Peter Whitehead (racing driver)

Peter Whitehead
Nationality	British
Born	Peter Nield Whitehead 12 November 1914 Menston, Yorkshire, England
Died	21 September 1958 (aged 43) Lasalle, France
Formula One World Championship career Active years 1950–1954 Teams privateer Ferrari, Alta and Cooper, Scuderia Ferrari Entries 12 (10 starts) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 1 Career points 4 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First entry 1950 Monaco Grand Prix Last entry 1954 British Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1950–1955, 1957–1958 Teams Peter Walker, Jaguar Cars Ltd., Cooper Car Co., David Brown, A. G. Whitehead Best finish 1st (1951) Class wins 1 (1951)

Peter Nield Whitehead (12 November 1914 – 21 September 1958) 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.

Early life & pre-war racing

Yorkshireman Whitehead, coming from a wealthy background, gained from the wool industry, started racing in a Riley when he was 19. He moved up to an ERA B-Type the following season and then scored the first major result for the Alta, when he finished third in the Limerick Grand Prix, a Formula Libre race. In 1936, he shared his ERA with Walker, and finished third in the Donington Grand Prix. He took the ERA to Australia in 1938 while touring on business, where he scored his first major victory, winning the 1938 Australian Grand Prix at Bathrurst, as well as the inaugural Australian Hillclimb Championship. He returned in England in 1939 and gains a third place in the Nuffield Trophy.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Post-war racing career

During World War II, Whitehead was a pilot with the Royal Air Force, and he was back in competition as soon as racing was revived, taking his trusty ERA to second place in the British Empire Trophy, held at the Douglas Circuit on the Isle of Man in the summer of 1947. He also raced in the Lausanne Grand Prix, finishing sixth.^[2][4][6][7]

In 1948, he survived a plane crash at Croydon Aerodrome, when he was on his way to Milano, to arrange the purchase a Ferrari 125. The accident left him badly hurt and out of racing for a year.^{[1][2][4][5][6]}

Grand Prix racer

Peter Whitehead is notable as the first person to whom Enzo Ferrari ever sold a Formula One car: a Ferrari 125 in 1949. With the car painted green, he won the Velká cena Československa. In doing so, he become the first Englishman to win a major international motor race outside of the United Kingdom since Richard Seaman. The following season, Whitehead made his debut in the Formula One championship at Monaco, but did not start. His next outing in the championship came in the Grand Prix l’A.C.F., where he came close to winning but was slowed with a gearbox problem which he dropped to third. That was to be his only podium finished in 11 championship starts between 1950 and 1954.^{[2][3][4][5][6][8][9]}

During 1950 season, he won two minor Formula One races, the Jersey Road Race and the Ulster Trophy, but the biggest career victory came in Sports Cars. He continued to race and win in Formula Two across Europe. Later, he added victories in the 1954 Lady Wigram Trophy, in New Zealand, and repeated the feat in 1956 and 1957. He also won the 1956 Rand Grand Prix. All four of those victories, he was driving a Ferrari.^[2]

Sports car racing

Whitehead takes the flag to win the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans race

1950 saw Whitehead start his first 24 Hours of Le Mans race, together with John Marshall in a Jaguar XK120. The pair finished in 15th place. He teamed up with Peter Walker to win the 1951 race, however, in a Jaguar C-Type, at an average speed of 93.112 mph (149.849 km/h).^{[2][3][5][10]}

In 1953, Whitehead decided to concentrate on sports cars, and in July, he saw more success sharing a Jaguar C-Type with Stirling Moss in the 12 Heures Internationales de Reims. He returned again in 1954, in a full works supported Jaguar D-Type to win the event again partnered by Ken Wharton. Prior to that first win at Reims, he also won the Hyères 12 Hours.^{[2][5][6][11][12]}

Later in 1954, again paired with Wharton, he was placed sixth in the RAC Tourist Trophy road race.^[13][14]

Death

Whitehead's last great performance was at Le Mans in 1958 where he came second in an Aston Martin DB3S, sharing the driving with his half-brother, Graham. A couple of months later Peter and Graham were competing together in the Tour de France, when their Jaguar 3.4-Litre crashed off a bridge into a 30-foot ravine at Lasalle, near Nîmes after overturning twice, with Graham at the wheel. Graham escaped with serious but not life-threatening injuries, but Peter was killed instantly.^{[2][3][4][5][15][16]}

Racing record

Career highlights

Season	Series	Position	Team	Car
1935	Limerick Grand Prix [2]	3rd		Alta
1936	Nuffield Trophy [17]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	ERA B-Type
	Donington Grand Prix [18]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	ERA B-Type
1937	JCC 200 [18]	2nd	Peter Whitehead	ERA B-Type
	JCC 200 Grand Prix [18]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	ERA B-Type
1938	Australian Hillclimb Championship [1]	1st		ERA B-Type
	Australian Grand Prix [19]	1st		ERA B-Type
1939	Nuffield Trophy [20]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	ERA B-Type
1947	British Empire Trophy [21]	2nd		ERA B-Type
1949	Velká cena Československa [22]	1st		Ferrari 125
	Richmond Trophy [23]	2nd		ERA B-Type
	Woodcote Cup [24]	2nd		ERA B-Type
	Grand Prix de France [25]	3rd		Ferrari 125
1950	Jersey Road Race [26]	1st		Ferrari 125
	Ulster Trophy [27]	1st		Ferrari 125
	RAC Tourist Trophy [28]	2nd		Jaguar XK120
	Grand Prix de l’A.C.F. [29]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125
	BRDC International Trophy [30]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125
	FIA Formula One World Championship [31]	9th	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125
1951	Les 24 Heures du Mans [32]	1st	Peter Walker	Jaguar C-Type
	Preis der Ostschweiz-Erlen [33]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125/166
	Gran Premio del V Centenario Colombiano [34]	2nd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125/166
	Hastings Trophy [35]	2nd		ERA E-Type
	Grand Prix de Bordeaux [36]	3rd		Ferrari 125
	Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts [37]	3rd		Ferrari 125/166
1953	12 Hours of Hyères [38]	1st	P.N. Whitehead	Jaguar C-Type
	12 heures internationales [39]	1st	P.N. Whitehead	Jaguar C-Type
	Mid-Cheshire M.C. F2 race [40]	2nd	Atlantic Stable	Cooper-Alta T24
	RedeX Trophy [41]	2nd	Atlantic Stable	Cooper-Alta T24
	AMOC Trophy [42]	3rd	Atlantic Stable	Cooper-Alta T24
	Coronation Trophy [42]	3rd	Atlantic Stable	Cooper-Alta T24
	Goodwood Nine-Hours [43]	3rd	W. Lyons	Jaguar XK120C
1954	Lady Wigram Trophy [44]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125
	12 heures internationales [45]	1st	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Jaguar D-Type
	Circuito do Porto [46]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	Cooper-Jaguar T33
1955	New Zealand Grand Prix [47]	2nd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 500/625
1956	Lady Wigram Trophy [48]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 500/750S
	Southland Road Race [48]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 500/750S
	Rand Grand Prix [49]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 500/750S
	Ardmore Grand Prix [50]	2nd	Peter Whitehead	Cooper-Jaguar T38
	New Zealand Grand Prix [51]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 500/750S
	Australian Grand Prix [52]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 555
1957	Lady Wigram Trophy [53]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 555/860
	Southland Road Race [53]	1st	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 555/860
	New Zealand Grand Prix [54]	2nd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 555/860
	Dunedin Road Race [53]	3rd	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 555/860
1958	24 Heures du Mans [55]	2nd	A.G. Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3S

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WDC	Points
1950	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12	GBR	MON DNS	500			FRA 3	ITA 7			9th	4
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12				SUI DNA	BEL
1951	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12	SUI 13	500	BEL	FRA Ret		GER	ITA Ret			NC	0
		Ferrari 375	Ferrari V12								ESP DNA
	G A Vandervell	Ferrari 375 Thinwall	Ferrari V12					GBR 9
1952	Peter Whitehead	Alta F2	Alta Straight-4	SUI	500	BEL	FRA Ret						NC	0
		Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12					GBR 10	GER	NED	ITA DNQ
1953	Atlantic Stable	Cooper T24	Alta Straight-4	ARG	500	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR 9	GER	SUI	ITA	NC	0
1954	Peter Whitehead	Cooper T24	Alta Straight-4	ARG	500	BEL	FRA	GBR Ret	GER	SUI	ITA	ESP	NC	0

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key)

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	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39
1949	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12	BUE	EVA	RIO	SRM Ret	PAU	RIC	PAU	JER 7	ROU	MAR	GBR 8	EMP	FRO	BEL 4	SUI 9	ALB	FRA 3	ZAN DNS	ACF	INT	LAU 10	ITA Ret	GOO	AUS	CSR 1	SAL	PER
1950	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12	PAU	RIC Ret	SRM Ret	PAR	EMP	BAR	JER 1	ALB	NED 4	NAT	NOT	ULS 1	PES	STT	INT 3	GOO Ret	PEN
1951	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12	SYR	PAU	RIC	SRM Ret	BOR 3	INT	PAR	ULS DNS	SCO	NED ALT	ALB	PES 5	BAR 6	GOO
1952	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125/166	Ferrari V12	RIO	SYR 5	VAL 4	RIC DNA	LAV	PAU	IBS DNA			INT 5	ELÄ	NAP	EIF		ALB 5	FRO	ULS							DAI 11	COM	NAT
		Alta F2	Alta L4								MAR Ret	AST					PAR Ret				MNZ Ret	LAC	ESS	MAR Ret	SAB DNA	CAE				BAU Ret	MOD	CAD	SKA	MAD 4	AVU	JOE Ret	NEW 7	RIO
1953	Peter Whitehead	Cooper T24	Alta L4	SYR 5	PAU	LAV 5	AST 3	BOR Ret	INT 8	ELÄ	NAP	ULS 4	WIN	FRO	COR 3	EIF	ALB 5	PRI	GRE	ESS	MID	ROU	STR	CRY 5	AVU	USF	LAC	DRE	BRI	CHE 2	SAB	NEW	CAD	SAC	RED 2	SKA	LON	MOD	MAD	BER	JOE	CUR
1954	Peter Whitehead	Cooper T24	Alta L4	SYR	PAU	LAV Ret	BOR Ret	INT DNA	BAR	CUR	ROM	FRO	COR	BRC	CRY	ROU	CAE	AUG	COR	OUT	RED Ret	PES	SAC	JOE	CAD	BER	GOO	DAI

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1950	P.C.D. Walker	John Marshall	Jaguar XK120	S5.0	225	15th	8th
1951	Peter Walker	Peter Walker	Jaguar C-Type	S5.0	267	1st	1st
1952	Jaguar Ltd.	Ian Stewart	Jaguar C-Type	S5.0		DNF (Head gasket)
1953	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Ian Stewart	Jaguar C-Type	S5.0	297	4th	3rd
1954	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Ken Wharton	Jaguar D-Type	S5.0	131	DNF (Gearbox)
1955	Cooper Cars Co	Graham Whitehead	Cooper-Jaguar T38	S5.0	36	DNF (Oil pressure)
1957	D. Brown	Graham Whitehead	Aston Martin DBR2	S5.0	81	DNF (Gearbox)
1958	A.G. Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	293	2nd	2nd

Complete 12 Hours of Reims results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953	P.N. Whitehead	Stirling Moss	Jaguar C-Type	S+2.0	243	1st	1st
1954	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Ken Wharton	Jaguar D-Type		222	1st	1st

Complete 12 Hours of Hyères results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953	P.N. Whitehead	Tom Cole	Jaguar C-Type	S+3.0	204	1st	1st
1954	Peter Whitehead	Duncan Hamilton	Cooper-Jaguar T33			DNS (Broken crankshaft)
1955	Graham Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3S			DNF (Cooling)

Complete 12 Hours of Pescara results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953	Peter Whitehead	Duncan Hamilton	Jaguar C-Type			DNF (Steering)

Complete 12 Hours of Casablanca results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953	Graham Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3	S+2.0		5th	4th

References

1. http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Peter_Whitehead
2. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-whipet.html
3. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/dw.htm
4. http://en.espn.co.uk/alta/motorsport/driver/482.hmtl
5. http://forums.autosport.com/topic/13219-peter-whitehead/
6. http://www.historicracing.com/driver_az/cfm?typer=drivers_alpha&tStartRow=1&AlphaIndex=W&driverID=1265
7. http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/archive/f1/nc/1947/1947.html
8. Richard Williams, “Enzo Ferrari: A Life" (Yellow Jersey Press, ISBN 0-224-05986-6, 2002)
9. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr006.html
10. Two Britons Drive Record 93.112 M.P.H. For 24 Hours to Capture French Auto Race, New York Times, 25 June 1951, Page 24.
11. French Auto Races To British Drivers, New York Times, 6 July 1953, Page 22.
12. Article 3-No Title, New York Times, 5 July 1954, Page 15.
13. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Dundrod-1954-09-11-2305.html
14. Laureau, in French Car, Takes Ulster Trophy, 12 September 1954, Page S9.
15. British Driver Killed On Tour in France, New York Times, 21 September 1958, Page C2.
16. The Manchester Guardian, 22 September 1958, Page 2.
17. http://www.formula2.net/V1936.10.htm
18. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif-snellman/dw.htm
19. http://www.driversdb.com/championships/standings/australian-grand-prix/1938/
20. http://www.formula2.net/V39-6.htm
21. http://chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1948&gp=British%20Empire%20Trophy&r=1&type=res
22. http://chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1949&gp=Czech%20GP&r=1&type=res
23. http://chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1949&gp=Richmond%20Trophy&r=1&type=res
24. http://teamdan.com/archive/www2/flibre/49flibre.html
25. http://chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1949&gp=French%20GP&r=1&type=res
26. http://chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1950&gp=Jersey%20Road%20Race&r=1&type=res
27. http://chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1950&gp=Ulster%20Trophy&r=1&type=res
28. http://www.racingsportscar.com/results/Dundrod-1950-09-16-2063.html
29. http://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-results-1950-formula-1-grand-prix-of-france/
30. http://www.chicanef1.cpm/race.pl?year=1950&gp=BRDC%20International%20Trophy&r=1&type=final
31. http://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-results-1950-formula-1-season/
32. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Le_Mans-1951-06-23.html
33. http://www.formula2.net/F251_22.html
34. http://www.formula2.net/F251_7.html
35. http://teamdan.com/archive/www2/flibre/51flibre.html
36. http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/archive/f1/nc/1951/1951.html
37. http://www.formula2.net/F251_16.htm
38. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Hyeres-1953-06-07.html
39. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Reims-1953-07-05.html
40. http://www.formula2.net/F253_36.htm
41. http://www.formula2.net/F253_42.htm
42. http://www.formula2.net/F253_6.htm
43. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Goodwood-1953-08-22.html
44. http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/other1954.html
45. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Reims-1954-07-04.html
46. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Boavista-1954-06-27-4637.html
47. http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/1955.html
48. http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/other1956.html
49. http://teamdan.com/archive/www2/flibre/56fibre.html
50. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Ardmore-1956-01-07.html
51. http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/1956.html
52. http://www.driversdb.com/championships/standings/australian-grand-prix/1956/
53. http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/other1957.html
54. http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/1957.html
55. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Le_Mans-1958-06-22.html

Further reading

• "The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995

External links

• Peter Whitehead: 1954 Formula One Season By Jeremy McMullen