Terry Fullerton was the first Briton to win the Karting World Championship in 1973 and is best known as the teammate and rival of Ayrton Senna during his karting days.
Fullerton raced for the Italian DAP factory team from 1978 until 1980, where his teammate was Ayrton Senna. He was leading in the 1980 World Championship until an engine failure in the final resulted in a third place finish, just behind Senna who finished second overall. Both drivers were regarded by team manager Angelo Parilla as the best two drivers in the world.
At a press conference at the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, when asked which driver he had the most satisfaction racing against, Senna cited Fullerton. The quote was included in the Senna documentary in 2010.
Ayrton Senna on Terry Fullerton: (Adelaide 1993)
“I came to Europe for the first time, to compete outside of Brazil… as a team mate to Fullerton, Terry Fullerton. He was very experienced and I enjoyed very much driving with him because he was fast, he was consistent.
He was for me a very complete driver – and it was pure driving, pure racing……. I have that as a very good memory.
Fullerton won the British Junior Karting Championship in 1966, 1967 and 1968, with a total of 8 British Championship wins in a career spanning twenty years and devoted solely to karting. He also won the European Championship four times during his career.
Today Terry is regarded as one the world’s leading coaches of young karting talent – with over 40 years experience in motor racing and 25 as a coach, Terry has guided the early careers of many British, Asian, European and World Championship winning drivers, including no less than four British McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the year Award winners.
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