Aussie Grit (43 page)
Authors: Mark Webber
And of course Luke is like a younger brother to me. He was only a little tacker when we met. Sport brought Luke and me closer over time: he may be very academic but he’s also very knowledgeable on the sporting front. He’s a handy tennis player and a good runner. As he’s got older we’ve been able to do more together and I’ve taken him to some big events like soccer matches at Old Trafford, one-day matches and Tests, Wimbledon and plenty of Grands Prix.
It would be wrong if I were to finish with any other name but Ann’s. I don’t much like saying ‘Told you so’, but I was right. Twenty years ago when I met her for the first time I said she must be somebody pretty important. Only she and I know just how important she has been in my life, and the focus, the discipline, the belief she invested in my career.
Together we started the fire and together we have come a long way.
Could we have done some things better? Probably.
Could we have made different decisions? Certainly.
Could we have tried harder to get where we wanted to be? No way.
There was no manual for what we were attempting to do. We used the skills we each had and then made it up as we went along, at least in the early days. Ann is a workaholic who seems to survive on no sleep. She is the most fiercely loyal person I have ever known; she has been unfailingly protective of me and what she sees as my best interests. She is the single most important presence in my life and my best friend. We have complete trust in one another; we are so finely attuned that we each instinctively know what the other is thinking. Ann has always kept me honest: with people like her to help, you don’t have to work hard at being yourself.
‘How the f#*k are
you
going to get to Formula 1 coming from Queanbeyan?’ Together we faced that question so many times; together we answered it. F1 was a pinnacle for me. As I said when I rode up L’Alpe d’Huez with Alain Prost, who was such an inspiration to me, I have always liked ascending.
It’s phenomenal to turn around, look back and see where you’ve come from.
Writing an autobiography is no five-minute job and mine has been a mammoth effort by those on the frontline, on and off over the past decade and more. First and foremost, my sincere thanks to my ghostwriter, Stuart Sykes, whose attention to detail has been impeccable. Stuart painstakingly trawled the archives and researched diligently to unearth family history I didn’t even know about; he came up with every stat there was to know about my racing career, many of which I’d long forgotten. His biggest challenge of all, though, was deciphering what became known in the process of writing this book as ‘Webberisms’ for general reading consumption!
Stuart’s work would surely have been even more laborious had it not been for the efforts of Chris Lambden, who started the task many years ago, when the idea of a book was first floated, with hours upon hours of early interviews.
Odd as it may seem now, the idea back then was for the book to conclude after my F1 debut at Melbourne in 2002. Happily F1 continued to dominate my life for a further 11 years and a lot more water has flowed under the bridge during that time.
My thanks and admiration to my partner, Ann, for her unwavering commitment to the book, which has consumed a large part of her life over the past two years, and to her son Luke, who was always available to cast an educated eye over numerous drafts and help with the editing process.
Last but not least, thank you to Pan Macmillan, in particular Angus Fontaine and Samantha Sainsbury, for believing I had a worthwhile story to tell. Their patience, guidance and gentle persuasion in encouraging me to share the world I was part of with a wider audience was challenging at times. But I’m thankful to Pan Macmillan for allowing the final decisions to rest with me and I hope between us we’ve struck a happy balance for the reader.
Of course my career, and therefore my story, would not have been possible without all those people who provided inspiration, support, guidance, insight and friendship. It would take up too many pages to acknowledge them individually, so I hope they will forgive me if I provide an alphabetical list. Each of them knows what their backing meant to me along the way: Valerie Aguer, Arai Helmets, Arlene Bansal, Layne Beachley, the Brabham family, Flavio Briatore, Bob Butler, David Campese, John Cavill, the Christensen family, Roger Cleary, Rich Connor, Bob Copp, Morris Denton and family, Alan Docking, Geoff Donohue, Mick Doohan, Kerry Fenwick, Michael Foreman, David Furner, Harry Galloway, Don and Sue Gatherer, Judith
Griggs, David Hahn, John Harnden, Nick Harris, Wolfgang Hatz, Norbert Haug, Bob and Nancy Johnson (and thanks for the cool front-cover shot, Nancy!), and Peter Larner,
Andy Lawson, Spencer Martin, Dietrich Mateschitz, Rod McLean, Dan McPherson, Gordon Message, Bruno Michel, David Moffatt, Chris Morris and family, Adrian Newey, Trevor O’Hoy, Tim and Debbie Parker, Barbara Proske, Dick Puxty, Mike and Pam Reese, Bernd Schneider, Rick Scully, Bernie Shrosbree, Eva Sobonova, Simon Sostaric, Sir Jackie and Lady Stewart and family, Paul Stoddart, Chris Styring, Simon Taylor, Gerhard Ungar, Ron Walker and Danny Wallis.
My sincere thanks to all of them – and to you – for sharing my journey.
Abu Dhabi
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304–9
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Adams, Leigh
191
Albers, Christijan
187
Alguersuari, Jaime
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Alonso, Fernando
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AMD
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AMG Mercedes
see
Mercedes-Benz/AMG Mercedes
Amon, Chris
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Armstrong, Lance
141–2
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224–5
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Arrows
F3000
128
Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire
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215–16
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athletics
17
Audi
351
Aufrecht, Hans-Werner
86
Aussie rules
17
Australian cricket team
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Australian Grand Prix, Adelaide
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34–5
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50–1
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Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne
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first F1 race
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Formula Holden
51–2
sports-car/FIA GT demonstration
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Austria, A1-Ring
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renamed Red Bull Ring
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Aylesbury
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Bahrain
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BAR (British American Racing)
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Barcelona
see
Spain
Barrett, Luke
38–40
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Barrett, Rod
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Barrichello, Rubens
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Barthez, Fabien
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Baumgartner, Felix
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Beachley, Layne
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Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps
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Benetton F1
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2001 test and reserve driver
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B201
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Renault
see
Renault
Renault 111-degree engine
143
Benetton, Luciano
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Bennett, Wayne
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Benteyn, Pierre-Emeric
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Beretta, Olivier
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Berger, Gerhard
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Bernhard, Timo
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Bianchi, Jules
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bicycle riding
see
cycling
Black Saturday
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Blewitt, David George ‘DG’
17–19
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Blewitt, Diane
see
Webber, Diane
Blewitt, Marie
17
BMW
BMW Sauber
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Formula BMW
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M5
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Bourdais, Sébastien
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Brabham, David
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Brabham, Geoff
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Brabham, Lady
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Brabham, Sir Jack
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Bracks, Steve
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Brands Hatch
37–8
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60–2
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Brazil
10
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Brennan, Niall
200–1
Briatore, Flavio
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Bridgestone
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Bright, Jason
44–5
British Grand Prix
see
United Kingdom
British motor-racing industry
47–8
Brundle, Martin
26
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88
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104
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109
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126
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333
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337
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375
Budweiser
193
Buemi, Sébastien
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Button, Jenson
4
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39
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143–4
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246–7
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260–1
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304
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337
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366–7
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Cadwell Park
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Campbell, Naomi
135
