Julian Bailey
The determination with which Julian Bailey has pursued his career has enabled him to ride out innumerable financial crises as well as serious injuries sustained when a huge crash at Snetterton in 1980 left him with multiple fractures of his arm and leg. By the end of 1981 he was back in business and quicker than ever. Racing in FF1600 in 1982, Julian was involved in a season-long battle with Mauricio Gugelmin which saw him lose out in the RAC championship but gain some recompense by winning the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.
Julian's career then got bogged down with a number of seasons spent scratching around in less than competitive cars - notably in F3. But he plugged away waiting for the break which finally came his way with an end-of-season deal to race a Lola in Formula 3000. Bailey took to the category and, with backing from Cavendish Finance, embarked on a full F3000 season in 1987. A superb win at Brands Hatch, his favourite circuit, provided the year's highlight, and the credibility which this win brought him led to a seat at Tyrrell for 1988, but as luck would have it the 017 car fielded by the team that year was a poor one and his season was a complete wash-out.
After some excellent drives for the Nissan sports car team (including a third place at Donington in 1989), Julian scraped up enough cash to buy a ride with Lotus at the start of the 1991 season but, despite picking up a sixth place at Imola, he was dropped in favour of Johnny Herbert. Accepting that Formula 1 would for ever be out of his reach, he concentrated on forging a career in the British touring car championship, enjoying the chance to race a works Toyota in 1993 alongside Will Hoy.
Unlike some other notable Grand Prix refugees, Julian became a convincing performer in this type of racing, but rarely had the machinery to challenge for the top BTCC honours.
Bailey found greater success with Toyota down in South Africa during 1996 and 1997, but it failed to gain him the planned return to the BTCC and he returned to spearhead the Lister-Storm challenge in GT racing at home and abroad.
