Last Sunday, Ferrari were represented on the rostrum by their 58-year old chief designer, South African-born Rory Byrne. Before his cars finished 1-2 in the San Marino Grand Prix, the three times hand-launch glider champion talked to Bob Constanduros about his early career and how designing has changed.

Rory Byrne doesn't come to many races - two a year, in fact: those that are closest to his home in Maranello. Prior to joining Ferrari, he spent his time with just two racing companies: Royale who made Formula Fords in the seventies, then the Toleman Formula Two team, which became the Toleman Formula One team, which then became Benetton. He joined Ferrari in February 1997.

Q: What is your basic job now? What exactly does the job consist of?
Rory Byrne: By far the most important aspect of my job now is co-ordinating all the research activities, like the aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, etc. I've got five key people who report to me, who are in charge of structures, vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, R&D and design, the actual design.

By far my most important job is to bring all those activities together to make the design. As far as designing is concerned, occasionally I will get on the board - I can't design on CAD, the only drawing board in the place is in my office - so I'll get on the board and draw something out and then I'll go and discuss it with Aldo Costa who is in charge of all the design, and then someone might pick it up or whatever but that's really a small part of the activity. By far the most important thing is to oversee and co-ordinate all the various research activities.

Q: What was your initial background in South Africa?
RB: I went to a lot of primary schools, about five or six different primary schools because my father (who was of Irish stock) was an auditor for one of the big mining houses, Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company, so I moved around all over the country. But all of my secondary schooling was at Queens High School in Johannesburg, where I graduated in 1960 with distinctions in mathematics and science, I think with chemistry and physics.

Q: What happened next?
RB: Then I went to Witwatersrand University and I actually took industry chemistry, I have a BSc degree in industrial chemistry, not engineering. I've had to pick up the engineering. But along with industrial chemistry we did mathematics, applied mathematics. The methodology is similar, I think that has helped me.

When I graduated in 1964, I spent about four years as chief chemist at a chemical manufacturing plant called Colchem in Germiston, about 15 kilometers east of Johannesburg. Then I decided that this wasn't for me. I started up a speed equipment business with a couple of friends of mine. We had one wholesale branch and two retail branches. We used to import Weber carburetters and sell racing camshafts and branch manifolds, modified cylinder heads really for all the road-going boys to make their cars go faster. It was quite a lucrative business in those days, before the fuel crisis, everyone was into it. (What Rory didn't mention was that he also modified his own Ford Anglia and raced it and then did the same with a Ford Escort, which would have made the next question superfluous!)

Q: So how did you get into motor racing?
RB: I had the speed equipment business for four years and during that time, I designed a Formula Ford car (the Fulmen, remember that, we'll be asking questions later) and with a couple of friends we built it for Roy Klomfass to campaign in South Africa. At the end of '72, Roy finished second in the South African Formula Ford championships and we decided to go to England with him to help him further his career, competing in all the main British Formula Ford series.

So I sold my business and went to England, helped Roy through in '73, but we ran short of funds, so we had to stop racing. I was fairly fortunate really, because we'd bought a Royale, the company was based up in Huntingdon. Bob King, the technical director, had some sort of major health problem which meant he had to relinquish the company, so he sold the company to his accountant, Alan Cornock. Alan wasn't technical and he asked Bob as to who he thought should design the cars and Bob said 'there's this South African guy who's come over and from what I've seen of him he's got half a clue so why don't you give him a chance?'