Not that Cousall has any illusions about older cars, “where the facilities are all so different from what I grew up with. It’s a dumb thing, like I’m used to working on metric cars, so I have to get familiar with imperial measurements.
The value for Cousall and other younger members of the team is the experience that people like Lall and Wheeler can bring, with older hands even remembering details like which socket fits which nut or which way a particular thread works.
This level of detail can only come from working on a car 24/7, living it and breathing it, just like Lall and Wheeler did back in the day.
Gary Wheeler, Senior Associate Heritage Building Technician
As a stalwart of McLaren for 38 years, Gary Wheeler has been around long enough to be a good judge of who was the best. His answer ? Ayrton Senna, without any hesitation.
Wheeler got his start with Emerson Fittipaldi’s eponymous racing team in 1982 and met Senna there. This was before Senna entered F1 with Toleman, but the Brazilian knew Chico Serra, and the South American connection meant both men visited the Emmo team.
In 1984 Wheeler moved to McLaren and bumped into Senna at a pizzeria. The racing driver was hiding around the corner, trying to avoid his media engagements. Wheeler spotted him and told him he wouldn’t say anything as long as Senna asked Wheeler to be his mechanic if he raced for McLaren.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-18 23:01:23
