John Bartlett

Motorsport and Corruption…

So, to continue my story, by 1979 I’d naively stumbled my way into the world of motor racing… and it was everything I had imagined as a child.  But was the world I’d entered, intrinsically corrupt?  Was that why the police raided me with such force?  Certainly I wasn’t aware of anything at the time, but then I wasn’t looking for it.  All I wanted to do was to become a racer, a name and ideally a big name.  So why in 1993 did the police think I was some sort of criminal mastermind, a potential threat that needed force to overpower me… or my 79 year old mum?  Was there anything criminal in my or my family’s background?  Absolutely not…

I was born in Hove in East Sussex, the third child of William and Betty.  My parents ran a seaside hotel in Brighton called the Claremont.  Following a meeting with Graham Hill, who’s father was a guest at the hotel, I became fuelled by a determination to join that world and become a racing driver.  At the age of seven, I was sent off to Shoreham Grammar, a boarding school where, being dyslexic, I was beaten black and blue most days by my teachers, who were of the opinion that corporal punishment, was the best method of eradicating my affliction.   Needless to say, I hated school and quickly learnt a distrust of authority, and having auburn hair didn’t help, making me an instant target for bullies.  I was considered a dreamer by my teachers, who throughout my school years commonly cursed me with the phrases like: “You’ll never amount to anything…”   the curse, mixed with frequent bullying and pain inflicted by my teachers has held me in good stead throughout my life… It instilled a strong strength of mind, a drive to prove myself and an instinctive mistrust of authority… I’ll never accept bullying from anyone, especially those in power… I will always fight back!

So, looking back at motorsports recent history, did the police have any reason to be a bit suspicious of anyone involved in the sport?  Possibly… just one or two cases in point…

In the US, back in the early 1980s, the IMSA Sports Car Championship that I’d competed in had been hit with a drugs scandal.  A top driver, John Paul Junior, had been sent to prison for several years as a result of an investigation and his father sentenced to 25 years after pleading guilty to importing marijuana and tax evasion.  But that was in the US. Did the British police consider the UK racing scene to be funded by drugs or some sort of illegal activity?  Was that why I’d been raided with such force?

One prominent court case involving a UK racing team was a little matter concerning Lotus founder Colin Chapman, American John Delorean, a gentleman by the name of Fred Bushell and the British government.  Basically, De Lorean agreed to pay Lotus US$15m to develop a car. You may know the one, the DeLorean DMC-12, which later featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future.  Well, somewhere along the line, a large amount of government cash disappeared.  Delorean fled, Chapman died and Bushell was arrested and found guilty of receiving a big pile of the missing money.  The judge commented that if Chapman and De Lorean had been present they would have each received 10 year sentence for fraud.

Another man to be sent to prison with a link to motor racing was British businessman Ted Ball whose company, Landhurst Leasings, crashed with US$75m missing. It later evolved that Ball had been funding both the Brabham and Lotus F1 teams during the early 90s and he and his partner were accused of doctoring the books of Landhurst Leasings.  He was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to defrauding banks of millions.

From a promising racer in Formula Junior, then F1’s training ground, came Roy “The Weasel” James, who like many young and aspiring racers, was struggling to find sponsorship….  James decided to use his skills and tackle the problem head-on by taking up some part-time work… as a  getaway driver for the Great Train Robbery!

Then there was Doug Wood, a former racing driver and team owner, arrested at helm of his cocaine packed yacht, Ronin. The boat had been tracked to the UK after being sailed into Trinidad and loaded with 91kg of cocaine, valued at around ten million pounds.

This type of activity and more, sensationalised by the British media, didn’t help the sports image. Articles thin on detail, designed only for impact to sell newspapers, reflected a picture of a sport mired in corruption.

By now I’d been racing for almost 13 years and had reached the World Sports Car Championship.  It was now the very late 80s and the UK’s buoyant economy had turned.  Thatchers Britain was in severe meltdown with another tsunami of debt heading our way courtesy of the US and a  certain Jordan R. Belfort, aka The Wolf of Wall Street, the master of stock manipulation and corporate chicanery.  The recession of the 90s hit with the power of an erupting volcano, its shockwaves rippling throughout the country.  More than 50,000 small business a week were going bust, amongst them my race team, resulting in my redundancy.  On 8th February 1993 the police raided me…

At precisely that moment yet another case was hitting the headlines, an investigation and trial involving a man by the name of Vic Lee… Had his case somehow, unwittingly influenced the police and the justice system who were at that very moment looking into my situation?  In essence, had “the system” been prejudiced by the unconnected events of recent years?

Link to Motivating Force Page

Next post: This day, 20 years ago…

Previous Post’s in Series:

1. The day my life changed forever
2. Setting the Scene: February 1993