motoring
Vicki Butler-Henderson
Vicki Butler-Henderson
Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson talks to Virgin Media about her craziest ever motoring moment, beating Tiff Needel in a jet fighter and being recognised by a famous pop star!
VM: How old were you when you first decided that you wanted to drive cars fast for a living?
VBH: I think I must have been about ten years old. When I was three years old I sat on my Dad's knee in a tractor, he's a farmer, and I remember absolutely loving any vehicles basically! And when I was about ten I remember thinking 'I want to be a Formula One driver!' I was a huge Ayrton Senna fan and my grandfather was also a racing driver.
VM: Are lots of men jealous of what you do?
VBH: Not jealous so much but more envious I guess. Guys saying 'god I wish I had your job'. Funnily enough I don't get that many girls envious about what I do.
VM: What's the most dangerous thing you've ever been asked to do for Top / Fifth Gear?
VBH: I think when I tried to break the blindfold speed record. I was blindfolded driving a BMW M5. It was just me in the car and an airfield. There was a chase car behind and a man in the chase car giving me instructions through an earpiece saying 'left a bit, right a bit', or whatever was necessary! I did about 158mph without seeing where I was going, which was pretty stupid! I cried because it was quite overwhelming really! I've also been towed by an off-road motorbike with me on skis into a pond and I've tried to water-ski behind the bike! I landed 'A over T' and hurt my knee so I needed three weeks off!
VM: Any stand out favourite moments?
VBH: Yes. When I was on Top Gear about seven years ago and Aston Martin had bought out a new car that Tiff was testing. We needed a car like a Jaguar to go up against it but Jaguar hadn't launched anything so we decided to use a Jaguar jet fighter plane! So I went up in the Jaguar jet fighter plane and basically had a straight drag race along the runway. I was behind the pilot alongside Tiff in the Aston. It was unbelievable and the best thing I've ever done! EVER! I had to wear the G-Suit, mask and everything and it was just another dimension. The biggest adrenaline buzz I've ever had.
VM: Does your mum worry about you after Richard Hammond's crash?
VBH: It highlighted the fact that it can be a dangerous job because Richard does the same job that I and Tiff do. It highlighted to my Mum that what I do can be quite dangerous. She was immediately on the phone to make sure that I didn't agree to anything stupid in the future! I will certainly never drive a rocket car, that's for certain.
VM: What's it like working with Tim Lovejoy?
VBH: It's really lovely because he comes to cars from a different angle from the rest of us. Like in Soccer AM, he's very bubbly, always laughing and comes across with a wide-eyed big kid attitude. He did his first banger race recently and was just so excited by it all!
VM: What was the first road car you ever owned?
VBH: It was an MG Metro. I had it because I was racing single seaters at the time when I was 17 and it was the only car I could afford which had a rev counter because all racing cars don't have speedos but rev counters so I wanted to make sure I was really racy and had a rev counter in my road car! It also had red seat belts!
VM: What car do you drive now?
VBH: A Mk II Golf GTI because I just think they're brilliant cars, the Granddaddy of the hot hatch and a Honda S2000.
VM: So what's the fastest you've ever driven in a car?
VBH: Only 178mph in an Aston Martin Vanquish. It had a claimed top speed of 200mph so when I was on Fifth Gear we tried to verify the claim. When you get up to speeds like that you need a lot of runway and basically we ran out of road or wasn't fast enough down the bottom end! I also broke it trying to do doughnuts in it and the fan-belt kept falling off. An Aston engineer flew out by helicopter to fix it and after he's fixed it, it happened again!
VM: So have you driven the new DBS that featured in Casino Royale?
VBH: Not yet but we did get Daniel Craig on and guess who interviewed him! Tim Lovejoy! I was gutted.
VM: Are you a better driver than Amanda Stretton?
VBH: I have raced Amanda and beaten her.
VM: What winds you up about other drivers?
VBH: People who think they're better drivers than they are and the fact that some people don't look what they're doing and are not spatially aware.
VM: How long before there's a woman in F1?
VBH: There have actually been three women drivers in F1 before but I wouldn't be surprised as there are a few good ones about like Sarah Fisher and Catherine Legge. But motorsport is like a triangle where at the bottom you have thousands of club drivers most of whom are blokes so the chances of a woman getting to the top are fairly slim.
VM: And what is currently in the car CD player?
VBH: Snow Patrol and Duran Duran Greatest Hits who are mega and I've been to see twice. Simon Le Bon recognised me once and came up for a chat. It was so cool because i've always been a big fan!
VM: F1, Rally of Moto GP?
VBH: Moto GP.
VM: Abolish one - speed cameras or congestion charge
VBH: Speed Cameras! I hate them with a passion!
VM: What's the one car you'd love to drive but haven't had the chance?
VBH: Bugatti Veyron. I'd love to get the chance to squeeze my little bum in there!
VM: When were you last happiest in a car?
VBH: Probably driving my little Golf to see my parents at Christmas.
VM:Can you ever see yourself doing anything else?
VBH: No. It's what I know and what I love.
VM: Who do you think will win the Formula One World Championship?
VBH: It's very tough to say this year and I think it will be very open but if I have to say somebody then Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari.
VM: What do you think will be the cars to look out for in 2007?
VBH: I'm a big BMW fan so I'll say the new M3.
VM: Would you know how to change a spark plug?
VBH: Yes I would!
