Page 11 - On the Prowl: The Definitive History of the Walkinshaw Jaguar Sports Car Team

ON THE PROWL
1984-1985: Birth of the XJR-6
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Am race in 1969, he was invited by Surtees to join the BRM Formula 1 team where he was driving at the time.
The scrappy but moderately successful garagiste team was about to lose its technical director who had been
ultimately responsible for the team’s recent poor run of form. Southgate was asked to improve the current car if
possible and prep a much better car for 1970.
He went on to have a very fulfilling period with BRM, during which time he bought a house, became a father
and settled into the role of one of Britain’s foremost motorsport engineers. It wasn’t all happiness with BRM
though. Southgate formed a close relationship with their lead F1 driver, the Mexican Pedro Rodriguez. He had
achieved victory in Southgate’s new design after just four races, and the two men were good friends. Southgate
appreciated Rodriguez’s humility, desire for privacy and sense of self-respect.
“Pedro was popular with everyone,” recalled Tony in a 2012 interview. “He had this air of mystique about
him: small, dapper, quiet, he’d wear English tweeds and a deerstalker hat, and never talk to anyone until he’d
combed his hair.”
In July 1971, Rodriguez asked to run the BRM Can-Am car in a European race, but it ended up not being
available. Instead, he picked up a ride in a privateer Ferrari at the same race, only to be nudged into a wall, the
car bursting into flames. Rodriguez sustained very serious injuries from the impact as well as significant burns
and succumbed during transportation to the hospital. His death was a huge shock to Southgate as well as the
rest of the BRM team.
Despite the sad loss, BRM closed the season successfully, taking second in the constructor’s title, only to
lose Jo Siffert, who had taken over the role of lead driver after Rodriguez died, in a non-championship race at
Brands Hatch. It was a crushing blow, the talented Swiss having taken
victory for BRM in Austria. Southgate harbored concerns that the failure
which caused Siffert’s crash might have been due to his chassis design,
but nearly a year later it came to light that it was caused by how the
team’s Firestone tires fit on their wheels, suffering sudden deflation from
the tire bead coming off the bead seat.
For the 1973 season, Southgate moved to the brand-new Shadow
Formula 1 team. The first year showed flashes of potential in the hands
of George Follmer and Jackie Oliver (who had recruited Southgate for the
project), securing two podiums and eighth in the championship.
In 1974, the promising American driver Peter Revson joined the team.
Revson was scion to the Revlon cosmetics empire but bootstrapped his
career when his family refused to help. He eventually made it to Formula 1
and arrived at Shadow having been ousted at McLaren by Emerson
Fittipaldi who had brought major Texaco and Marlboro sponsorship
money with him.
Revson and Southgate became instant friends, his charisma and
humor making him easy to connect with. Despite his wealth, his Miss
World girlfriend and his dashing good looks, Peter Revson remained
down-to-earth and polite, which endeared him to everyone he worked
with. Roger Silman was Revson’s mechanic and recalled that “he was a
super person. He was a real gentleman and very much a team member.”
√ Peter Revson was the heir to the Revlon fortune, but his family were
so against his motorsport ambitions that he had to succeed on talent
and whatever money he could scrape together himself. In 1974, he joined
Shadow, where he and Tony Southgate became very good friends. That
friendship was tragically cut short after just two races when a titanium
bolt let go and Revson crashed in testing at Kyalami. The choice of
titanium as a material had been made by Southgate. (Phipps Press)
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