Car Torque .... with former Olympic athlete Derek Redmond

What was your first car?

It was a horrible green coloured little Ford Fiesta Popular that my Dad bought me for about £1,500. I had the bottom half sprayed silver for a bit of added street cred and the stereo I bought for it was worth more than the car itself. Anything you could screw or bolt on to a car, I stuck it on, so it looked like I’d been on a spree in Halfords. It was quite sad when I look back at it now.

How many times did it take to pass your test?

I passed second time, but it was strange as I thought I’d passed first time but failed, and the second time I thought I’d failed but I passed. I was taught by a small company in Northampton, Pattershall School of Motoring, if I remember rightly, but for some reason she made me take my test in Rugby – it was supposedly a tougher place to pass and that was meant to benefit me in the long run.

Who would be your ideal fantasy passenger and where would you go?

I think Lewis Hamilton would actually be quite a cool guy to hang out with. I’m a big fan of his and he always strikes me, on and off the track, as a pretty cool dude, so a nice cruise with him, hear a few anecdotes and then off for a big night out. That’d do me.

What is your dream car?

I’m lucky enough to already own my dream car, a Bentley Continental. For my 50th last year I treated myself to one – I just love the GT. I get it from my old man, he was really into Bentleys and Rolls, so I grew up with them and, when the GT Continental first came out, that was it. I saw one driving on the motorway and thought to myself ‘one day’ and now I’ve been able to fulfil a dream. I just love the design, style and opulence – they scream Great Britishness at its best. If I had to choose one more car, it’d be a Bugatti Veyron for the speed.

How would you describe your driving style?

I’m pretty laid back and I don’t drive particularly fast as there’s no point - I’m not one of those guys who does 90 or 100 on the motorway. I’m a cruiser. I spend a lot of time on the motorway, so I try to chill out with my music or, more often than not, I’m on the phone.

Tell me one driving anecdote from your past?

Going back to my second driving test and the examiner was a particularly stern individual with half-moon glasses, who took the whole thing, and seemingly himself, too seriously. As we walked from the test centre Portakabin to the car, he asked which was mine. I told him it was parked on the road. A few cars up there was a pristine Lotus Esprit, so I thought I’d relax the situation with a little joke. I went to the Lotus, got my keys out and pretended to open it. I turned around and gave him a cheeky smile and all he did was push his glasses down his nose, look at me over them and huff. That’s why I thought I’d failed. That’s about as rock’n’roll as it gets with me.

What are you listening to?

A real smorgasbord of music but a fair bit of talkSPORT. I’ve got an iPod that’s got a bunch of different stuff on it - a lot of hip-hop, soul, reggae and R’n’B and a lot of jazz. I tend to listen to the jazz when I’m driving at night to keep me nice and relaxed. But if I’m not listening to that, it’ll be talkSPORT. I find it a great way to keep up with everything in the world of sport. The kids hate it but I’m having it on. After a few days away, in a couple of hours you’ve caught up on pretty much everything that’s happening. I do that in the day mostly and listen to the music at night when I’m trying to relax coming home from an event. I’m a big Sade fan, so she goes on a lot.

What do you drive now?

My day-to-day car is a BMW 5 Series. I do somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 miles a year, so I don’t really want to rack that up in the Bentley. That’s for my Sunday best and, if I’ve got a big dinner to go to or a golf event, I bring it out. It makes me feel special. It’s going in for a service tomorrow, so I am not looking forward to that in the slightest.