Terry Fullerton (born 4 January 1953) is a British retired racing driver from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, who won the

Karting World Championship The Karting World Championship is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. It is held annually since 1964, and is karting's flagship event. The FIA (International Automobile Federation) created the CIK (International Karting Commissi ...

in 1973 and is best known as the teammate and rival of

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

during his karting days.

Biography

Terry Fullerton from

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

had ambitions to race in

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

, but the intensity of his family's grief when his brother, Alec, died in a motorcycle racing accident at

Mallory Park Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...

in 1964, led him to restrict his career to karts. At 16 years old, Fullerton qualified, but failed to be selected for the British team to compete in the

in 1969. As he was also eligible to race under an Irish licence, he reached the World Championships in 1969 and 1970 but had limited success. In 1971, he began to compete on his British licence and finished 4th in the World Championships that year. He went on to become the first Briton to win the title in 1973.Terry Fullerton Interview
''Torque-online.co.uk'' (19 April 2010). Retrieved 26 June 2011. Fullerton raced for the Italian DAP factory team from 1978 until 1980, where his teammate was

. After winning the first final at the 1980 World Championship his engine broke down whilst leading the second final and he therefore finished third overall, behind Senna who came second overall. That same year (1980) Fullerton passed Senna on the very last lap of the Final to win the prestigious Champions Cup race at Jesolo (near Venice) in Italy. They were regarded by team manager Angelo Parilla as the best two drivers in the world. At a press conference at the

1993 Australian Grand Prix The 1993 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 7 November 1993. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship. The 79-lap race was won by Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Ford. In ...

, when asked which driver he had the most satisfaction racing against, Senna cited Fullerton.Senna’s Greatest Rival – Terry Fullerton Stars at Senna Movie Screening
Karting1.co.uk (6 May 2011). Retrieved 26 June 2011. The quote was included in the Senna documentary in 2010.Terry Fullerton – the Norwich man Ayrton Senna had to follow
''Eastern Daily Press'' Retrieved 26 June 2011. Fullerton won the British Junior Karting Championship in 1966, 1967 and 1968, with a total of 8 British Championship wins in a career spanning twenty years and devoted solely to karting. He also won the European Championship four times during his career. Having retired as a racing driver in 1984, Fullerton ran his own race team and then coached up-and-coming racing drivers including:

Indycar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

driver Justin Wilson,

Force India Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 20 ...

driver

Paul di Resta Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver from Scotland, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport in their LMH entry. He drove in Formula One for Force India from to , and became a reserve driver ...

,Ayrton Senna's rivalry with Fullerton
Jordan F1 driver Ralph Firman, . ''Dailymotion'' (23 February 2011). Retrieved 26 June 2011. double

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

winner

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series season, 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indiana ...

, double

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

winner

Allan McNish Allan McNish (born 29 December 1969) is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013, as well as a three-time winner of the American Le Ma ...

and former F1 driver

Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vid ...

. He regarded McNish and Davidson as his best students. Fullerton is still active as a manager and driver coach in karting (notably coaching three recent British junior champions - 2010 Jake Dennis, 2011 Callan O'Keeffe & 2013 Jehan Daruvala) and now lives in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire with his wife and Daughter.

References

External links

Official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, Terry 1953 births Living people British racing drivers Karting World Championship drivers Sportspeople from Melton Mowbray