Robert O'Brien (April 11, 1908 – February 10, 1987) 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 ...

from the United States. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, the

1952 Belgian Grand Prix The 1952 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 22 June 1952 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 3 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula O ...

Career

O'Brien was born in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. He mostly raced sports cars in the US, finishing fourth in the

1952 12 Hours of Sebring The Sebring International Grand Prix of Endurance, was a non-championship race. The race was held at the Sebring International Raceway, on March 15, 1952. Victory overall went to the No. 9 J. S. Donaldson Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica driven by Lar ...

in a

Ferrari 166 MM :''See also the 166 Inter GT car'' :''See also the 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans'' :''See also the Ferrari-Abarth 166 MM/53'' The Ferrari 166 S was a sports racing car built by Ferrari between 1948 and 1953, an evolution of its ''Colombo'' V12-pow ...

shared with Richard Cicurel. He later made a few appearances in Europe through his contacts in Belgium. This included an appearance at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix driving a

Simca-Gordini T15 The Simca-Gordini Type 15, also known simply as the Gordini Type 15, is an open-wheel race car, designed, developed, and built by French manufacturer Gordini, to compete in Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the high ...

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

. Qualifying slowest of the 22 entrants, 1 minute 23 seconds slower than the fastest time of Alberto Ascari, O'Brien circulated at the back and finished 14th of the 15 finishers. He subsequently drove (and retired) the same car in a race at the

Grenzlandring The Grenzlandring (German for "border-region ring"), sometimes written ''Grenzland-Ring'', is a former high-speed oval race track in the Lower Rhine area of Germany, around the town of Wegberg, located close to Mönchengladbach and the Dutch tow ...

in Germany before returning to the US. O'Brien is one of the more obscure drivers to have participated in the Formula One World Championship, and unsubstantiated rumours arose that he was involved with the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

and operated as a spy. He was later involved in the motor industry in his home state and in New York. O'Brien died in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1987.

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 ...

)

Career

Complete Formula One World Championship results

References

Further reading