A Short Lifetime in a Moment.

Part 1

Ronald James Pudding , or Ronnie as he would become more popularly known, was born in Hull on May 7th 1954 at the family home. 7 Rugby Street , Hessle Road.

Born of humble parentage , Ronnies father was a mobile knife and utensil sharpener , his mother was a kipper packer , and when times were hard she made herself available to paying trawler skippers for light afternoon refreshment.

Ronnies childhood was quite unremakable, having few friends except Bob Bracket (also known as Good Laugh Bob). This friendship would last through to the end of Ronnies short but euphoric life.

Leaving school with only 1 GCE in Home Economics and an RSA 1 in Candlemaking, Ronnies future looked unremarkable and bleak. However, fortune shines on the brave and, after a short period as a voluntary elastoplast tester at Smith & Nephews, he secured an apprenticeship at Parishes Motor Group on Boothferry Road, Hull. It was here that the early promise of Ronnie started to appear.

Ronnie secured a drive in a saloon car race at Brands Hatch, driving a top of the range Hillman Minx which was sponsored by Parishes. First time out he secured a fine second place, behind his then hero Bob Flap, the works Rover driver.

The remainder of the season was highly successful and Ronnie secured the Saloon Car championship, with a cash prize of fifteen pounds and a handful of complimentary Green Shield Stamps.

However, it was not the magnitude of the prizes that lifted Ronnie in the year of 1977. It was the fact that, at the final race of the season, a certain person had been watching and had been highly impressed with his performance. This man was one Luca Montevideo, team boss as Scuderia Ferrari. 

After much pasta and Cianti, Ronnie was signed to Ferrari on a two year test driver contract with the Tifosis lifelong passion. Although the Italian press were less than kind to Ronnie, being an Englishman in their beloved team, they began to warm to him, especially when they heard of his mothers kipper background - Italy being the biggest buyer of British kippers in the world.

CONTINUES