Peter Whitehead
Nationality	British
Born	Peter Nield Whitehead (1914-11-12)12 November 1914 Menston,Yorkshire, England
Died	21 September 1958(1958-09-21) (aged 43) Lasalle, France
Formula One World Championship career Active years 1950–1954 Teams Ferrari, (incl. non-works) non-worksAlta andCooper Entries 12 (10 starts) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 1 Careerpoints 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 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 Britishracing driver. He was born inMenston,Yorkshire and was killed in an accident atLasalle,France, during the Tour de France endurance race. A cultured, knowledgeable and well-travelled racer, he was excellent in sports cars. He won the1938 Australian Grand Prix, which along with a24 Heures du Mans win in 1951, probably was his finest achievement, but he also won two12 Heures internationales de Reims events. He was a regular entrant, mostly forPeter Walker andGraham 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.

Yorkshireman Whitehead, coming from a wealthy background, gained from the wool industry, started racing in aRiley when he was 19. He moved up to anERA B-Type the following season and then scored the first major result for theAlta, when he finished third in the Limerick Grand Prix, aFormula Libre race. In 1936, he shared his ERA with Peter Walker, and finished third in theDonington Grand Prix. He took the ERA to Australia in 1938 while touring on business, where he scored his first major victory, winning the1938 Australian Grand Prix atBathurst, as well as the inauguralAustralian Hillclimb Championship. He returned in England in 1939 and gained a third place in the Nuffield Trophy.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

DuringWorld War II, Whitehead was a pilot with theRoyal Air Force, and he was back in competition as soon as racing was revived, taking his trusty ERA to second place in theBritish Empire Trophy, held at theDouglas Circuit on theIsle 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 atCroydon Aerodrome, when he was on his way toMilano, to arrange the purchase aFerrari 125. The accident left him badly hurt and out of racing for a year.^{[1][2][4][5][6]}

Peter Whitehead and his good friend and co driver Dudley Folland are notable as being the first people to whomEnzo Ferrari ever sold a Formula One car: a Ferrari 125 in 1949. Dudley Folland had the car painted green, with a red Welsh Dragon painted on the bonnet, being a proud Welshman.

Peter won theVelká cena Československa. In doing so, he became the first Englishman to win a major international motor race outside of the United Kingdom sinceRichard Seaman. The following season, Whitehead made his debut in theDrivers' World Championship at Monaco, but did not start. His next outing in the championship came in theGrand 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 inFormula Two across Europe. Later, he added victories in the 1954Lady Wigram Trophy, in New Zealand, and repeated the feat in 1956 and 1957. He also won the 1956Rand Grand Prix. All four of those victories, he was driving a Ferrari.^[2]

1950 saw Whitehead start his first24 Hours of Le Mans race, together withJohn Marshall in aJaguar XK120. The pair finished in 15th place. He teamed up withPeter Walker to win the1951 race, however, in aJaguar 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 withStirling Moss in the 12 Heures Internationales de Reims. He returned again in 1954, in a full works supportedJaguar D-Type to win the event again partnered byKen 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 theRAC Tourist Trophy road race.^[13][14]

Whitehead's last great performance was atLe Mans in 1958 where he came second in anAston Martin DB3S, sharing the driving with his half-brother, Graham. A couple of months later, on 21 September 1958, Peter and Graham were competing together in theTour de France, when theirJaguar 3.4-Litre crashed off a bridge into a 30-foot (9.1 m) ravine at Lasalle, nearNîmes 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]}

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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

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

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)

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

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

• Small, Steve (1994).The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 400.ISBN 0851127029.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPeter Whitehead.

• Peter Whitehead: 1954 Formula One Season By Jeremy McMullen[1]
• Peter Whitehead summary of driving career with Jaguar Cars

• 1914 births
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