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On the eve of the final Le Mans Series round of 2009 and just after Drayson Racing had confirmed their plans to enter an LMP1 Lola-Judd in the final two American Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series rounds in Japan and the 2010 season Planetlemans editor Milo Kol spoke with Lord Paul Drayson and his wife Elspeth.
With cars racing around the track Paul and Elspeth were more than willing to answer the various questions asked by Milo…their five children quietly playing in the Drayson Racing hospitality unit. Here’s what Milo found out about this team that competes with the best teams of the world but still looks after its employees, the fans as well as the environment!
Planetlemans (PLM)- Paul, you were quite a late starter in racing. What made you decide to start racing at the age of 43?
Elspeth Drayson (ED) replies- He wasn’t a race driver when I met him. We just had our fifth child and just sold our business when he announced it was something he always wanted to try, and that was driving a racecar. So I thought: “Okay, fine, off you go, have a nice time and come back. “ I thought it was a mid-life crisis.
ED- He could have chosen something else, but no it was the start. At first he was learning and then started competitive racing. At first I thought it would be a bit like golf when you say see you tomorrow and have a good day. But then I realized that if I continued to do that we would not see him at weekends during the season. So with the children with us we started to travel around the UK to all the races. We got ourselves a motor home, travelled on Saturday, saw the races on Saturday and Sunday and then went home again.
PLM- That must have been fun for the kids.
ED- It was fun and it involved everybody. I thought it would be the beginning of a passion. And now it is a real proper team.
PLM- Paul’s career in international racing started with the Barwell team. What happened to the Barwell-Drayson venture that was planned for this year?
PD- As you mentioned I raced with Barwell Motorsport in the British GT championship and then when we decided to run the ten rounds of the American Le Mans Series we did it in a venture with Barwell. At the end of that season, I decided that I wanted to form my own team, as with Barwell I would always be one of the Barwell Motorsport customers. Barwell raced in different series and so because I am a government minister and I can’t be sponsored like that.
I wanted to have my own team. It enables me to run my own program, with the ambition of running the team in the future, after politics. That is why I took the decision to form my own independent team at the end of last year.
PLM- Was that also the moment you contracted experienced people like Dale White?
PD- Actually Dale had been working for us when we took part in the American Le Mans Series as a strategy guy. Things went very well with Dale. Since it was a sort of long-term decision, a lot of it depended upon the FIA decision about the situation with my eye. And so all the time that we were waiting for the regulation about my eye I had to show how far I could go in racing.
PLM- Is your eye the reason you went to race in the American Le Mans Series?
PD- No, what brought me to America in the first place was the decision that the ALMS were going to encourage green racing. That is what got me interested in America and then when I found out that it was possible to run in America under commission being blind in one eye that really sealed it. But the vision the American Le Mans Series had to have green racing. I mean our philosophy for Drayson Racing in long term is to be a champion and a promoter of innovative green technology. Our vision goes back to racing in British GT where we were the first to race with second generation bio fuel. I really think there is a fantastic opportunity for endurance sports car racing to be the premier place in motorsport for the development of new technologies and to improve the efficiency of greener fuels. When we got these amendments on the eye regulations that really made it clear that the glass ceiling for me as a driver had been removed, I had been racing all around the world. I had not been racing the European races before, it was not allowed.
PLM: What do you think of the rules regarding blindness yourself?
PD- I think it goes back to a rule…I think it goes back to the Second World War; it goes back a long time. What happened in the medical world is that there is an understanding that not everyone can do it, but some people have the capability. I was born blind in one eye, so my brain has been developed with binocular vision, so it is not an issue for me.
I think though that the rules should be based on the assessment on the individual abilities, so it is like you lose a leg or an arm, you might have to modify the car slightly or maybe develop something.
That enabled us to create the team and our vision for the team is to create a really well parsed professional independent team. We’re a private team, an independent team and our vision is green racing. And we’ve been working with Aston Martin on the GT2 car now for two years and that was a development program.
PLM- But you’ve completely stopped that program now?
PD- Yes, because we have decided to make the step to the LMP1 class. We think the timing is right to do that. Because the LMP1 rules allow much more innovation, the technology with things that are coming and we really want to be a part of that. Changes that are taking place.
We have a great package; the Lola Judd improved package. Therefore, any innovation that we make around a green technology will be a part of an already developed package. We will not need to worry about developing a car and green technologies at the same time.
PLM- Don’t you think it will be strange for the spectators to see Paul Drayson not running in an Aston Martin?
PD- I love Aston Martin. I think it is a fantastic brand, a fantastic marque. But I did not want for the next stage of development of my team is to be involved in a works development program. And Aston is developing itself already.
I want to have my independent team and I want to build the Drayson Racing brand, I want to build on the independence of that. You know, I love Aston Martin and we considered being part of that (having the third car) but we decided that wasn’t right for us.
PLM- So your focus is on the team and not as much on the car?
PD- It is all about the team! My ambition is to build our own proper team, not the development of a brand new car.
PLM- What are your feelings about going to LMP1 next year then
ED- It is a lot of work and a huge challenge. But it is obviously the ultimate in racing. It is a big step from the GT2 level; it is quite a steep learning curve.
PD- It is fantastic isn’t it; we’ve done it together. We have built our company together and we worked for 10 years together to create that family business, and it is a bit like doing it again.
ED- It is a natural thing to do together. It is not something I would have imagined being involved in, but it is interesting being a woman in this area and being able see things from a slightly different angle. In a way I ended up doing the sort of things I already did when we had our previous organization.
PLM- It could be a difficult job starting this LMP1 program with drivers that have no LMP experience at all…
PD- Yes, but we’re committed to it. We’ve got to learn it; this is a big step for us. It’s going to be a fascinating end of the season with the three races at the end of the season, at Petit Le Mans, Laguna Seca and then Japan. It will make a fantastic preparation for next season.
It is a very tight schedule with the new car. We’ll be well prepared for next season. At this time of the year everybody is normally wondering what they will do next season, and times have not been very busy, everybody’s been waiting. So by taking our position early we are already ahead of a few. Lots of people are keen do to what we did, getting things in place quickly. Our decision has put us some six months ahead in our program; this should give us an advantage for our first full year of racing in LMP1.
Even other things, like uniforms. If you order them in January everybody will be worried about getting it on time before Sebring, but we’re already far ahead of that. There is no worry about that anymore. Everything is available for the fans already.
PLM- Speaking about Japan. Why are you going to the Okayama races?
PD- I love Japan as a country. I’ve worked for many years in the biotechnology industry and had good contacts in Japan and they are very keen sports car fans over there. The idea of taking my family, my children there and do some racing in Japan is very inspiring.
PLM- Are you getting asked for input on the Silverstone versus Donington battle that keeps going?
PD- Yeah, sometimes. I think that from the British Government’s point of view it is very important to keep the British Grand Prix. We have the world’s leading motorsport industry here in the UK, a very important industry. We know how important it is to have the pinnacle of motorsport, which is Formula One; we have many teams and many British fans. It is essential to have a British Grand Prix, less important where that Grand Prix will take place.
PLM- Thank you for the interview and good luck with the LMP1 Lola and Drayson Racing in 2010!
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