Having switched to sports car racing in 1984 – winning for the works Porsche team at Fuji 1000km with German wunderkind Stefan Bellof – Watson made one last Formula 1 appearance for McLaren in the 1985 European Grand Prix.

John ended up racing seven times in the Le Mans 24 Hours, and in 1987 he won three races for the legendary TWR-Jaguar outfit to finish runner-up in the World Sportscar Championship alongside team-mate Jan Lammers.