Ian Ashley,,,

[Fritz]

Anyone remember this guy ? who was a true International Playboy , he made his name in Formula 5000/F1 racing till an almighty crash in Canada nearly finished him off.
But true Brit determination got him into our sport where he thought he might just be able to dominate with out too much opposition...
He had to qualify at a few Bemsee meets by showing the powers that be he was not just your average bloke with an LCR and a large wallet so he could be fast tracked to the next level.

His driving style left a lot to be desired from a competitors point of view, he was erratic to say the least, the throttle was either open or closed, and as far as Krauser gearboxes go, Frank Wrathall must have made his first million from this chap.

I was invited to take over from Chris Founds who was Ian's passenger at that time , I'm sure Dez was trying to protect Chris from being put off racing by Ian's actions on track.
Ian managed to loose a good number of stand in passengers at various test sessions just as he was stating to get on the pace,,,,,,, including our man Mr Darby at Pembray trying a saloon car move by dropping one of the front wheels into the gutter to get the back end to come round a bit quicker. The back end did come round (mainly coz the front end dug in) which promptly flicked Tony off like fllicking a bogey with your finger. Resulting in a badly broken wrist for MR Darby,,,,

I was one of a hand full of passengers who managed to stay on board without getting injured during my time in his company,,,,,,,,a front row qualification and another gearbox at a televised Thruxton meet was our best result as the race only lasted a few laps before a twisted chassis was ( he meant another shagged box ) diagnosed. A 10th place qualification at an Assen Euro round followed and then soon after a full set of sheared cush drive pins was diagnosed by my self after the main man thought it was " the Clatch the Clatch",,,,,,,,,,

I didn't wish to continue our partnership after that so he went on to the Swedish Euro round to finish 4th with Kim Andreason who was Sweden's answer to Tony Darby.....they also finished in a good position at the final round at Donnington....
I last spoke with Ian at Brands Hatch after he lost yet another passenger during qualifing ( who was a lad recruited on the day ) with yet another broken wrist.....I later saw him on TV driving in the BTCC with similar disasterous results

Where is he now ?????



Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,,,,,,

[steve-e]

Last seen at Mro a few years back with Phil Iremonger in the chair. More interesting is google his name as we have done on here before. The customs thing was funny.

[Ian E]

He was a commercial pilot i think do you think he ever lost any passengers doing that

[woody]

Where is he now???? crashed at first bend . should have been a drag racer

[steve-e]

What year was that MRO? I know he had Paul on the year Paul died at the TT, which would have been 2004 at a guess 'cos I was on with Alan. Did he then come back with Phil Iremonger after that? It wasn't the year I was on with Stu was it - 2003, or with Belly in 2005.
How the years slip by!

[oldbelly]

I think Mr Ashley was last seen at one of the MRO meetings in 2005 Steve,when you and Phil were there.Didnt he crash into Peachy at Druids and get sent home, never to be seen again (with a bit of luck).

[realroadracer]

If I recall correctly his first outing was with Norm Oxley in the chair at Langbaurgh (did he get Mick Smith's LCR?). There was a certain amount of carnage that day (start as you mean to go on springs to mind).
I saw him chuck Guy Scott out at Cadwell and I think he lost Steve Langham too. I also remember him having a huge crash at Pembrey when I was on with Shandie (that's what you got if you tried if you tried to out-muscle Gordon in those days ).
I reckon any passenger who managed to stay on with him must have been good!

[kew]

The man was a complete knob. I saw him spin going through the kink at Pembrey, his passenger was spit out, I can't remember who it was. He didn't even look at his passenger lying at the side of the track, he just rode back to the paddock and looked for another passenger.
If he never comes back it will be too soon.

[oldbelly]

Dont mince your words Keith. Your right though he should have stayed with the rest of the Hooray Henrys in the car world

[WEBBO]

I remember Ian, ( Harry Flatters was his nick name ) " what a guy" raced at some meetings with him, I liked him, always tried 101% can remember him telling Chris Jukes ( his machanic at the time ) to change the twist grip over to his left hand ( had probs with his right one ), did one lap, came in and needed oxygen and another gearbox. He worked over in USA for a while, then saved up, and spent it doing a sport he loved.

[steve-e]

I've marked up this thread in moderators see what they think about it. I think it's a bit personally knucklish.
Trouble is I agree with a couple of the comments so have left it to moderators to decide if it's OK.
Just so anyone who thinks it's too far knows it is being watched by Mods.

[mrequipe]

Didnt the infamous Mr Ashley write off the revolutionary Napier at Mallory ?

[steve-e]

I think that was him. Roger Lovelock also rode the Napier at Brands, we can ask Roger for his thoughts on that when he stops telling jokes on facebook