Brian Henton (born 19 September 1946) is a former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

from England. He won both 1974

British Formula Three Championship British Formula Three Championship may refer to: *British Formula 3 International Series The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of ev ...

s and the 1980 European Formula Two Championship. He participated in 38

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, ...

Grands Prix, debuting on 19 July 1975, but never scored any championship points. Henton (nicknamed "Superhen" in the British racing press) came from a modest

council house A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

background and did not start racing until he was 23. On winning the minor British

Formula Vee Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in Brazil and Germany) or Formula Volkswagen is a popular open wheel, single-seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford. On the international stage, Niki Lauda, Eme ...

championship in 1971, ever-conscious of the value of public relations, he announced that he was going to be World Champion. This aim eluded him, but he enjoyed a successful career in

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

and

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

. Henton's F1 debut came in 1975 for Lotus, theoretically a good drive but the team was in turmoil with the

Lotus 72 The Lotus 72 is a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season. The 72 was a pioneering design featuring inboard brakes, side-mounted radiators in sidepods (as opposed to the nose-mou ...

finally uncompetitive and its replacement the

Lotus 76 The Lotus 76 is a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman, Tony Rudd and Ralph Bellamy and used by Team Lotus in the 1974 Formula One season. Development The 76 was intended to be a more advanced version of the Lotus 72, powered by the Ford ...

a failure, so nothing concrete was achieved. Between 1975 and 1978 he mixed Formula One and Formula Two drives (including a spell in a private

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

for his own British Formula One Racing Team), never quite establishing himself in either category, but clinched the 1980 F2 championship for

Toleman Toleman Motorsport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and participated in 70 Grands Prix. Origins The Toleman company was formed in 1926 by Edward Toleman for the purpose of delivering Ford c ...

, who took him into F1 for 1981. The first Toleman-Hart was something of a disaster, overweight and underdeveloped, and Henton only managed to qualify once. Unfruitful outings for Arrows and Tyrrell in 1982 led to no more success, though he did set the fastest lap at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

- Henton is the only driver in Formula One history to have set a fastest lap without ever scoring a championship point. Perhaps fittingly, his last Formula One outing was at the

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Rall ...

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

in April 1983, which also turned out to be the last non-championship F1 race in the modern era. Following his retirement from the sport, he returned to running a car dealership and later moved into

property development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

and in recent years has diversified into other areas, notably engineering. He has occasionally driven at historic events and holds

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

events at his home in Ingarsby Hall,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

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Racing record

Career summary

Complete European Formula Two 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 ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

) Henton drove

Rupert Keegan Rupert Keegan (born 26 February 1955) is a former racing driver from England. He participated in 37 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 8 May 1977. He scored no championship points. Keegan won the 1976 British Formula 3 Cha ...

's No. 18

Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...

during practice for the

1978 Austrian Grand Prix The 1978 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 August 1978 at Österreichring. This was Ronnie Peterson's last win before his death at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. Qualifying Qualifying classification *Positions in re ...

but was not officially entered for the race.

References

External links

Formula One World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henton, Brian English racing drivers English Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers People from Castle Donington 1946 births Living people Team Lotus Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Boro Formula One drivers British Formula One Racing Team Formula One drivers Toleman Formula One drivers Arrows Formula One drivers Tyrrell Formula One drivers Formula One team owners