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Innes Ireland

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Innes Ireland
BornRobert McGregor Innes Ireland
(1930-06-12)12 June 1930
Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died22 October 1993(1993-10-22) (aged 63)
Reading, Berkshire, England
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Active years19591966
TeamsLotus, BRP, BRM
Entries53 (50 starts)
Championships0
Wins1
Podiums4
Career points47
Pole positions0
Fastest laps1
First entry1959 Dutch Grand Prix
First win1961 United States Grand Prix
Last win1961 United States Grand Prix
Last entry1966 Mexican Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19581959, 19621966
TeamsTeam Lotus
Ecurie Ecosse
UDT-Laystall Racing Team
Aston Martin
Maranello Concessionaires
Alan Mann Racing
Comstock Racing
Best finish6th (1964)
Class wins0

Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993) was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins including one Tourist Trophy. Ireland was a larger-than-life character who, according to a rival team boss, "lived without sense, without an analyst, and provoked astonishment and affection from everyone."[1]

Early life

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Ireland was born 12 June 1930 in Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon. His family returned to Kirkcudbright, Scotland during his youth, and he trained as an engineer with Rolls-Royce, first in Glasgow and later in London. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers,[2] he served with the Parachute Regiment in the Suez Canal Zone during 1953 and 1954.[3] In 1955 he transferred to the Territorial Army and was promoted to lieutenant,[4] and in 1958 he was placed on the Reserve of Officers.[5]

Racing career

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Ireland began racing a Riley 9 in 1954. His first year of nationally competitive events was 1957,[6] by which time he was running a small engineering firm in Surrey. Success in sports car racing saw him make his Formula One debut for Team Lotus in 1959. In 1960 he won three non-championship Formula One races and finished fourth in the World Drivers Championship. Badly injured in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, Ireland recovered to win the Solitude Grand Prix and Flugplatzrennen races, then finished the season with a victory in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. He was sacked at the end of the season as team boss Colin Chapman considered Jim Clark a better bet.[7]

Ireland entered the 24 Hours of Daytona using a Ferrari, with motorcycle racer Mike Hailwood as intended co-driver, but broke down with gearbox problems after 3+12 hours, before Hailwood was scheduled to participate.[8]

Ireland was encouraged by Bill France, founder of NASCAR, to participate in the 1967 Daytona 500, one of the last races of his career, where the V8 engine of his year old Dodge exploded outside the stands.

Ireland worked as a journalist for ESPN for several F1 races in the late 1980s as well as the American Road & Track magazine, Autocar magazine, and skippering fishing trawlers in the North Atlantic. Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, which post he still held at the time of his death from cancer on 22 October 1993, at Reading, Berkshire, England.

Writing

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A talented writer, Ireland produced a classic autobiography, All Arms and Elbows (ISBN 0-85184-050-7). Marathon in the Dust, published in 1970 is Ireland's account of the grueling 1968 Daily Express London-Sydney Marathon, which Ireland completed with 2 friends, fellow F1 competitor Michael Taylor and British bobsledder Andy Hedges in a Mercedes Benz 280 SE.

Personal life

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On 30 October 1954 Ireland married Scarborough schoolteacher Norma Thomas. They had two daughters before divorcing in 1967. He then married Edna Humphries also in 1967. Ireland married his third wife Jean Mander (née Howarth), a former fashion model, on 11 June 1993 at Newbury register office. Jean had been engaged to Mike Hawthorn at the time of Hawthorn's death in 1959. Ireland also had a son who died in 1992.

Racing record

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Complete Formula One World Championship results

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(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 WDC Pts.
1959 Team Lotus Lotus 16 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 MON 500 NED
4
FRA
Ret
GBR GER
Ret
POR
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
5
14th 5
1960 Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 ARG
6
MON
9
500 NED
2
BEL
Ret
FRA
7
GBR
3
POR
6
ITA USA
2
4th 18
1961 Team Lotus Lotus 21 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 MON
DNS
NED BEL
Ret
FRA
4
GBR
10
GER
Ret
USA
1
6th 12
Lotus 18/21 ITA
Ret
1962 UDT-Laystall Racing Team Lotus 24 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 NED
Ret
MON
Ret
BEL
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
16
GER ITA
Ret
USA
8
RSA
5
16th 2
1963 British Racing Partnership Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 MON
Ret
GER
Ret
9th 6
BRP Mk1 BEL
Ret
NED
4
FRA
9
GBR
Ret
ITA
4
USA MEX RSA
1964 British Racing Partnership Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 MON
DNS
NED 14th 4
BRP Mk1 BEL
10
FRA
Ret
BRP Mk2 GBR
10
GER AUT
5
ITA
5
USA
Ret
MEX
12
1965 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 25 BRM P56 1.5 V8 RSA MON BEL
13
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
NED
10
GER NC 0
Lotus 33 ITA
9
USA
Ret
MEX
DNS
1966 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P60 1.9 V8 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
NC 0

Non-championship Formula One results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1957 Equipe Endeavour Cooper T43 F2 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 BUE SYR GLV NAP RMS CAE INT
Ret
MOD MOR
1959 Team Lotus Lotus 16 F2 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 GLV AIN INT
11
OUL
Lotus 16 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 SIL
Ret
1960 Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 BUE
Ret
GLV
1
INT
1
SIL
Ret
LOM
1
OUL
Ret
1961 Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 LOM
Ret
GLV
5
PAU BRX
9
VIE AIN
10
SYR
Ret
NAP LON SIL KAN
Ret
MOD
DNQ
Lotus 21 SOL
1
DAN
2
FLG
1
OUL
Ret
LEW VAL RAN NAT RSA
1962 UDT-Laystall Racing Team Lotus 18/21 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 CAP BRX
3
LOM
Ret
LAV GLV
3
PAU AIN
Ret
Ferrari 156 Ferrari 178 1.5 V6 INT
4
Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 NAP MAL CLP
1
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 RMS
3
SOL
DNA
KAN
4
MED DAN
3
OUL
Ret
MEX
3
RAN
Ret
NAT
1963 British Racing Partnership Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 LOM
3
GLV
1
PAU IMO SYR AIN
2
INT
4
ROM KAN MED AUT OUL
Ret
RAN
BRP Mk1 SOL
3
1964 British Racing Partnership BRP Mk1 BRM P56 1.5 V8 DMT
1
NWT
Ret
SYR
BRP Mk2 AIN
Ret
INT
Ret
SOL
Ret
MED
3
RAN
1965 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 25 BRM P56 1.5 V8 ROC SYR
Ret
SMT INT MED
5
Lotus 25/331 BRM P60 2.0 V8 RAN
6
1966 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 25/331 BRM P60 2.0 V8 RSA
Ret
SYR INT
Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM P60 1.9 V8 OUL
4
^1 The Parnell Lotus driven by Ireland in 1965 and 1966 was a written-off 25 rebuilt around a 33 monocoque.

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos. Pts Class
1962 Ford Motor Company Ford Zodiac Mk 3 C SNE GOO AIN SIL
?
CRY AIN BRH OUL 17th 9 2nd
1964 McKechnie Racing Ford Cortina Lotus B SNE GOO OUL AIN SIL
7
CRY BRH OUL 27th 2 11th
Source:[9]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1960 United Kingdom Team Lotus United Kingdom John Whitmore Lotus Elite Mk. 14 S 2.0 0 DNS DNS
1962 United Kingdom UDT Laystall Racing Team United States Masten Gregory Ferrari 250 GTO GT 3.0 165 DNF DNF
1963 United Kingdom David Brown Racing Dept. New Zealand Bruce McLaren Aston Martin DP214 GT +3.0 59 DNF DNF
1964 United Kingdom Maranello Concessionaires South Africa Tony Maggs Ferrari 250 GTO GT 3.0 328 6th 2nd
1965 United Kingdom Ford Advanced Vehicles United Kingdom John Whitmore Ford GT40 GT 5.0 72 DNF DNF
1966 United Kingdom F.R. English Ltd. \ Comstock Racing Austria Jochen Rindt Ford GT40 Mk I S 5.0 8 DNF DNF

NASCAR: Grand National

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Daytona 500

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Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1967 Ray Fox '66 Dodge Charger 20 27

References

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  1. ^ Robert Newman (2014). Motor Racing Heroes: The Stories of 100 Greats. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-1-84584-748-7.
  2. ^ "No. 40087". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 February 1954. p. 696.
  3. ^ "Innes Ireland". Historic Racing. 22 October 2006.
  4. ^ "No. 40688". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 January 1956. p. 412. Correcting "No. 40565". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 August 1955. p. 4799.
  5. ^ "No. 41477". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 August 1958. p. 5207.
  6. ^ "All Results of Innes Ireland". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  7. ^ Doug Nye (1978). Theme Lotus. Motor Racing Publications. p. 49.
  8. ^ "Hailwood home". Motorcycle News, 16 February 1966, p.1. Accessed 20 April 2024
  9. ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by BRDC International Trophy
Winner

1960
Succeeded by
Preceded by BRDC President
1992–1993
Succeeded by