ALASTAIR Campbell was the official spokesman for former Prime Minister Tony Blair. An ardent supporter of Burnley Football Club, he now spends much of his time writing, fundraising and speaking.
His latest book, Winners: And How They Succeed is published by Hutchinson.
What was your first car?
It was a Citroen Dyane. It was green and quite noisy and had a gear lever in the middle of the dashboard. I bought it off my Dad so let's say I got a good deal. It's what Dads are for.
How many times did it take to pass your test?
I failed four maybe five times. The trouble is having spent years of summers on various uncles' Scottish farms I had driven about in cars and tractors - on private land obviously ahem - for years, so I had a lot of bad habits. Eventually I got proper lessons but then I developed a habit of my left knee going into spasm when I changed gear. So that caused me a couple of fails! Eventually I got there. As many of the interviewees in my book WINNERS say though, failure is a better teacher than success. That is my excuse.
Who would be your ideal fantasy passenger and where would you go?
I'd like to drive the team bus taking the Burnley players to the Champions League Final at Wembley. You did say fantasy.
What is your dream car?
I am not really a car person to be honest. But I wouldn't mind a go driving a Formula One car. I am not into F1 as a spectator, but when I was researching the book, separately Dave Brailsford (cycling), Clive Woodward (rugby), Ben Ainslie (sailing) and Billy Beane (baseball) all told me that when it came to use of data to drive innovation, F1 was the daddy. So I spent some time with Mercedes and was blown away by the scale and the meticulousness of the operation. The driver is the most visible human form of an incredible team effort with a quite staggering amount of data driving performance.
How would you describe your driving style?
Reluctant, but relaxed and reliable, and irritable in traffic. I did have a tendency to speed, and was done several times coming back from Burnley matches, but I was definitely influenced by a speed awareness course when I was a few points short of losing my licence. I can remember - and regularly use - the acronym the guy taught us - COAST which stands for concentration, observation, anticipation, space and time.
It pops into my head when I am suddenly going too fast or I see trouble ahead. Tell me one driving anecdote from your past?
When I did Top Gear, I am pretty sure I saw the Stig's face. In the car when he was training me he never took off his helmet - by the way I did really well! But I noticed the sandy brown hair on his neck and later I think I saw the same neck, but this time with the rest of the face. I said 'hi Stig,' and he smiled and walked on.
What are you listening to?
My partner Fiona's iPod. She has it synched up to the car. On my own I am always happy listening to Motown, Jacques Brel and bagpipes. Recently my son Calum has got both of us into Paulo Nutini from Paisley.
What do you drive now?
VW Touareg. Because that's what Fiona decided we should have. Like I said I am not really a car person. But it is good on long journeys. To me the most important part of the car is the bike rack on the roof.
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