I wonder how many words have been written about Sir Jackie Stewart, or ‘Uncle Jackie’, as I have come to regard him, unofficially? To imply that Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart were brothers would be stretching it a bit. But JYS has told me himself how much of a role model – or even mentor – my father was to him in the early days at BRM. Jackie says Graham even taught him about getting fitted up for Savile Row suits. So they were close enough to go shopping together, if you can call that shopping. But to suggest that Jackie was anything other than his own creation would be to totally misunderstand him.

Jackie had something special right from the beginning, and he knew it. But he was smart enough and humble enough to learn from the best, whatever he was doing. And like a canny salmon fisherman, he always snapped his fly precisely at the right time, sometimes landing two fish at once!

John Coombs used to like to tell the story of how Jackie came for a test somewhere and drove a couple of cars for various entrants. Coming all the way from Scotland he obviously required some reasonable travel expenses. It was only later, when chatting to the other entrants, that John realised that they had also been stung for the very same travel expenses. It wasn’t about the money. It was the principle! Jackie had grown up in a garage. He knew all about car dealers. The message was clear; Jackie could look after himself just fine.