Staying on Track by Nigel Mansell

Author:Nigel Mansell [Mansell, Nigel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

CHAPTER 14

1992 – THE CHAMPIONSHIP YEAR

Most people get opportunities in life. Sadly, some people are guilty of not seizing those moments. Life is about grasping the opportunities that come your way, taking that chance and running with it. Some people think they will have more opportunities further down the line, so this one particular moment is not that important but, of course, they are often wrong. You have to embrace it now. When you get a moment – like the one I felt I had in 1992 – it is gold dust.

Going into 1992 I was my lightest, fittest, most focused – I was ready to embrace the opportunity. I felt I had paid my dues, with all those years in inferior cars or as a number two driver. I’d surpassed the great Sir Stirling Moss for grand prix wins; I was closing in on Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart’s tallies; but above all I wanted the world title. Senna and McLaren were likely favourites, Ferrari were always hovering around, and Benetton-Ford were also a force to be reckoned with.

The FW14B was a brilliant car, refined in the wind tunnel, and an improvement even on the brilliant car of 1991. It also had a more reliable active suspension system, which underwent over 7000 hours of testing. The electronics guy at Williams even called his experience of one particularly gruelling test at Estoril as ‘The Eight Days War’, because it was so intense and focused. The resulting car was over two seconds faster than the preceding passive car. It was also proving to be reliable. Now I was really excited.

I dominated the first race at Kyalami, winning by 24 seconds from Patrese, and nearly 35 seconds ahead of Ayrton. As I’ve said, I won the first five grands prix in a row, also scooping pole at the first six races. A loose wheel nut scuppered me in Monaco (destiny again!), but generally I was feeling fantastic. I sensed that I was almost unstoppable.

The fourth grand prix of the year was in Catalunya in Spain and it was very challenging. One aspect that yesteryear and modern drivers share is terrible visibility when it rains. I remember some dreadful conditions for a few stand-out races in my career, weather that really tests your skills and nerve. The tropical storm we raced in at Adelaide in ’91 was shocking. I think Monaco, when I crashed out in the lead, was shocking too – and very disappointing because I was leading on Casino Square. The monsoon race in 1994 in Japan was another incredible one – boy, that was unbelievable. Those are the three races that I can distinctly remember being severely challenging because of the weather.

It is no exaggeration – if it rains when you are driving a Formula 1 car, you really can’t see much at all; it is very dangerous. The biggest problem when you have a really heavy downpour is not so much the rain; it is when you aquaplane. Wet-weather tyres work very well, so normally you do retain grip.

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