KEY POINTS:
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, a wide-eyed young New Zealand driver made his British Formula 3 debut at the fast Thruxton airfield circuit in rural Hampshire. Few in England had heard of Paul Radisich, although they soon took notice when the newcomer snatched pole position first
time out.
Radisich didn't win that day - he was pushed aside at the chicane by one of Eddie Jordan's cars - but he recovered to sixth place and set the fastest lap. Victory went to Johnny Crichton-Stuart, the Earl of Dumfries, a British aristocrat who went on to race for Lotus in Formula 1.
But that day, 24 years ago, Radisich kick-started an international career that would eventually lead to double World Champion titles in touring cars. I remember his impressive debut in early March 1984, because Paul was racing for my British Formula 3 team.
He returned to race with the team in 1986, teamed up alongside Damon Hill. That was the only year my team failed to win a single race, but neither driver's career seemed to suffer long-term.
Like virtually every other promising Kiwi racing driver with youthful aspirations of international single-seater glory - Greg Murphy, Craig Baird, Jason Richards, Fabian Coulthard, Matt Halliday and Simon Wills among them - Paul eventually turned to more attainable ambitions racing Australian touring cars.
Emulating the fame achieved in the 1960s by Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Howden Ganley on the world stage has proved to be an elusive dream for our most talented drivers. They don't lack ability. It is simply that in an expensive commercial sport, even our best youngsters usually struggle to find financial backing or sufficient sponsorship.
Radisich only raced in Britain in the 1980s because he was supported by a consortium of New Zealand businessmen.
But that was then, this is now. In a couple of weeks Radisich will be launching his book The Rat at Auckland's Speedshow. That same weekend in Britain, Brendon Hartley will be attempting to win the British Formula 3 title at the Donington finale.
Last season the Palmerston North 18-year-old became the first New Zealander to win a major European Championship when he claimed the Formula Renault Euro title.
This season he competes for Carlin Motorsport in a Red Bull-sponsored Dallara-Mercedes. It's the top team, and I'm delighted Brendon is with Trevor Carlin because he was one of my race mechanics way back when.
Times have changed. Radisich switched from motocross to single seaters when he was aged 18, and was 21 when he impressed in that first Thruxton F3 outing. In stark contrast, Hartley won the first Toyota Racing Series race at Timaru in 2005, just a few days after turning 15. While Radisich struggled to finance his early European racing, Hartley has been backed to the tune of more than $3 million to date. He has extraordinary talent and has already tested for Red Bulls Toro Rosso F1 team.
Instead of fretting nervously on the pitwall at British F3 races, these days I follow Hartley's progress in cyberspace. My enthusiasm is usually shared through midnight phone networking with Hartley's father Bryan in Palmerston North and his manager Peter Johnston in Auckland.
Like Radisich in 1984, Hartley arrived at Thruxton for the first time and claimed pole position. Hartley, however, won both his debut Formula 3 races at the circuit in late June this year and goes into the last two rounds of a tough season with his title hopes alive. A tight third place finish to back up his runaway win the previous day lifted him to third overall after the most recent rounds in Bucharest. The Romanian street circuit rounds set the scene for a tense finale to the 22-race series at Donington.
At the sharp end of a gruelling season, the final outcome has become an in-house Carlin Team competition, being decided by mere fractions of a second between three teammates that are now F3 title rivals. Hartley lost out by just over a second in the last race, after being robbed of pole position by just 0.003 of a second.
Hartley and his Carlin Motorsport teammates were covered by just 1.1 seconds as they finished 1-2-3 across the line after a frantic 20 laps. The three F3 rookie drivers now hold the top three places going into the last two rounds; Brendon 30 points off the lead with 42 points still up for grabs.
Former journalist Murray Taylor has been heavily involved in motorsport and America's Cup yachting. In the 1970s and 80s he ran a Formula 3 race team in Britain. Among his drivers were Damon Hill and Eddie Irvine, both of whom went on to Formula One glory. These days Taylor works as a TV and media consultant for the Toyota Racing Series.
