Alex Brundle was back in the Silverstone spotlight as he fronted the second Flux Presents event at The Classic.
After putting on a memorable Q&A with his dad and Formula 1 royalty Martin Brundle last year, the Adrian Flux-sponsored classic car racer and broadcaster returned to the stage for two interviews rather than one when he wasn’t on the circuit.
This time his guests were superbike legend Carl Fogarty and TV funnyman Alex Riley, who talked about their lives and careers in front of punters.
What does Carl Fogarty think about modern superbike racing?
He may have retired from World Superbikes in 2000, but Carl Fogarty – a long-term brand ambassador for our sister company Bikesure – is still adored by an army of fans.
They hang onto his every word and he had plenty to say about the state of the current World SBK scene when he answered Brundle’s questions.
“The racing is still great, there’s some great riders obviously but I don’t know how good they are,” said the 2014 I’m a Celebrity winner.
“The technology on the bikes is unbelievable, it really is. A MotoGP bike is a million miles from the thing I raced. Everything was mechanical on my bike, you adjusted everything with a screwdriver or a spanner. Now, you come in, the guy plugs the laptop in and changes everything. The electronics on the bike are unbelievable.
“It’s hard for me to pick out who’s a really good rider or a really talented rider because the bikes are so good. I know the guys get a bit excited watching the TV saying ‘this is great, the top 15 riders are all together within a second’ and I think; ‘well there’s a reason for that’. The bikes are so good it’s hard for a rider to stand out now like it was in my era, or any other era up to now.”
Co-host Alex Riley chats The Car Years with Alex Brundle
Once Foggy, as he is affectionately known, had exited the stage, it was Alex Riley’s turn to chat to Alex Brundle.
The TV funnyman is the co-host of The Car Years on ITV4, a programme proudly sponsored by Adrian Flux, and he waxed lyrical about the popular show.
“Every other classic car programme on the television tends to be about ‘ooh let’s buy this car for £5,000, let’s do it up and see if we can sell it at a profit,” said the former Top Gear researcher.
“I really like watching things like Wheeler Dealers and I’m looking at them changing the bushes on a Mercedes and I think ‘I could do that’. But I couldn’t do that, I’m incompetent. So our show is all about the stories behind the greatest cars.
“We take a year from history, the (19)50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, I pick a car that I think is the greatest car of that year and Vicki (Butler-Henderson) picks a car. She’s usually wrong, in my opinion, and then we tell the story. We dress up in the clothes of the era, which I particularly enjoy, tell the story and use archive footage and then we have expert judges who also contribute to the story.
“At the end, we open an envelope to find out who has voted which car the winner. And then either I’m in tears, devastated, or glowing with pride, triumphant in victory.”
Can I get insurance for my classic car with Adrian Flux?
You might not have been lucky enough to own one of the cars you saw at The Classic – an event proudly sponsored by Adrian Flux for the second year running.
But if you are, rest assured that we can tailor a policy that will give you classic car insurance that your little piece of beautiful motoring history deserves.