Hello, this is John Barnard and you are listening to Beyond the Grid.

Hello everybody and welcome to Beyond the Grid. I'm Tom Clarkson and I'd like to begin this

week show by sending my condolences to the family and friends of Sustirling Moss who died on

Easter Day aged 19. Mr Motoracing, as he was known, was a legend in the truest sense and he's

also one of the few drivers in history who had the charisma to match his incredible ability behind

the wheel. We'll miss you Stirling, rest in peace. So what can I tell you about this week's guest?

Well, he's an F1 legend of a different kind. He's someone I've been wanting to get on the show

for a wee while because he was and remains a technical genius. Many of his groundbreaking

innovations from the 1980s are still used in F1 today and his Pinshart memory provides us with a

fascinating insight into the great teams and drivers of the era. I'm talking of course about

John Barnard. John started his career with Lola in the late 60s but it was during his stints with

McLaren and Ferrari in the 80s and 90s that he achieved most of his success. He was the technical

brains behind Rondennis's budgeting McLaren operation in the 80s when he introduced the then

revolutionary carbon fiber monocop to Formula One. He then left Ferrari where his headline

innovation was the semi-automatic paddle shift gearbox. Now a standard part on every F1

car but back then completely new. Of course he worked with many great drivers as well,

such as Alampros, Nikki Louda, Nigel Mansl and Michael Schumacher and you'll learn during

the course of our chat that he understood drivers well and what made each of them quick.

Even if he did turn down Ert & Sennhe, stay tuned for that remarkable story.

Now due to the current quarantine regulations in the UK, this podcast had to be recorded remotely.

So please forgive us if the sound quality isn't quite as rich as usual but rest assured that

the content truly is. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

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