"2003 was a great year for me"
An interview with Johnny Mowlem of ACEMCO Racing
By Margot Orenchuk 

VANCOUVER, Canada (December 14, 2003) -- To say Johnny Mowlem’s year in 2003 had its share of highs and lows would be putting it mildly. The driver from Warfield, England led his class at Le Mans this year before his engine decided to park itself; his #31 Petersen/White Lightning Porsche was the only (GT class) team to beat the dynamic duo of Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen in 2003 at Road America; and he followed that with a podium finish at Laguna Seca. Then, in the final race of the year at petit Le Mans, a Ferrari that decided Johnny had driven long enough that day unceremoniously removed him from the track. Well, Johnny didn’t think so, and I’m sure his teammate Craig sure didn’t! (He didn’t even step into the car that day). Johnny took time to talk to me about his year, and to share breaking news about his new GTS ride with ACEMCO Racing and
the always-lovely Saleen.

Margot Orenchuk: Describe “the bump” in Miami this year. How much of a toll physically did that race take on you?

Johnny Mowlem: Not too much to be honest. The first few laps that I drove the circuit in practice were kind of mind blowing given the tight and twisty configuration of the circuit, but by the time of the race I had got my head round that pretty ok. We had after all qualified in 3rd only a few hundreds shy of the factory Porsches.

MO: Do you feel any added pressure being the driver on your team that has to qualify the car?

JM: The only pressure I felt was mostly self-imposed. In sportscars it is actually quite difficult for an outsider to see exactly which driver is fast and who isn’t. There are other important things to consider in the races, such as consistency, tactical awareness, dealing with traffic, etc. That all changes in qualifying where you are openly ranked against your peers in terms of your outright speed over one lap. This matters to some people more than others, but the bottom line is that ALL manufacturers look very carefully at the outright speed of a driver in terms of gauging his ability. Therefore all race drivers feel a certain pressure to perform in qualifying as they are being exposed for the whole world to see exactly how fast they really are. Any driver that says he holds back in qualifying is normally lying!! I actually enjoy qualifying very much, probably because I normally come out of it looking ok. It’s often the most fun 20 minutes of the whole weekend and is often also the only time I will really risk the car in order to gain a few tenths.

MO: Do you have any superstitions before race day?

JM: Not particularly. Nothing specific that I’ll stick to anyway.

MO: What is the worst thing that can happen to you to destroy your focus during a race?

JM: Nothing normally takes my focus away, although having a huge lead like we did at Road America and being told to drive slowly and stay off the curbs was actually very hard to do without completely losing concentration. I’m normally pretty good at keeping concentrated on the job in hand, although lots of things can make me mad during a race but I generally manage to channel that in a positive way!

MO: What is you favorite off-track activity?

JM: No comment! ;-)

MO: What is the one question you never get asked that you would like to be?

JM: “Would you like to please come and drive for us for 3 million dollars a year?”

MO: What type of personal toll does being in this series take? Do you think having a family makes your job more difficult, or is it a support?

JM: I’ve grown so used to leaving home regularly that leaving my family is no longer a problem. In fact it helps because when I get home I’m very quickly grounded back to normality if I’ve had a successful weekend, and if it’s been a nightmare, then my kids help me forget about it!

MO: How do you train (keep in shape) on and off-season?

JM: When I’m home I train for a minimum of one hour every day, both cardio and high repetition with light weights.

MO: Can you tell us who you will be driving for at Le Mans next year?

JM: I could but then I’d have to kill you!

MO: What is the strangest thing a fan has asked you to do?

JM: Sign her breast!

MO: WHAT! And did you?

JM: I signed just above her breast.

MO: How would you sum up 2003? How close did you end up where you (realistically) wanted to be?

JM: 2003 was a great year for me. I finished 2nd overall at the Daytona 24 hours, led my class at Le Mans, (albeit briefly!), and we were the only team to beat the factory Porsches all year. In fact we were the only other Porsche team to get amongst them all year either in qualifying or the races.

MO: What are your plans for the off-season?

JM: Work hard on getting 2004 sorted out and keep fit.

MO: Who are your racing heroes?

JM: Ayrton Senna. A qualifying God and phenomenally talented but fiercely independent racer. He personified the killer instinct that all top drivers need

MO: Do you have a ride for 2004?

JM: It looks like I will be racing a factory Saleen for the top ACEMCO team, who I raced for at Le Mans in the Ferrari 360 Modena.

Right after Johnny answered theses questions for RFM, the announcement was made about his new ride. Johnny was kind enough to interrupt his holidays to tell RFM about his new team.

Johnny Mowlem: I'm very much looking forward to this coming season with Jeff Giangrande's team. I know from driving for them at Le Mans, that even though they are relative newcomers to the sport, they operate in an extremely professional way. Jeff himself does not waste time on frills and will always cut straight to the chase in order to achieve the results he desires. Like many top team owners, he has been enormously successful in his other endeavors, so I see no reason why he won't carry that success across to motorsport.

Obviously we're going to be helped enormously by having Saleen and Pirelli's full development and support behind us, and Terry tells me that our race engineer; Jim Bell, is a genius at making drivers look good, so I'm obviously looking forward to working with him!!!

We are all however, under no illusions. It will not be easy to beat the likes of Corvette and Ferrari, but we are sure going to give it a damn good try!

MO: Have you worked with Terry before?

JM: Yes, I drove with Terry Borcheller, albeit not in the same car, at Le Mans this year. I've known Terry for quite a while and I respect not only his driving, but also how he conducts himself as a person.

 

RFM Sports thanks Tom Moore of Petersen Motorsports/Darkhorse and Johnny Mowlem for their kind assistance with this interview.

Next Week:  Terry Borcheller of ACEMCO Racing, and Shane Lewis