Australian Formula 1 🅷legend Alan Jones has reve♍aled in a new autobiography that he was paid to feign illness and miss the controversial 1985 South African Grand Prix in order to avoid sparking outrage with a team backer.

The 1985 race at Kyalami was held in the height of apartheid in South Africa during P. W. Botha’s state of emergency, prompting teams such 🐭as Renault and Ligier to withdraw in boycott.

Jones raced for👍 the Haas-Lola team that was partly bankrolled by Beatrice Foods, a large American company that could not be seen to condone apartheid.

, Jones reveals th🤪e plan that was formulated with F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone in order to avoid sparkౠing controversy.

“Dur﷽ing the Friday I was summoned to see Bernie Ecclestone in his penthouse. Not sure w🌃hat I had done this time, I fronted up,” Jones wrote.

“As I went in the door Bernie said, ‘How do you feel?’ Standard🐼 greeting, although he had a look in his eye, I gave him a standard reply, ‘Pretty good, thanks.’

“‘What do you think your chances are of winning the race tomor🥀row?’ he asked.

“Again,༺ I felt no need to be subtle: ‘Bernie, I think you know the answer to that question. If I start now,🙈 probably pretty good.’

“‘Well, I’ve got a bit of an idea. If you pul𒈔l up sick and can’t run again this weekend, we’ll give you first-place prize money. Go home and visit Australia.’

“Beatrice car raced in South Africa he was going to get all of the black workers - thousands of them - at Beatrice around the US to go on str🌱ike. Beatrice couldn’t be seen to be backing down🐷 to an individual like him, but if they didn’t back down there was a chance of the strike.

“🔜So Bernie came up with an idea. ‘If the driver falls crook and can’t drive, then the Beatrice car doesn’t race. It’s a force majeure. Jesse Jackson can’t get on his soapbox and say, ‘I forced that company to withdraw,’ and he also couldn’t call a strike because the car didn’t race.’

“The idea was that I would wait until Sa🌺turday morning when everyone went to the circuit. I wo🙈uld quietly check out, and jump on a plane to Harare to get home (because Qantas wouldn’t fly to South Africa).

“And so, on the Saturday morning I was gone. I just didn’t turn up. They had theꦗ car out ready to go, when they ♛were told, ‘AJ’s been struck down by a virus and we are not racing.’

“I made a ♍miraculous recovery for the Australian Grand Prix, which was just as well.”