| Terry Fullerton | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Born | 4 January 1953 London |
| Years active | 1960s–1984 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1973 | Karting World Championship |
Terry Fullerton (born 4 January 1953) is a retired racing driver from London, United Kingdom, who was the Karting World Champion in 1973 and is best known as the teammate and rival of Ayrton Senna during his karting days.
"Fullerton. Terry Fullerton. He was very experienced and I enjoyed very much driving with him because he was fast, he was consistent. He was, for me, a very complete driver. I have that as a very good memory." [1]
Terry Fullerton, who came from West London, wanted to pursue his dream as a Formula One driver but his brother, Alec, was killed in a motorcycle racing accident at Mallory Park in 1964. Having witnessed the grief his family went through with the family loss, he abandoned his ambition to spare his family further anguish and continued to race karts.[1][2] Fullerton qualified but failed to be selected for the British team to compete in the Karting World Championship in 1967, but was able to race under an Irish licence on proving that his bloodline was Irish. He made it through to the World Championships that year and the next, but had limited success. In 1971, Fullerton began to compete under his own nationality.[3] His efforts soon paid off when he became the first Briton in 1973 to win the title.[3] In 1978, when driving for the Italian DAP factory team, he became team-mate of a young Ayrton Senna[4] on his first visit to Europe. The two drivers raced against each other the following year, and their final world championship encounter took place in 1980 in Nivelles-Baulers, Belgium. Fullerton won the first race, but retired with engine failure in the second and in the final race. He finished third overall behind Senna in his final year of karting, after which Senna switched to racing cars.[4] The pair was regarded by its team manager, Angelo Parrilla, as the best in the world.[4]
At a press conference at the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, when asked which driver he had the most satisfaction of racing against, Senna cited Fullerton over his Formula 1 arch-rival Alain Prost.[5] This comment, which Fullerton took to be a word of mouth, was proven at the screening of the documentary film about the driver in 2010.[4]
Apart from the world championship, Fullerton won the British Junior Karting Championship between 1966 and 1968. He also won the British Championships eight times.[1] He solely raced karts throughout his career, as he saw strong enough financial incentives and prestige for him to remain in the sport[4] – having been noticed by and been in a relationship with a Miss Universe, and travelled the world.[1]
Having retired as a driver in 1984, Fullerton ran his own team,[4] and he then made a successful career coaching up-and-coming racing drivers. Indycar driver Justin Wilson, Force India driver Paul Di Resta,[2] double Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon,[4] double 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Allan McNish and former F1 driver Anthony Davidson were amongst those he taught – the latter two he regarded as his best students.[3]
Fullerton currently lives in Costessey, Norwich[4] with his wife and his daughter.[1]