About a month ago I came across an interview with a man by the name of John Webb. The name will not be familiar unless you were in or around British motorsport between 1960 and the late 80s.
However, if you were, it would more than ring a few bells; especially in relation to Motor Circuit Developments Ltd (MCD). A company that owned a majority of the UK’s circuits at the time, with Brands Hatch being the jewel in the crown.
If Bernie Ecclestone was the guiding hand of Formula 1, then John Webb was his equal in the UK motor racing scene. A promotional entrepreneur, John's interest lay with planes and trains and he initially cut his promotional teeth in the airline industry.
However, after setting up his own publicity company, one of his early clients was the then privately owned Brands Hatch.
Building an Empire
Over time, John brought in investors and created MCD to buy and develop Brands Hatch and a further three circuits. As Managing Director, this made him a powerful force in the sport, and he was often accused of being a kingmaker or breaker, if you upset him. Remind you of anyone?
Nigel's first
Between 1964 and 1986 “Brands” as it was affectionally known, hosted the British Grand Prix alternating with Silverstone.
To fill the financial fallow years, Webb came up with the idea of “The Race of Champions”, a non-World Championship round F1 race, to help balance the books.
F1 Teams, generally without exception, always entered, and it became the venue of Nigel Mansell's first British F1 race win.
It's all been done before
If you think Liberty invented the idea of driving crowds to race meetings using celebrities and pre-race shows, think again.
Together with his wife Angela, Webb was delivering this back in the 70s. Bringing pop idols to his race meetings, tying up with Radio 1 and arranging one-make races between sports and film stars, generating huge crowds.
If interested I recommend you google: Bay City Rollers and Mallory Park. You’ll find the full story in the results.
Verbal warning
Probably the best example of his and his wife Angela’s fertile publicity minds were the air displays before the start of the Grand Prix: Harrier Jump Jets, Vulcan bombers and the Red Arrows. One year they even managed to re-route a Concorde flight to pass over Brands Hatch and tip its wings.
Apparently, Bernie was minded to have words on this as he felt the pre-race Grand Prix shows were starting to “overshadow” the main event.
Purists at the time criticized them for putting the cart before the horse with their ancillary activities. However, Webb wasn’t “all hat and no knickers”. He also inspired new Formulas for racing, notably Formula Ford and its variants. He also promoted drivers, foremost two women, Davina Galicia and Desire Wilson.
A model circuit
As someone who attended both venues back in the day, I can vouch that Silverstone never did and never will match the atmosphere of Brands Hatch.
Situated in a valley, it was a natural amphitheatre. You could see almost the entire Indy circuit regardless of where you sat. With the exception of ovals, this made it unique and I’ve often wondered why modern circuit designers have not sought to replicate the topology.
Sadly, John passed away last week at the ripe old age of ninety-two. A huge achievement for someone who was born with deformed hips and expected to have a foreshortened life in a wheelchair. It was one of the few expectations that he had never met. John Webb was a Titan of British motorsport. Arguably his efforts contributed to the UK becoming the center of world Motorsport and F1.
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