Alan Jones isn't in the news so much these days but he made it in 2001 thanks to the discovery of an element of his great career that he didn't even know existed.
You see, back in 1979, the year before he won the formula one world championship, Jones used to hurtle around the international circuit in a Williams FW07 bearing the evil name of bin Laden as one of the team's official sponsors.
"You're kidding me," Jones said when we told him about a photograph that showed bin Laden's name on the side of his car, quickly taking his mind back to those heady days, to a time when the Williams team, through its owner Frank Williams, feverishly sought sponsorship from Saudia Arabia.
It turns out the name bin Laden was not referring to Osama, the man responsible for the September 11 atrocities, but his father Mohammed bin Laden.
Jones was still miffed about it though.
"I met a lot of Saudis and got to know a lot of princes too," he said.
"But if I had known he was involved and that he was going to become the monster he is, I might have arranged to run him over in the pits."
unfortunately i couldn't find a photo of the car.. the sponsership was on the sidepod..
