Really liked him. Many years ago, (just checked, it was 1993!) we went to Donington Park to see the last 'fun' race of the touring car season as our hero, Nigel Mansell was driving as a guest from Formula 1 - it was the height of Mansell Mania. Chris was a guest driver, and obviously, came last, or nearly last, in every heat, not being a professional driver. He was great in the paddock, signing autographs for the fans. For a bit of 'fun' the final race had the grid in reverse order, with the slowest driver starting at the front, and the fastest at the back. This would lead to much fun and over taking through the race. They lined up, I can't remember if it was before the warm up lap or after, but at the last minute Chris pulled out of the race, that he should have started in pole position. Once the race started, we understood why. The professionals were having a bit of end of term fun, bumping into cars, nudging the slower ones out of the way and trying to show Mansell, that he may have been the F1 champion but they could show him he was not necessarily the best driver. Just been wracking my brain to think of the other drivers, Tiff Needel, Will Hoy, and an Italian driving fir Alfa. Really good fun to watch, until Nige spun off, hit a stone bridge and was airlifted to hospital. But good memories of Chris Rea, my son had a signed picture of the artwork from the album Auberge on his wall for years after that, and followed his career. He had a rough time healthwise for many years. May he RIP.