Paul Warwick – The Sad Loss of a Rising Star

For Paul Warwick it must have seemed inevitable that he would, one day, race cars of one kind or another. His elder brother, former Renault and Arrows F1 driver Derek, had been World Champion in Superstox Stock Car formula before moving up to single seaters, and history tells us that Paul would follow the same route. Derek Warwick is considered by many to have been a great talent who made some ruinous career decisions; indeed, he did turn down a chance to move to Williams when the team was about to become seriously competitive again, and his opportunity to go to Lotus was vetoed by Ayrton Senna, but despite never winning a Grand Prix, there is no doubt this was a seriously talented racing driver. As for his younger brother, Paul, just how good was he? Sadly, he never got the chance to prove that he was Formula One material, although the signs are there.

 

I was there that day in July, at Oulton Park, but did not witness the accident that killed Paul Warwick. I had left the area above the daunting Knickerbrook corner to head back across to the pit area. It was immediately apparent – as it always is in such circumstances – that the accident had been a very, very bad one. Later reports estimate Warwick’s Reynard hit the barriers at around 140mph; the driver parted company with the car. To put things into perspective, Warwick had won every round of the British F3000 series so far that year, and was leading comfortably at Oulton Park. He was the star of the series in the Mansell-Madgwick run car, and was able to show his class in different conditions. However, there are those who will tell you that British F3000 was not a true barometer of talent; it was for journeymen who were not considered good enough for the international series. There is some merit to this, but it should be overlooked in Warwick’s case, for he had competed in International F3000, and in the prestigious British F3 championship.

Today the ‘feeder series’ situation is a convoluted one, and there are too many categories vying for attention. Back then, in the early 1990’s, the situation was simple: Formula Ford, FF 2000, F3, F3000, F1. That was it; the British F3 series was considered the most important of all, with the German domestic series at that time also yielding some soon to be great names. Paul had done the FF 16000 route, winning both of the UK’s major series in some style in 1986, then graduated to FF2000 for the 1987 Euroseries. He was beaten to the title by JJ Lehto, a very highly rated Finn who would make F1 before long.

1988 saw him head to British F3, and as one of the pre-season favourites in the Eddie Jordan team, much was expected of Warwick. It was to be a difficult season with no wins but some good results, and for 1989 Paul moved teams to the Intersport team. This was no easy year either, and somehow the results simply were not forthcoming. For 1990 Warwick headed to Superpower, but after a frustrating half-season that at least yielded better results than the previous, he took a chance to race in a Leyton House in the International F3000 series. It was a difficult car, in a very competitive series, and Warwick must have begun to fear he was moving off the radar. The saviour he needed came in the form of Nigel Mansell and Madgwick, who offered him a drive in the British F3000 series. Granted, this was not the international shop window he wanted, but he took the opportunity with both hands.

Let’s take a quick step back for a moment and consider Paul’s career so far: the British F3 Championship was considered the series from which future champions would emerge. In the three years that Warwick contested the series the title went to JJ Lehto, David Brabham and Mika Hakkinen. The latter went on to win the F1 world championship with McLaren, Brabham has had a successful career in various categories, and Lehto was considered one of the sports rising stars until a serious injury to his neck left him unable to prove his promise. Warwick, then, had hardly been up against also-rans. This brings us neatly back to the British F3000 championship in 1991, and the accusations of it being a category for second-tier drivers.

In many ways it was a sensible career decision at that point: results were not coming in International F3000, and if you haven’t won the F3 title after three years you are unlikely to do so. This was a chance to race with the top team, in a category that – while domestic only – was attracting some interest. It surprised many that the opening round, also at Oulton Park, attracted 16 entries. Among them were some names that would become better known around the world, along with some that would not. Paul’s team-mates at Mansell-Madgwick were Harald Huysman – a Norwegian who would go on to manage Jenson Button and a number of other drivers – and Marco Greco, a Brazilian former Motorcycle racer who would pop up some years later in Indy Cars with limited success.

Among the field also was Giovanna Amati, famous as the last woman to race an F1 car with Brabham, ‘Gimax’ Jnr, the son of a 1970’s sports car racer and a very wealthy Italian, and Phil Andrews, another British driver who was also considered something of a talent, but who would never reach the success predicted for him. The rest of the field was a mixture of talent and money, with a lot of the latter apparent.

Warwick won that first race with ease, heading home a young British driver called Julian Westwood who would later feature in British F3 and Touring Cars for many seasons, and the aforementioned Gimax Jnr. In truth, he won all the races – he was handed the latter Oulton Park win posthumously as he was leading when the crash occurred – with ease, such was his dominance over his rivals. There is no doubt that, by this time, interest in him had been revived at higher levels; who knows where he may have gone in 1992?

So, given the relative level of talent that he defeated so readily in 1991, how good can we say Paul Warwick was? To be honest, this is not the season that defined his ability; for that we need to look back to his early Formula Ford days, and to the success he had back then. It should be remembered that in those categories the machinery is a lot more equal; it is the driver who plays the main part. To say that he won a lot of races, against some soon to be recognised talents, is enough. Paul Warwick was, undoubtedly, one of the future stars of British motor sport, and was every bit as talented – if not more so – than his elder, more famous brother.

I have a memento from that day, one that remains among my select collection of memorabilia collected in person across the years. It is an unusual one, for I am not a keen autograph collector. However, there it is, the programme from the Oulton Park Gold Cup, signed by – among others – Paul Warwick. It is a sad reminder of a very, very sad day.

 

 

Steve Turnbull