David Alan Hampshire (29 December 1917 – 25 August 1990) was a British

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 was born in

Mickleover Mickleover is a large suburban village of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby city centre, northeast of Burton-upon-Trent, west of Nottingham city centre, southeast of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxete ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and died in

Newton Solney Newton Solney is a small village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England, located about two miles (3 km) from the East Staffordshire border, near to Burton upon Trent. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 659. I ...

, in South Derbyshire. Hampshire first appeared amongst the likes of Bira, Villoresi,

Tony Rolt Major Anthony Peter Roylance Rolt, MC & Bar, (16 October 1918 – 6 February 2008) was a British racing driver, soldier and engineer. A war hero, Rolt maintained a long connection with the sport, albeit behind the scenes. The Ferguson 4WD p ...

Raymond Mays Thomas Raymond Mays (1 August 1899 – 6 January 1980) was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service i ...

, Peter Whitehead, Leslie Brooke and

Reg Parnell Reg or REG may refer to: * Reginald (disambiguation) * Reg or desert pavement * Raising for Effective Giving, a charity * Random event generator (parapsychology) * Raptor Education Group * Regal Entertainment Group * Regular language * .reg MS W ...

in the 1939 Nuffield Trophy at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

. However, the Maserati 6CL which he was driving, formerly owned by Arthur Dobson and re-engineered into an car, only managed a few laps, retiring with a melted piston. The car was subsequently returned to format. He raced the 6CL again at the 1939

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

Whit Monday meeting and the Sydenham Trophy at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

on 20 May (televised by the BBC). It had a final outing at Donington Park on 12 August 1939 just before the outbreak of

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the Second World War, there were virtually no circuits in England to begin with so sprints were undertaken at Gransden Lodge and

Shelsley Walsh Shelsley Walsh is a small village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, on the western side of the River Teme. For administrative purposes it is presently located in the Teme Valley ward of the county’s Malvern Hills district. In the 2011 ...

. Later in 1946, he competed in his Delage 158L (a 1927 GP car) in the

Albi Grand Prix The Albi Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de l'Albigeois) is a motor race held in Albi, in the Tarn department of Southern France. The first race took place in 1933 and was won by Pierre Veyron in a Bugatti Type 51A. After the Second World Wa ...

and the Grand Prix des Nations in which he finished eighth. In 1947, he first drove Reg Parnell's "The Challenger" in the British Empire Trophy and Parnell's

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

E-type (GP1) at Lausanne both ending in retirements. On the whole, 1948 was more fruitful: he finished second in his

Delage Delage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Dela ...

158L in the 1948 British Empire Trophy at Douglas, Isle of Man, and seventh in the

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

Grand Prix in the Netherlands. He also competed in that year's Jersey Road Race. In 1949, with the newly acquired (but 10-year-old) ERA R12b he was fourth in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and also fourth at the Goodwood Trophy race. There were top ten results in the Jersey Road Race and the British Empire Trophy, an 11th position at the International Trophy Meeting, but retirements at the Albi and Lausanne GPs. During the 1950 Formula One season, he competed in two World Championship

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, and numerous non-Championship Formula One races. He took pole position for the non-Championship Jersey Road Race in the

Scuderia Ambrosiana Scuderia Ambrosiana was an Italian motor racing team that competed in Grand Prix motor racing and the Formula One World Championship. The team was founded in 1937 by drivers Giovanni Lurani, Luigi Villoresi, Franco Cortese and Eugenio Minetti and ...

Maserati 4CLT The Maserati 4CL and its derived sister model the Maserati 4CLT are single-seat open-wheel Grand Prix racing cars that were designed and built by Maserati. The 4CL was introduced at the beginning of the 1939 season, as a rival to the Alfa Rome ...

, but his maiden Formula One win eluded him when the car's magneto failed. Nevertheless, he recorded the fastest lap of the race, which was won by Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari. Later in the season he did finally manage to take a Formula One race victory in the

1950 Nottingham Trophy The 1950 Nottingham Trophy was a non-championship Formula One motor race held on 7 August 1950 at the Retford Gamston Airport, in Retford, Nottinghamshire, England. Classification Race References * {{F1 NC race report , Name_of_race ...

at Gamston, which he won in a Scuderia Ambrosiana

. He competed in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans race in a works

Aston Martin DB2 The Aston Martin DB2 is a grand tourer that was sold by Aston Martin from May 1950 until April 1953. The successor to the 2-Litre Sports model, it had a comparatively advanced dual overhead cam 2.6 L Lagonda straight-6 engine in place of ...

where, along with his friend, Reg Parnell, he finished third in class and seventh overall.

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

*Race results taken fro
ChicaneF1.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampshire, David 1917 births 1990 deaths English racing drivers English Formula One drivers Scuderia Ambrosiana Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers People from Mickleover Sportspeople from Derby