Julian Bailey

9/10/1961

Record updated 09-Oct-06

Julian Bailey was a Formula One driver who raced for the Tyrrell and Lotus teams.

Julian Bailey was born in Woolwich, London. Although born in the United Kingdom, he was raised in Spain. He raced in the UK in Formula Ford 1600. He had a huge crash at Snetterton in 1980 which left him with multiple fractures of his arm and leg.

In 1982, Julian was involved in a season-long battle with Mauricio Gugelmin which saw him lose out in the RAC championship, but he did win the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.

After struggling to find a budget to compete in Formula 3, in 1986 he got his chance to race in Formula 3000 with support from Cavendish Finance and Braemar, he joined GA Motorsport. He won his third F3000 race, at Brands Hatch, becoming the first British driver to win in the formula.

This led to an offer to drive for Tyrrell and joined them the following year. Unfortunately the 017 was uncompetitive and he didn't score any points, though his team-mate, Jonathan Palmer, took five.

He bought a pub with his earnings with help from his brother, who had a successful property development business. Then sold it to fund his racing.

In 1989 he joined the Nissan sports car factory team, and tried to get back into Formula One in 1991, behind the wheel of a Lotus. He finished sixth in the San Marino Grand Prix but was dropped after Monaco in favour of Johnny Herbert. During his F1 career he was entered in 20 Grands Prix, qualifying for seven at a time when the grids were over-subscribed, and scored a total of one championship point.

In 1993 he joined the Toyota BTCC team, finishing 5th in the championship, although his season is best remembered for his collision with team-mate Will Hoy, which flipped Hoy's car onto its roof. The next 2 seasons were less successful, although he outscored 1991 champion Hoy in both their seasons as team-mates.

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, winning in the British GT Championship, sharing the Lister Storm GTL with Tiff Needell. He has raced primarily in sports cars since, winning the FIA GT Championship in 2000. 

A Daily Express article has reported that Bailey is secretly "The Stig" (from BBC2's Top Gear) however Top Gear have not confirmed or denied this.