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Lawrie first got ’hooked’ on drag racing following a visit to the first Dragfest in 1964. Seeing the ‘Gassers’ of ‘Ohio’ George Montgomery & K.S.Pitman and the Top Fuel diggers of Tony Nancy, Don Garlits, Tommy Ivo, etc, run the incredible speeds (for those days) was a real awakening of the senses. The sheer professionalism of the US teams, the superb engineering, the paint finishes and the transporters opened a door to a world that Lawrie never knew existed, so much so that he followed the tour to all the venues, acting as a marshal at some of them. Membership of the BDR&HRA & NDRC soon followed and many weekends were then spent as a spectator of the nascent British version of the sport. Early in the 1970’s, Lawrie took up photography and soon established a reputation as a photojournalist with credits in many magazines such as National Drag Racer, Motor, Custom Car, Autocar and Autosport, amongst others. Many visits were made to the other side of the ‘pond’ to NHRA & IHRA national events, coast to coast and north to south, recording images and writing as he went. In 1978, following a job promotion, racing and photojournalism had to take a back seat to career development for 10 years or so, when he returned to the tracks, but purely as a spectator. Qualified as a Professional Mechanical Engineer, Lawrie developed his management skills at a couple of major manufacturing companies, rising to Marketing & Sales Director levels. In 1992, Lawrie formed his own company, specialising in Project Management in the International Oil & Gas Industry, where he remains as Chairman & Managing Director of Process Systems International Ltd, with oil company clients around the World. However, the nitro ‘bug’ had bitten deep and his favourite class was always the wild, wild, Fuel Altereds with their spectacular and unpredictable passes, big fires, noise and nitro-belching headers. A chance meeting in late 2004 with an old acquaintance, Ollie Burn (of The Mob team), led to an extensive ‘bench racing’ session along the lines of “wouldn’t it be great if we could…..” and from that the idea of the NFAA was born. The inaugural 2005 NFAA series started with 6 cars and has quickly grown to 12 teams for the 2006 season – helped along the way by input from many sources such as the MSA Technical Committee, the Tracks, the fans and the Press. In late 2005, to enhance the continued growth of the NFAA class, Lawrie made the decision to purchase the parts of a fuel car that Phil Cornish had aimed to build. With the help of Ollie and The Mob crew, Frank Griffin and many others, a 14 week deadline was set to get the altered out for the start of the 2006 Season. Lawrie says “I never envisaged being a race car owner, but it was the only way to get another fuel car on to the tracks – I guess I have almost come full circle, from spectating, to photographing, and now owning.” After an investment of many thousands of pounds and hundreds of man-hours, the stretched Topolino with a 417 cubic inch mill, running on 85% nitro is ready to continue the heritage of the Nostalgia Fuel Altereds, but with modern safety standards incorporated. Lawrie hopes that the class will continue to grow and provide spectacular, affordable fun for many years to come.
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Lawrie Gatehouse was inducted into the |
