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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: 10 Questions With Paul Drayson
Former U.K. Minister discusses new full-focus on Drayson Racing, the team's upcoming LMP1 debut at Le Mans and more.
After serving as a minister in U.K. government for the last five years, Lord Paul Drayson left his post three weeks ago following the 'changing of the guards' in the General Election. (Regis Lefebure/Drayson Racing)
Lord Paul Drayson has usually been one of the busiest people in the American Le Mans Series paddock. Between juggling his owner/driver role with Drayson Racing and his day job as the U.K.’s Science Minister, the multi-faceted 50-year-old has racked up plenty of frequent flier miles around the world.
Drayson’s situation changed three weeks ago following the U.K.’s general election and the subsequent shift of power. After five years of public office, Drayson’s term as a government minister came to an end.
It not only means more time to focus on his racing program, but with he no no longer being tied to a government role, Drayson Racing is now able to enter into new partnerships and commercial relationships.
We sat down with Paul to discuss this new and exciting chapter in his life, plus a preview to the team’s LMP1 debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and end-of-year Intercontinental Le Mans Cup races. It’s all a part of the latest installment of “10 Questions.”
DAGYS: You left office three weeks ago following the general election in the U.K. You’re no longer a Minister in government, which gives you more freedom to increase Drayson Racing’s commitments. Can you explain more about the arrangement?
DRAYSON: Under the British government rules, while you’re a minister, you’re not allowed to have any involvement in any other business interests. I was allowed to race as a sport, but I wasn’t allowed to receive sponsorship of any kind or enter into any commercial arrangements.
It’s been five years going back to my British GT days. Now, we’ve had the general election. From three weeks ago onwards, I can now focus 100 per cent on my racing. From the perspective of not having all of the political aspects in my life to think about, but also I can now enter into discussions related to all of the normal things that a race team does, which is really excited.
When I was a minister, my relationship with any of the suppliers had to be, ‘I’m a customer and I’m going to pay for it.’ Which is okay when it’s a fully developed product, such as a Judd V10 engine or a Lola chassis. But when you’re doing a development program, that’s different.
DAGYS: What do you hope to achieve now that you’re free to pursue technical alliances, presumably with a green aspect?
DRAYSON: I’m really keen to develop Drayson Racing as a platform for promotion of green technologies in racing. I was allowed to do it in the past, as long as I paid for everything. But it gets very expensive. While I enjoy my racing, I also wanted to show through my own races that you can develop and champion technologies such as green fuel - cellulosic bio-ethanol.
What excites me most of all, and what I really want to get involved with, is the application of electrical systems and technologies of various types in racing. We’ve been able to experiment with the Braille Battery, for example. Lithium-ion batteries aren’t state of the art, but there’s a huge innovation going on with the chemistry and metallurgy of batteries which is going to dramatically extend range. Power-to-weight ratio would also improve.
Then it’s the integration of electrics into electric drive, both in terms of hybrids, but also in terms of an eventual all-electric vehicle. That for me would be fantastic. Just thinking when will be the day we’ll have a first all-electric race car, not just in a special category or race, but competing head-to-head with other technologies? How long will the technology take to get there?
The reason why I think it’s a very important question for Le Mans-style racing is that the electric car is coming to main street very soon. If you look at all of the electric vehicles which are on the product plans from manufacturers, electric vehicles are going to be a big deal. So we need to integrate that into our racing because that’s what people want to see. They want to see these technologies fighting each other on track.
DAGYS: Do you feel you’re qualified to help lead the charge for introducing new technology to the sport?
DRAYSON: I was a science entrepreneur for 20 years before I went into politics. I’m really lucky that my passion for motor racing is something in which I can combine my expertise in science and business. What I want to do is apply my science entrepreneurship to motorsport technology development and green racing. I’m really keen to develop working relationships with people who share the same passion and belief that this is the way motorsports is going in the future.
I think we’ve developed in the team a platform. We’ve had tastes of greatness in terms of our Sebring experience and our fantastic weekend in Asia last year. Le Mans is coming up, plus we're doing the global Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. We really want to be there fighting with Peugeot and Audi. We know that they’ve got much greater resources. We know their budgets are larger than ours. But still, it’s fantastic in this type of racing that an independent manufacturer can really give these guys a run for their money.
DAGYS: How soon are you targeting the introduction of a new technology? Would a hybrid be the first logical step?
DRAYSON: I’ve been very keen to do it with this LMP1 car. The thing that strikes me with hybrid technology at the moment is that since they were almost exclusively developed for Formula One initially, the actual costs of the systems are ridiculous. It’s only now that we’re starting to see people develop hybrid systems that make them economically sensible in this type of series.
We looked at going with a hybrid system for this year, but there were two things that put me off. One was the cost of it. Second was that it did not provide any kind of confidence around performance. It wasn’t going to provide any kind of performance enhancement, but it definitely could provide a performance negative.
I don’t think people should be looking at putting something on a car and making excuses for it. That’s something I learned very early on with bio-ethanol. In British GT, when I announced we were going to be the pioneer of bio-ethanol, the other teams thought we were crazy. Then when they saw that we weren’t any slower and understood. It’s important that green racing shouldn’t be seen as slow racing, it needs to be seen as 21st century racing.
We’re not just looking in terms of hybrid, but also some of the other systems which you could contemplate putting on the car. One of the really interesting areas I think that has real commercial potential, application and relevance is waste heat. These cars produce huge amounts of waste heat and trying to find ways to reuse the waste heat with different systems is going to be a thing of the future. Also emissions capture is another thing that’s a very interesting area, and we’ve tested it with our Aston Martin a few years ago.
DAGYS: Does it feel sad to leave office in any way?
DRAYSON: Yes it was sad to leave office. For me, it was the end of five years as a minister, but 13 years of government. The opinion polls all the way up to the election was looking like the Labour Party was going to lose the election. So it didn’t come as a surprise.
Still, after five years, I will look back on that time and feel that was my time in public service. I felt I was able to get a lot done and found it very rewarding. For anyone reading this, if they had any interest in getting involved in public service or politics, I would encourage them to.
I was not political until my 30’s. When I was at university and in business, politics was something I’d read about in newspapers or on TV, but never actually get involved with. It was actually one particular issue, which I got very upset about, that made me get involved.
I found that once I got involved in it, it was hugely rewarding. You really felt that you could change the world and really make a difference if you put the effort into it. There’s no regrets about doing it, but I will miss it.
DAGYS: With more free time, does this help your development as a driver?
DRAYSON: I’ve got so much more time to do personal training. That was huge before. On a typical day in office, I would catch the train at 6:30 a.m. to get to Westminster. I would be home at 10 p.m. There’s no time during the day to do training. I would have to do my training after I got home. It’s hard, but I did it.
Now it feels like a luxury. The trainer comes three times a week and I can do it during the day. It’s been really good. I’m certainly stepping all of that up and am putting a lot of focus in my upper-body development, for example.
But of course motor racing is also a mental sport. You race yourself more than anything else. It’s great having the ability to have a clear mind and know that your mobile phone which you’ve left in the truck, is not going to be flooded with messages after the session or race.
When we were at Le Mans last year, the Monday of Le Mans week, I had a phone call from the Prime Minister saying he wanted me to do some additional duties in defense. I remember walking the track at Le Mans for the first time, walking down the Mulsanne on the phone to one of ministerial colleagues!
I really had to work hard in trying to segment those two things in my mind. It’s an absolute luxury and a delight to be able to do this. I hope that it shows.
DAGYS: Given your new situation, is expanding to a two-car team a realistic objective for the future?
DRAYSON: We’re at the very early stages of thinking about all of this, but I think one model is to have a two-car team where one is the development car and one is the ‘pro’ lead car. To actively have a development test bed where you’re showing the technology in use and racing it... I would love to be able to be doing that.
I certainly think a two-car team would enable us to be a rolling laboratory where one car is being actively developed. You need to accept that it may have an impact on reliability, but if you do have a two-car team, you have the ability to have another car that’s proven.
DAGYS: What are your thoughts heading into your LMP1 debut at Le Mans?
DRAYSON: For the last month, I’d lie awake thinking about going down the Mulsanne Straight. I don’t know what it is about the Mulsanne Straight, but I always have dreams of driving it at night, full speed ahead, in a LMP1 car! Having raced it last year in a GT and seeing those cars go past... You’ve been flat-out in sixth gear for what seems like a long time and then you see this blur in your mirrors and it's a Peugeot coming up and blasts by you. I was thinking how cool it would be to be in something like that. Now I'm in that type of car this year!
DAGYS: What kind of expectations have you set for the team at Le Mans?
DRAYSON: Maybe I’m a romantic, but I love the history of Le Mans in terms of being these independent teams who come and surprise people. We had a little taste of that at Sebring when we overtook the Peugeot. Although I’m realistic, we don’t just go to Le Mans just to be the fastest of the petrol cars, we go there to win it. While we’re a small team with a small budget, we definitely have the latest technology and the best drivers. Anything can happen. We may get lucky!
DAGYS: Your team will take part in the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup this year. Do you see a global future for sportscar racing?
DRAYSON: I want to race globally. It’s a small planet these days and I’m so used to, from my business and politics perspective, of going around the world all the time. It seems to be perfectly natural for me of the idea of racing in China or Japan.
I also passionately believe that this type of racing is what 21st century motor racing should be. Formula One is fantastic and is clearly global, but this is much more relevant to the automotive industry. As a global market, I’d like there to be a World Sportscar Championship.
Follow Drayson Racing’s progress at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Paul Drayson’s exclusive daily blog, starting Sunday, June 6th.
Drayson’s situation changed three weeks ago following the U.K.’s general election and the subsequent shift of power. After five years of public office, Drayson’s term as a government minister came to an end.
It not only means more time to focus on his racing program, but with he no no longer being tied to a government role, Drayson Racing is now able to enter into new partnerships and commercial relationships.
We sat down with Paul to discuss this new and exciting chapter in his life, plus a preview to the team’s LMP1 debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and end-of-year Intercontinental Le Mans Cup races. It’s all a part of the latest installment of “10 Questions.”
DAGYS: You left office three weeks ago following the general election in the U.K. You’re no longer a Minister in government, which gives you more freedom to increase Drayson Racing’s commitments. Can you explain more about the arrangement?
DRAYSON: Under the British government rules, while you’re a minister, you’re not allowed to have any involvement in any other business interests. I was allowed to race as a sport, but I wasn’t allowed to receive sponsorship of any kind or enter into any commercial arrangements.
It’s been five years going back to my British GT days. Now, we’ve had the general election. From three weeks ago onwards, I can now focus 100 per cent on my racing. From the perspective of not having all of the political aspects in my life to think about, but also I can now enter into discussions related to all of the normal things that a race team does, which is really excited.
When I was a minister, my relationship with any of the suppliers had to be, ‘I’m a customer and I’m going to pay for it.’ Which is okay when it’s a fully developed product, such as a Judd V10 engine or a Lola chassis. But when you’re doing a development program, that’s different.
DAGYS: What do you hope to achieve now that you’re free to pursue technical alliances, presumably with a green aspect?
DRAYSON: I’m really keen to develop Drayson Racing as a platform for promotion of green technologies in racing. I was allowed to do it in the past, as long as I paid for everything. But it gets very expensive. While I enjoy my racing, I also wanted to show through my own races that you can develop and champion technologies such as green fuel - cellulosic bio-ethanol.
What excites me most of all, and what I really want to get involved with, is the application of electrical systems and technologies of various types in racing. We’ve been able to experiment with the Braille Battery, for example. Lithium-ion batteries aren’t state of the art, but there’s a huge innovation going on with the chemistry and metallurgy of batteries which is going to dramatically extend range. Power-to-weight ratio would also improve.
Then it’s the integration of electrics into electric drive, both in terms of hybrids, but also in terms of an eventual all-electric vehicle. That for me would be fantastic. Just thinking when will be the day we’ll have a first all-electric race car, not just in a special category or race, but competing head-to-head with other technologies? How long will the technology take to get there?
The reason why I think it’s a very important question for Le Mans-style racing is that the electric car is coming to main street very soon. If you look at all of the electric vehicles which are on the product plans from manufacturers, electric vehicles are going to be a big deal. So we need to integrate that into our racing because that’s what people want to see. They want to see these technologies fighting each other on track.
DAGYS: Do you feel you’re qualified to help lead the charge for introducing new technology to the sport?
DRAYSON: I was a science entrepreneur for 20 years before I went into politics. I’m really lucky that my passion for motor racing is something in which I can combine my expertise in science and business. What I want to do is apply my science entrepreneurship to motorsport technology development and green racing. I’m really keen to develop working relationships with people who share the same passion and belief that this is the way motorsports is going in the future.
I think we’ve developed in the team a platform. We’ve had tastes of greatness in terms of our Sebring experience and our fantastic weekend in Asia last year. Le Mans is coming up, plus we're doing the global Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. We really want to be there fighting with Peugeot and Audi. We know that they’ve got much greater resources. We know their budgets are larger than ours. But still, it’s fantastic in this type of racing that an independent manufacturer can really give these guys a run for their money.
DAGYS: How soon are you targeting the introduction of a new technology? Would a hybrid be the first logical step?
DRAYSON: I’ve been very keen to do it with this LMP1 car. The thing that strikes me with hybrid technology at the moment is that since they were almost exclusively developed for Formula One initially, the actual costs of the systems are ridiculous. It’s only now that we’re starting to see people develop hybrid systems that make them economically sensible in this type of series.
We looked at going with a hybrid system for this year, but there were two things that put me off. One was the cost of it. Second was that it did not provide any kind of confidence around performance. It wasn’t going to provide any kind of performance enhancement, but it definitely could provide a performance negative.
I don’t think people should be looking at putting something on a car and making excuses for it. That’s something I learned very early on with bio-ethanol. In British GT, when I announced we were going to be the pioneer of bio-ethanol, the other teams thought we were crazy. Then when they saw that we weren’t any slower and understood. It’s important that green racing shouldn’t be seen as slow racing, it needs to be seen as 21st century racing.
We’re not just looking in terms of hybrid, but also some of the other systems which you could contemplate putting on the car. One of the really interesting areas I think that has real commercial potential, application and relevance is waste heat. These cars produce huge amounts of waste heat and trying to find ways to reuse the waste heat with different systems is going to be a thing of the future. Also emissions capture is another thing that’s a very interesting area, and we’ve tested it with our Aston Martin a few years ago.
DAGYS: Does it feel sad to leave office in any way?
DRAYSON: Yes it was sad to leave office. For me, it was the end of five years as a minister, but 13 years of government. The opinion polls all the way up to the election was looking like the Labour Party was going to lose the election. So it didn’t come as a surprise.
Still, after five years, I will look back on that time and feel that was my time in public service. I felt I was able to get a lot done and found it very rewarding. For anyone reading this, if they had any interest in getting involved in public service or politics, I would encourage them to.
I was not political until my 30’s. When I was at university and in business, politics was something I’d read about in newspapers or on TV, but never actually get involved with. It was actually one particular issue, which I got very upset about, that made me get involved.
I found that once I got involved in it, it was hugely rewarding. You really felt that you could change the world and really make a difference if you put the effort into it. There’s no regrets about doing it, but I will miss it.
DAGYS: With more free time, does this help your development as a driver?
DRAYSON: I’ve got so much more time to do personal training. That was huge before. On a typical day in office, I would catch the train at 6:30 a.m. to get to Westminster. I would be home at 10 p.m. There’s no time during the day to do training. I would have to do my training after I got home. It’s hard, but I did it.
Now it feels like a luxury. The trainer comes three times a week and I can do it during the day. It’s been really good. I’m certainly stepping all of that up and am putting a lot of focus in my upper-body development, for example.
But of course motor racing is also a mental sport. You race yourself more than anything else. It’s great having the ability to have a clear mind and know that your mobile phone which you’ve left in the truck, is not going to be flooded with messages after the session or race.
When we were at Le Mans last year, the Monday of Le Mans week, I had a phone call from the Prime Minister saying he wanted me to do some additional duties in defense. I remember walking the track at Le Mans for the first time, walking down the Mulsanne on the phone to one of ministerial colleagues!
I really had to work hard in trying to segment those two things in my mind. It’s an absolute luxury and a delight to be able to do this. I hope that it shows.
DAGYS: Given your new situation, is expanding to a two-car team a realistic objective for the future?
DRAYSON: We’re at the very early stages of thinking about all of this, but I think one model is to have a two-car team where one is the development car and one is the ‘pro’ lead car. To actively have a development test bed where you’re showing the technology in use and racing it... I would love to be able to be doing that.
I certainly think a two-car team would enable us to be a rolling laboratory where one car is being actively developed. You need to accept that it may have an impact on reliability, but if you do have a two-car team, you have the ability to have another car that’s proven.
DAGYS: What are your thoughts heading into your LMP1 debut at Le Mans?
DRAYSON: For the last month, I’d lie awake thinking about going down the Mulsanne Straight. I don’t know what it is about the Mulsanne Straight, but I always have dreams of driving it at night, full speed ahead, in a LMP1 car! Having raced it last year in a GT and seeing those cars go past... You’ve been flat-out in sixth gear for what seems like a long time and then you see this blur in your mirrors and it's a Peugeot coming up and blasts by you. I was thinking how cool it would be to be in something like that. Now I'm in that type of car this year!
DAGYS: What kind of expectations have you set for the team at Le Mans?
DRAYSON: Maybe I’m a romantic, but I love the history of Le Mans in terms of being these independent teams who come and surprise people. We had a little taste of that at Sebring when we overtook the Peugeot. Although I’m realistic, we don’t just go to Le Mans just to be the fastest of the petrol cars, we go there to win it. While we’re a small team with a small budget, we definitely have the latest technology and the best drivers. Anything can happen. We may get lucky!
DAGYS: Your team will take part in the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup this year. Do you see a global future for sportscar racing?
DRAYSON: I want to race globally. It’s a small planet these days and I’m so used to, from my business and politics perspective, of going around the world all the time. It seems to be perfectly natural for me of the idea of racing in China or Japan.
I also passionately believe that this type of racing is what 21st century motor racing should be. Formula One is fantastic and is clearly global, but this is much more relevant to the automotive industry. As a global market, I’d like there to be a World Sportscar Championship.
Follow Drayson Racing’s progress at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Paul Drayson’s exclusive daily blog, starting Sunday, June 6th.
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