stirling Moss sprinting across the track,

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leaping so agilely into his car, slipping down into the seat

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and off he goes with 15 or 20 other cars.

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Why was there something different and special about this driver?

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It almost starts with that running start we are seeing now

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because it was his economy of movement.

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The relaxed pose at the wheel.

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The real greats, I believe,

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they've got their brains ahead of their bodies

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so they'd know what the car was going to do before it got there.

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Stirling Moss was post-war Britain's first professional racing driver.

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This is the drive of his life.

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If you're a professional racing driver,

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you are in there to try and win.

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Therefore, you've got to keep the pressure up all the time.

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He was the man teenage boys wanted to be.

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And women wanted to be with.

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-There's a beautiful blonde.

-Beautiful young woman.

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But his career was very different to a modern driver.

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It's Moss who crosses the line to win in record time.

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He moved from team to team, from rallying to racing.

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Very distinctive.

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It was an era when top drivers drove in every discipline.

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In a race day, you do Formula One, saloon cars, sports cars.

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-On the same day?

-Yes.

-Extraordinary.

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That's the best illustration of the quality of his technique.

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That he could shift in that way.

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He didn't have to be programmed for one vehicle.

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Stirling reached the same top speeds as modern drivers, up to 180 mph,

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but with very little grip, poor brakes and no safety precautions.

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It dawned on me that perhaps the most amazing thing

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is that he's still alive.

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Here we are, look.

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In the pits and they're refuelling and fuel is splashing everywhere.

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There's barely room for the car to get through the crowd of spectators.

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The skills in his day were so much more important.

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Death is something which frightens me.

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Thinking of it isn't going to make it less likely to happen,

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therefore I don't think about it.

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It was one of the reasons why there was such camaraderie among drivers.

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So many of his colleagues and friends were badly injured or died.

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I'm going to be coming face-to-face with him very shortly and,

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having been looking at this film and hearing you talk about what was

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so special about Stirling Moss, I am really looking forward to it.

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He's a wonderful man. You'll have a great time. Meeting a real hero.

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Thank you. I'm a little nervous.

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I'm meeting Stirling for the first time at his Mayfair flat

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and things haven't really changed around here since my last visit.

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I have a confession to make at this point.

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Decades ago, when I was in my 20s, I had discovered from a friend

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who worked in Mayfair that this is where Stirling lived

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and I was such a fan that I walked up here and stood,

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pretty much in this spot,

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looking at the house in excitement and awe.

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-Sir Patrick.

-Sir Stirling, good morning.

-Do come in.

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This is a huge pleasure for me and a treat.

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-Let's go through to my office.

-Lead the way.

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Stirling has lived here for the last 55 years

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after buying the land as a bomb site

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and building a three-storey house on it to his own exacting specifications.

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'My bedroom is completely automated.

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'There are press button controls to the wardrobe doors,

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'for the curtains, for filling the bath and what have you.'

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Precision is very important and so it was to me in my life

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and I knew exactly what I wanted where.

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So being able to build a house that one had designed was a great help to me.

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The walls contain my stereo equipment, a radio, tape recorder,

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record player and, of course, some of my most treasured awards.

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Stirling's house is like a museum,

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a shrine to an amazing life

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which, unsurprisingly, he likes to be reminded of.

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I had such a fantastic life as a young man, I can't tell you.

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The age of 16, 17 years old, you're suddenly given a car to go out and

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play with and drive it as hard as you possibly can and beat other drivers.

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A fabulous life.

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You were, from quite early on,

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considered to be one of the English sporting playboys, am I right?

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Oh, yes, absolutely. I'm certainly heterosexual, let's put it that way.

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Petra Sherman of Germany won the title. 33-20-33. A nice balance.

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Travelling as I was all round the world,

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when you go into a place, you meet a pretty girl, off you go and...

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I would say it was probably as good a life as anybody could ask for.

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'Boy, that's really in my line of business!'

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There are many interesting mementos and artefacts in this room

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but the very first thing that caught my eye are the two steering wheels

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hanging above the door which appear to have suffered some distress.

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When I think of the aggro that gave me...

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I mean, broken back, broken legs on one and on the other one,

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forced my retirement. So they are not good news in any way.

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But you don't feel in any way superstitious

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that there they are hanging above the door?

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No, all I can say is fingers up to them, actually.

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He's lost teeth, broken his shoulder, both legs, his back,

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his skull and has been in a coma for 38 days thanks to motor racing.

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One of the reasons I wanted to take part was because it was dangerous.

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The bravado of youth, you know. Here I am, 17, 18 years old.

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To do something that was really dangerous is exciting

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and exhilarating.

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But it was more than really dangerous, it was potentially fatal.

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-We were losing three or four drivers a year.

-Every year?

-Every year.

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When it happened I would say if it had been me,

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I would have been in a slightly different position

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-or I wouldn't have done this or...

-It would never happen to you.

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Exactly. Exactly.

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If I'd ever had an accident that I felt was my own fault,

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-I think I'd have stopped.

-And you never did?

-No, I didn't.

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Come in the lift.

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This is interesting because this is a carbon fibre lift

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and it was made by Williams Formula One team.

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It amazed me that Stirling was so positive about the danger he faced.

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-Are we there?

-OK, come through.

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'Even after the accident in 1962 that ended his career.'

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-This is my crash, actually. See, that shows it there.

-Oh, Lord!

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I don't know where all the blood came from, really.

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The car is completely mangled. It barely looks like...

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-a racing car at all now.

-When I went off, I'd been doing 140 at least.

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They thought I was going to die, I think, actually.

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But...I'm glad to say that's a long time ago.

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Right, come out and we'll go in this little car

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which was the first car I actually learnt to drive with.

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-Here we are. How about that? Isn't that lovely?

-Oh, this is wonderful.

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-How old were you when you got into this?

-This one? Six.

-What?

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-Six years old?

-Yes, on the farm. Yeah.

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Stirling had borrowed the Austin

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so that we could retrace his steps

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right from the very start of his career.

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We were going to his childhood home

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where I could learn more about how he became a racing legend.

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-Is this Bray village we're coming into?

-We're coming into the village, yes.

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-So the roads around here were the roads that you had your first driving experience.

-Oh, absolutely.

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-Can you see left?

-All clear.

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Stirling hasn't been to Long White Cloud

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since he lived here as a teenager.

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His father, a dentist, obviously did well for himself.

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Absolutely fantastic. The change is enormous.

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Really, I would not have thought I'd ever lived here.

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-The Thames is just here.

-Just there.

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Right.

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He grew up in a beautiful spot but, surprisingly, his early years

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weren't as idyllic as you might think.

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I had a lot of problems with bullying.

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My name was Moss and they called me a yid.

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It was a pretty tough upbringing.

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It's not very nice when you're 10 or 11 years old.

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Did it have a positive impact, do you think, in your later years?

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I think it probably did.

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I'm a competitive sort of person so I always enjoyed sprinting

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and that sort of stuff.

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So that's how you succeeded at school, by being athletic?

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Yes, I certainly think it was a help.

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Stirling answered back by proving himself as an athlete

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and later with the ladies, too.

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I did meet a real cracker actually, called Sylvia.

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My mother came back, ran up the steps, banged on the door.

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I was in there, of course. She turned to Sylvia and said,

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"Is this any way for a young lady to behave?"

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So I pushed her behind me and said,

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"If you want to speak to Sylvia, please do it through me."

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It was a big drama.

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In the late '40s, motor-racing was an amateur sport

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which both Stirling's parents enjoyed.

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They encouraged him and his sister, Pat, to drive from an early age.

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But most of his early training came from a hobby that didn't involve cars.

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My mother was interested in horses and, of course, over there,

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originally, there were stables.

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The lessons that you learned in balancing a horse...

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Very much the same thing happens with a car.

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When you go into a corner,

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you try and keep your car balanced all the way through it.

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-I won 50 or 60 awards.

-Any money? Any cash?

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Yeah, and I used that money actually to buy my first racing car.

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My father found my cheque book and he said, "What's this 50 quid?"

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I had to own up that it was the deposit on a racing car.

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He said, "No son of mine is going to be a racing driver."

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And so it took a lot of massaging to get my father to agree

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and then he said, "If you're going to race,

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"you're going to wear a crash hat."

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I said to him, "Dad, that's rather sissy."

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He said, "I don't care, you're going to wear a crash hat."

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Stirling's father was disappointed he didn't want

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to be a dentist and doubtful he could make a living from a hobby.

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But by the age of 20, he had a reputation as a fearless young driver,

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although the establishment were yet to take him seriously.

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The difficulty for any young racing driver is to prove themselves

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up against big opposition.

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Stirling Moss had to break through.

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But no British manufacturer would contemplate giving the boy

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a drive in the TT.

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On the eve of his 21st birthday,

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Stirling turned up at the biggest sports car race in Britain -

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the Ulster TT...with a car he'd borrowed from a family friend.

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It was straight off the assembly line, as a matter of fact.

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The makers weren't too pleased about Stirling driving it.

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It seems as if you were rather sticking your neck out

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in making the offer.

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No, no, some of us had spotted Stirling a long time.

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We knew he was on the up and up.

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Come the race weekend, it absolutely poured down.

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For Stirling Moss, this was manna from heaven

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because it was an opportunity to show what he could do

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up against the established stars in great cars.

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'Yes, they're off!

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'And that's Stirling Moss jumping into his Jaguar, car number seven.'

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I remember going round there and obviously getting pit signals,

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and I could see that I was gaining a bit here and there.

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I liked the wet. I think that suited my style.

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It played into my hands.

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I mean, to win the Tourist Trophy, it was quite overwhelming to me, really.

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I had not ever won a really serious race.

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The elation brings tears to your eyes.

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And that evening, Jaguar asked him

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if he would lead the works team in 1951.

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And suddenly, you've got rival team managers saying, who is this guy?

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How can he go that fast?

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'Stirling Moss in another Jaguar has left at about 106 miles an hour.'

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As a member of Team Jaguar,

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Stirling made a name for himself in a number of competitions.

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'The young, but most capable hands of Stirling Moss.

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'The 21-year-old who is Britain's greatest racing hope today.'

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I think that people wanted a hero after the war. Stirling,

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because he was young, he gave the people some cheer

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and some hope, I think.

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Stirling had won the country over with his performances in Jaguar sports cars,

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but he also wanted to conquer the glamorous world of high-speed Formula One.

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'Italy's Ferraris are out to dominate the new Formula One field.'

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Just like today, Formula One in the '50s meant thoroughbred single-seater cars,

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but back then, the world championship was dominated by Italians.

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You can't really think of Formula One without Ferrari.

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They're sort of part national institution

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and part race team.

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To be a Ferrari racing driver, would be to have arrived completely.

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Word of Stirling's ability had reached the Continent,

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where he was invited to drive

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for the famously manipulative Enzo Ferrari.

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He was a man that everybody was fairly scared of,

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even his team managers.

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If there was a crash, he'd ask about the car first, before the driver.

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He offered me a car and I went all the way down to Bari

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in southern Italy with my father, being thrilled.

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But at the last minute,

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Ferrari opted for a famous Italian driver instead.

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And I found that the car had been given to Taruffi.

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Stirling didn't take kindly to the snub

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and so he turned his back on the biggest name in motorsport.

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I was very angry. A gentleman wouldn't do that.

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And I vowed, there and then, that never would I drive for Ferrari.

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He returned from Italy determined to win the Formula One

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world championship in a British car.

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I'm very thrilled, Ray, because at last it seems we're going

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to have the chassis and road holding and an engine built for the job.

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So perhaps we'll be able to compete with the Italians

0:20:110:20:14

on their own ground.

0:20:140:20:15

We've certainly got the driver, so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

0:20:150:20:18

Eventually, Ferrari found an Englishman happy to drive his cars.

0:20:210:20:26

Come 1953, fun-loving Mike Hawthorn was the man to beat.

0:20:260:20:30

This tall, young, hard-drinking,

0:20:300:20:33

womanising boy from Farnham

0:20:330:20:35

popped up on the scene.

0:20:350:20:37

There was no comparison between Stirling and Mike.

0:20:380:20:41

You found that people who liked Moss didn't like Hawthorn,

0:20:410:20:45

and vice versa.

0:20:450:20:46

I'd like to say how much I enjoyed today's racing.

0:20:460:20:49

It's certainly given me great pleasure to win the trophy.

0:20:490:20:53

While Stirling, in his home-grown technology, had hit a career low.

0:20:540:20:59

'Too bad, trouble robs Moss of victory.'

0:20:590:21:01

'His determination to drive British had become an insuperable handicap.'

0:21:030:21:08

If he was going to keep up with Hawthorn, he needed

0:21:080:21:10

to drive for a major team and so his father took drastic measures.

0:21:100:21:15

My father then went to see Maserati.

0:21:160:21:19

They worked out a deal

0:21:190:21:20

where they would supply me with the same cars they were racing,

0:21:200:21:24

they would keep it up-to-date if anything new came out.

0:21:240:21:27

They bought it without telling me and they bought it with my money!

0:21:270:21:31

Fed up with British cars, Stirling's father bought

0:21:320:21:35

an Italian Maserati, hoping they would attract

0:21:350:21:38

the attention of a major team.

0:21:380:21:39

I was surprised at how much money they had spent, obviously,

0:21:410:21:45

but the main thing was, that now my back was to the wall.

0:21:450:21:48

The Maserati 250F.

0:21:490:21:51

A gorgeous car even now

0:21:510:21:52

and it was a car that Stirling Moss just felt totally at home with.

0:21:520:21:57

And suddenly, he was producing these world-beating performances.

0:21:570:22:02

It opened the eyes of people around the world to the quality

0:22:050:22:09

and the skills of this young man.

0:22:090:22:10

The plan worked, and German giants Mercedes came knocking.

0:22:170:22:21

Having not competed since the war, Mercedes were back -

0:22:240:22:27

and they wanted a team of youth and experience.

0:22:270:22:31

Stirling provided the youth.

0:22:330:22:35

Then double world champion Fangio, the experience.

0:22:360:22:40

'And from now on, his nickname, The Boy, somehow no longer seemed appropriate.'

0:22:420:22:47

Mercedes wanted to win in every category of racing

0:22:470:22:53

and sent Moss and Fangio to Italy to take on the Italian giants

0:22:530:22:57

in their own back yard.

0:22:570:22:59

My next meeting with Stirling

0:23:050:23:06

is in Florence...

0:23:060:23:08

..where, with the resources of Mercedes behind him,

0:23:090:23:13

he set his sights on the world's toughest sports car race.

0:23:130:23:16

-Here we are, early morning, in Florence.

-Florence, exactly.

0:23:180:23:22

Why are we in Florence? And what does it mean to you and me?

0:23:220:23:25

We're in Florence because this is one of the great places

0:23:250:23:27

-we used to race through. Right through the middle of the town.

-Race through?

0:23:270:23:31

-And what race would this be?

-The Mille Miglia 1955.

0:23:310:23:34

Every Italian knew what the Mille Miglia was. They all watched it.

0:23:360:23:40

Amazing atmosphere, I can't tell you.

0:23:400:23:42

The Mille Miglia was the sports car equivalent of the Tour de France.

0:23:450:23:49

1,000 miles of racing on public roads.

0:23:490:23:53

-And the race ends up where it began?

-Exactly. At Brescia.

-In Brescia.

0:24:000:24:04

Just over ten hours later.

0:24:040:24:06

-This sounds very, very challenging.

-Yes, it was!

0:24:060:24:09

But why don't we go and let's find out what it's like? Let's go.

0:24:090:24:13

You know, you wouldn't believe it,

0:24:160:24:18

-but we actually raced down roads like this in the Mille.

-This...?

-Yes.

0:24:180:24:22

Bikes wouldn't be there, but you'd be racing down there.

0:24:220:24:26

-It's little more than a car's width?

-Oh, absolutely.

0:24:260:24:29

'And here comes Moss, well out in front with the leaders.'

0:24:290:24:32

And what kind of speed would you go down a street like this?

0:24:340:24:37

You would get up to 100 miles an hour.

0:24:370:24:40

About that.

0:24:400:24:41

To win, Stirling needed to know the roads

0:24:410:24:44

better than the Italians themselves.

0:24:440:24:47

So with navigator Denis Jenkinson,

0:24:470:24:49

he studied every last mile in my all-time favourite car -

0:24:490:24:54

the sublime Mercedes Gullwing.

0:24:540:24:56

Look at that.

0:24:560:24:58

Beautiful car.

0:25:100:25:11

That's our transport.

0:25:120:25:14

Come on, shall we have a go in it?

0:25:160:25:18

Yeah, yes. It's glorious.

0:25:180:25:20

Your seat.

0:25:260:25:28

Isn't it lovely?

0:25:280:25:30

I have never been this close to this vehicle before.

0:25:310:25:36

It's...breathtaking.

0:25:360:25:38

We're going through some very beautiful countryside.

0:26:070:26:11

How much time did you have to admire the view, Stirling?

0:26:110:26:14

Didn't do too much looking around, I must be honest.

0:26:140:26:17

Because on this course, we probably would get up to 110, 120.

0:26:170:26:21

This is quite a sinuous road, as you can see.

0:26:240:26:26

Swoops from the left to the right, you come down here and give it

0:26:260:26:29

the boot here and you'd be at the next corner in no time at all.

0:26:290:26:33

Absolutely magic. Absolutely magic.

0:26:330:26:36

But I realise I am now 83, not 25.

0:26:370:26:41

Now I will drive each corner very much more carefully,

0:26:410:26:45

with more respect.

0:26:450:26:46

Were there any fatalities in 1955, on your...

0:26:490:26:52

I believe so, but there were every year, I'm told.

0:26:520:26:56

But it's inevitable, that people are going to get killed.

0:26:560:26:59

I have heard that the race was stopped on the instructions of the Vatican.

0:26:590:27:06

I've heard that, I don't know if it's true.

0:27:060:27:08

I couldn't get him on the phone! He was continually engaged.

0:27:080:27:12

I would have thought if anybody could get the Pope on the phone, Stirling, it would be you!

0:27:130:27:18

At what point did you know that you had won? After you crossed...?

0:27:200:27:26

That was the awful thing. I crossed the finish line, no idea.

0:27:260:27:29

I knew it was likely I had won, but I had to wait

0:27:290:27:32

until every car that started after me had come through.

0:27:320:27:35

How did you celebrate that night?

0:27:360:27:39

-Gosh, we had celebrations...

-And were you alone?

-Oh, no, no, no.

0:27:390:27:44

I hope I had a young lady with me,

0:27:440:27:46

but I'd have to look it up in my diary.

0:27:460:27:49

-Your little black book.

-Exactly.

0:27:490:27:51

Driving the route was like going back in time,

0:27:530:27:56

and got me thinking about what I was doing in 1955.

0:27:560:28:00

I was just leaving Mirfield Secondary Modern school right then.

0:28:000:28:03

I had a crush on the head girl, but she never knew it,

0:28:030:28:06

and of course, I was never brave enough to make any kind of advances.

0:28:060:28:10

While you were driving young women from Brescia to Stuttgart,

0:28:110:28:15

having won the Mille Miglia.

0:28:150:28:17

To each his own, old boy!

0:28:170:28:19

I'm sorry that I'm not the attractive young woman

0:28:220:28:25

you had with you then.

0:28:250:28:26

So am I! But I enjoy your company.

0:28:260:28:28

Stirling, oh, Lord.

0:28:280:28:30

Stirling certainly knew how to live the high life, but I was

0:28:300:28:35

learning that when it came to racing, he left nothing to chance.

0:28:350:28:39

How did you know what was coming on a 1,000 mile circuit?

0:28:420:28:46

Because Jenks was my co-driver, he was my passenger,

0:28:460:28:48

and he had this, the thing we called the bog roll.

0:28:480:28:51

And on here, as you can see, everything is written.

0:28:510:28:54

Various signals here. Come down here, I think that is a railway.

0:28:540:28:58

And then something was flat out after a signal like that.

0:28:580:29:01

All these things have an interpretation

0:29:010:29:03

which he then gave me through hand signals.

0:29:030:29:06

Like, slower, and then much slower, right, left, humpbacked bridge,

0:29:060:29:11

-all sorts of different hand signals.

-What was "go faster"?

0:29:110:29:14

-Go faster was like that. That meant you're flat out.

-It's beautiful.

0:29:140:29:18

-It worked.

-Yeah.

0:29:180:29:20

But it was the driving seat I wanted to occupy.

0:29:200:29:24

OK. Right. So, we're in first.

0:29:280:29:32

-Shall I take it out?

-Yeah, take it out.

0:29:320:29:35

-GEARS CRUNCH

-Sorry!

-All right.

0:29:450:29:48

Ooh, yes, I see.

0:29:520:29:53

'Driving a racing legend is nerve-racking, to say the least,

0:29:530:29:57

'but behind the wheel of such a beautiful car,

0:29:570:30:00

'my confidence started to grow.'

0:30:000:30:02

I never imagined a scenario like this in my life.

0:30:020:30:08

That doesn't even begin to include you as my passenger

0:30:080:30:11

or the road that we're on!

0:30:110:30:14

Look at this scenery!

0:30:160:30:18

Can you imagine a life much better for a kid of 18

0:30:180:30:22

driving all around Europe, racing every weekend

0:30:220:30:26

and being able to meet the crumpet and have fun?

0:30:260:30:29

Wonderful life.

0:30:290:30:32

I've got no problems with it at all.

0:30:320:30:34

Now I understand why the Mille Miglia

0:30:360:30:38

is without a doubt Stirling Moss's most impressive victory.

0:30:380:30:42

With the help of Jenks and his bog roll,

0:30:440:30:46

he drove for 10 hours, averaging almost 100mph.

0:30:460:30:51

It's that kind of superhuman feat that turns drivers into legends.

0:30:510:30:56

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, I'm all right. No problem. No problems.

0:30:560:31:01

-I crossed myself a couple of times!

-Thank you, sir!

0:31:010:31:04

'A happy homecoming for the 25-year-old racing driver

0:31:100:31:13

'who, experts predict, is a future world champion.'

0:31:130:31:16

Having conquered Italy in a sports car, Stirling returned home

0:31:160:31:20

determined to make a name for himself in Formula One.

0:31:200:31:23

At that point, no British driver had ever won a Grand Prix on home soil.

0:31:240:31:29

'Moss, with fastest practice lap is in pole position,

0:31:290:31:32

'with Fangio next to him.

0:31:320:31:34

'And Hawthorn is in an unusual position for him, the fifth row.'

0:31:340:31:38

'Here we are, we listen to them come by.

0:31:440:31:46

'Here's Stirling Moss in the Mercedes, there's Fangio...'

0:31:460:31:50

When it came to Formula One, Stirling would always be

0:31:500:31:53

in the shadow of his mentor, the great Fangio.

0:31:530:31:56

'In the lead, Fangio is pushed by Moss, who sits right on his tail.'

0:31:560:32:00

But in front of a home crowd,

0:32:000:32:02

the understudy had the drive of his life.

0:32:020:32:05

'Through Melling Crossing goes Fangio, with Moss on his heels.'

0:32:050:32:08

'Very close indeed together.'

0:32:080:32:09

'Less than a quarter of a mile to go now,

0:32:090:32:11

'as they come into Tatts Corner.'

0:32:110:32:13

'And the crowds rise to greet Moss.

0:32:130:32:15

'And Moss is waving Fangio up and they are going to go across the line,

0:32:150:32:20

'giving the victory to Stirling Moss of Great Britain.'

0:32:200:32:23

'For the first time in motoring history,

0:32:230:32:26

'the British Grand Prix has been won by an Englishman.'

0:32:260:32:28

At the age of 25, Stirling Moss had become a national hero.

0:32:320:32:36

But he was about to be given a stark reminder that motor racing

0:32:380:32:43

was the most deadly sport the world had ever seen.

0:32:430:32:46

Moss calmly signing autographs while he waited for Fangio to bring

0:32:500:32:53

the Mercedes in for his spell at the wheel.

0:32:530:32:56

And just before 6.30, with two and a half hours gone,

0:32:560:32:59

disaster struck in the worst motor racing accident in history.

0:32:590:33:03

At Le Mans, one of Stirling's Mercedes team-mates was launched into the crowd.

0:33:100:33:16

'In a few ghastly seconds, death wipes out whole families.

0:33:160:33:19

'Levegh is killed before his wife's eyes

0:33:190:33:21

'and some 70 spectators with him.'

0:33:210:33:23

Stirling was lucky not to be involved,

0:33:230:33:26

but the Mercedes dream was over.

0:33:260:33:29

'The full list of casualties from the disaster is announced.

0:33:290:33:32

'Stuttgart gives orders to Neubauer in the pit.

0:33:320:33:35

'The two Mercedes are withdrawn from the race.'

0:33:350:33:37

We pulled out at 4 o'clock in the morning with a three-lap lead on Jaguar.

0:33:370:33:42

It wasn't going to bring anybody back.

0:33:420:33:44

I don't know why he did that.

0:33:440:33:45

So I couldn't win Le Mans.

0:33:450:33:48

But not winning was the least of Stirling's worries.

0:33:480:33:51

Soon after the disaster, Mercedes retired from motorsport.

0:33:510:33:55

'Mr Tony Vandervell, ex-racing driver and wealthy industrialist,

0:33:590:34:03

'produced a prototype of the Vanwall Formula One car.'

0:34:030:34:07

Stirling was without a Formula One team, but back in Britain,

0:34:070:34:11

a car was finally being produced that might challenge the Italian giants.

0:34:110:34:16

Tony Vandervell always expressed

0:34:170:34:19

his racing ambition as being "to beat those bloody red cars".

0:34:190:34:23

'And so, the Vanwall and its engine were slowly and expensively developed.

0:34:230:34:29

'A masterpiece of engine design, in a sturdy, yet light chassis.'

0:34:290:34:33

18 months after the Le Mans disaster,

0:34:340:34:37

Stirling signed up to lead the all-British team.

0:34:370:34:40

'The Vanwalls, resplendent in their British racing green

0:34:400:34:43

'are manoeuvred into their positions,

0:34:430:34:45

'comfortingly near the front of the red machines from Italy.'

0:34:450:34:48

We had a car in British racing green

0:34:480:34:52

that could beat the others, and so it was a fantastic thing.

0:34:520:34:56

But would it be the same old story?

0:34:560:34:59

The best of the British was the Vanwall,

0:34:590:35:02

but it was unreliable and it wasn't good enough.

0:35:020:35:05

But it was getting closer and closer and closer to Ferrari and Maserati.

0:35:070:35:11

And then came the British Grand Prix at Aintree in 1957.

0:35:150:35:20

The team were desperate to score their first win on home soil

0:35:200:35:23

and so Vandervell hatched a plan that would be inconceivable today.

0:35:230:35:28

York asked Tony Brooks about his injured leg.

0:35:280:35:31

In those days, drivers could swap cars mid-race,

0:35:310:35:34

so Stirling's injured team-mate agreed to hand his over if required.

0:35:340:35:38

I'd had

0:35:380:35:40

my Aston Martin accident at Le Mans just over three weeks beforehand.

0:35:400:35:45

I was in a pretty sorry state.

0:35:450:35:48

I said, if anything happens to your car, Stirling, you take my car over.

0:35:480:35:52

'Now the moment of drama. Engines revving, the air shaking.

0:35:520:35:56

'They're off!'

0:35:560:35:58

This really set the scene for an extraordinary motor race.

0:36:000:36:04

'Now begins a grim race by Moss against the watch.'

0:36:040:36:07

Stirling built up a huge lead,

0:36:090:36:11

but then the inevitable happened.

0:36:110:36:14

My car did have a pipe go, injector pipe, so I went back to the pits.

0:36:150:36:20

'Team manager York flags Tony Brooks.

0:36:200:36:22

'On lap 27, in he comes.'

0:36:220:36:25

Tony sort of acknowledged it

0:36:250:36:27

and I think he was quite relieved because he was in considerable pain.

0:36:270:36:30

And anyway, we dragged him out of it, and I jumped in.

0:36:300:36:34

But by taking Brooks' car,

0:36:340:36:36

Moss also took his position in the race and so dropped from first

0:36:360:36:40

down to ninth place.

0:36:400:36:42

'Moss is away in 12 seconds flat.

0:36:420:36:44

'And he's knocking out the fastest laps of the day,

0:36:440:36:47

'lap after lap.

0:36:470:36:48

'Moss has won back half a minute.'

0:36:490:36:51

Everybody's heart is sort of beating faster and faster, palms sweaty.

0:36:510:36:56

Against all the odds, he clawed back his lead and made racing history.

0:36:580:37:03

'And at last, after so many years of hopes and disappointments,

0:37:060:37:09

'a British driver in a British car...'

0:37:090:37:11

He won the British Grand Prix in a British car as a British driver.

0:37:110:37:14

And that was the first time that had happened.

0:37:140:37:17

It subsequently led, I think, to inspiring other designers

0:37:170:37:20

to believe that they could win in British cars.

0:37:200:37:23

It was a fantastic achievement.

0:37:230:37:25

And the Vanwall was the car that he did it in.

0:37:250:37:28

To help me understand how ground-breaking

0:37:310:37:33

the Vanwall was,

0:37:330:37:35

I'm going to achieve a lifelong dream and drive one.

0:37:350:37:39

For this I'll need help from an expert, in a car that's been made

0:37:390:37:43

to handle just like a Vanwall.

0:37:430:37:45

Patrick, one of the troubles with a Vanwall was that it used to understeer a lot.

0:37:470:37:52

So we've set this Caterham up to understeer,

0:37:520:37:54

so you can get a feel for what might happen.

0:37:540:37:57

If you add too much power,

0:37:570:37:59

you're just going to push the nose wider and wider and run out of road

0:37:590:38:03

and then there's going to be a very expensive and embarrassing moment.

0:38:030:38:06

# You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain... #

0:38:060:38:09

When cornering, the Vanwall would slide out

0:38:090:38:11

to the edge of the track - known in racing circles as "understeer".

0:38:110:38:15

Wow!

0:38:150:38:16

-Turning in.

-Understeer, understeer!

0:38:190:38:22

Oh, I'm running out of road!

0:38:220:38:25

I don't want to put a Vanwall in the ditch.

0:38:250:38:28

What I was doing there, was giving it that flick, to deliberately

0:38:370:38:40

get the rear to break away, to eradicate the understeer.

0:38:400:38:44

-Yes.

-But I don't think that's something you should try to do.

0:38:440:38:48

The Vanwall I'll be driving is a priceless museum piece,

0:38:480:38:53

so it was absolutely crucial I got this right.

0:38:530:38:56

TYRES SCREECH

0:38:560:38:57

-Ooh.

-You're turning very early, that's...

-Too early?

-Yeah. Which is what pushed us out.

0:38:570:39:02

But Tiff persuaded me it would be easier

0:39:020:39:05

if I really put my foot down.

0:39:050:39:07

Flags out, turn, power, power, power! Hold it, hold it!

0:39:070:39:10

Now you're going faster, you've got to ease off the throttle

0:39:130:39:17

-to get the opposite lock on.

-Yes.

0:39:170:39:19

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get it right.

0:39:190:39:23

You won't make it, we're in the field, we're in the field.

0:39:230:39:26

That's understeer, that's the field.

0:39:260:39:28

Sorry about that.

0:39:330:39:34

But after a couple of hours of practice,

0:39:370:39:39

I finally started to get the hang of it.

0:39:390:39:41

Down to third gear, turn in, and now power, power! Feel that.

0:39:450:39:50

And now lift off from here.

0:39:500:39:53

You've got it, you've got it, you've got it! Yeah!

0:39:550:39:58

Go, go! Yay!

0:40:040:40:06

The lesson was over,

0:40:090:40:10

but the exercise wasn't academic.

0:40:100:40:13

Now...I'm going to drive the real thing.

0:40:130:40:16

There's another challenge when the Vanwall gets delivered.

0:40:170:40:21

And this time,

0:40:210:40:23

I'm going to be under the watchful eye of another driver, Sir Stirling.

0:40:230:40:27

I'm a little apprehensive, but I'm sure that there will yet again

0:40:270:40:31

be another steep learning curve on this.

0:40:310:40:34

It will be a childhood fantasy.

0:40:340:40:38

'The British Vanwall cars were driven by Stirling Moss. Could they repeat their Aintree success?'

0:40:380:40:43

The next season, the Vanwall team went on to win the first ever Formula One

0:40:430:40:48

constructors championship.

0:40:480:40:51

'And the first man to congratulate the winner

0:40:510:40:53

'was Britain's proudest father.'

0:40:530:40:55

Stirling was on a high -

0:40:550:40:57

and he'd fallen in love, too.

0:40:570:40:59

But some things never change.

0:41:010:41:03

'The Mosses are honeymooning in Holland, but only for four days.

0:41:030:41:06

'Stirling has to be back in London to judge the Miss World contest.'

0:41:060:41:10

Can you imagine getting married to your wife, and saying, "Yeah,

0:41:100:41:13

"I know the honeymoon's important, sweetheart,

0:41:130:41:15

"but I want to go back to look at some women in bikinis

0:41:150:41:17

"and work out who's the best-looking."

0:41:170:41:19

Back on the track, Stirling yearned for more than just team success.

0:41:190:41:23

In 1958 he wanted that elusive drivers' title.

0:41:230:41:27

At that time, the drivers felt that I was the guy to beat.

0:41:290:41:33

When the times go up, they'd say, "well, what did Moss do?"

0:41:330:41:38

It ended up, the world championship,

0:41:380:41:40

being fought out between Stirling

0:41:400:41:42

and Mike Hawthorn.

0:41:420:41:45

To be able to beat Mike was terribly important to me.

0:41:450:41:49

If a foreigner beats me, I don't feel so bad.

0:41:490:41:52

But if it's an Englishman, I feel far worse.

0:41:520:41:54

That season, he won more races than any other driver.

0:41:540:41:58

And in Portugal, the world title seemed in the bag

0:41:580:42:01

when Hawthorn was disqualified for receiving a push start.

0:42:010:42:05

But then Stirling did an amazing thing.

0:42:060:42:09

I went up and said, this is quite wrong.

0:42:090:42:12

I said, look, you can't disqualify him for that, he wasn't on the racetrack.

0:42:120:42:15

His impeccable sportsmanship handed Hawthorn a single point.

0:42:150:42:19

All he needed to win the world championship.

0:42:190:42:22

'Stirling Moss, winner of the Grand Prix in his British Vanwall,

0:42:220:42:25

'had failed to be the first British champion by one point.'

0:42:250:42:28

That cost me one world title. So what?

0:42:310:42:34

What I wanted more than anything really,

0:42:340:42:37

I think, was the drivers' respect.

0:42:370:42:39

'Lewis-Evans is pushed off in the Vanwall.'

0:42:390:42:42

To make matters worse, the youngest member

0:42:420:42:44

of the Vanwall team was killed in the last race of the season.

0:42:440:42:48

Team manager Tony Vandervell decided to pull out of Formula One.

0:42:490:42:54

He never really got over the death of Stuart Lewis-Evans.

0:42:540:42:59

And I think Tony Vandervell somehow felt partly responsible

0:42:590:43:04

because poor Stuart was driving one of his cars.

0:43:040:43:07

After yet another disappointment,

0:43:090:43:12

Stirling's attitude towards racing started to change.

0:43:120:43:16

Stirling Moss, possibly the world's greatest racing driver.

0:43:160:43:19

Let's watch him relaxing with a miniature track.

0:43:190:43:21

Rival in this grim struggle is his wife, Katie.

0:43:210:43:25

'Stirling Moss rockets into sight with Bruce McLaren right on his tail.'

0:43:250:43:29

# You keep a-knockin' but you can't come in... #

0:43:290:43:32

Instead of the pressure of a top team, Stirling decided to drive

0:43:320:43:36

for his friend Rob Walker, the whisky tycoon.

0:43:360:43:39

The ethos was very much,

0:43:390:43:41

you race hard today and then you party tonight.

0:43:410:43:45

'Moss, the master.'

0:43:450:43:46

Stirling was very happy driving for Rob Walker.

0:43:460:43:48

The problem was, they weren't

0:43:480:43:50

a works car manufacturer,

0:43:500:43:52

they were using a car that they had bought from someone else.

0:43:520:43:56

Nevertheless, Stirling Moss is in the lead.

0:43:570:43:59

Without the support of a manufacturer,

0:44:010:44:04

Stirling's cars had a tendency to break down.

0:44:040:44:07

'Moss was soon in the lead, and might well have won,

0:44:070:44:09

'but transmission trouble made him retire.'

0:44:090:44:12

'Moss went pretty well until he had gearbox trouble.'

0:44:120:44:14

'Out of luck this season, a faulty clutch put Stirling out of the race.'

0:44:140:44:18

He finished third in the world championship three years on the trot,

0:44:200:44:24

but failing to win a title did nothing to dent his reputation.

0:44:240:44:29

I think the public appreciated just how artistic

0:44:290:44:32

he was in the delicacy of his driving, the way he held the wheel.

0:44:320:44:37

The British public love an underdog.

0:44:370:44:41

Every now and then, Stirling would win against all the odds

0:44:410:44:44

and at Monaco he came out on top when he lined up

0:44:440:44:47

against the Ferraris in Rob Walker's aging British Lotus.

0:44:470:44:52

He was driving an older chassis.

0:44:530:44:56

It just puts into perspective what a remarkable, remarkable drive

0:44:560:44:59

that was from Stirling on that sunny afternoon in Monte Carlo.

0:44:590:45:03

'On the 13th lap, Moss goes into the lead,

0:45:030:45:06

'despite the efforts of the far more powerful Ferraris.'

0:45:060:45:08

'With the entire Ferrari team in full cry behind him, round and

0:45:110:45:14

'round the classic Monaco circuit, he drives the race of his life.'

0:45:140:45:18

Stirling trounced the red Italians so convincingly,

0:45:240:45:26

it made Enzo Ferrari take note.

0:45:260:45:29

After a decade of separation, Stirling was invited to Maranello

0:45:310:45:35

for a meeting with the Old Man.

0:45:350:45:37

He called me up and said, would I go and see him down in Modena.

0:45:410:45:44

Ferrari met me and he said, "Look, will you drive for me?"

0:45:450:45:48

He said to Stirling, just tell me what you need...

0:45:490:45:52

..in a car, and I'll build it for you.

0:45:530:45:56

And that was how desperate he was to have Moss in one of his cars.

0:45:560:45:59

And amazingly, Enzo Ferrari, the Old Man himself,

0:45:590:46:03

agreed that he would sell a car to Rob Walker,

0:46:030:46:07

for Rob Walker to run in their colours, not even in Ferrari red,

0:46:070:46:10

and for Stirling to drive that car in the world championship.

0:46:100:46:14

Very soon, I'll get to drive one of Stirling's cars

0:46:180:46:21

but first I'm at the Ferrari factory, where he finally

0:46:210:46:25

made peace with Enzo, putting the world title within his grasp.

0:46:250:46:30

Enzo would have had the best driver in the world at that time

0:46:300:46:35

-in what should have been the best car in the world.

-Yes.

0:46:350:46:38

What do you think would have resulted from that combination?

0:46:390:46:43

Well, I think, hopefully, a world championship.

0:46:430:46:46

-Well, more than one world championship.

-That didn't happen.

-No.

0:46:460:46:50

Because of the crash.

0:46:500:46:51

Stirling never drove his Ferrari, because in a pre-season race he was

0:46:540:46:59

involved in an accident that ended his career.

0:46:590:47:02

How it happened remains a mystery.

0:47:020:47:05

I was passing in a place I would never consider passing under normal conditions.

0:47:070:47:11

And I was miles behind it, so there was no reason...

0:47:110:47:15

I wasn't dicing for the last corner of the last lap.

0:47:150:47:17

His crash was a national disaster

0:47:220:47:26

which...produced an atmosphere

0:47:260:47:30

of national anguish.

0:47:300:47:32

Not Stirling Moss. It didn't happen to him.

0:47:340:47:37

He was too good to crash.

0:47:370:47:39

To this day, Stirling believes the car was to blame

0:47:390:47:43

and that the crash wouldn't have happened in his Ferrari.

0:47:430:47:47

The one thing I respect Ferrari above anything else is no driver

0:47:470:47:51

that I know of has ever died because of mechanical failure on a car.

0:47:510:47:56

If the car had only arrived in England early enough

0:47:560:47:59

so I could have raced it at Goodwood, I wouldn't have had my crash,

0:47:590:48:02

and it would have been a wonderful relationship.

0:48:020:48:05

-It could have been perfect.

-It could have been.

0:48:050:48:09

But it wasn't.

0:48:090:48:10

Stirling was rushed to hospital as the nation feared for his life.

0:48:100:48:14

Oh, all racing drivers kill themselves -

0:48:140:48:17

that was the public attitude. And now it was Moss's turn.

0:48:170:48:20

The whole nation stopped,

0:48:210:48:23

basically waiting to find out what was going to happen.

0:48:230:48:27

We're hoping that he will keep going on slowly.

0:48:270:48:30

I mean, we can't expect miracles to happen. It's got to be a slow job.

0:48:300:48:35

Are you going to try and persuade him to stop racing after this?

0:48:350:48:38

I shall ask him, yes. I haven't before, but this time, I shall.

0:48:380:48:43

Definitely.

0:48:430:48:44

Stirling woke from a month-long coma paralysed down one side of his body.

0:48:460:48:51

But the nation's relief turned to fear that he may never return to the track.

0:48:510:48:56

Quite honestly, I have too much pride, I suppose,

0:48:560:48:59

to want to go in racing and find myself trailing round at the back.

0:48:590:49:03

If you find you're punch-drunk, I reckon you get out of it.

0:49:030:49:07

He had suffered serious brain damage which he would

0:49:070:49:10

take years to recover from, but that didn't stop the media asking

0:49:100:49:15

the same old question.

0:49:150:49:17

How soon do you think you'll be back on the track again?

0:49:170:49:19

That depends on the doctors, quite honestly.

0:49:190:49:21

He didn't get well for a very long time after that.

0:49:210:49:25

And until he was on form,

0:49:250:49:28

it was ridiculous for anybody

0:49:280:49:30

to think that he could test drive.

0:49:300:49:32

Any fool could have looked at him and said,

0:49:320:49:35

you know, why are you doing this?

0:49:350:49:37

The weight of expectation from the British public

0:49:370:49:40

pushed Stirling into attempting a comeback way before he was ready.

0:49:400:49:44

Just 12 months had passed

0:49:470:49:49

when he made the biggest decision of his life.

0:49:490:49:52

I came down here and I drove the car round

0:49:520:49:55

for about three quarters of an hour.

0:49:550:49:58

It dawned on me slowly, but very surely,

0:49:580:50:00

that the things that I required had gone.

0:50:000:50:03

What was second nature to me originally

0:50:030:50:05

was now a conscious effort.

0:50:050:50:08

A lot of things had changed.

0:50:080:50:10

I felt it would be, therefore, unwise to continue racing.

0:50:100:50:13

If the crash hadn't happened,

0:50:140:50:16

and the Ferrari had been delivered,

0:50:160:50:20

and you had won maybe, in '62, the world championship...

0:50:200:50:25

-Yeah.

-And perhaps the next year,

0:50:250:50:27

for how long do you think you would have continued to race Formula One?

0:50:270:50:30

I had hoped that I would race until I was well into my 50s.

0:50:300:50:34

My whole life would have changed.

0:50:340:50:35

I was forced out of racing at the age of just 32

0:50:350:50:38

and I didn't know what the hell to do. It's a shame,

0:50:380:50:41

because I think my life could have been a lot more rewarding.

0:50:410:50:45

I wish so, too.

0:50:450:50:46

The more time I spent with Stirling, the more

0:50:490:50:52

I came to an unlikely conclusion -

0:50:520:50:54

by ending his career, the accident was in fact a blessing.

0:50:540:50:58

You know that there are people who believe

0:51:000:51:05

that that crash at Goodwood in 1962

0:51:050:51:08

actually saved your life?

0:51:080:51:11

Yes, but they don't know the situation.

0:51:110:51:14

They're therefore assuming that I'm going to have another crash.

0:51:140:51:18

Quite honestly, if you look back over the whole of my career,

0:51:180:51:21

I did not have any serious crash that was my fault.

0:51:210:51:24

Why should I have another accident?

0:51:240:51:27

Odds. The more races that you're in, the odds become shorter and shorter.

0:51:270:51:32

And the more experienced you get.

0:51:320:51:35

Do you think you're indestructible?

0:51:350:51:37

I think that with a Ferrari as my car,

0:51:370:51:41

I think that we would have won quite a lot.

0:51:410:51:44

It has turned out to be getting to know an extraordinary individual.

0:51:510:51:56

This is a man who said that he did what he did

0:51:570:52:00

not in spite of the danger,

0:52:000:52:04

but because of the danger!

0:52:040:52:07

I have resisted making connections

0:52:070:52:11

and comparisons between my life and career and yours

0:52:110:52:15

because this has been about you, and not about me.

0:52:150:52:18

-Yeah.

-But it has been, what I have learnt about a man of passion

0:52:180:52:24

and ambition and feeling and self-belief

0:52:240:52:29

that has so affected me

0:52:290:52:32

and I shall take all that and put it into my life and my career.

0:52:320:52:37

It's a much overused phrase,

0:52:370:52:40

but you are an inspiration to me.

0:52:400:52:43

'We don't have, in our country,'

0:52:430:52:47

the title national treasure. But if we had it,

0:52:470:52:50

the first to receive it should be Sir Stirling Moss.

0:52:500:52:54

There remains just one thing for me to do.

0:52:590:53:02

55 years after the Vanwall's big victory, I'm on my way to Aintree -

0:53:040:53:09

where the tarmac track still exists.

0:53:090:53:12

I want to re-live the moment

0:53:140:53:16

an all-British team won a British Grand Prix -

0:53:160:53:19

the start of Formula One as we know it.

0:53:190:53:22

How often does anybody get an opportunity to drive,

0:53:220:53:25

on the same racecourse that Stirling actually won the British Grand Prix

0:53:250:53:30

in the car that he was driving?

0:53:300:53:33

Now Stirling and his team-mate Tony are going to

0:53:330:53:35

guide me through that most memorable race.

0:53:350:53:38

Somewhere here, there is a Vanwall waiting for me.

0:53:400:53:45

I shall get my first sight of it and my first touch of it...

0:53:470:53:51

um, climbing into it.

0:53:510:53:52

Yes, there we are. Fine.

0:54:050:54:08

There we are, this is the beautiful Vanwall.

0:54:090:54:12

-This is beautiful.

-You are allowed to touch it, if you want.

0:54:120:54:17

-Oh, Lord, I'm not sure that I should!

-You'll be getting in there!

0:54:170:54:20

I found it a very difficult car to drive.

0:54:220:54:23

-Yes, that's right, it was rather heavy, rather ponderous.

-Yes.

0:54:230:54:28

Look upon it as a blind date.

0:54:280:54:30

You never know what you've got till you get in, you know?!

0:54:300:54:34

I'm back in my comfort zone at this moment

0:54:380:54:40

because I'm putting on a costume, and that's something I'm used to.

0:54:400:54:44

Because what I want to do is enjoy myself.

0:54:440:54:49

I'm probably not going to have a day like this again.

0:54:490:54:52

Here's a helmet. Look after that, please. It's mine.

0:54:570:55:00

-This is the original?

-It's the original.

0:55:000:55:02

-It's lightweight. These are made for polo.

-Polo?

-So don't break it.

0:55:020:55:06

Good luck. Enjoy yourself.

0:55:060:55:08

With Stirling's helmet, gloves, and his blessing, I was going to follow in his footsteps.

0:55:080:55:14

I'm ready, yeah.

0:55:150:55:16

ENGINE STALLS

0:55:310:55:33

-A few more... Sorry.

-Has it stopped?

-No, it's stopped.

0:55:330:55:36

You don't just jump in a Vanwall and go shopping.

0:55:360:55:40

It is quite a complicated thing.

0:55:400:55:42

INAUDIBLE

0:55:500:55:52

'The flag is up.'

0:56:020:56:04

'They're off!'

0:56:100:56:11

He's gone!

0:56:150:56:17

My second attempt was better, and as I entered

0:56:170:56:20

the first straight, it felt like the Vanwall was beginning to fly.

0:56:200:56:24

It was hard to control, it wasn't very comfortable,

0:56:300:56:33

but this beautiful car does have one major attribute -

0:56:330:56:37

it goes really, really fast.

0:56:370:56:40

'Now winding it up as he roars on.

0:56:400:56:44

'On past the railway carriages,

0:56:440:56:47

'now past the huge crowd on the embankment.

0:56:470:56:49

'Under the giant scoreboard for the last time in this race,

0:56:490:56:52

'through the Melling Crossing...'

0:56:520:56:55

'With people rising in their seats in the grandstand,

0:56:550:56:58

'ready to proclaim a fine victory and a well-deserved victory.

0:56:580:57:03

'Stirling Moss, coming by, waving to the crowds.

0:57:030:57:07

'And Stirling Moss comes up to the finishing line

0:57:070:57:10

'and the chequered flag drops as Stirling Moss wins

0:57:100:57:13

'the British Grand Prix and indeed, this year, the European Grand Prix,

0:57:130:57:18

'for that is the honour which is being bestowed upon England this year...'

0:57:180:57:22

COMMENTARY FADES

0:57:220:57:24

-Enjoy it?

-Feels wonderful, Stirling.

0:57:260:57:29

It feels absolutely brilliant.

0:57:290:57:32

Oh, Lord! This beats the Enterprise any day!

0:57:340:57:38

Exhilaration and satisfaction was...

0:57:380:57:40

Well, let me just say, I will try and hold on to it

0:57:400:57:42

till the day I die, if I can. Because it feels so good.

0:57:420:57:46

Thank you for spending this time with me

0:57:460:57:48

and giving me some of your hard-earned,

0:57:480:57:51

long-earned experience.

0:57:510:57:53

Because I consider it one of the great privileges of my life.

0:57:530:57:56

I can't stop grinning!

0:57:560:57:59

Perhaps my proudest feeling is that here it is, folks,

0:58:000:58:05

I give it back to you. It's unharmed, untouched.

0:58:050:58:08

And for this relief, much thanks!

0:58:100:58:12

# I'm going to live till I die

0:58:210:58:25

# I'm going to laugh 'stead of cry

0:58:250:58:28

# I'm going to take the town and turn it upside down

0:58:280:58:32

# I'm going to live live, live, live, live

0:58:320:58:36

# Until I die! #

0:58:380:58:43

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