Brits on Pole

The Philips/Williams F1 Driving Academy winner’s day in photos

By Andy Darley

Monday, November 9th, 2009

 

After months of preparation and anticipation, it came down to this: one powerful car, one iconic race track and one amateur driver about to go where millions of fans would give their eye teeth to follow.

Except, as this photo gallery shows, there was far more to it than just one man and one machine.

An online game of speed and reflexes, a track assessment day and a series of simulator tests had whittled down the thousands of entrants to one winner and, far from standing alone, he was backed up by a full team from driver coaches to PR handlers.

When Rob Tarlton hit the track in his Williams FW29, he had built up to that moment in a Silverstone Lotus Exige and in a Raikkonen Robertson Racing F3 car.

He’d taken advice from F1 driver Kazuki Nakajima and Superleague pilot Jonathan Kennard.

And, for that morning, he’d been equipped, promoted, managed, interviewed, advised, briefed, debriefed, led around and followed about exactly as if he was the real deal and not a one-shot guest.

Here’s how it looked from the pitlane:

Related posts:

• The fan, the F1 car – and the experience of a lifetime
• Rob Tarlton’s F1 drive: what the experts thought
• Win a chance to drive a Williams F1 car – for real
• Q&A with Rob Tarlton
• F3: Ricciardo on for championship after Silverstone weekend

Read more about Competitions, Jonathan Kennard, Kazuki Nakajima, Raikkonen Robertson, Rob Tarlton, Silverstone, Williams F1.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Competitions, F1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Don't forget you can keep up with Brits on Pole in the following ways: via RSS feed, or by receiving our weekly newsletter (and get a free F1 ebook when you do). Or follow us on Twitter or Racing Blips.

Author: Andy Darley. Ex-journalist, fan of Mark Webber and anyone who ever drove or tested for Minardi and didn't say rude things about the team afterwards. Owns a Triumph Spitfire and hopes that, one day, it'll be on the road again. Andy has written 685 articles for us.