Jack Sears (16 February 1930 – 6 August 2016) was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon.

Biography

Sears was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

is also involved in motorsport. He won the inaugural

British Saloon Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

in 1958, driving an

Austin Westminster The Austin Westminster series are large saloon and estate cars that were sold by the British manufacturer Austin from 1954, replacing the A70 Hereford. The Westminster line was produced as the A90, A95, A99, A105, and A110 until 1968 when th ...

. After finishing on joint maximum points with

Tommy Sopwith Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS (18 January 1888 – 27 January 1989) was an English aviation pioneer, businessman and yachtsman. Early life Sopwith was born in Kensington, London, on 18 January 1888. He was the eig ...

, it was initially suggested the champion would be decided by the toss of a coin. The idea was very unpopular with both drivers and at the final meeting at

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 ...

, with a draw being a likely possibility, two identical looking Marcus Chambers-owned

Riley One-Point-Five The Riley One-Point-Five and similar Wolseley 1500 are automobiles produced by Riley and Wolseley respectively from 1957 until 1965. They utilised the Morris Minor floorpan, suspension and steering but were fitted with the larger B-Series en ...

works rally cars were brought along for a five lap shoot-out. To make the race fair, they raced five laps, switched cars, then raced five laps again with the driver who had the quickest combined time being crowned champion. In pouring rain, Sears became the first ever champion by 1.6 seconds. He regained the title in 1963, driving a variety of cars including a

Ford Cortina GT The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five ...

, a seven-litre

Ford Galaxie The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through to 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the e ...

and a

Lotus Cortina Lotus Cortina is the commonly used term for the Ford Cortina Lotus, a high-performance sports saloon, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on t ...

, which was used for the final two races. Sears also co-drove a Ferrari 330 LMB with Mike Salmon to a fifth place in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours, the best result in the abbreviated racing history of the LMB.

Death

Sears died on 6 August 2016 from lung cancer. He had previously survived a heart attack.

Racing record

Complete British Saloon Car 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.) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. ‡ Event with 3 races staged for the different classes. * Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Profile of Jack Sears
HistoricRacing.com

written by Jack Sears who reconnoitred the event

1930 births 2016 deaths English racing drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship Champions Brighton Speed Trials people 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Deaths from lung cancer in the United Kingdom {{England-autoracing-bio-stub 12 Hours of Reims drivers