DON'T TELL ME I CAN'T…...become a petrolhead

Moira Doherty was in her 40s when she discovered a lust for speed

- FIONA KINLOCH

Flicking through the morning post, I came across a promising envelope. ‘They’re here!’ I yelled to my partner, Steve, 53. Inside were two tickets to the 2012 Belgium Grand Prix. It’d be the first time I’d watch my idol, Lewis Hamilton, race, and I couldn’t wait to be at the side of that track – cheering, screaming and living all things Formula One.

My excitement still takes me by surprise – until I was 46, I had no jot of passion for F1.

Steve and I had met in 1980, and he’d always been a bit of a petrolhead. When he wasn’t trackside himself, he’d be on the sofa glued to its broadcast on TV, even if it started at 5am. I’d always leave the room when he put it on.

I just wasn’t interested. ‘I don’t see the point,’ I’d moan. To me, it was just fancy, hideously expensive race cars relentlessly doing laps until someone waved the chequered flag.