A Day in The Life of David Brise

How did your interest in Motorsport begin?

I’m not really sure I had much choice in the matter as I was born into a big motorsport family, some of my earliest memories are of driving go-karts and motorbikes around the garden at our home near Brands Hatch. I was always fascinated by cars and my grandfather John Brise started racing in 1950, his first race was actually at Goodwood in a Jaguar SS100, where he finished up on the podium. This really kick started his passion for the sport and led to him winning the world stock car championships three times. He raced in Formula 3 for a few years and set nine land speed records on the same day in a 500cc Arnott streamliner. In the early 60s he was one of the pioneers in karting in the UK, which inspired my Dad Tim and my Uncle Tony to start racing karts from an early age, both of whom went on to become extremely successful racers in their own right. My Uncle Tony raced in F1 in the mid ‘70s and my Dad drove for Ford in international rallying in the late ‘70s. I guess you could say that it’s in the blood!

Tell us about your driving career

My driving career started with racing go-karts at a very young age, I remember just about reaching the pedals of my 100cc TKM and my stomach doing somersaults before going out onto the track. Although my family have a great passion for motorsport, sadly we could not afford to race at a high level, so I decided to compete in National Motorcycle and Car Trials until finally I was able to buy my own racing car, a 1975 Royale RP21 Formula Ford, which I still own today. I raced this car for a few seasons and continue to race it from time to time between other drives in Saloon Cars, GTs, Prototypes and, most recently, competing in the Pirelli GT Cup.

Favourite memory at Goodwood?

I remember my first ever visit to the Revival, standing at Woodcote (corner) and watching a tiny Mini racing a massive Ford Falcon - they were overtaking each other 3 or 4 times a lap for what seemed like the entire race. I remember thinking at the time that I must have a go at that one day.

Who is your Motor sporting hero and why?

Difficult one, for a long time it was Senna. Jim Clark scores very high as he was such a nice person with an incredible natural talent. My Uncle Tony and my Grandad are right up there too, of course. However, the story of Nelson Piquet coming to Goodwood in the early 80s testing for Brabham and setting the only sub-minute lap of the 2.4-mile circuit (that’s an average speed of around 140mph!) has got my vote, what an absolute hero.

What is your favourite Goodwood event?

It has to be the Revival for its sheer extravagance, class and attention to detail. Watching millions of pounds worth of cars actually racing each other is fairly special too. However, I get to drive at the Festival of Speed every year and I absolutely love it. I also love the fact that the Members’ Meeting is a little quieter than Revival so you can get right up to the side of the track to watch from wherever you want around the circuit.