Lance Macklin
Born	(1919-09-02)2 September 1919 Kensington,London, England
Died	29 August 2002(2002-08-29) (aged 82) Tenterden,Kent, England
Children	3
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1952 –1955
Teams	HWM, privateerMaserati
Entries	15 (13 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1952 Swiss Grand Prix
Last entry	1955 British Grand Prix

Lance Noel Macklin (2 September 1919 – 29 August 2002) was a Britishracing driver from England. He participated in 15Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952. He was infamously involved in the1955 Le Mans disaster, starting the initial chain reaction.

Macklin's father was the automotive entrepreneurNoel Macklin, founder of both theInvicta andRailton car companies, as well asFairmile Marine, a manufacturer of motor gun and torpedo boats duringWorld War II. Macklin was born inKensington, and educated atEton College. He volunteered for service with theRoyal Navy in 1939 and (in line with his father's business) was assigned to work on motor gun boats.

On demobilisation after theSecond World War, Macklin followed his early ambition and became a racing driver, although an early attempt to enter a race on theIsle of Man was refused on grounds that he had no experience.^[1]

He secured an entry to the1948 Grand Prix des Frontières, and practised for the event by driving his Invicta at high speeds on public roads, teaching himself to four-wheel drift aroundBelgrave Square in London's Mayfair. He impressed in the race and eventually earned a signing withAston Martin. He was made a reserve driver forLe Mans and raced at theSpa 24 Hours, finishing fifth.

He finished fifth at Le Mans in1950 alongside teammate andHWM ownerGeorge Abecassis. Abecassis invited him to join HWM for several races, culminating with victory in the1952 BRDC International Trophy, his biggest success in motor racing. HWM also gave Macklin his debut in theFormula One World Championship, but the small team was not competitive against the better-funded works entries and he scored no world championship points. While at HWM, Macklin formed a close bond with young teammateStirling Moss.

He returned to Le Mans with Aston Martin in1951, finishing third overall and taking his second S3.0 class victory, although class victories were not celebrated at that time. He left Aston Martin in 1952, dissatisfied with his retaining fee, and joinedBristol for the following year. The new team found little success, failing even to start the1952 12 Hours of Reims, but such issues typically did not faze him. Macklin's social confidence and smooth demeanour made him popular with women, and he would sometimes be more interested in them than racing. Abecassis had been critical of this easy-going attitude:"He never cared whether he started in a race or not... Sometimes it was a nightmare to make him practice at all. If there was some blonde he was after he just wouldn't show up."^[1]

In the1955 24 Hours of Le Mans he was involved in the most catastrophic accident in racing history, which killedPierre Levegh and 83 spectators and became known as the "1955 Le Mans disaster". Macklin swerved to avoid hitting the Jaguar ofMike Hawthorn, who was braking hard in a late attempt to pit, and moved into the path of Levegh's car causing it to clip his.^[2][3][4] Although Macklin's car crashed, he was uninjured. Macklin was deeply affected by the incident. He felt that Hawthorn had tried to alleviate himself of responsibility, and that the racing community was turning the blame to him as a result.^[1]

He continued to race, but another tragic experience followed in theTourist Trophy atDundrod. Macklin crashed hisAustin-Healey 100S avoiding an accident in which Jim Mayers and William T. Smith were killed. Soon after, Macklin retired from motor sport at the urging of his then-girlfriend.^[5]

Macklin joinedFacel Vega in Paris, running the export division until the company failed in 1963, when he began working for London car dealershipH.R. Owen.

Macklin was married twice; firstly to Shelagh and subsequently to Gillian. He had two children from his first marriage and one from the second.^[5]

He later moved to Spain, but returned to England when he became ill. He died on 29 August 2002 inTenterden,Kent, four days before his 83rd birthday.^[5]

(key)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1950	Aston Martin Ltd.	George Abecassis	Aston Martin DB2	S3.0	249	5th	1st
1951	Aston Martin Ltd.	Eric Thompson	Aston Martin DB2	S3.0	257	3rd	1st
1952	Aston Martin Ltd.	Peter Collins	Aston Martin DB3 Spyder	S3.0	?	DNF (Accident)
1953	Bristol Aeroplane Company	Graham Whitehead	Bristol 450 Coupé	S2.0	29	DNF (Fire)
1954	Automobili O.S.C.A.	Pierre Leygonie	O.S.C.A. MT-4	S1.5	247	DSQ (Abandoned vehicle)
1955	Lance Macklin (private entrant)	Les Leston	Austin-Healey 100 S	S3.0	28	DNF (Accident damage)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1954	Donald Healey Ltd.	George Huntoon	Austin-Healey 100	S3.0	163	3rd	1st
1955	Donald Healey Motor Co.	Stirling Moss	Austin-Healey 100 S	S3.0	176	6th	5th
1956	Donald Healey Motors Co. Ltd.	Archie Scott Brown	Austin-Healey 100 S	S3.0	110	DNF (Starter)

• 1919 births
• 2002 deaths
• English racing drivers
• English Formula One drivers
• Hersham and Walton Motors Formula One drivers
• People from Kensington
• Sportspeople from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
• People educated at Eton College
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• World Sportscar Championship drivers
• Royal Navy personnel of World War II
• Carrera Panamericana drivers
• Racing drivers from London
• 20th-century English sportsmen

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from May 2015
• Use British English from May 2015
• Articles with hCards
• Place of birth missing