People

Richard West

West started out as advertising salesman with a motoring magazine but quickly moved into public relations in rallying and sponsor-hunting. In 1984 - when he was 28 - West was hired by Frank Williams as the team's sponsorship coordinator. Williams was in the process of major expansion with the arrival of Honda turbo engines. West was quickly poached by McLaren and he stayed with Ron Dennis for four years as McLaren Marketing Director, but in 1988 he was lured away to Tom Walkinshaw Racing to be marketing director of the TWR Jaguar racing team. Four years later he went back to Williams after an attempt to set up his own F3000 team failed to get off the ground. He stayed with Williams until the end of 1996 and then spent a brief period with Reynard before rejoining Tom Walkinshaw at Arrows. He left the troubled team in the middle of 1999 and has since been involved in running the British Touring Car Championship.