Eric Flynn

Glenorchy, New Zealand

**Eric Flynn** is a racing driver from New Zealand, currently driving for McLaren in Formula One.

## Early Life

Eric was born on 1st April 1976 in the picturesque village of Glenorchy, New Zealand. His father, Thomas Flynn, is an Australian former RAAF fighter pilot who currently works as a pilot based out of the local Queenstown Airport. Thomas was a skilled pilot during his time in the Royal Australian Air Force and his unit was assigned to Vietnam in an effort to assist the US war effort at the time. He was one of the few Australian pilots to fly F4 Phantoms under the command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing and was credited with four confirmed kills during his service. Thomas' unit left Vietnam when Australia started to withdraw from the war in 1970 but by that time Thomas had already grown disillusioned with his country's involvement in what he saw as a futile war in a distant country. Thomas left the Air Force in 1975 and moved to New Zealand to seek a quieter life. It was there that he met Eric's mother, Carole. Carole Flynn is from Christchurch, New Zealand, and works as a conservationist and part-time tour guide. Carole was involved in many political, anti-war and anti-nuclear protests in the late 60's and later took part in the Māori Land March in 1975.

Eric's family bought a go-kart for him when he was seven years old and he instantly fell in love with it, often driving it around his small neighbourhood in Glenorchy. Eric was awestruck with aircraft when he was young and had originally planned to join the Air Force like his father before him, but was talked out of it when Thomas told him about the horrors of the Vietnam War. Instead, Eric opted to pursue a career in racing, admitting later that it was the next fastest thing he could do apart from flying a jet.

## Racing Career

### Junior Career

Flynn had a moderately successful start in karting championships and joined the New Zealand Formula Vee Championship when he was 13, winning the series in his second year. He then moved to the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, winning the series by a small margin in 1992.

Eric moved to the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 1993, hoping to find success there too. He struggled in the series, later admitting that he was "too ambitious" in trying to win the championship, but picked up two wins in total throughout the year. He stayed in the series for 1994 and won the championship, with the title fight going to the final race of the season.

### Australian Touring Car Championship

Having won the Australian Formula Ford Championship, Flynn's name was now known throughout racing series in Australia and New Zealand. At the end of 1994 he was approached by Larry Perkins to drive for his team in the Australian Touring Car Championship. Eric took him up on the offer and competed in the series throughout the year. He gained confidence as the series went on, later saying:

> I was only 19 and the youngest guy out there. Everyone had experience and really put their elbows out and it showed. It was a very different experience to racing open-wheelers where you just can't do moves like that.
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Flynn went winless in the 1995 ATCC, with his best result coming at Barbagallo Raceway with a second place finish. He stayed at the series for 1996, finally getting his first win at Philip Island in torrential conditions.
The Australian Super Touring Car Championship would hold a support race for the return of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park early in 1996 and Flynn would enter as a wildcard entry for the event. Here, he met a handful of Formula One drivers, as well as Ross Brawn, who at the time was the Technical Director of Benetton. They talked for only a few minutes about Flynn's racing and some of the engineering of Formula One. Speaking several years later, Brawn would recall the meeting:

> I could see that Eric had a lot of fire and so much ambition to accomplish anything he wanted to. He was clearly pretty interested in Grand Prix cars and how fast they could go and he somehow managed to sneak his way into the paddock to check out a lot of the teams. I really think he wanted to drive in Formula One at some point but he had a lot of worries about how he could enter in a series so focussed in Europe.
>
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### Formula One

Despite some success in Formula One, Eric yearned for more and left the ATCC at the end of 1996. He spent the last months of the year completing his pilot's license and travelling, unsure of where his racing career would go.

In February 1997, Eric had a surprise phonecall from Ferrari. They invited Flynn to a test in Italy to drive one of their cars. Ross Brawn was now with the team, having left Benetton, and had recommended several drivers who could fulfill a role as a testing and reserve driver for the team. Flynn was one of these drivers and the team opted to give him a test to see if he could adapt to the speed of a Formula One car.

Eric flew out to Italy at the end of the month and arrived at Imola for the test. Two other drivers had taken part in tests before Eric and it was clear that Ferrari would only choose one driver to be with the team. The conditions for Flynn's test day were less than ideal, with cold temperatures and a lack of visibility due to fog. However, the test went ahead. Eric had read about the sport over the Winter and had not forgotten about the fatal accident of Gervais Tremaux at a test session at Imola just 12 years ago but he remained excited about driving a Formula One car for the first time. He struggled in the first minutes of the test due to a lack of tyre temperature but became more confident with the car as the laps went on. He gave his thoughts on the car to the engineers at the track and left the circuit, unsure of the team's impression of his test. He returned to New Zealand a few days later and after a week received a call from the team that he had been selected to be their test driver for 1997.

## Personal Life

Flynn has held a pilot's license for fixed-wing aircraft since he was 19, having been trained by his father Thomas. He is also an avid skier, hill walker and mountaineer and successfully climbed Aoraki/Mt. Cook in 1999. He has stated that he plans to climb the world's tallest peaks when he finds spare time away from racing. Eric has sporadically competed in triathlon events across New Zealand and Australia and has credited this with helping him to stay fit for racing.

Eric built a new house on the outskirts of his hometown of Glenorchy in 1999, using materials from across New Zealand. The house generates its own electricity using solar panels. Flynn would go on to buy an apartment in Monaco in 2002 and he splits his time between his two different homes.

Flynn owns a number of cars, but only drives them on special occasions and track days, opting instead to cycle, walk, or use a motorbike to get around. He currently rides a crimson 1993 Ducati Monster.

Flynn would attend the London premiere of Shrek 2 with his Ferrari teammate Matteo Margheriti in 2004. The two drivers arrived at the event completely intoxicated, but praised the film and called it "enjoyable from start to finish." He had previously stated that Shrek was one of his favourite films of all time.

### Car Collection

* 1994 - 1996: Mazda RX-7
* 1996 - Present: Porsche 964 Turbo
* 1999 - 2001: Ferrari 360
* 2000 - Present: Ferrari Dino 246GT

## Sponsorship

Eric secured personal sponsorship from Weta Digital in 1999, having met Peter Jackson during early principal photography for The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the new Lord of the Rings trilogy.

## Racing Record

**Complete Formula One World Championship Results**