ANDY WALLACE

FI ambitions were never fulfilled, but the sports car ace has endured longer than most. He talks to Steve Cropley about his distinguished career

- Steve Cropley

When Andy Wallace drove his Bugatti Chiron Super Sport into the record books at 304.773mph on high-speed test track at Ehra-Lessien in 2019, shattering the previous road car record by nearly 10% and setting a mark unlikely to be broken for decades, it was as if he had been training for the moment for his whole life.

Volkswagen's Wallace had quite recently retired from a distinguished 32-year racing career in which he had specialised in the World Sports Car Championship, driving the fastest racing cars of them all. By that stage he had been Bugatti's official test and development driver for nearly a decade, perhaps spending more time above 200mph in these roles than anyone else on Earth.

For even the best drivers, racing cars as a career usually ends somewhere between the ages of 40 and 50. But Wallace's keen grasp of automotive technology plus his enduring driving skills and his unique ability to empathise with both engineers and potential Bugatti customers - has preserved and cemented his close connection with the maker of the world's fastest road cars. He fully expects it to continue into Bugatti's new era, now that the marque is being re-founded under the leadership of the extraordinary Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac. Those who know Wallace well point to other traits beside his rare driving ability and technical insights. What marks him out is his humility, they say, his lifelong ability to get on with people of all kinds and his enduring role as an ambassador for hypercars as a breed, laying emphasis on their safe and responsible enjoyment. In a nutshell, this is also why we at Autocar are proud to award Andy Wallace our Lifetime Achievement trophy for 2023.