A turn of good fortune led Kevin Jones, who was then in charge of the Austin-Rover press garage, to experience first-hand the skills of the world’s best racing driver. Here, in an MG Enthusiast exclusive, he recalls a day he’ll never forget. Over to Kevin, in his own words:
I started a career following my dreams to get into the motor industry, helped by winning a Kellogg’s ‘Design a Car of the Future’ competition, in September 1971, at the formative age of nine. In 1978 I started a fouryear apprenticeship as one of the last Triumph apprentices that was part of the then JRT (Jaguar Rover Triumph) business, located in Coventry.
I was lucky to succeed, in my first internal interview, with an admin role in the company’s Press Car Garage where I diligently worked for the next five years until I joined the company’s UK Public Relations function.
While fulfilling my apprenticeship, in 1980 I attended an Austin Rover ‘Move Over to Austin Rover’ public track day event at Donington Park and found myself in the passenger seat of a Rover V8 SD1 asking the driver, as we drove at speed around the circuit: “How do you get to do this, then?” and he replied simply: “You work hard at the day job and find yourself
