Roy Salvadori
Salvadori at the1958 12 Hours of Sebring
Born	Roy Francesco Salvadori (1922-05-12)12 May 1922 Dovercourt, Essex, England,
Died	3 June 2012(2012-06-03) (aged 90) Monte Carlo, Monaco
Spouse	Susan Hindmarsh ​ (m. 1960)​
Relatives	Johnny Hindmarsh (father-in-law) Violette Cordery (mother-in-law)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1952–1962
Teams	PrivateerFerrari,Connaught,Gilby,Maserati,BRM,Vanwall,Cooper,privateerCooper,Aston Martin,Parnell
Entries	50 (47 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	2
Career points	19
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1952 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1962 South African Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1953–1963
Teams	Aston Martin,Border Reivers,Jaguar
Best finish	1st(1959)
Class wins	2(1959,1962)

Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a Britishracing driver andmotorsport executive, who competed inFormula One from1952 to1962. Inendurance racing, Salvadori won the24 Hours of Le Mans in1959 withAston Martin.

Born inDovercourt to parents of Italian descent, Salvadori began competing inGrand Prix motor racing afterWorld War II. His early career successes at tracks such asSilverstone andSnetterton earned him the nickname "King of theAirfields". He graduated toFormula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a succession of teams includingCooper,Vanwall,BRM,Aston Martin andConnaught. Also a competitor in other formulae, he won the1959 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin with co-driverCarroll Shelby.

In 47 starts he achieved two F1 Championship podium finishes: third place at the1958 British Grand Prix and second place at that year'sGerman Grand Prix, and won non-championship races in Australia, New Zealand and England. In 1961 he was lying second in theUnited States Grand Prix when his Cooper's engine failed. At the end of 1962 he retired from F1, and stopped racing altogether a couple of years later to concentrate on the motor trade. He returned to the sport in 1966 to manage the Cooper-Maserati squad for two seasons, and eventually retired toMonaco.

With his ambition thwarted byWorld War II, Salvadori began his career in 1946, racing purely for pleasure, in minor events, in aMG and an ex-Brooklands offsetRiley racer before stepping up to an ex-Tazio NuvolariAlfa Romeo P3 in 1947.^[1][2] It was with this car, he raced in the 1947Grand Prix des Frontières, where late into the race, his Alfa would remain stuck in top gear. Despite this, Salvadori still cruised home to record an impressive fifth place.^[3] He then decided to become a professional racing driver, and drove a number of different makes as his career progressed.^[2]

In the May 1951BRDC International Trophy race atSilverstone, Salvadori had a serious accident when hisFrazer Nash Le Mans Replica somersaulted two and a half times, ejecting him into the hay bales. He was in a critical condition, suffering a fractured skull and other severe injuries which left him so close to death he was given thelast rites.^[4]

Salvadori knew his limitations, and realized that chasing the likes ofStirling Moss at circuits like steeply cambered, high-bankedDundrod orPescara, with its blind bends and flat-out blinds, was futile, verging on suicidal. Though he was not alone in that, he became known as"King of the Airfields", accumulating wins at Silverstone,Snetterton and flat English airfield tracks.^[5][6]

Salvadori twice won theOulton Park'sInternational Gold Cup^[7] where there were plenty of trees to hit and a lake to plunge into, which he did once driving aJaguar Mk.II 3.8 saloon.^[8] Nor was the Le MansMulsanne Straight at night a place for the careless or nervous, nevertheless he scored his most notable success there in an Aston MartinDBR1/300 in 1959.^[9]

Salvadori's association with tractor magnateDavid Brown and hisFeltham-built Aston Martin sports cars,^[10] GTs and F1 underscored his career; he joined Brown's team in mid-1953, and would label his 1963 defeat of Ferrari's250 GTO atMonza in itsDP214 in the Inter-Europa Cup, as his favourite victory.^[1][11]

Salvadori recovered sufficiently from his Silverstone accident to make his first entry into Grand Prix racing in 1952 when he drove a two-litrefour cylinderFerrari 500 in theBritish Grand Prix for G. Caprara, finishing eighth, three laps down.^[12] He would continue to race the Ferrari, winning the Joe Fry Memorial Trophy.^[13] For the 1953 season, Salvadori joined theConnaught team and competed in five Grands Prix with the Connaught "A type" but retired from all of them.^[12] However, he did secured a number of non-championship victories during the season.^[3]

Between 1954 and 1956 Salvadori drove aMaserati 250F in Formula One for Syd Greene'sGilby Engineering team, taking a numerous good results in predominantly non-championship F1 races,^[14] with one entry forOfficine Alfieri Maserati in the1954 Swiss Grand Prix where he did not start and the car was driven bySergio Mantovani.^[12] It was in the1956 RAC British Grand Prix at Silverstone when only a similarly 250F mounted Moss shaded him and a possible victory was lost to a fuel line problem,^[15] marked him out as a potential top-level driver. However, he remained particularly active in domestic motor sport and insports cars forAston Martin.^[12]

Following his Championship debut in 1952, Salvadori would experience retirement after retirement. Out of the ten races contested between 1953 and 1956, he would retire early in every single one of them.^[16] But this all changed in 1957, when he signed withCooper achieving only one fifth place atRAC British Grand Prix.^[17] However, 1958 (as teammate toJack Brabham) was his most successful season, finishing fourth in theWorld Drivers' Championship for Cooper, behindMike Hawthorn,Stirling Moss andTony Brooks.^[18] Over the course of the season, he would earn two podium finishes,^[16] including a second place in theGerman Grand Prix.^[19] However he was not retained by Cooper for 1959 (when Brabham would win the first of his titles) but drove a privately entered Cooper, as well as the worksAston Martin, in which he achieved two sixth-place finishes.^[12] The Aston Martin was a traditional front engined car, which was soon outclassed by the Cooper rear engined concept.^[2] He did, however, win the London Trophy atCrystal Palace with aFormula Two Cooper.^[2] The Aston Martin team continued into 1960 but again without success and Salvadori also continued with the privately entered Cooper.^[2][12]

For 1961, Salvadori moved toReg Parnell'sYeoman Credit Racing team as partner toJohn Surtees, competing in five Grands Prix and achieving three sixth-place finishes with the team's 1.5-litreCooper T53-Climax. The Cooper now had strong competition in the form ofColin Chapman'sLotus cars, but Salvadori was catchingInnes Ireland for the lead in theUnited States Grand Prix atWatkins Glen when the engine failed.^[14][20] He continued with Parnell for 1962, now under theBowmaker Racing Team name with theLola Mk4-Climax, but eight attempts yielded seven retirements and one failure to start (asJohn Surtees took the car).^[12] 1962 was Salvadori's last season inFormula One. The season had begun with a nasty accident in a Cooper during qualifying for the Warwick Farm '100' in Australia, which left him with a temporary facial paralysis.^[8][21]

Throughout hisFormula One career, Salvadori continued to participate in many other classes, particularly within the United Kingdom and became very well-known domestically as a result.^[2] Throughout 1951 and 1952 seasons, while taking part in sportscar races throughout England, he would become a regular on the podium and would win his first race at theBARCGoodwood in 1952.^[22] He would follow this victory up with another at Snetterton and Goodwood later on in the season.^[22] He would then sweep all of the events as part of the National meeting atThruxton.^[22] 1953 would see Salvadori earn more podium finishes with a few victories.^[22] However, his first attempt at the24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a works Aston Martin would not fare well. Co-driving withGeorge Abecassis, the clutch failure would lead to the pair retiring early.^[23] He impressed with his aggressive press-on attitude, when he finished second in theInternationales ADAC-1000 km Rennen Weltmeisterschaftslauf Nürburgring in anEcurie EcosseJaguar C-Type, shared withIan Stewart^[24]

Ever since he started racing sportscars in the upper levels during the 1950s, he was usually a sure bet to finish in the top five, whether it was in national or international races.^[22][25] However, in 1959, he would achieve a run of success of which even the best would find themselves envious. Although he only finished one race in the year to March, over the next three months Salvadori would go on an incredible run of success. The run started with a second place in theBritish Empire Trophy race but followed that with two straight victories in the Aintree 200 and an International race at Silverstone. And then, a pair of second-place finishes and another victory, this time at the National Open race at Crystal Palace in the middle of May. It was on to theCircuit de la Sarthe for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[26]

Salvadori was entered in the race byDavid Brown Racing Dept. in anAston Martin DBR1/300, partnered by the same co-driver he had had at the12 Hours of Sebring earlier on in the year, TexanCarroll Shelby.^[27][28] Attrition would be a constant participant and the field would be down to just 13 cars, heading the surviving cars was that of Salvadori and Shelby. The Englishman would bring the car across the finish line giving himself and Brown the Le Mans victory each had been longing for many years.^[29][30] This would be the high point of hissports car career, especially as Shelby was afflicted by dysentery, therefore Salvadori did the lion's share of the driving.^[14][31] Before the end of the season, he would score four more victories to make it his best season.^[26]

He followed the '59 season with another successful season in 1960, scoring five victories, including a run of four wins in five races.^[26] While at Le Mans, he allowed his co-driver,Jim Clark sufficient scope to express himself, but provided enough wise counsel for the pairing to finish third in theBorder Reivers' DBR1.^[32] 1961 would see him take two victories at Crystal Palace on the same day, plus a string of other podium finishes^[26] He returned to the winning ways at the Circuit de la Sarthe in 1962, when he shared aJaguar E-Type withBriggs Cunningham. The pair finished fourth overall, but won their class.^[33] A year later, he spun on oil dropped byBruce McLaren's Aston Martin DP214 during the early stages of the race and flipped his E-Type onto its roof; the car then burst into flames. Jean-Pierre Manzon in his Aerodjet LM6 hit Salvadori and stopped in the middle of the track.Christian Heins was unable to avoid the wreckage; his car swerved out of control, hit another car, spun into a lamp car, and exploded in flames. Salvadori and Manzon were both injured; Heins died instantly.^[34] The accident ultimately led to Salvadori retiring from racing in early 1965, after finished second in the Whitsun Trophy race at Goodwood, abroad aFord GT40.^[2][35] His last sportscar victory came the season before in the Scott-Brown Memorial at Snetterton.^[36]

Salvadori returned to Formula One as a team manager for the Cooper racing team in 1966 and 1967.^[2] However, after a disagreement with the team, he left and focussed on his own business. Away from the track, he was involved with a car dealership inSurrey between 1968-1969.^[14] Salvadori was also involved in the early stages of the Ford GT40 project but resigned, when the machine's handling appeared problematic, without accepting a fee for his services.^[37][14]

Salvadori retired to Monaco in the late 1960s.^[2] He died in Monaco on 3 June 2012 at the age of 90, three weeks after the death of his co-driver at Le Mans in 1959, Carroll Shelby.^[38]

Salvadori married Susan Hindmarsh, one of the daughters of racing driver, long distance record breaker and 'round the world' driverViolette Cordery and her husband, the racing driver and aviatorJohn Stuart Hindmarsh.^[14][39]

(key)

† Car driven, in the race, bySergio Mantovani.^[12]

(key)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)

• Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953	Aston Martin Ltd.	George Abecassis	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	72	DNF Clutch
1954	David Brown	Reg Parnell	Aston Martin DB3S	S5.0	222	DNF Head gasket
1955	Aston Martin Ltd.	Peter Walker	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	105	DNF Engine
1956	David Brown	Peter Walker	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	175	DNF Accident
1957	D. Brown	Les Leston	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	112	DNF Oil pipe
1958	David Brown Racing Dept.	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	49	DNF Accident
1959	David Brown Racing Dept.	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	323	1st	1st
1960	Border Reivers	Jim Clark	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	306	3rd	3rd
1961	Essex Racing Team	Tony Maggs	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	243	DNF Fuel leak
1962	Briggs Cunningham	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type	GT4.0	310	4th	1st
1963	Briggs S. Cunningham	Paul Richards	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	GT+3.0	40	DNF Accident => fire

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1954	Aston Martin Ltd.	Reg Parnell	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	24	DNF Engine
1956	David Brown & Sons, Ltd.	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DB3S	S3.0	187	4th	1st
1957	Maserati Factory	Carroll Shelby	Maserati 250S	S3.0	68	DISQ Illegal refuel
1958	David Brown	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	62	DNF Transmission
1959	David Brown-Aston Martin	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	32	DNF Gear level

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1964	Dawnay Racing	Mike Salmon	Aston Martin DP214	GT+2.0	34	DNF (Engine)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953		Tony Crook	Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica	S2.0		started result unknown
1954		Cliff Davis	Maserati A6GCS			DNS Engine

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Pos.	Class Pos.
1953	"Mike Sparken"	"Mike Sparken"	Aston Martin DB3	S+2.0	4th	3rd

• Roy Salvadori/Anthony Pritchard.Roy Salvadori: Racing Driver Patrick Stephens. 1985 978-0850596342.
• "Drivers: Roy Salvadori".GrandPrix.com. Retrieved25 September 2007.
• "Roy Salvadori".Grand Prix Racing. Archived fromthe original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved25 September 2007.
• "Drivers: Salvadori, Roy".Autocourse Grand Prix Archive. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved25 September 2007.

• 1922 births
• 2012 deaths
• English racing drivers
• English Formula One drivers
• Connaught Formula One drivers
• Gilby Engineering Formula One drivers
• BRM Formula One drivers
• Vanwall Formula One drivers
• Reg Parnell Racing Formula One drivers
• Aston Martin Formula One drivers
• British Touring Car Championship drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• 12 Hours of Sebring drivers
• 12 Hours of Reims drivers
• English people of Italian descent
• Sportspeople of Italian descent
• World Sportscar Championship drivers
• People from Tendring (district)
• Sportspeople from Essex
• Italian British racing drivers
• Ecurie Ecosse drivers
• 20th-century English sportsmen

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