Driven To Crime: True stories of wrongdoing in motor racing

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Inspired by James Hunt's Formula 1 exploits with Hesketh and having become friends with the World Champion's younger brother at school, he competed in Formula Ford during the late 1970s but had to face the reality that his results were not going to earn him a place in F1.

In handing down a four-year prison sentence, Judge Roger Chapple told him, ‘Your naked greed is breathtaking. Now going by the name James Munroe, he fooled himself that he was ready to live the second part of his childhood dream: he was going to become a racing driver. McGraw Hill, a highly respected American company that had become one of the world’s biggest educational publishers, employed him as head of its accounts department in its European offices in Maidenhead, Berkshire. During the week he was the bespectacled manager of an accounts department but at weekends he became an attention-seeking, self-styled ‘millionaire businessman’ and ‘gentleman racer’ of a McLaren F1 GTR. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH).Despite this, most of the amateurs at this level were capable drivers, as they needed to be to handle such powerful race-bred machinery. Whether you have been involved in the sport or not, it is a window on the human condition that is rarely demonstrated with such honesty and clarity. As the champagne flowed at the Veuve Clicquot-supported event, the slightly chubby accounts manager from Wokingham revelled in all the attention he received from the numerous photographers and journalists, but in reality he looked almost as out of place in those surroundings as he did on a race circuit.

By now, Munroe also possessed other high-performance sportscars, all with personalised registration numbers, and turned up at race meetings in a variety of them. Interesting subject matter, sort of light on high crimes and heavier on white-collar offenses, but the reader learns a lot. His behaviour guaranteed that he would draw attention to himself to such an extent that it was almost as if he wanted to get caught.

During his short appearance, he ill-advisedly boasted to presenter Quentin Willson that he had once driven his McLaren F1 at 170mph on the M40 motorway.

After his arrest, he claimed that the executive cars were for use by company directors and that the season tickets were a legitimate business expense for entertaining clients. Remarkably, he found responsible employment yet again, in March 2015, by which time he was 51 and once again using his real name, James Cox.The whole of this enterprise was funded by unauthorised payments by McGraw Hill,’ said Sally Howells for the prosecution. We may never fully understand the true reasons why a middle manager living in a mock-Tudor house in Wokingham turned to a life of crime and massive fraud. People lie, cheat, steal and even kill for a variety of reasons, one of which is to go motor racing, a particularly expensive and egotistical sport. Goodwin leapt in front at the start of the race and led convincingly, building a six-second margin over his nearest rival and setting the fastest lap.