Max attack

In the week leading up to this year’s Le Mans, I attended a black-tie dinner to celebrate the centenary of the famous 24-hour race. It was held at London’s splendid mediaeval Guildhall and seven British Le Mans-winning drivers attended. Seated alongside me was 1990 winner Martin Brundle.

‘Do you remember that Jaguar XJ220 speed record attempt of 30 years ago?’ I asked Martin, after the opening pleasantries. He needed no reminding. ‘Very clearly,’ he replied. ‘I tell people it was the single craziest and most dangerous thing I’ve ever done.’ He drove a pre-production Jaguar at a speed no road car had ever gone before. And, for part of the test, I rode alongside him.

Let’s now rewind back to that summer of 1992, when Martin was Michael Schumacher’s F1 teammate at Benetton, and when Jaguar was about to commence production of its new XJ220 hypercar.