THIS IS THE SECOND TIME RICHARD Jenkins has struck a hitherto neglected subject, the driver who oddly hasn’t had a full biography so far. (I can think of one other yet, Richard.) After his award-winning book about Richie Ginther he turns his keyboard towards a British equivalent. Like a powerboat which never quite gets on the plane, Mike Spence’s career nearly took off, but not quite. Despite 37 Formula 1 races he has just a couple of nonchampionship victories to show. Many people felt it was an unfair record.
Spence tends to show in the records as a supporting player, but as Jackie Stewart’s foreword points out his biggest problem was that he was driving a Lotus alongside Jim Clark. Yet he wasn’t driven to be champion; Jenkins quotes him saying, “I don’t have a deep-seated need to be a racing driver, I just like doing it.” A contrast with something he said in 1968: “Ever since I was a child all I wanted to do was to become a racing driver.” Perhaps the difference is between wanting and needing.