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Tom Walkinshaw
Walkinshaw in 2007
Nationality	British
Born	(1946-08-14)14 August 1946 Mauldslie, Midlothian, Scotland
Died	12 December 2010(2010-12-12) (aged 64) Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England
Teams	MG Midget, Team Lotus, Tom Walkinshaw Racing
Championship titles
Scottish FF1600, European Touring Car Championship

Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010)^[1] was a Britishracing car driver fromScotland and the founder of the racing teamTom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professionalrugby union, as owner ofGloucester Rugby, and chairman of the team owners organisation for theAviva Premiership.^[2]

Walkinshaw was born at Mauldslie Farm, nearPenicuik, Midlothian, Scotland. He began racing in 1968, starting in anMG Midget, before moving on to aLotusFormula Ford car. The following year he won the Scottish FF1600 title at the wheel of a Hawke. In 1970, he entered the BritishFormula Three championship with Lotus. He later moved to theMarch 'works' team, where he broke his ankle in a racing accident.^[3] Continuing his career despite this setback, he drove in many classes, includingFormula 5000 andFormula Two.^[4]

Ford hired Walkinshaw to drive aCapri on theBritish Touring Car Championship circuit in 1974. This resulted in him winning his class that year. In 1976 Walkinshaw establishedTom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), continuing to drive for his own team. He competed in the 1976 World Championship for Makes, sharing a Hermetite-sponsored BMW 3.5 CSL with John Fitzpatrick. The pair achieved several good results including a dramatic victory, by just 1.3 seconds, in the Silverstone 6 Hours. In 1984 he won theEuropean Touring Car Championship in a 5.3-litre,V12Jaguar XJS.^[5]

In September 1984, Walkinshaw had teamed up with Australian driverJohn Goss to drive anAustralian Group C spec XJS in theBathurst 1000. After qualifying in 10th spot, Walkinshaw never left the starting line after transmission failure and was hit from behind by aChevrolet Camaro. Several cars also joined the crash causing the race to be red flagged and restarted 30 minutes later (the first restart in the race's history).

In 1985, Jaguar retired the XJS from Group A racing and TWR was forced to use the cars they'd been racing in theBritish Touring Car Championship, the 3.5-litreV8Rover Vitesse in theEuropean Touring Car Championship. Walkinshaw and Percy won 6 of the 14 races in the championship but could only finish the championship 3rd behind theEggenbergerVolvo 240T's ofGianfranco Brancatelli and Thomas Lindström.

With Australia's move to Group A in 1985, Walkinshaw vowed to return to Bathurst with his ETCC Jaguars in a bid to win the Australian classic. The three ETCC Jags were brought out of retirement and shipped to Bathurst with the help of "Jaguar Rover Australia" (JRA) and proceeded to dominate practice and qualifying, with Walkinshaw claiming pole position,Jeff Allam claiming second spot on the grid and provisional pole sitter John Goss starting 6th. Driving with regular ETCC co-driverWin Percy, Walkinshaw finished 3rd in the race after leading for over two-thirds distance following a split oil line late in the race. The Allam/Ron Dickson car was out after 3 laps with engine failure when broken glass from the cars right headlight got sucked into the intake system, while the Goss/Armin Hahne car would win for TWR after having to battle for over 100 laps of the 6.172 km (3.835 mi) longMount Panorama Circuit with a broken drivers seat which had to be held in place by cable ties attached to the roll cage.

The Rovers, with sponsorship from Bastos/Texaco, were again the TWR cars for the renamed ETCC (which had become the FIATCC in 1986 in anticipation of the1987 World Touring Car Championship). Walkinshaw was again a favourite to take out the title, but once again would finish 3rd. Co-driver Win Percy was originally announced as the 1986 champion before results from earlier races were amended following protest hearings. Walkinshaw had intended to return to Bathurst in1986 with the V12 Jaguars but withdrew when JRA refused to help with funds following a downturn in the Australian car market.

With sponsorship from the NZ based Strathmore Group, Walkinshaw took the Jaguars to Japan and New Zealand for the 1986 Fuji InterTEC 500 and the XJS' final race, the1987 Wellington 500. After some engine work which lifted the V12's power output to 500 hp (373 kW; 507 PS), Walkinshaw proved that the 1984 spec Jags were still competitive in 1986 by qualifying on pole at the fastFuji circuit in front of the newNissan Skyline RS DR30s andHolden VK Commodore SS Group As. Walkinshaw comfortably led the race for the first 6 laps from teammate Jeff Allam and AustralianPeter Brock in hisHolden Dealer Team VK Commodore before retiring with no oil pressure.

After entering into a partnership with Australian car manufacturerHolden in February 1987 (at the expense of Brock's HDT Special Vehicles operation), Walkinshaw fully intended to compete in the inauguralWorld Touring Car Championship driving a 4.9-litreV8Holden VL Commodore SS Group A, but withdrew before the first race atMonza in protest at the US$60,000 entrance fee imposed byBernie Ecclestone who had put in charge of the WTCC by theFIA. Walkinshaw and Jeff Allam appeared with the car at theNürburgring round of the championship but the car was uncompetitive against the newFord Sierra RS Cosworths andBMW M3s, retiring with brake problems.

In 1988 TWR developed theHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV and Walkinshaw again teamed with Jeff Allam at theRAC Tourist Trophy atSilverstone. Although still not a match for theFord Sierra RS500s, Walkinshaw qualified the Commodore in 9th place. The pair finished the race in 15th place following various problems with the car.

Tom Walkinshaw's last race as a driver was the1988 Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst. In partnership with AustralianLarry Perkins, TWR shipped the ETCC Commodore to Australia for the race as part of theHolden Special Vehicles team. Following a messy lead up to the race, which included Walkinshaw illegally protesting the five leading Australian built Sierras, Walkinshaw and Allam qualified in 13th place (slower than thePerkins Engineering built team car), and was the second retirement after just 5 laps with rear suspension failure. Walkinshaw himself was cross-entered in the Perkins/Denny Hulme car and drove the car later in the race. The car was retired with engine failure after 137 laps while in 2nd place. Walkinshaw's protest against the Sierras was later found to be illegal because Perkins Engineering was the entrant for the HSV team and not TWR. The stewards of the meeting had erred in letting Walkinshaw lodge the protest under TWR's FIA licence as only a race entrant was entitled to lodge protests under the rules of the meeting. In an ironic twist to Walkinshaw's last race meeting as a driver, the three HSV team cars, including the team's spare car, were found to have illegal modifications to the steering racks after a counter-protest byDick Johnson Racing team managerNeal Lowe, though no action was taken as the spare car didn't start the race and both race cars failed to finish.

Following the Tooheys 1000, Walkinshaw retired from driving to concentrate on the management of TWR's increasing motorsports portfolio.

In 1975 Walkinshaw establishedTom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), a group whose business was the manufacture and design of racing and road cars. TWR ran touring car programmes in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. In 1983 the TWR team took eleven wins in eleven races in theBritish Saloon Car Championship runningRover Vitesses, before being stripped of the title for a technical infringement. TWR also ran aJaguar XJ-SETCC touring car programme before taking on theirWorld Sportscar Championship programme. In six years the programme wonLe Mans twice (1988 and 1990) and the World Championships three times (1987, 1988 and 1991). The same team brought engineerRoss Brawn to prominence.^[6]

In 1991 Walkinshaw was recruited as engineering director of theBenetton F1 team which subsequently won the 1995Formula One World Championship. He was involved in the recruitment ofMichael Schumacher by Benetton after the German'sFormula One debut with theJordan team. As engineering director, his role also came under scrutiny when the team was investigated for suspected technical infringements during the1994 season, including the potential use of banned electronic aids and unauthorised modifications to the refuelling apparatus used on the cars. Although illegal software was found in the Benettons, the FIA had no evidence that it had ever been used in a race and no action was taken against the team.

For 1995 Walkinshaw bought 50% of theLigier team from Benetton team principalFlavio Briatore. His intention was to take over the team completely, but he was unable to purchase 100% of the team and therefore pulled out of the deal. Instead he bought theArrows team, achieving a coup for the1997 Formula One season by recruiting reigning world championDamon Hill to his squad.

In 1997 Walkinshaw was voted Autocar Man of the Year. By this stage the TWR Group employed 1500 employees in the UK, Sweden, Australia and the United States. At the time, Walkinshaw was also managing director of Arrows Grand Prix International.

His TWR racing group went into liquidation in 2002 after the Arrows team ran out of money. This led to the Australian arm of the operation being bought byHolden. However, since the practice of teams being owned by manufacturers in theSupercars Championship was banned, Holden had to divest the team's assets and sell theHolden Racing Team to lead driverMark Skaife, and K-Mart Racing (laterHSV Dealer Team) to John and Margaret Kelly (the parents of V8 Supercar driversTodd andRick).

In 2005 Tom Walkinshaw returned to the V8 Supercars Australia and began a new relationship with his former teams, helping lead Holden to its first series win since 2002 through driver Rick Kelly (2006) andGarth Tander (2007). In late 2006Walkinshaw Performance bought the small Australian sports car manufacturerElfin Cars. In 2007 Walkinshaw Performance acquired a 50% stake in the Holden Racing Team, and in 2008 fully re-acquired the team from Skaife.^[7] 2009 saw the debut of Walkinshaw Racing a two car operation known individually asBundaberg Red Racing and TeamAutobarn.

Walkinshaw died on Sunday 12 December 2010, aged 64, from complications arising from cancer.^[2][8] He is survived by his son Fergus Walkinshaw from his first marriage, and his second wife Martine Walkinshaw and their sons Ryan and Sean. Walkinshaw's memorial service was held at Gloucester Cathedral on 4 February 2011.

Fergus Walkinshaw, who has been racing since 11 years old, inclusive of Ginetta Juniors and GTSupercup, has followed in his fathers footsteps and has restarted TWR in October 2023.

Ryan and Sean followed their father into motorsport, Ryan in management as one of the team principals of the racing team that wears the family name,Walkinshaw Andretti United, the descendant of the Australian arm ofTom Walkinshaw Racing. The team is co-owned byAndretti Autosport andUnited Autosports and races in the AustralianSupercars Championship. Sean as a racing driver who competes regularly inGT racing, most often inGT3 spec series likeGT World Challenge Europe.

Results sourced from Driver Database and History of Touring Car Racing.^[9][10]

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class)

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Ineligible to score points.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
1973	Datsun UK Ltd	Datsun Sunny Coupé GX	MNZ	SAL	MAN	NUR	SPA	ZAN	LEC	SIL 9*							NC	0
1982	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Jaguar XJS	MNZ Ret	VAL 3	DON Ret	PER	MUG Ret	BRN 1	SAL 2	NUR 1	SPA Ret	SIL 1	ZOL				3rd	107
1983	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Jaguar XJS	MNZ 2	VAL 3	DON 5	PER 1	MUG 3	BRN 1	ZEL 1	NUR Ret	SAL 1	SPA Ret	SIL 9	ZOL 8			2nd	168
1984	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Jaguar XJS	MNZ 1	VAL 3	DON 9	PER 2	BRN 1	ZEL 1	SAL Ret	NUR 5	SPA 1	SIL Ret	ZOL 3	MUG Ret			1st	181
1985	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Rover Vitesse	MNZ 1	VAL 1	DON 1	AND Ret	BRN 8	ZEL Ret	SAL 2	NUR Ret	SPA Ret	SIL 1	NOG 1	ZOL Ret	EST Ret	JAR 1	3rd	198
1986	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Rover Vitesse	MNZ 1	DON 1	HOC 4	MIS 3	AND 2	BRN 2	ZEL Ret	NUR 4	SPA Ret	SIL 3	NOG 16	ZOL 3	JAR 2	EST 2	3rd	190
1988	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	MNZ	DON	EST	JAR	DIJ	VAL	NUR	SPA	ZOL	SIL 15*	NOG				NC	0

• Ineligible to score points.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1987	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	MNZ	JAR	DIJ	NUR Ret	SPA	BNO	SIL	BAT	CLD	WEL	FJI	NC	0

† Not eligible for series points

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	DC	Points
1988	Holden Special Vehicles	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	BAT Ret	WEL	PUK	FJI	NC	0

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1976	Hermetite Productions Ltd.	John Fitzpatrick	BMW 3.5CSL	Gr.5	17	DNF	DNF
1977	Luigi Racing	Eddy Joosen Claude de Wael	BMW 3.0 CSL	IMSA	45	DNF	DNF
1981	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Tetsu Ikuzawa Peter Lovett	Mazda RX-7	IMSA GTO	107	DNF	DNF
1982	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Chuck Nicholson Peter Lovett	Mazda RX-7	IMSA GTX	180	DNF	DNF

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1974	Ford UK/Hermetite	John Fitzpatrick	Ford Capri II 3.0	Div. 4	NA	DNF	DNF
1975	Hermetite Products	John Fitzpatrick	Ford Capri II 3.0	Div. 4	NA	DNF	DNF
1977	Luigi BMW Racing with Castrol	Umberto Grano	BMW 530i US	+2500	NA	DNF	DNF
1979	Valvoline Racing	Jacques Goujon	Ford Capri III 3.0S	+2500	NA	DNF	DNF
1981	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Pierre Dieudonné	Mazda RX-7	−2500	456	1st	1st
1982	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Chuck Nicholson Win Percy	Jaguar XJS	Div. 3	9th hour	DNF	DNF
1983	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Pierre Dieudonné	Jaguar XJS	Div. 3	11th hour	DNF	DNF
1984	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Win Percy Hans Heyer	Jaguar XJS	Div. 3	453	1st	1st
1985	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Eddy Joosen Martin Brundle Marc Duez	Rover Vitesse	Div. 3	366	DNF	DNF
		Win Percy Hans Heyer	Rover Vitesse	Div. 3	86	DNF	DNF
1986	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Win Percy Eddy Joosen	Rover Vitesse	Div. 3	383	DNF	DNF

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1984	John Goss Racing	John Goss	Jaguar XJS	Group C	0	DNF	DNF
1985	JRA Ltd /Jaguar Racing	Win Percy	Jaguar XJS	C	160	3rd	3rd
1988	Holden Special Vehicles	Jeff Allam	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	A	5	DNF	DNF
		Larry Perkins Denny Hulme	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	A	137	DNF	DNF

• Tom Walkinshaw Racing restablished to make new high performance road cars

• Collings, Timothy (2004).The Piranha Club. Virgin Books.ISBN 0-7535-0965-2.

• Scottish racing drivers
• Formula One team owners
• Formula One team principals
• English rugby union chairmen and investors
• Gloucester Rugby
• Sportspeople from Midlothian
• 1946 births
• 2010 deaths
• British Touring Car Championship drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• 24 Hours of Spa drivers
• Deaths from lung cancer in England
• World Sportscar Championship drivers
• European Touring Car Championship drivers
• Sportspeople from Penicuik
• Arrows Grand Prix International
• Benetton Formula
• 20th-century English businesspeople
• 20th-century Scottish businesspeople
• Ecurie Ecosse drivers
• Sportspeople from Chipping Norton

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