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A comprehensive review of Derek's career (including a number of articles/interviews) is available here. LATEST NEWS September 2007 GP Masters bankrupt? Autosport.com have announced that Delta Motorsport, supplier of the GP Masters chassis, have filed a petition with the British High Court to have the GP Masters Operating company placed in liquidation due to non-payment of invoices. The petition will be heard on 28 November 2007. March2007 Site revamp Time for some spring cleaning on the site - together with a fresh new look! GP Masters 2007 Calendar The following races have been announced for 2007 so far... Romania (Bucharest-Ring) - 20 May 2007, South Africa (Kyalami) - 23 September 2007 and Qatar (Losail) - 17 November 2007. YouTube There have been a number of sightings of Derek on YouTube. Here are my favourites:- Derek at the San Marino GP (onboard camera) - 1985 Derek crashes at the Parabolica - Italian GP 1990 August 2006 13 August - Race - Silverstone Derek crashed out of the race after colliding with Rene Arnoux in the early stages of a rain hit race at Silverstone. Having started third, Derek spun having to brake to avoid a spinning Christian Danner, in front of him, at Luffield on lap 2. This led to Derek running at the back of the field - Derek quickly caught the field and was attempting to overtake Arnoux on the Hangar Straight, when the Frenchman, clearly slower than Derek, moved across, resulting in the cars making contact, and Derek into retirement... Derek was terribly disappointed with his performance and apologised to his friends, family and fans. The race was won by Eddie Cheever, Derek's old sparring partner from Arrows and Jaguar days, ahead of Eric van de Poele and Christian Danner. Full race result available here. 12 August - Qualifying - Silverstone Derek has qualified third for Sunday's race behind Christian Danner (pole) and Stefan Johansson: "Full credit to GP Masters for getting all the cars onto the grid for tomorrow. There have been 32 engine changes over the course of the past couple of days, and they'll have changed 40 by tomorrow. We as drivers feel very let down by the engine manufacturer, Nicholson-McLaren, but we're also very proud of the GP Masters guys for dealing so well with the problem, by juggling engines and giving everyone time on the track. So, full compliments to them. On my quickest lap I mistakenly went from fourth to sixth gear as I exited Becketts and the car bogged right down. I went back for new tyres but on my last run pushed a bit too hard. I think I just got a bit frustrated with myself and overdrove. However, we all out-qualified Nigel Mansell. Okay, so he only managed half a lap, but that's not our problem! Nigel, coming from the back, should be an interesting spectacle". Qualifying times available here. 10 August - Preview - Silverstone Derek will race at Silverstone at the weekend in the second GP Masters race of 2006 and is looking forward to the race: "Silverstone is the most demanding circuit so far for GP Masters and it will take a big commitment to go fast here with speeds reaching 200mph. Silverstone is a ballsy circuit and for sure Nigel & I will be up for a big fight, it is our home Grand Prix and we both have a lot of fans to please. People keep asking me “why” is Nigel winning all the races so far? Simple. He’s doing a better job than the rest of us! But that’s hopefully going to change this weekend. Do I think Nigel’s faster than me? NO! Has he got more experience winning races than me? YES! But I’m tired of making excuses. Silverstone has been billed as Nigel’s homecoming but I’m sorry to disappoint you all but it’s my homecoming too and I’m not going to let anyone down this weekend – especially my fans. Nigel has become our benchmark and his record speaks for it self - 27 Grand Prix wins, the F1 and Indy Car champion back-to-back and almost winning Indianapolis in his first year on the ovals. This weekend, however, we are all in equal cars and there’s no better place to go head to head with Nigel than Silverstone in front of home support". A full interview with Derek on the official GP Masters site can be found here. April 2006 29 April - Race - Qatar Derek finished in 5th place in the first round - 2006 Qtel Masters of Qatar - after an action packed race which saw Nigel Mansell win. Starting 3rd on the grid, Derek hounded Christian Danner, with Martini, in turn, chasing Derek. Martini managed to get past Derek on lap 4 - Derek, trying to respond immediately, spun and then provided a stirring comeback from last place to finish 5th, shadowing old Arrows (and Jaguar) teammate, Eddie Cheever! "The car was fantastic today and had loads of grip from the start. It was clear that Nigel was having problems and we were all backed up behind him. Pierluigi then went on the inside of me at one of the corners but I kept the pressure up. He ran wide at the hairpin and I went up the inside and cut straight back but spun! From there it was simply flat out playing catch-up. I passed about four or five cars and got a good jump after the two safety car incidents. I kept up the fight and in the end managed to get my own back on Pierluigi. Fifth place is what came at the end of the day but had it not been for the spin, a podium position would have definitely been mine today. It ' s been a great weekend of racing and no doubt we ' l will look to settle some scores at Silverstone in a few weeks from now". Full race result available here. 28 April - Qualifying - Qatar Derek has qualified in 3rd place for the 2006 Qtel Masters of Qatar behind Nigel Mansell (pole) and Christian Danner: "You come here for only one thing and that is pole position but starting from the second row will do me. I will simply have to chase Nigel into the first corner and hope for an opening somewhere. Nigel did a stunning job today to set that pole time and even though the grip level was somewhat worse than this morning, this track really is up there as one of the most demanding we have ever seen. P3 is a much improved start position from my first race in South Africa and I hope I can carry that form into tomorrow". Qualifying times are available here. 26 April - New Derek Interview Online The CVM Group, which has recently announced a sponsorship agreement with the GP Masters and Derek Warwick, has conducted an interview with Derek, prior to the start of the new season and has kindly allowed me to publish it on this site. Read all about Derek's preparations for the new season here. 24 April - UK TV Coverage Derek will be racing at the Losail International Raceway, Qatar on 28/29 April 2006. For UK viewers, Sky Sports will be showing live coverage: Qualifying - Friday 28 April at 13:00 (Sky Sports 1) Race - Saturday 29 April at 12:30 (Sky Sports Xtra) Sponsorship News Hampshire based CVM Group who specialise in the supply and funding of lease vehicles throughout the UK has confirmed a 12 month sponsorship deal with GP Masters. GP Masters is a series of 4 races and kicks off in Qatar on 29 April. It sees F1 legends such as Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, Derek Warwick and Riccardo Patrese dusting off their racing overalls and doing battle in 600 horse power, 200mph single seat racing cars. As a result of this agreement, CVM, based in Park Gate, Southampton will supply vehicles to GP Masters to complement their existing growing fleet. CVM’s association with GP Masters began when friend and ex Formula 1 racing driver Derek Warwick, was asked to race in the forthcoming series. “We are delighted to be a part of the phenomenon which is GP Masters and even more delighted to be featured on Derek’s racing car.” says CVM’s Sales Director Kevin Connor. Kevin added “I was lucky enough to be invited to the inaugural race in South Africa last November and have been bitten by the GP Masters bug. It is sure to be a truly exciting series, bringing back memories of the good old days of F1 for all of us over 30…… personally, I can’t wait!” For more information visit the CVM Group website. January 2006 GP Masters There will be four GP Masters events in 2006. Check out the GP Masters website for latest news. Site still maintained by Wayne Hemingway, 2001-2007 - Comments always welcome 
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