 Ken Wharton in 1953. | |
| Born | (1916-03-21)21 March 1916 Smethwick,England |
|---|---|
| Died | 12 January 1957(1957-01-12) (aged 40) Ardmore,Auckland,New Zealand |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1952–1955 |
| Teams | privateerFrazer-Nash &Cooper,BRM,Vanwall |
| Entries | 16 (15 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 3 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1952 Swiss Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1955 Italian Grand Prix |
Frederick Charles Kenneth Wharton[1][2] (21 March 1916 – 12 January 1957) was a Britishracing driver fromSmethwick,England. He competed in off-road trials,hillclimbs, andrallying, and also racedsports cars andsingle-seaters. He began racing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, and later acquired aCooper. His World ChampionshipGrand Prix debut was at the1952 Swiss event, run to Formula 2 regulations, where he started from 13th position on the grid and finished 4th. He participated in a total of 15 World Championship Grands Prix, from which he scored three championship points.
On 17 August 1935, he was involved in a crash atDonington Park while driving anAustin in an 850 c.c. race. The incident, which saw him overturn at Redgate corner occurred on lap one of five. Wharton escaped with abrasions to the arm.[3]
In 1951 he "travelled abroad, with Peter Bell's 2-litreE.R.A., to finish 3rd overall in the Susa/Mont Cenis hill-climb and 4th overall in the Aosta/Grand Saint Bernard hill-climb. With a Cooper 500, he also competed in the German Freiburg hill-climb where he was runner-up in the 500 cc class toStirling Moss."[4] Wharton won the Freiburg event outright in the E.R.A. on 5 August, climbing the 7.4 miles of theSchauinsland Pass,[5] in 8 minutes 5.33 seconds. On 19 August he was fastest at theVue des Alpes hill-climb, with a time of 3 minutes 57.8 seconds.[6] He won theBritish Hill Climb Championship every year from 1951 to 1954, and remains the only driver to have won four successive BHCC titles. Other successes withERA R4D included winning theBrighton Speed Trials in 1954, 1955 and 1956.
Success in rallies included winning theTulip Rally in 1949, 1950 and 1952, driving Fords. He also became the British Trials Champion.
On 4 July 1954, he andPeter Whitehead won theReims 12-hour race in aJaguar D-Type.[7]
In 1957 Wharton was fatally injured when hisFerrari Monza crashed in a sports-car race at theArdmore Circuit inAuckland,New Zealand.[8] More than 1,100 people attended his funeral, including his mother, father, sister, aunt, uncle and cousins.[9]
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Scuderia Franera | Frazer-NashFN48 | BristolStraight-6 | SUI 4 | 500 | BEL Ret | FRA | GBR | GER | NED Ret | 13th | 3 | ||
| CooperT20 | ITA 9 | |||||||||||||
| 1953 | Ken Wharton | CooperT23 | BristolStraight-6 | ARG | 500 | NED Ret | BEL | FRA Ret | GBR 8 | GER | SUI 7 | ITA NC | NC | 0 |
| 1954 | Owen Racing Organisation | Maserati250F | MaseratiStraight-6 | ARG | 500 | BEL | FRA Ret | GBR 8 | GER DNS | SUI 6 | ITA | ESP 8 | NC | 0 |
| 1955 | Vandervell Products Ltd | Vanwall | VanwallStraight-4 | ARG | MON | 500 | BEL | NED | GBR 9 | ITA Ret | NC | 0 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Hill Climb Champion 1951–1954 | Succeeded by |