David Philip Clapham (17 May 1931 in

Rawmarsh Rawmarsh (locally ) is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-northeast from Rotherham town centre and south-southwest of Swinton. ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, UK – 22 October 2005) was a

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 ...

and motor sport journalist from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Career

Clapham participated at many levels of motor sport in South Africa, including

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 ...

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

and saloon car racing, as well as the

South African Formula One Championship The South African Formula One Championship, was a Formula One motor racing championship held in South Africa between 1960 and 1975, including races in Rhodesia and Portuguese Mozambique. The front-running cars in the series were recently retire ...

. He was instrumental in bringing Formula Vee and Formula Ford to South Africa, and helped Jody Scheckter move to Europe where he got his big break into international motorsport. He took part in the

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, ...

Rand Grand Prix The Rand Grand Prix was a motor race held at various circuits in South Africa. The first event took place in 1937 but it was not held regularly until the 1960s, when it was run to Formula One rules and formed part of the non-Championship calenda ...

in 1963 and 1964, blowing the engine of his

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

in the latter. He had entered the

1965 South African Grand Prix The 1965 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Prince George Circuit, East London on 1 January 1965. It was race 1 of 10 in both the 1965 World Championship of Drivers and the 1965 International Cup for Formula One Manufac ...

two weeks later, but he withdrew the entry before the meeting took place.John Thompson, "The Formula One Record Book", Frewin, 1974, pp.210-211. Clapham also wrote articles and columns in the South African motor sport press, both during and after his racing career, and later remained in the sport in various administrative capacities. He died in 2005 after a short illness, leaving behind his wife Margaret, son Jeremy and daughter Bridget.

Results

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 ...

)

Non-Championship Formula One results

(

)

References

South African racing drivers South African Formula One drivers English emigrants to South Africa 1931 births 2005 deaths {{SouthAfrica-autoracing-bio-stub