Introducing John Kirkpatrick…Hillspeed’s Unsung Hero Of British Motorsport

No matter the level, club racing, national racing or on the world stage, motorsport is all about the team in any formula – and no team can operate successfully without the right personnel to create a truly well-oiled machine.

Family-run squad Hillspeed, which has enjoyed huge success in British motorsport for more than 50 years under the guidance of Morgan Ollerenshaw and, since the 1990s, his son Richard Ollerenshaw, prides itself on the consistent delivery of a class-leading service to its customers.

While the team’s title successes at Formula 3-level, in Formula Renault and Ginetta Junior are well documented, what is less well-known is the story of the unsung hero who has been one of the most important cogs in the Hillspeed machine for the past couple of decades.

John Kirkpatrick, formerly the International Director of the world-famous Jim Russell Racing Drivers School and to this day still a Director of Jim Russell Management Ltd, is well and truly part of the Hillspeed family – identifying and nurturing tremendous young talent as drivers set out on the path towards a professional career in motorsport.

The significance of the Leicestershire-based Scotsman’s role cannot be underestimated, with decades of experience in bringing young homegrown and international drivers through the sport, most recently focusing on the Far East. It’s been a very rich and successful career so far.

“To go way back to the start, I joined the Jim Russell school in 1972 after I’d seen he [Jim] had advertised for some help”, explains Kirkpatrick, “We developed and introduced an international course to learn how to race. Jim was about the same age I am now and he wanted to step away so I bought the school from him and then moved it to Donington in 1986.

‘’We had tremendous support from Vauxhall, with Van Diemen’s help, to design and build Formula Vauxhall Junior. Firstly it was with a fleet of school cars, then establishing a national series which supported the BTCC [British Touring Car Championship].

“Formula Vauxhall Junior complemented the 15 Formula Vauxhall Lotus cars which we were already running, and 15 Vauxhall Astras then allowed us to establish a saloon car programme as well. Soon after, the Astras were replaced by Vectras to mirror the chassis then being raced in the BTCC by the likes of John Cleland. All told we had 45 race cars, which was a big undertaking!”

At that point, Kirkpatrick and his team established around 20 agencies around the world – all of whom sent drivers to Donington. The most successful, by far, was the Japanese programme which at its height was supplying 50% of the International School attendees.

“We were proud to be able to have people coming through, learning with us through a week-long course and then racing in their first MSA recognised race”, adds Kirkpatrick, “We had 100 people a race meeting, junior through senior really, and this was how a young Richard Ollerenshaw’s career in motorsport began in 1987. As a Life President of ARDS I always want to push the importance of learning, but I am sad there aren’t any schools like Jim Russell now.”

Along with helping the ‘man off the street’ to experience motor racing, Kirkpatrick is equally proud of the many superstar names who graduated from karting into cars by way of the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School under his direction – from Fittipaldi to Villeneuve, Button to Davidson. In the first year of the FVJ National Championship, a certain Dario Franchitti was the inaugural winner.

“I guess with Morgan’s [Ollerenshaw] background in racing that’s what started Richard on his path, there aren’t many who have stayed the course like he has – starting off in racing and then moving into running a successful team”, Kirkpatrick continues, “After he’d been through the school, I was obviously aware he’d then gone to race in [Formula] Renault and I was conscious of Hillspeed too.

“Over time, of course, my relationship with Hillspeed developed as the team evolved and Richard took the reins. We’ve worked together very closely for many years now and one of our proudest achievements was helping to mould Cutter [Sasakorn Chaimongkol] into an F3 winner.

“Following success in South East SE Asia, his lifelong sponsor Maxima Oils sent him to Europe to compete with the best, Norris, Russell and Verstappen, in WSK and CIK/FIA Karting, but I always thought he’d make a better car driver than karter.

“His style was smooth and not aggressive, and that’s how we started preparing him to debut in F3 with Hillspeed. Due to lack of budget we were always on the back foot with little to no testing, eleventh hour deals for the season, which actually shows what a good driver Cutter is and how much we were able to achieve together against some extremely well-funded competition.”

The coming year marks another new chapter for Hillspeed, and British motorsport as a whole, with the arrival of the GB4 Championship as a feeder category for GB3. As a team which always prides itself on first-class driver development and career progression, the ladder of opportunity from GB4 into GB3 is a very important one and an area in which Kirkpatrick will again be centrally involved.

Team principal Richard Ollerenshaw is always keen to highlight the huge role played by Kirkpatrick within the team, a trusted friend as well as a colleague and someone who has played such a vital role in the fortunes of Hillspeed – and will continue to do so.

“Knowing John for so many years, and then going on to work with him too, has been an absolute delight and we have achieved a huge amount together”, reflects Ollerenshaw, “His knowledge of the motorsport industry is second to none, John has such a vast wealth of experience and of so many different aspects of the business too.

“He brings another dimension to Hillspeed and no matter where in the world we need to reach out to, John knows who we need to speak to. His extensive contacts, and the respect he has earned over many years, means he is a trusted throughout the sport. We’re actually very proud John is such an integral part of Hillspeed – long may that continue!”

Looking ahead to the coming season, Kirkpatrick concludes: “With the arrival of GB4, the aim is to establish a strong ladder to bring drivers through and up into GB3 benefiting from our driver development, bringing them on as well as we can at Hillspeed. With the Jim Russell School we built a ladder of progress, now we have a similar MSV established opportunity for youngsters to find their feet, gain experience and graduate to bigger and better things with GB4 and GB3.

“If they have the ability, give them time to grow and learn within a committed and dedicated team like Hillspeed. That’s where I come from! One of the most important aspects of what we’re offering is the focus we have on the complete package for the driver, putting huge importance on a drivers’ education and their relocation – this makes our offer to drivers much broader than just the racing, looking after them every step of the way.

“Cutter, as an example, came from Bangkok and I arranged all of his education on behalf of his parents, I looked after all of the logistics and his accommodation through relocation. You can’t underestimate the importance of that side of things for young drivers, it’s every bit as important as the racing and does set Hillspeed apart. We’re all looking forward to this new chapter with GB4.”