The excellent Nigel Roebuck tells this tale of Innes in his book ‘Chasing the Title’:
“As well as winning in America during his final year with Lotus, Innes memorably beat a squadron of factory Porsches at Solitude, and also won the Austrian Grand Prix at Zeltweg. That evening, doubtless emboldened by strong drink, he climbed the clock tower in the nearby hamlet of Judenberg. On the outside.
“Twenty-five years on, now back to cover the race for ‘Road and Track’, he attempted, after a particularly sociable dinner, to repeat the procedure. My colleague Alan Henry and I - like Ireland, barely able to stand, let alone climb sheer brickwork - attempted to dissuade him. It was around two in the morning, and not another soul was to be seen.
“‘Same sort of night as 1961, lad! Moonlight and schnapps…’
‘Yes, Innes, but you’re pissed…’
‘Was then, too, but I managed all right.’
‘Yes, Innes, but you were 30 then, and…’
‘And what, lad?’
‘Well, you know, you’re a bit older now, and…’
It wasn’t working. Resolutely, Innes set about finding footholds, and began to climb. What to do? I invented a policeman, said he was coming this way. The mountaineer growled a very rude word, and continued to ascend.
| Innes Ireland and Martin Brundle |
| Ireland‘s ability behind the wheel was illustrated to perfection to a group of us in Budapest back in 1989, as he drove us to the Hungaroring circuit. Ron Dennis, the McLaren chief, pulled alongside at traffic lights in his brand new Honda, and the challenge was simply too much for Ireland to resist. A high-speed dice ensued, in which his right foot remained firmly pressed to the floor, even as he wove in and out of traffic. With artful precision he took on and beat Dennis, and then proceeded to do the same to the racing driver Martin Brundle in his Volvo 760. Brundle had seen the odd journalistic face peering at him from the car, and on arriving at the circuit his relief was all too evident at discovering that Ireland had been the chauffeur. Being beaten by him was respectable, even if the vehicle he had been conducting with indecent haste was only a battered Lada. From David Tremayne‘s Guardian obituary |
Innes ran three trawlers based in Kirkcudbright in South West Scotland, fishing the Irish Sea. He told a story about going across to Norway to buy a 2nd-hand boat.
After doing the deal he set off to sail the boat home across the North Sea. Leaving the Norwegian harbour he was stopped by the coastguards. "Where are you sailing to?". "Home to Scotland". "Where's your crew?". "I haven't got a crew - I'm it!". "For a craft this size you must have a crew of at least three...". So Innes went into a bar and bawled "Does anyone here fancy a trip to Scotland, find your own way back?". A couple of drunks accepted the offer, and clambered on board, found a bunk and dozed off, while Innes sailed across the North Sea.
based on story told by Doug Nye on the Atlas Nostalgia Forum
| TEAM RIVALS |
| In 1964 Trevor Taylor left Lotus to partner Innes Ireland at the under-funded British Racing Partnership team, where the duo struck a bet....who could bed the most women during the season. Taylor said: "For evidence we had to keep their knickers. We hid them between the petrol tank and the monocoque. At the end of the season the mechanics pulled them all out and hung them up in the garage. Innes had 83 on his line and I had 60." |
“Bloody Hell, chap, you didn’t see what happened by any chance did you? They’ll want to know back at the pits.”