The 1987 season was my first year in Formula One. I had sponsorship from Lois jeans and Mr. Minardi offered me a drive in his team alongside Alessandro Nannini in the new Minardi M187. I appreciated that the Minardi wasn’t too competitive, but it was a start. The car was powered by Motori Moderni V6 turbo and was possibly the most powerful car I had driven to that point of my career. In my first race, the Brazilian GP, I was disqualified as I’d overtaken cars lining up for the grid after my car had stalled. I should have started in last place, but I was young, exuberant and this was my first Formula One race. My season didn’t get too much better as my car retired at all the races in that F1 World Championship series—except one.
As a boy, my motor racing hero was Alfonso de Portago, a true legend in Spain. He was killed at the wheel of his Ferrari 335S along with his teammate, Edmund Nelson, and a number of spectators while competing in the 1957 Mille Miglia. The accident was caused by a tire failure, nothing to do with the way he was driving. This all happened three years before I was born, yet from a very early age I looked at him as a gentleman driver and he became my inspiration to become involved in motor racing—I wanted to race, I wanted to drive in the Spanish GP.
