Imagine that feeling – the rush of satisfaction coursing through you, as your body finally recognizes: it was all worth it.
Imagine beating the odds – your loved ones living under the expectation that you wouldn’t make it beyond your teenage years.
Imagine making that brave decision – knowing a lung transplant operation could kill you, but taking the risk anyway.
Imagine being faced with the fact that your life is simply more complicated than most – but seeing that as a challenge instead.
For Scottish rally driver John Wink, there is no imagining. This is a snapshot into his reality living with cystic fibrosis. But it’s a world he views as a motivator to succeed; not an excuse to fail nor a token for sympathy.
“Motorsport has given me a pathway to lead a normal life, because on rally day I can be fighting for podiums the same as everybody else,” Wink tells DirtFish. “At the London Marathon, I wouldn’t even be able to get to the 200m mark.
“I do have to go through quite a lot to keep myself in a position, or fitness and health level, to compete. But that’s probably a good thing because it gives you the drive to push forward.”
A lung transplant in 2010 has paved the way for John to chase his rallying dream
Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was just one years old, Wink – now 42 – is a regular in the Scottish Rally Championship behind the wheel of his Hyundai i20 R5; chassis 001 in fact, as he was the first to have one in private hands back in 2017.
He began rallying in 2015, five years after a lung transplant that transformed his life: “If you can imagine being held back by an elastic band your whole life, and then suddenly somebody just comes and cuts the elastic band and you take off, it’s… it’s just phenomenal,” Wink says.
Without that transplant there’s no way Wink could rally, but he still has to take 120 pills a day – acutely aware that complications can bring hurdles at any time. But Wink never opts not to jump them.
What could have driven him to despair has instead driven him to what, under any parameter, can only be judged as success.
“It affects your life how much you let it affect your life, I would say,” he ponders.
“Everybody’s got their own problems, but motorsport has certainly helped me because you’re with like-minded people who are competitive and ambitious and eager to push on, and it’s just helped.
“I don’t live my life around rallying, but I push myself hard with business and other aspects of my life to be as successful as I can when we go rallying.”
John pushes the boundaries in all aspects of his life - in and out of the a rally car
Outside of a rally car, Wink is a chartered architectural technologist and runs his own architects practice alongside his property leasing and management company. He also has two beautiful daughters with his wife, Joanne.
Absolutely none of it has been handed to him; all achieved through unwavering determination, passion and desire to not let his circumstances define him. It’s little wonder his co-driver, Neil Shanks, uses the words “committed and determined” to describe Wink’s character.
“He’s always been determined never to let his circumstances become a factor. And he’s always been very conscious that he didn’t want it to be a factor,” Shanks tells DirtFish.
“He’s never used it as an excuse – it’s always been: ‘this is not going to hold me back’. It’s such a positive mindset, the same that he’s got in business.
“It’s maximum effort to extract maximum rewards from it. He sets his mind to it and he achieves it, and he’s not doing these things because he’s got a disadvantage, he’s doing them in spite of the disadvantage.
Motorsport can give you the drive to focus your mind on something else other than your health problems.John Wink
“There’s such a focus now on positive mental health, but this is almost positive physical health,” Shanks adds.
“His determination and his desire has driven him on to the point where his health has probably exceeded where his specialists thought it could be. It just shows you almost how a positive mindset and a positive approach can overcome physical barriers that they shouldn’t be able to.”
Wink is the perfect example of how powerful the human mind can be – impossible a word his brain refuses to recognize. Take the final ever Wales Rally GB National in 2019 for example; a great rally for anyone to win, let alone somebody who’s well aware their reduced lung capacity makes 16-mile stages like Sweet Lamb Hafren a particular test.
“I think that’s where the determination comes in,” Wink smiles. “You know, I don’t have anything to prove really, but I was leading that event after the start of day two – not on my watch was anyone going to take that away from me!
“I mean I took a few days to recover after that. It was quite a tough event. But yeah, determination and a wee bit of stubbornness probably helps. But do you know one of the biggest things that keeps me going?”
Ken Wood – triple Scottish Rally champion who now looks after Wink’s Hyundai on events.
Triple Scottish Rally champion Ken Wood,who keeps the i20 in top condition,is a big inspiration to John
“He is an absolute legend of a man,” Wink continues. “He just would not allow you to let anything beat you. Especially not an illness. He will have me pushing to the limit until I absolutely am not fit to do it, and that’s exactly what I need.
“So he’s a huge part to play in pushing me forward, which in turn keeps me healthy I think.”
That push forward culminated in one of the most popular results in recent Scottish rallying history when, after years of trying, Wink finally chalked up his first SRC event victory in October.
“Aw, it was just the best day I’ve ever had in a rally car. It was just fantastic,” reminisces Wink.
“I’ve always, always, always done it to try and win a Scottish championship round. I never even thought it could be possible. Neil will tell you, I was pretty much laughing and giggling all the way back from the last stage to the finish. It was just the best day ever. It really was.”
Winning the Snowman Rally last October was a true dream come true
And great form to be heading into the new Scottish season, which begins next weekend. It’ll be the championship title next…
“Aye… can you imagine?” Wink says in disbelief. “That would be life made to be honest. I mean, it’s probably not a big deal to some people, but that would just mean the world to me if I managed to do that.
“It’s probably not going to happen, there’s a lot of talented guys out there. I need to just keep at it, stay busy and keep pushing.”
No rally driver competing at the top lacks determination, but there’s just something extra about Wink that leaves you to think that simply anything is possible.
It’s the same with Rachele Somaschini – a fellow CF patient who’s done great work raising awareness of the condition, and has recently stepped up to WRC2 this season despite the handicap.
John would baulk at the suggestion that he’s similarly an inspiration, but how can’t he be with the attitude he’s got?
He and I have known each other for the best part of a decade, and he was understandably cautious when I broached the subject of sharing his story on DirtFish.
He didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. Instead, he wanted the overriding message to be this:
“Motorsport can give you the drive to focus your mind on something else other than your health problems.
“I am fortunate enough that my mind is built in a positive way, and I can put all these physical ailments to the side and keep a positive mind. But there’s a couple of people I know that have succumbed to their mental health lately.
“And it breaks my heart because if they’d had something in their life to focus on and be positive, like motorsport is for me, they may not have been in that position, you know?”
Rallying has given John's life a focus that helps him deal with the daily challenges he faces
It’s a sharp and harrowing take on the position of rallying in our world. To some, it’s a livelihood. To most, it’s a passion. To all, it’s deemed a luxury. Just this year, I had a conversation with somebody in the WRC service park, and contextualizing our surroundings we agreed: “It’s not as if we’re saving lives, are we?”
Perhaps it’s time we reconsider? The emotions this sport can stimulate, desire it can generate, and purpose it can provide knows no bounds. Nobody embodies that better than John Wink.
“Not everybody has been dealt with a nice hand of cards, but what you need to do is pick out the positives, build on them and do the best you can,” he suggests.
“But remember to have fun whilst you’re doing it, because life is too short.”
