In 1958 Lewis bought a Formula Three Cooper-Norton from Cheltenham based Ivor Bueb and made his debut at Mallory Park, remarkably coming fourth.

The politics of F1 were beginning to affect him – he had been quicker than three works drivers at Monaco, yet had been denied a starting slot by the organisers.

Lewis survived a few dangerous moments – losing a wheel at speed at Oulton Park and ramming Graham Hill in the French Grand Prix.

By 1963, feeling despondent, Lewis retired from a promising racing career and took on a farm in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire where he bred Arab horses, and raised two daughters.

After 18 years as a sheep farmer, in 1981, Lewis returned to Gloucestershire to help his father run H&L Motors, a motorcycle business.