Buying a trailer from Dr Marko

Christian Horner remembers in which circumstances he met Dr Helmut Marko, a meeting that started with the negociation of a trailer and a handshake, that ultimately will change his life and lead him to become for 20 years Team Principal of Red Bull Racing.

“For 1995 I set my sights on moving up to Formula 3000. But of course, I didn’t have the budget to go to a decent team and buy myself a seat. Finally, I decided that if I could buy and run an F3000 car myself, at least at the end of the season I might still have the car left and something to show for it.”

“It was a bit brave, but I thought I’d give it a go. I sold everything I had, borrowed as much as I could from the bank, from my father – who helped me on condition that I paid him back at some point – and from everywhere else I could think of.”

“That got me a chassis. I leased two engines, persuaded Roly Vincini to be my race engineer, and based the car in a shed behind Roly’s house in Norfolk. I called us Arden International. I was driver, team manager, money hunter, secretary, cook and bottle-washer, did all the paperwork and the hassle.”

“We needed a trailer, and for some reason I decided the best deal was one I found for sale in Austria. I took a cheap flight to Graz to look at it. The owner, a guy I’d never heard of called Dr Marko, drove a hard bargain, but I said I’d buy it if he delivered it to Calais for me to pick up.”

“When I told my father I’d given the cash to a complete stranger in Austria on a handshake, and I hadn’t got the trailer yet, he thought I was mad. But Dr Marko’s handshake was good, and the trailer duly turned up at Calais.” And that’s how Christian Horner started his remarquable motorsport journey.