Ian Pearson ( Royale RP30 )
Bob and Ian Pearson Historic Formula Ford 2000
Bob : Age : 74 Lives : Didcot
Ian : Age : 41 Lives : Didcot
Bob Pearson says : “ Ian lives three doors up the road actually and the cars are all at my place . I first started in sidecars in 1970 , building my own as well . I did 10 years of that , then I didn ’ t race from 1982 to 1986 . I kept nearly going back to the side cars . And then I bought a Formula Ford 2000 Spartan and started doing this . And I ’ ve been in single-seaters ever since .
“ The change came really when Ian started in gearbox karting . But we both hated karting and so it couldn ’ t come quick enough for me for him to get into cars . But he wanted to do BARC Formula Renault . And so I said , yeah , that ’ s what we do , then we buy a couple of them and we do it together . But of course that died completely . “ So it was back to the Ford 2000s . And that ’ s about how it ’ s worked out over the years . Either we both go racing or if we have a problem we both go home . We stay in hotels while we ’ re here , so that ’ s a meal together in the evenings to discuss the racing . I still enjoy it .
“ I always joke that as long as I ’ m getting the leg up high enough to get in the car I ’ ll carry on . The hardest bit at 74 is working on the cars , not driving them . The arthritis in your hands makes doing nuts and bolts up hard .
“ We build our own engines and gearboxes and we make our own suspension wishbones . We are both engineers so it comes relatively easy , other than the bodywork .
“ Ian ’ s 41 . It ’ s funny : it creeps up on you . He ’ s got a son , Leo who is three . Ian ’ s brother Mark used to race as well and he did a bit of Formula Renault with us .
“ We ’ ll keep going as long as we can . Obviously I do my best and if I ’ ve had a rubbish day and I ’ m down near the back , who worries ? It ’ s the enjoyment that matters for me .”
Ian Pearson says : “ It ’ s one of those things that if you think about it , we lost a lot of 2017 and a lot of last year and you think , well , how many years can dad keep doing it ? Hopefully I ’ ve got 30 years left to do this . “ It is special and a lot of time it ’ s
Daniel Eagling ( Ginetta G4 )
just us on our own . But , you know , we can ’ t run two cars with just two people on a weekend . As you look around , everyone ’ s got at least one person with them . We ’ ve got two cars and if we get two problems then we ’ re often right up against it .
“ We spend a lot of time together , including Thursday night down the pub . We ’ re both mechanical engineers and it ’ s only the bodywork that comes from Ken Thorogood , everything else is pretty much ours .
“ It ’ s probably the only way I could afford to do it . With a young family at home , you can ’ t pay somebody to run your car for you . I tried that once before and I didn ’ t particularly enjoy it , to be honest .
“ I did a Formula Renault race where I paid to be run by a team and I got a bit bored and I wasn ’ t that happy with the direction of the car either . They looked after me , but it wasn ’ t a nice experience . So doing this with dad ; I wouldn ’ t want to do it any other way .”
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