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Damon at Goodwood

Damon Hill was back in an F1 car last weekend, eight months after he last stepped out of the Jordan 199 in Suzuka. No, he was not making a fulltime comeback - he was merely driving one of the original Hondas at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

"I can hardly call it driving," joked Damon after his run on Sunday morning. "I drove it down to the collecting area, then it didn't start. We finally got it started, and someone crashed, so I had to stop half way up. But it was a great car, and it's great to see that they came over with a full crew of Japanese mechanics, just like in the old days. It's a bit of a giggle actually."

It was appropriate for Damon to be driving a car from the sixties. He grew up around the cars of that era, although as a youngster he wasn't particularly interested in what was going on in the pits.

"I wasn't no. It brings back very strange feelings. As you say I grew up in the paddock, and I can remember accepting it as being the norm. It takes me back more than 30 years."

Damon certainly looked the part, for he'd turned up with an appropriate open-faced helmet. He had used it on the ride down to Goodwood on his Harley Davidson, although that decision was not without its drawbacks. "I got a fly caught in my teeth - for the first time ever!"

Enjoying his new role as an observer, Damon says F1 has been intriguing this year, although it could be better.

"My only thought was that wouldn't it have been great if Rubens had beaten Michael in Canada? Then that would have made it more exciting. We seem to have gone for years now without really having a head-to-head, or anyone really putting the pressure on Michael. It's not going to be interesting until we get that situation."

It's certainly true that we've rarely seen Michael and Mika Hakkinen racing head-to-head - a far cry from the gripping Hill/Schumacher battles of 1994-95.

"One season they were never on the podium together! I'm speaking simply as an armchair watcher of Grands Prix. I stay at home, I turn it on, and I watch it. You come away thinking what a shame that David's car didn't get started on the grid, couldn't they have just turned a blind eye and let it go anyway? As I said, the other thing was, what if Rubens was allowed to win, just to spice it up a bit? But of course if I was Michael, I'd be arguing the other thing altogether."

This year it has been getting pretty interesting behind the top two, but Damon says that's not significant.

"Interesting behind is not interesting! You want to know who's going to win."

Some might be surprised that Damon is even paying attention to the races. Is he watching religiously, or have there been times when he preferred to be out with the kids on a Sunday afternoon?

"I can't comment on that! Put it this way - I haven't been 100% glued to the television at every race."

Any mixed feelings when he sees the cars lined up on the grid?

"No mixed feelings at all. I'm just very glad I'm not doing it."

Of course the question everyone has been asking is what Damon will do with the rest of his life. Some thought he looked a little lost when he came to Imola and Silverstone earlier this year, but he's in no hurry to let us know what he has got in mind.

"There's plenty of opportunities, and I'm just enjoying not doing anything particularly at the moment."

Although he's competed in cars and bikes at the Goodwood circuit meeting for the past two years, don't expect to see him make a racing comeback in September.

"I don't think I'm going, because it clashes with my birthday. I've got something else I've got planned."

Ah yes, the big four-oh is fast approaching...

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