As winter weather has many parts of the Ti demographic in its grip, warnings to drive carefully and avoid unnecessary journeys abound. What better time, therefore, to tell a story about a completely unnecessary journey undertaken in perilous conditions at speeds illegal, inadvisable and almost certainly imprisonable in most jurisdictions around the world?
It took place during my many happy years when I was in charge of engineering at Bentley. And, I am happy and proud to say, I was at least partly to blame.
It was some time in 2006 and I’ll confess I felt flattered when my ever-confident and dedicated assistant Barbara Purcell announced she had a man called Juha Kankkunen on the telephone; would I take his call? Now, one of my office policies is that I speak with most people anyway and certainly any four-time World Rally Champions who happen to dial my number. He had an idea and a proposal…
