{"id":497163,"date":"2017-12-01T01:47:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T01:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=52913"},"modified":"2024-12-27T12:59:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T12:59:00","slug":"lotus-20-fj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/lotus-20-fj\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorite Racecar? Lotus 20 FJ"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ron Harris was a wealthy man who had a company distributing 16-mm films, obviously prior to the days of video, who was running his own Formula Junior team. Apart from my initial experience of driving a racing car for the first time, this is the only other thing I distinctly remember from those early days. But what a day! Ron had his office in Surbiton, Surrey; around the corner was a car sales run by John Gee-Turner. He was to be one of my teammates. There was another chap who was offered a drive too, but I can\u2019t recall his name, but I remember our first race together. We all went up to Snetterton for our first race; I think it was September time, quite late in the season anyhow. When I got there I saw these two Lotus 20s on a double-deck trailer. Ron came to the circuit in his red E-Type Jaguar coupe, with its gleaming chrome wheels. I couldn\u2019t believe it; I was in the presence of motor racing royalty. E-Type Jaguars were things that were at the cutting edge of motoring, it was a car still being talked about, and I hadn\u2019t dreamed that anyone had one yet. It\u2019s something I remember as though it were yesterday\u2014it made a great impression on me.<\/p>\n

In the race I had qualified reasonably well, I\u2019m not sure of my grid position\u2014 possibly halfway, but, I hadn\u2019t disgraced myself. The other chap was a couple of places behind me. John Hogan, a real hero of mine who\u2019d raced at the Isle of Man TT on a BSA he built himself, was a spectator at the first corner. As the flag dropped, we all sped off from the grid to the first righthander\u2014 Riches Corner\u2014as I was about to turn, CRASH!! My teammate had Tboned me. I walked back to the pits and told the team what had happened. Ron accepted what I had said. The other chap said I\u2019d hit him, John had seen what had happened and told Ron. I was asked to wait for a phone call, which I got a few weeks later when I learned I had a full-time drive in the Ron Harris Team for the 1962 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n