| Born | (1952-03-28)28 March 1952 Erith, Kent, England, UK[1] |
|---|---|
| Died | 29 November 1975(1975-11-29) (aged 23) Arkley, London, England, UK |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1975 |
| Teams | Williams,Hill |
| Entries | 10 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1975 Spanish Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1975 United States Grand Prix |
Anthony William Brise (28 March 1952 – 29 November 1975) was an Englishracing driver, who took part in tenFormula One Grand Prix events in 1975, before dying in a plane crash withGraham Hill.
Brise was born inErith,Kent, the son of John Brise, a pig farmer and racing driver, who won theWorld Stock Car Championship on three occasions.[1] Both Tony and his brother Tim showed an interest in go-karting at a young age, and John Brise gave up his hobby to support them fully.[1]
Brise won his first UK championship in 1969, and switched to single-seater racing the next year, driving an Elden MK8 Formula Ford. In 1971 he placed second in the BOC British FF1600 Championship. While completing a BSc in Business Administration atAston University, he chose to continue with motor racing, joining Formula 3 in 1972 driving a Brabham BT28, the team run byBernie Ecclestone.[1] After switching to GRD 372, his performance increased until he was one of the top drivers in the formula.[1] He won two of the threeBritish Formula 3 Championships in 1973, sharing one (theLombard North Central championship) withRichard Robarts,[2] as well as winning the John Player. At the end of the season he won aGrovewood Award for the second time, shared withTom Pryce.[1]
Brise wished to move up toFormula 2 for the 1974 seasons, but was unable to due to financial limitations. Instead he bought a second-handMarch 733 car, fitting it with aHolbay-tuned Ford and entering the MCDFormula Atlantic series.[1] He won the first round of the British Championship unexpectedly, but subsequently wrote the car off in a crash atSnetterton.[1] However, his performance had brought him to the attention of Teddy Savory of Modus, who offered him a work drive in the series. Although the car was another modified F3 chassis, he drove well enough to earn a drive in a purpose-built car in 1975. He also drove a Modus M1 F3 in the Monaco Grand Prix F3 support race, finishing second behind Tom Pryce in a March 743.[1] Brise excelled in the new car in 1975, winning six consecutive races, at Snetterton,Oulton Park, and twice each atBrands Hatch andSilverstone, enough to win him the MCD InternationalFormula Atlantic Championship.[1] As a result of these achievements, he was contacted byFrank Williams in April, to make his Formula One debut standing in forJacques Laffite.
Brise made his Grand Prix debut on 27 April 1975 forWilliams at theSpanish Grand Prix inMontjuic Park nearBarcelona, a controversial race marred by strikes over safety issues, a high number of crashes, and the deaths of four spectators. Brise finished seventh in this race, two laps behind the leaders, his race affected by a collision withTom Pryce.[1]
Laffite returned for the subsequent Monaco Grand Prix, demoting Brise once again to Formula Atlantic, though former world championGraham Hill's retirement at that race, due to a failure to qualify, brought Brise straight back into the higher formula driving forEmbassy Hill, intended to be for the rest of the season.[1] Over the next few races Brise showed a lot of promise, recording some very fast qualifying times and frequently outperforming his team-mate,Alan Jones. However, a combination of technical difficulties and bad luck prevented him from ever finishing in high leader-board positions, and he took just one championship point. Nonetheless, by consensus he was considered a bright hope and one to watch for the future, with a successful season anticipated in 1976.[1]
On 29 November 1975, Hill and Brise, along with Andy Smallman, the team's designer, and three team mechanics,[1] were returning to London from southern France, where they were testing a new race car, the GH2. The Embassy Hill plane, a twin-engine six-seatPiper Aztec piloted by Hill, was attempting to land atElstree Airfield at night in thick fog when it crashed and burned at Arkley golf course, killing all six aboard.[3][4][5][6] Brise was 23 years old.
Brise's wife, Janet, was the daughter of triallist Reg Allen.[1] His nephew, David Brise, is currently driving in theBritcar Endurance Championship in aSaker RAPX.
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | WilliamsFW03 | CosworthV8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP 7 | MON | 19th | 1 | |||||||||
| Embassy Racing with Graham Hill | HillGH1 | BEL Ret | SWE 6 | NED 7 | FRA 7 | GBR 15 | GER Ret | AUT 15 | ITA Ret | USA Ret | |||||||||
Source:[7] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Formula 3 Championship BRSCC North Central Lombard Series Champion 1973 | Succeeded by Brian Henton (Combined championship) |
| Preceded by | British Formula 3 Championship BRSCCJPS Series Champion 1973 | Succeeded by Brian Henton (Combined championship) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
