Innes Ireland

Innes Ireland
Born Robert McGregor Innes Ireland
(1930-06-12)12 June 1930
Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England
Died 22 October 1993(1993-10-22) (aged 63)
Reading, Berkshire, England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality United Kingdom British
Active years 19591966
Teams Lotus, BRP, BRM
Entries 53 (50 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 1
Podiums 4
Career points 47
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 1
First entry 1959 Dutch Grand Prix
First win 1961 United States Grand Prix
Last win 1961 United States Grand Prix
Last entry 1966 Mexican Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 19581959, 19621966
Teams Team Lotus
Ecurie Ecosse
UDT-Laystall Racing Team
Aston Martin
Maranello Concessionaires
Alan Mann Racing
Comstock Racing
Best finish 6th (1964)
Class wins 0

Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver. He 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

Ireland was born on 12 June 1930 in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England, the son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon. His family returned to Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland during his youth, and he trained as an engineer with Rolls-Royce, first in Glasgow and later in London. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, he served with the Parachute Regiment in the Suez Canal Zone during 1953 and 1954.

Racing career

Ireland's first serious year of auto racing was 1957, 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.

Despite these successes, he was sacked at the end of the season, team boss Colin Chapman considering Jim Clark a better bet.[2] Despite occasional successes, Ireland never again had a car to match his talent, and he was encouraged by Bill France, founder of NASCAR, to participated in the 1967 Daytona 500, one of the last races of his career, where the V8 engine of his Dodge exploded outside the stands.

A talented writer, Ireland produced a classic autobiography, All Arms and Elbows (ISBN 0-85184-050-7), and worked as a journalist for the American Road & Track magazine, as well as skippering fishing trawlers in the North Atlantic. Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the prestigious 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.

Personal life

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, in Summer 1992. 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.

Formula One results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(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 L4 MON 500 NED
4
FRA
Ret
GBR GER
Ret
POR
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
5
14th 5
1960 Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax 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 L4 MON
DNS
NED BEL
Ret
FRA
4
GBR
10
GER
Ret
USA
1
6th 12
Lotus 18/21 Climax L4 ITA
Ret
1962 UDT-Laystall Racing Team Lotus 24 Climax 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 V8 MON
Ret
GER
Ret
9th 6
BRP BRM V8 BEL
Ret
NED
4
FRA
9
GBR
Ret
ITA
4
USA MEX RSA
1964 British Racing Partnership Lotus 24 BRM V8 MON
DNS
NED 14th 4
BRP BRM V8 BEL
10
FRA
Ret
GBR
10
GER AUT
5
ITA
5
USA
Ret
MEX
12
1965 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 25 BRM V8 RSA MON BEL
13
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
NED
10
GER NC 0
Lotus 33 BRM V8 ITA
9
USA
Ret
MEX
DNS
1966 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM V8 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
NC 0

Non-Championship results

(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
1961 Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax 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 V8 CAP BRX
3
LOM
Ret
LAV GLV
3
PAU AIN
Ret
Ferrari 156 INT
4
Lotus 24 NAP MAL CLP
1
RMS
3
SOL
DNA
KAN
4
MED DAN
3
OUL MEX
3
RAN
Ret
NAT
1963 British Racing Partnership Lotus 24 BRM V8 LOM
3
GLV
1
PAU IMO SYR AIN
2
INT
4
ROM KAN MED AUT OUL
13
RAN
BRP SOL
3
1964 British Racing Partnership BRP BRM V8 DMT
1
NWT
Ret
SYR AIN
Ret
INT
12
SOL
Ret
MED
3
RAN
1965 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 25 BRM V8 ROC SYR
Ret
SMT INT MED
5
RAN
6
1966 Reg Parnell Racing Lotus 25 BRM V8 RSA
Ret
SYR INT
Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM V8 OUL
4

References

  1. Robert Newman (2014). Motor Racing Heroes: The Stories of 100 Greats. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-1-84584-748-7.
  2. Doug Nye (1978). Theme Lotus. Motor Racing Publications. p. 49.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Innes Ireland.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jack Brabham
BRDC International Trophy winner
1960
Succeeded by
Stirling Moss
Preceded by
Gerald Lascelles
BRDC President
1992–1993
Succeeded by
The Lord Hesketh
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