Roland Ratzenberger

I've won races in every category I've driven in, but the one which really stands out is the Formula Ford Festival in 1986. I was driving for Space Racing, and we ran on a very limited budget - less than Steve Robertson spent on tyres - but I had a free chassis from Ralph Firman and free engines from Graham Fuller of Minister.

At the beginning of the year I had a couple of shunts, and after that my car was never the same. I was pestering Ralph all year to give me a new chassis, but the day I had him almost convinced, I went out and broke John Pratt's lap record at Oulton Park! So he didn't give me one...

Then before the end of the year the team ran out of money. I didn't want to stop because I had a good chance to finish second in both championships behind Jason Elliott's works car. So the team said I could keep the transporter and the tools until after the Festival, but I had to run on my own expense, with my mechanic Andy Barber helping me.

I did a couple of races with my credit card, juggling about a lot to continue. But in the end I just couldn't, and I had to stop and concentrate on the Festival. David Minister had a new engine for me, 'Rocket', and I had to get a new chassis organised so we'd have a good package. I kept pestering Ralph...

It was a real struggle with money. I couldn't afford to test at Brands, and I remember sitting every Wednesday on the Paddock grandstand, watching them go round and round. Normally that would have made me desperate, but I was really confident about winning for some reason, which I'm not normally.

And then the week before the Festival I had the first contact with BMW about '87, and that really saved me. I borrowed some money, flew to Munich, and agreed on a contract with Peter Flohr. I was sure to have an income by January 1, so I was able to borrow money knowing I could give it back. I paid my debts, paid my Barclaycard, and was able to get organised for the Festival.

A lot of people helped me; I had debts with Val Adaway, and she did a deal with me that if I won the Festival she would cancel all my debts, and would pay for some testing on the Thursday.

Then the week before the Festival, John Uprichard called me from Van Diemen and said that Jason had a couple of new chassis to chose from, and the one he didn't like, I could have. I went to Snetterton with my old car. Elliott was doing lm10.4s; I went out with my car and did 10.8s, the same I'd done all year. Then we took the chassis Jason didn't like, slid my back end into it, and I did 10.2s!

I went back to Brands and parked the transporter in the paddock, ready for the weekend. Then two guys from Space Racing turned up and demanded it back. I was in panic; Monday night I was left with the car in the paddock, which was mine - or basically Van Diemen's and Minister's - and a few rims with tyres. Nothing else!

We got the car back to Minister, wondering what to do. We called Chris Weller, whose team had just finished the Class B F3 season, and within an hour he turned up with his transporter. He knew I had no money, but he helped all weekend.

On Thursday we had the testing. On one of the laps I had to overtake someone round the outside of Druids, and it was still a 49.0s dead. That was the fastest anyone had done, so we packed up. That was still with my old engine, and in the evening the 'Rocket' engine turned up, and I fitted it that night.

From that point on everything was perfect. Every start was a perfect start, and I never lost the lead all weekend. I was the only one to qualify in the 48s on Friday, I won my heat by 10 seconds or something, my quarter final by five seconds, my semi by two seconds, and then the final was the closest finish ever, as Philippe Favre pushed me all the way.

On the grid his mechanic threw me a Pampers nappy over; they obviously thought I was s**tting myself already! I just took it and threw it back to him. It made me want to win even more. I don't think I made any mistakes all race, and I covered the line all the time.

At Clearways on the last lap I was over-protective. I went in very tight, and started to slide towards the outside. He went in on the normal line and came to the inside. But I just had enough momentum to get across the line first.

Philippe invited me to his party after the race, and I didn't get to bed until 6am. It was nice, the first two together, and he was a very good loser. And in hindsight that Pete Rogers finished third was special as well.

It was really good, because I had watched every Festival since '82, and for me it seemed something impossible to win. I had no money, and I had a lot of people chipping in at the end. I will never forget that.