Wigram Has Seen Famous Overseas Drivers

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28800, 22 January 1959, Page 15

Wigram Has Seen Famous Overseas Drivers

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R. M. CARR,

Motortn® Corwpoottent, of

“Th* Press.”!

The dangen inherent in motor racing are onphaabed by the fact tha* four eosrejas drivers vrbo have driven In ' the. hiterna'tena’ l Toteo sit Wi«r ram dbave <aboo«Mntly been killed. -Ken. Wharton who gained third place a* Wigraaa in MM in the M-eyttateter B.KM., was killed In the sports esc race at Ardmore In M 57. It was a cruel twist of fortune that Wharton ' sheald have travelled 12A00 mUee to meet his fate on thte aide of thp world. Undoubtedly the most commanding personality met at Wigram was Archie Scott-Brown, the dynamic one-handed Englishman who lived for motor racing and established himself as a leading driver in spite of bis disability. Scott-Brown was never happier than when he was driving his car on the limit, but at the SpaFrancorchamps circuit last year, he too, was killed, while driving a Lister-Jaguar.

Motor racing is a sport which can strike at anyone anywhere, and even the best drivers recognise the risks involved. Peter Whitehead the only driver ever to have won an international motor race in New Zealand three timeor-at Wigram in 1954, 1956, and 1957 was a clever yet restrained competitor. A tank commander in North Africa in the last war, Whitehead was a tactician of the first order, a direct contrast to the “press-on” personality of Scott-Brown. Whitehead was killed in a rally In France late last year when the Jaguar he was driving with his ' brother Graham skidded over a precipice. Slightly-built and softly-spoken Stuart Lewis-Evans was the last person one would picture as a top grand prix driver. LewisEvans adopted a fatalistic attitude towards the sport and believed no-one knew when their time was up. His time was pitifully

short, for at Casablanca last year he was fatally burned in the pyre of a Vanwall in which he was endeavouring to stave off the Ferrari threat and give Stirling Moss the world drivers’ championship. Those are not the only famous drivers who have graced the Wigram circuit. Tony Gaze was always reluctant to speak of his exploits, but his second placings in 1954 and 1956 showed his ability. Few knew that this same driver was once a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, who flew for more than a year with Douglas Bader. Reg Parnell, who raced at Wigram in 1957, was similar in personality to Whitehead, and both were the closest friends. Parnell, Britain’s veteran of motor racing, retired from the sport in 1957. Now head of the Aston Martin competitions department, he must feel somewhat lucky to have survived 22 years of racing on the world’s circuits. International drivers can earn b|g money in the sport, but who would dispute that they earn every penny of it?