Racing Career
He became a racing driver in 1999 after being backed by Blackburn Rovers and their sponsors, which helped him gain enough money to build a 220bhp Ford Fiesta and entered the Super Road Saloons Championship. He won the title in his first season and moved into the Ford Fiesta Zetec Championship the year after and secured a sponsorship deal with BBC programme Top Gear, which saw him change his name to John Top-Gear through deed poll. He entered the British Touring Car Championship in 2001 and after asking over 800 companies for financial support he persuaded B&Q, the DIY megastore, to join him before the start of the season and also changed his name to John B&Q to help him gain funding. He stood as an independent candidate for Tatton in the 2001 general election, which saw him win 0.8% of the electorate with 322 votes. He injured his third, fourth, and fifth vertical vertebrae in a race at Oulton Park in Cheshire, which almost forced him to retire. Batchelor secured a £1 million deal for his racing team to be sponsored by battery company VARTA in 2003.
Read more about this topic: John Batchelor (racing)
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