Formula Atlantic

But can he really take on IndyCar? And he did, didn't he? I think it was just very impressive.

I, while working in American Open Wheel at the time, I think 92, I would have been Formula Atlantic, maybe.

Massive, mostly lifelong Formula One fan, so... fully stuck in to IndyCar and all those things.

But admittedly, Formula One is what I lived and breathed.

There was a Rush SR car there.

There was a Formula Atlantic there.

There was somebody-

Mm

Formula-

That's what that class was.

A Formula Atlantic on this has gotta be insane.

[laughs]

So that was, that was cool and then, um, so I would, I, I would say that year was really special.

But then also, you know, I think a little bit before, you know, in Formula Atlantic I had, um, I had one year, you know, where I won four races and I was pretty much leading the championship till the last race, and that was, uh, I think just in, uh, in my career was I think the year where, you know, I really, a lot of things started to click and, you know, I was able also to go into IndyCar after.

So that, uh, 2009 season I think was, uh, was also, also quite cool and, you know, like for you, you know, being in Australia as well, you know, getting the call to do Bathurst I think is, um, is pretty special, you know? And, and I think it's, what's interesting is, you know, sometimes I don't realize how many things I've actually driven, you know?

Yeah.

... um, I did, uh, right now, I don't really...

To be honest, I really didn't have one in the bobsleigh.

But I did have one weird in my, what was it, Formula Atlantic season, where I had a pole and I was going really well, and I was convinced that eating Mexican food with my engineer before qualifying day, that we were gonna go fast.

So that became a-

Yeah.

You gotta go from go-karts to Formula Ford to Formula V to Formula Atlantic to Formula whatever, skip Barber whatever, something, something, something.

Yeah.

And it's a whole...

And then I think it's December is Eastern Creek with the March in Australia.

But before that, I bought a Formula Atlantic Swift and I'm sending it to New Zealand.

I'm going to do some... racing in New Zealand at Manfield.

Superb.

But by the end of the year, I was absolutely a flat bragger.

I had this car, and Jeff Brabham was a friend of mine, and he said… I might be able to put you onto a deal here that I've been offered a deal to do Macau and in a Formula Atlantic car.

But I'm already, you know, he had something else on, you know.

And so he gave me the deal, which is drive with, get sponsorship from Rothmans.

Yep.

So I then had this Formula 3 car that I had to pull to bits and turn into a Formula Atlantic car, which is suspension and brakes.

The tubs were the same, but suspension, brakes, engine.

Different.

Yeah, from Launceston in Tasmania, Andrew first came to Notice Racing Formula Ports in 1974, where he came second in the Driver of the Europe Series.

He had success in Formula Atlantic and Formula Pacific and tried his hands at Formula 3 in England.

He raced regularly overseas in Britain, Macau, Malaysia and New Zealand.

And it was in New Zealand that he earned the nickname Mad Andy, given to him by rival Steve Millen due to some spectacular open world crashes.

I'm going to fast forward a bit here.

There was a Kiwi guy, Steve Millen, that gave you a nickname of Mad Andy.

And that was, I believe, in the Formula Atlantic formula.

Yeah, that era.