By the time I was born on 25 March 1961, Ken Tyrrell had been mad about motor racing for 10 years, had progressed from amateur racing driver to team manager and the Tyrrell Racing Organisation was already a year old. I probably had a crush on Tyrrell earlier as a young boy because the team with Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert was the measure of all things in the early 70s, but in my memory the start of my “passion Tyrrell” was on 5 August 1973. I followed the pair race of the two blue Tyrrells at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with fascination. From the helicopter perspective, you could see the chasers on the horizon and by the time they crossed the finish line, Jackie and Francois had opened up a lead of over 40 seconds over the rest of the field. What a demonstration. I was in love …

From that day on, I read and collected everything I could get my hands on about Tyrrell. But it was not until 1983 that I was able to see the Tyrrells live for the first time. That was at the 1983 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring. This was followed by another 47 Grand Prix all over Europe until 1998. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to complete the 50.
In 1993, my employer at the time (Reebok) planned a meeting in London for December. My chance to drop in at Ockham, I thought. I shyly asked by fax – and received an invitation the same day. Thanks Trudy! 😉 Two days before Christmas 1993, Richard Impett – one of my best friends to this day – showed me around the factory. From that day on I was on Tyrrell’s press mailing list, received a lot of information (concerning Tyrrell) at first hand and quite often I was a guest of Tyrrell in the paddock. 1998 I was invitated to the “End Of Tyrrell Party” and even – sadly – at the funeral services in honour of Ken Tyrrell. Unforgettable … The best time of my life …

Today, I only follow Formula 1 casually. It is no longer the same for me without Tyrrell … But I am an enthusiastic member and reader of many historical Formula 1 or Tyrrell groups on Facebook and I am pleased that there are still so many passionate supporters of the team today. For years I have owned the domain “www.tyrrell.de” and after a correspondence course in “web design with WordPress” I am now trying to fill the domain with life – a web archive/database with lots of pictures and information around the great Team Tyrrell.