Victor "Al" Pease (15 October 1921 – 4 May 2014) was a British-Canadian

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

driver, born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, England. He holds the unusual accolade of being the only driver to be disqualified from a Formula One World Championship race due to being too slow.

Biography

Growing up in England, he joined the British Army as a young man, serving in India, Rhodesia and Egypt. After his service, he emigrated to the United States, then Canada, in the 1960s; after a brief career as an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, he took up motorsports. He participated in three

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 27 August 1967. He is the only competitor disqualified from a World Championship race, the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix, for being too slow. He was black-flagged after a series of on-track incidents, the last involving

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and w ...

driver

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...

. In response, Matra owner

Ken Tyrrell Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automo ...

protested to the officials and had Pease disqualified. At the time, he had completed 22 laps in an uncompetitive car while the leaders had finished 46. His Formula One career was limited to three Canadian Grands Prix, consisting of a non-classification ( 1967, finishing 43 laps behind the leaders), a failure to start (engine trouble in 1968), and a disqualification ( 1969), this being notable because he is the only driver to have been disqualified for driving too slowly. Despite the brief duration of his Formula One career, Pease was highly successful in domestic Canadian motor sport competitions, and was inducted as a member of the

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a hall of fame run by the Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation as a not-for-profit charitable institution that "honours and recognizes the achievements of individuals and institutions that have m ...

in 1998. He died on 4 May 2014 at his home in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

External links

Biography
at Canadiandriver.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Pease, Al 1921 births 2014 deaths British Army soldiers English racing drivers English Formula One drivers English illustrators Canadian racing drivers Canadian Formula One drivers Sportspeople from Darlington British emigrants to Canada People from Sevierville, Tennessee British expatriates in the United States