John Whitmore (racing driver)

John Whitmore
Nationality	English
Born	John Henry Douglas Whitmore 16 October 1937
Previous series
1959–1966 1961–1963 1965	24 Hours of Le Mans British Saloon Car Championship European Touring Car Championship
Championship titles
1961 1965	British Saloon Car Championship European Touring Car Championship

Sir John Henry Douglas Whitmore, 2nd Baronet (born 16 October 1937) is an author, performance coach and British former racing driver.

Inheritance and family life

Sir John was born 16 October 1937, the son of Sir Francis Whitmore and Ellis Johnsen. He was educated at Eton College, Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, and Cirencester Agricultural College. Sir John inherited The Orsett Estate Company at Orsett, Essex, in 1962, on the death of his father Sir Francis Henry Charlton Douglas Whitmore Bt. (1872-1962). The inheritance included the family seat, Orsett Hall, the grounds of which he used to take off and land his plane.^[1] In 1968, he sold the house to his friends, Tony and Val Morgan. He married twice, first to Ella Gunilla Hansson, divorcing in 1969, and later to Diana Becchetti. He has one child from each marriage, Tina Whitmore, born 1966 and Jason Whitmore, born 1982.

Racing career

In his first year in the competition, 1961, Whitmore won the British Saloon Car Championship in his BMC Mini Minor. In 1963 he drove again in the BSCC and came second in the championship in a Mini Cooper, finishing just two points behind Jack Sears. In 1965 he won the European Touring Car Championship in a Lotus Cortina (KPU392C). He won by finishing first in his class in 8 of the 9 1965 ETCC races (and finishing first overall in 6 of the races).

Sir John drove in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for five years between 1959 and 1966. In the first year he finished second in class along with Jim Clark in a Lotus Elite. In 1965 and 1966 he raced in a works Ford GT40, but had to retire from the race both years with mechanical problems. At the end of 1966 he retired from racing.

More recently he has returned to driving in historic car events, such as the Goodwood Revival.

Performance and business coaching

After leaving racing, he went on to become a sports psychologist. He left working within motor-sports to apply his skills to the world of business. As of 2013 he works as a management consultant, and serves as the executive chairman of the company Performance Consultants International.^[2] He has written several books on performance coaching, as well as the foreword to Graham Gauld's biography of fellow racer Jack Sears.

Sir John is regarded^[3] as a pioneer in the field of business coaching, having written the bestselling book 'Coaching for Performance', presented at numerous conferences around the world and contributed to many other books such as 'Challenging Coaching' and 'Coaching at Work'.

References

1. from The Essex Village Book, written by members of the Federation of Essex Women's Institutes and published by Countryside Books
2. "Growing People, Performance and Purpose".
3. Scoular, Anne (2011). FT Guide to Business Coaching. Pearson UK.

External links

• Daily Telegraph Interview on Le Mans
• Performance Consultants International where Sir John Whitmore is Executive Chairman and a coach.