Peter Hawthorn Ashdown (born 16 October 1934 in

Danbury, Essex Danbury is a village in the City of Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross, London and has a population of 6,500. It is situated on a hill above sea level. The city of Danbury, Connectic ...

) is a former

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 tw ...

driver. He drove in a single

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 Grand Prix, racing a

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 ...

. Ashdown had trained as a vehicle mechanic, and had been a few years in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

when he started racing. First seen in a

Dellow {{for, the surname, Dellow (surname) Dellow cars were made in a factory (owned by Delsons - who produced nuts and bolts) at Alvechurch, just south of Birmingham, England between 1949 and 1956. Dellow Motors Ltd was started by Ken Delingpol ...

with a Ford 10 engine, he continued around 1955 to race in a

Lotus Mark IX The Lotus Mark IX (1955) was an aluminium-bodied sports racing car manufactured by Lotus Engineering Ltd. About thirty of the Mark IX sports racing cars were made. It was closely related to the Lotus model Mark VIII (1954), of which only abo ...

as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, not being part of any particular racing team.Peter Ashdown
Motorsport Magazine, last accessed on 26 February 2023. Prior to Formula One, he was one of the leaders of the British

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

scene, but an accident at

Rouen-Les-Essarts Rouen-Les-Essarts was a motor racing circuit in Orival, near Rouen, France. From its opening in 1950, Rouen-Les-Essarts was recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, with modern pits, a wide track, and spectator grandstands. The street ci ...

in 1958, in which he broke his collarbone, considerably hampered his career. He continued racing, and competed in a

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 ...

(F2) Cooper-Climax entered by Alan Brown at the

1959 British Grand Prix The 1959 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Aintree Circuit on 18 July 1959. It was race 5 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 4 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It wa ...

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. I ...

. He finished in 12th position, third of the F2 cars and six laps down. From there he drove a

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola ...

and many small-engined sports cars, winning his class in the 1960 and 1962 1000km Nürburgring. He retired in 1962 and focused his efforts on a

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

dealership in Essex.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

1934 births Living people English racing drivers English Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers People from Danbury, Essex Sportspeople from Essex World Sportscar Championship drivers {{England-autoracing-bio-stub