Breschi could not suppress a feeling of release: "I had hated them both", she said, "first because I was aware of certain facts that were not right, and also because when I came out of the hospital and went back to the hotel, I found them in the square outside the hotel, laughing and playing a game of football with an empty beer can. Tragically, he was killed in an accident on normal roads, just months after his retirement. [24], Hawthorn won the 1958 Formula One Championship despite achieving only one win, against four by Moss. [3], Fiamma Breschi, Luigi Musso's girlfriend at the time of his death, revealed the nature of Musso's rivalry with Hawthorn and Collins in a television documentary, The Secret Life of Enzo Ferrari, many years after the death of Hawthorn. John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. var dt = new Date();
Deeply unhappy with the BRM team's management and car preparation, Hawthorn walked out of the team at this point. Within thirty days Collins too was dead, and the following January, Hawthorn. If you wish, you can also view information for the whole of GU9 here. ), Hawthorn overtook a Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'gull-wing' sports car driven by an acquaintance, the motor racing team manager Rob Walker. [37] Hawthorn was buried in West Street Cemetery in Farnham. There is evidence that Hawthorn had recently suffered blackouts, perhaps because of kidney failure. Riley, he entered the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy, a season-long contest run at Goodwood, winning it by one point. Hawthorn's liability for conscription was brought up in the House of Commons. Hawthorn rejoined the Ferrari factory team in 1957, and soon became friends with Peter Collins, a fellow Englishman and Ferrari team driver. The official inquiry into the accident ruled that Hawthorn was not responsible for the crash, and that it was merely a racing incident. Again, details on how to find the tree are in the book, easier now in the winter than the summer. January 2018 marked a very special return to our heritage site, The Old Tourist Trophy Workshops. [7] He also won the Ulster Trophy Handicap at Dundrod and the Leinster Trophy at Wicklow that year. Mike was driving the Cooper-Bristol Special Brew for the first time, and he caused quite a stir, for suddenly he was England’s great hope – a racing driver who could out drive established champions. With a passion for performance and luxury cars and a strong interest in motor sport we opened the doors as franchised TVR dealers and set about racing in the TVR Tuscan challenge. Breschi recalled that the antagonism between Musso and the two English drivers encouraged all three to take more risks: "The Englishmen (Hawthorn and Collins) had an agreement", she says. "[24][31], Hawthorn never married, but fathered a son, Arnaud Michael Delaunay, with Jacqueline Delaunay, whom he met in Reims after winning the French Grand Prix in 1953. Jaguar’s star was the dashing blond and ultra-patriotic 26-year-old Englishman Mike Hawthorn, a man known to hate all things German. Moss came agonisingly close to securing that elusive first world title in October 1958, but was pipped to the crown by the late Mike Hawthorn with just a single point separating the pair. The Grandstand and pit areas were demolished and rebuilt soon after. However, Ferrari's modified version of the design for 1957 was slower than Fangio and Collins's all-conquering 1956 Lancia Ferrari. However, a memorial Hawthorn tree for Mike was planted approx. Mike Hawthorn was found in the Jaguar's back seat, alive but dying. They had only given him another 3 years to live! After colliding with the Healey, the Mercedes skipped the earthen embankment separating the spectator area from the track, bounced through spectator enclosures, then hit a concrete stairwell parapet head-on. Later the car was raced and, with the reputation of both Hawthorn and Jaguar at stake, it surely would have been most unusual if the car had not undergone Jaguar's meticulous preparation procedure. document.write("© " + dt.getFullYear());
There is a hill and corner named after him at Brands Hatch and a corner at the Croft racing circuit at Croft-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, while in Towcester on the Shires estate, three miles from the Silverstone circuit, Hawthorn Drive is named after him. On 22 January 1959, only three months into his retirement, Hawthorn died in a car accident on the A3 Guildford bypass while driving his comprehensively modified 1958 Jaguar 3.4-litre saloon (now known as the 3.4 Mk 1) VDU 881 to London. The Tourist Trophy Garage:Standard Atlas Van Project", "British GP, 1952 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com", "French GP, 1953 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com", "Mike Hawthorn & the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans: The Cause and the Effect", Deadliest Crash:the Le Mans 1955 Disaster, "History of the Tourist Trophy – Race Profile", "Argentine GP, 1956 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com", "French GP, 1958 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com", "Monaco GP, 1958 Race Report – GP Encyclopedia – F1 History on Grandprix.com", "Italian GP, 1958 Race Report – GP Encyclopedia – F1 History on Grandprix.com", "Portuguese GP, 1958 Race Report – GP Encyclopedia – F1 History on Grandprix.com", "Morocco GP, 1958 Race Report – GP Encyclopedia – F1 History on Grandprix.com", Mike Hawthorn - 1958 World Champion Tribute, "Open University – Surrey Constabulary Archives", "Lewis Hamilton takes another swipe at F1 trophies after being named best British driver", "Goodwood, 14 Apr 1952 « International Libre « OldRacingCars.com", "Dundrod, 7 Jun 1952 « International Libre « OldRacingCars.com", "Results 1952 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Great Britain", "Formula 2 1952 - Grand Prix of Switzerland", "Results 1953 Formula 1 Grand Prix of France", "Results 1953 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany", "Results 1953 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Switzerland", "Results 1954 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Spain", "Results 1954 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Great Britain", "Results 1954 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany", "Results 1954 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Italy", "Results 1956 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Argentina", "Results 1957 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany", "Results 1957 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Great Britain", http://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-results/results-1958-formula-1-grand-prix, "Results 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Belgium", "Results 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Great Britain", "Results 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Portugal", "Results 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Italy", "Results 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Morocco", "Results 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Argentina", "500 Millas de Monza (Monzanapolis) 1958 standings", "Profile for racing driver Mike Hawthorn", Mike Hawthorn's Biography from his Tribute Site, 1959 historic film of National Sporting Club Award, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Hawthorn&oldid=1015427577, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 April 2021, at 12:22. ” Paddy” Johnstone and set up the Tourist Trophy Garage, selling and tuning motorcycles and cars. Mike Hawthorn & Rob Walker. Another change of team for 1956 – this time to BRM - was a failure, and Hawthorn's only podium came in Argentina where the non-appearance of his BRM allowed him to guest drive a Maserati 250F. Hawth… After overtaking Lance Macklin's Healey, Hawthorn suddenly braked in front of him on noticing an order to enter the pits to refuel, causing Macklin to swerve into the path of Levegh's Mercedes. Aside from two layout changes to make the circuit shorter, the track was largely unaltered since the inception of the race in 1923, when top speeds of cars were typically in the region of 100 km/h (60 mph). And you can watch incredible, emotional British Pathé newsreel on the tragedy. In 1951, driving a 1½-litre T.T. He had put the original Jano version of the car on the front row at its debut in the final F1 race of 1955 at Oulton Park. Mike Hawthorn made his competition debut on 2nd September at the Brighton Speed Trials and by the end of his first season he had several wins under his belt, together with the Brooklands Memorial Trophy; quite a year. [10], At Scuderia Ferrari for the 1953 season, Hawthorn immediately showed his worth with victory, at his ninth attempt, in the French Grand Prix at Reims, outmanoeuvring Juan Manuel Fangio in what became dubbed 'the race of the century' with the top four drivers finishing within five seconds of each other after 60 laps. On this day in 1959, Mike Hawthorn, Britain's first F1 world champion, died in a road accident, just three months after retiring from racing. This is somewhat unique in the history of the Scuderia, unless I have missed something. Mike Hawthorn was not a clinical driver in the Fangio and Moss mould, arguably a little inconsistent, but when he was on song he was almost unbeatable. Mike Hawthorn was Britain's first Formula 1 world champion and he died on this day in 1959 following a crash in his 1958 Jaguar 3.4-litre saloon Announcing Online Auctions! It was in this town that Hawthorn ran the Tourist Trophy Garage which sold Jaguars, Rileys, Fiats and Ferraris. He was engaged at the time of his death to the fashion model Jean Howarth, who later married another racing driver, Innes Ireland, in 1993. The current F1 season may be long - but in 1962, it did … At only 29 years old, Mike Hawthorn was dead. This antagonism was actually favourable rather than damaging to Ferrari. The death of so many spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for track design. For Vanwall was a work in progress, its team naive and boss Tony Vandervell cooking a clutch having insisted that he drive his racing car from Spa town to the circuit. Live as if you'll die today.” Of course, the Rebel Without A Cause’s own fate on Route 466, just three and a half months after the ‘55 Le Mans tragedy, is obviously sadly relative. Driving at speed (one witness estimated 80 m.p.h. Moss interceded on Hawthorn's behalf and the decision was ultimately reversed. At the coroner's inquest on 26 January the jury returned a verdict of accidental death. Hawthorn won three Grands Prix during his seven years of competition in the world championship – a small total by the standards of modern world champions, Jenson Button having just won his third last weekend. However, he believed a return to Ferrari could give him the championship in the superior Lancia Ferrari D50. In the final race, the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix, Hawthorn drove a conservative tactical race aiming to stay ahead of Moss's Vanwall teammates. Hailwood was known as "Mike The Bike" because of his natural riding ability on motorcycles with a … [3] His father owned the Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham, franchised to supply and service several high performance brands, including Jaguar and Ferrari. While the circumstances of the accident are well documented, the precise cause remains unknown.[33]. The impact shattered the front end of the car, which then somersaulted high, pitching debris into the spectator area, before landing atop the earthen embankment. [32], On 22 January 1959, only three months into his retirement, Hawthorn died in a car accident on the A3 Guildford bypass while driving his comprehensively modified 1958 Jaguar 3.4-litre saloon (now known as the 3.4 Mk 1) VDU 881 to London. [citation needed] Hawthorn died in a road accident three months after retiring; he was allegedly suffering from a terminal illness at the time. Late in 1946, Mike began a four year apprenticeship at Dennis Bros. of Guildford, which he didn’t much care for, for this stopped or at least restricted the time he could spend having fun with cars and bikes, and his gang of friends known as the “Members”. He had inherited the business from his father and the thriving business was assisted by the reputation of its proprietor, indeed by now the … The pits and grandstands had been reconstructed, but there were no barriers between the pit lane and the racing line, and only a 4 ft (1.2 m) earthen bank between the track and the spectators. Mike Hawthorn was born on April 10th 1929, in Mexborough, Yorkshire. The Grand Prix racer, 40, had left his house with his two children Michelle and David to buy fish and chips. Jan. 01, 1959 - Mike Hawthorn killed when car hits tree flashback - Silverstone 1956: Mike Hawthorn, Britain US world champion racing driver died yesterday when his Jaguar car skidded on the wet road and crashed into a tree near Guildford, Surrey. From here we aim to continue building our relationship with the local community as well as welcoming people from further afield to enjoy the Hawthorns experience. For after the race day all talk was about the blond-haired young driver who won his first two races and came second in the Formula One Race. Hawthorn was noted for wearing a bow tie when racing;[29][30] to the French, he became known as 'Le Papillon' (The Butterfly). The “Farnham Flyer”, as he was known locally, was truly one of Britain’s great drivers, and his name and spirit live on through the original Tourist Trophy Garage, now renamed Hawthorn’s in his honour. [12] He also won the BRDC International Trophy[13] and the Ulster Trophy[14] as well as the 24 Heures de Spa Francorchamps with Ferrari teammate Giuseppe Farina.[15]. On the morning of 22nd January 1959 Mike Hawthorn was chatting on the forecourt of his Tourist Trophy garage in Farnham, Surrey, prior to taking a drive to an appointment in London, 40 miles to the northeast. Brooks's car broke while narrowly leading Hawthorn, and Stuart Lewis-Evans in the third Vanwall crashed after a desperate attempt to move through the field and challenge Hawthorn running third; Evans later died of burns. [20] The death toll led to a ban on motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and other nations, until the tracks could be brought to a higher safety standard. On their way home a truck collided with … sports car class at the Brighton Speed Trials on 2 September 1950. Rare classic and collector cars vetted by our dealer network. This page combines information for the address Mike Hawthorn Drive, Farnham, GU9 7UH, and the neighbourhood in which it resides. Mike passed his common entrance exams and in 1942 went to Ardingly College, an expensive public school near Haywards Heath in Sussex. The accident occurred on a notoriously dangerous section of the road, the scene of 15 serious accidents (two fatal) in the previous two years; the road was also wet at the time. All Rights Reserved Designed by Spidersnet. It was the two of them against Luigi, who was not part of the agreement. The Jaguar glanced an oncoming Bedford lorry before careering back across the eastbound carriageway sideways into a roadside tree, uprooting it. Tony Brooks was there along with others and wreaths were left. [34] In an interview with motor racing journalist Eoin Young and writer Eric Dymock in 1988, Walker admitted he had indeed been racing Hawthorn, but had been advised by a police officer investigating the accident to make no further mention of it lest he incriminate himself. However, the French Grand Prix changed everyone’s views. Unimpressed, Hawthorn was back with a slumping Ferrari … In Farnham, the town where he lived up to the time of his death, there is a street named Mike Hawthorn Drive. He retired the car before half distance owing to deteriorating handling and brakes. That year he would win four times. [39], (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Having wasted most of his time on non-academic pursuits he left school in the summer of 1946 to further pursue his love of cars and motorcycles. (Races in italics indicate fastest lap), Complete Formula One World Championship results. He made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Grote Prijs van Belgie on the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, finishing in fourth place. Yet no records have so far been located at Jaguar … During the 1957 and 1958 racing seasons, the two Englishmen became engaged in a fierce rivalry with Luigi Musso, another Ferrari driver, for prize money. Moss had failed to respond, possibly doubting Hawthorn could lap so fast with damaged drum brakes. The faster the drivers went, the more likely it was that a Ferrari would win." However, while not denying the possibility, Lofty England told us that he did not remember Mike Hawthorn telling him about such work and considered it unlikely that he wouldn't have mentioned it. [5], Mike Hawthorn made his competition debut on 2 September 1950 in his 1934 Riley Ulster Imp, KV 9475, winning the 1,100 cc sports car class at the Brighton Speed Trials. Racing the D type in Italy, Hawthorn crashed and suffered very serious burns, his second bad accident of the year, leaving him disillusioned with racing. A little less known fact was that Mike Hawthorn was suffering from a Kidney disease which caused him to loose one kidney in 1955. The postcode is within the Farnham Moor Park ward/electoral division, which is in the constituency of South West Surrey. The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the most successful British or Commonwealth Formula 1 driver every year since 1959. And chips this way I could find a sense of peace safety standards where did mike hawthorn live track design between 1963 1974! Motorcycles and cars season fourth overall liability for conscription was brought up in the constituency of South West.. Mph ) 11 ] this and two other podium finishes helped him end the season run at Goodwood commemorating! Main successes came at the beginning of the death of Britain ’ s views which caused him the... 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