Brian Redman: The big interview (part 1)

PART 1

In the first of a two-part interview, Brian Redman looks back on key moments from a glittering career punctuated by both success and sacrifice. Here, the British racing driver shares details of the crashes that nearly took his life, plus his many experiences at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans

Photography courtesy Porsche Archive & Getty

Total 911: Brian, you’ve won some of the most famous races in the world, driven with the best drivers and piloted some of the most iconic cars. Is there anything you haven’t done that you wish you had?

Brian Redman: There are two things, one being Indianapolis. I was actually offered it twice in 1974 but that year, USAC [United States Auto Club] joined with the SCCA [Sports Car Club of America] and suddenly, into the series came these new USAC drivers: Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Johnny Rutherford and others, who were all Indy winners and they all struggled, except for Mario. Mario was brilliant from the start but even the Unsers, who were really good and learned really fast, didn’t actually get road racing.

So when I was offered it, I just thought, “You have all these Indy racers that are struggling – the same could happen to me.” I didn’t want to spend a year trying to work it out.

I won three Formula 5000 championships in North America, with Mario finishing second for two years, then they changed the rules. They made us put bodywork on the open-wheel single seater and for the first event of the year (1977) my new car, which I hadn’t seen yet… I got there and it had been prepared by Chaparral. I got out, come back in after 20 minutes and at that point, I’m three seconds faster than anybody else. Jim Hall asked me how it was and I said that it was good. He asked about the balance. “Drop the front wing a quarter of an inch,” I said.

It wasn’t much.

At 170mph, it took off at the top of a hill, turned over, went about 40 feet in the air and then landed upside down. The roll bar broke and I went down on the road. My helmet rubbed away on each side. I broke my neck, my shoulder, split my wrist bone, broke my ribs, and my heart stopped. Fortunately, as the car rolled off the road, the surrounding land was lower so it landed on its wheels. The track doctor was a heart specialist, so he got my heart going. I was taken to hospital but on the way, the ambulance blew a tyre.