Geoff Richardson | |
---|---|
Nationality | |
Born | 26 August 1924 |
Died | 20 August 2007 82) | (aged
Starts | 23 non-Championship Formula One races |
Wins | 0 |
Poles | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
Geoff Richardson (26 August 1924 – 20 August 2007) was a British racing driver. Although he never entered a World Championship Formula One event, he took part in the 1948 British Grand Prix, [1] participated in many non-championship Formula One and Formula Libre events from the 1940s to the 1960s, and enjoyed a varied motorsport career over several decades. He often raced self-built cars, many under the name of Richardson Racing Automobiles (RRA), among them a modified pre-war Riley, [2] and sports cars based on Aston Martins. [3] In 1953 he agreed to run a prototype Zethrin Rennsport in European events with the Belgian Jacques Swaters, but this project never got past a road-going prototype.
Formula One is the highest class of single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and owned by the Formula One Group. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. The word "formula" in the name refers to the set of rules to which all participants' cars must conform. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, which take place worldwide on purpose-built circuits and on public roads.
The Royal Automobile Club International Grand Prix was a motor race held on 2 October 1948, at Silverstone Airfield, Northamptonshire, UK. It is commonly cited as the first British Grand Prix of the modern era.
Formula Libre is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the opportunity for some compelling driving performances against superior machinery. The name translates to "Free Formula" – in Formula Libre races the only regulations typically govern basics such as safety equipment.
Richardson also took part in the Targa Florio in 1955, and the Intercontinental Formula that was devised as a rival to the new official 1.5-litre Formula One series in 1961. [4]
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race's last decades was limited to the 72 kilometres (45 mi) of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.
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Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series, including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More than ten years after its last race, Team Lotus remained one of the most successful racing teams of all time, winning seven Formula One Constructors' titles, six Drivers' Championships, and the Indianapolis 500 in the United States between 1962 and 1978. Under the direction of founder and chief designer Colin Chapman, Lotus was responsible for many innovative and experimental developments in critical motorsport, in both technical and commercial arenas.
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Achille Varzi was an Italian Grand Prix driver.
Peter John Collins was a British racing driver. He was killed in the 1958 German Grand Prix, just weeks after winning the RAC British Grand Prix. He started his career as a 17-year-old in 1949, impressing in Formula 3 races, finishing third in the 1951 Autosport National Formula 3 Championship.
Roy Francesco Salvadori was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a succession of teams including Cooper, Vanwall, BRM, Aston Martin and Connaught. Also a competitor in other formulae, he won the 1959 24 Heures du Mans in an Aston Martin with co-driver Carroll Shelby.
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Clemente Biondetti was an Italian auto racing driver. Born into a working-class family, Biondetti raced motorcycles before turning to automobiles where he had greater success.
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Peter Nield Whitehead was a British racing driver. He was born in Menston, Yorkshire and was killed in an accident at Lasalle, France, during the Tour de France endurance race. A cultured, knowledgeable and well-travelled racer, he was excellent in sports cars. He won the 1938 Australian Grand Prix, which along with a 24 Heures du Mans win in 1951, probably was his finest achievement, but he also won two 12 Heures internationales de Reims events. He was a regular entrant, mostly for Peter Walker and Graham Whitehead, his half-brother. His death in 1958 ended a career that started in 1935 – however, he was lucky to survive an air crash in 1948.
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The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event in Britain, alongside the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.
The first BRDC International Trophy meeting, formally titled the Daily Express International Trophy, was held on 20 August 1949 at the Silverstone Circuit, England. It was the first race meeting to only use the former airfield's perimeter roadways, rather than the main runways. The event was held over two heats of 20 laps and one final of 30 laps of the Grand Prix circuit. The final was won by Italian Alberto Ascari, who would go on to win the World Championship of Drivers twice. In addition to the main Formula One-regulation competition, the meeting also contained events for 500 cc racing cars and production cars. The race meeting was attended by over 100,000 people, but was marred by the death of St. John Horsfall in an accident on the 13th lap of the final race.
Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe,, styled as Viscount Curzon from 1900 to 1929, was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, and motor racing driver and promotor. In the 1918 UK General Election he won the Battersea South seat as the candidate of the Conservative Party, which he held until 1929. While in Parliament he took up motor racing, and later won the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He ascended to the Peerage in 1929, succeeding his father as the 5th Earl Howe. Earl Howe co-founded the British Racing Drivers' Club with Dudley Benjafield in 1928, and served as its President until his death in 1964.
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St John Ratcliffe Stewart "Jock" Horsfall was a British motor racing driver.
The following is an overview of the events of 1961 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.
The following is an overview of the events of 1949 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.