Thomas Maldwyn Pryce (11 June 1949 – 5 March 1977) 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 Wales known for winning the
Brands Hatch Race of Champions, a non-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, ...
race, in 1975 and for the circumstances surrounding his death. Pryce is the only Welsh driver to have won a Formula One race and is also the only Welshman to lead a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix: two laps of the
1975 British Grand Prix.
Pryce started his career in Formula One with the small
Token team, making his only start for them at the
1974 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1974 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nivelles on 12 May 1974. It was race 5 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 85-lap race was won by ...
. Shortly after winning the
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...
support race for the
1974 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1974 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 26 May 1974. It was race 6 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 78-lap race was won by ...
, Pryce joined the
Shadow
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...
team and scored his first points in
Germany in only his fourth race. Pryce later claimed two podium finishes, his first in
Austria in 1975 and the second in
Brazil a year later. Pryce was considered by his team and most of its contemporaries as a great wet-weather driver.
In his four seasons in the sport with the Shadow team from 1974 to 1977, Pryce was identified as a potential future race winner and future world champion. Although the car was often unreliable and rarely in the points, it was on occasion quick enough to grab headlines.
During the practice session for the
1977 South African Grand Prix
The 1977 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXIII The Citizen Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 5 March 1977, won by Niki Lauda of Austria. The race is principally remembered for the accident that re ...
, run in wet conditions, Pryce was faster than everyone, including world champion drivers
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
and
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
. During the race, he collided at high speed with a safety marshal, Frederik Jansen van Vuuren, and both men were killed. A memorial to Pryce was unveiled in 2009 in his home town of
Ruthin
Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and ...
.
Personal and early life
Tom Pryce was born on 11 June 1949 in
Ruthin
Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and ...
,
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
, Wales, to Jack and Gwyneth Pryce ( Hughes).
Jack had served 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) and ...
as a tail-gunner on a
Lancaster bomber
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling ...
before joining the local police force. Gwyneth was a
district nurse
District Nurses work manage care within the community and lead teams of community nurses and support workers. The role requires registered nurses to take a NMC approved specialist practitioner course. Duties generally include visiting house-bound ...
. Pryce's older brother, David, died at the age of three leaving Tom an only child for much of the time he was growing up, although his parents did foster a young girl called Sandra for a while. Pryce, known to his friends as Mald, attended Nantglyn Primary School,
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
.
The family later moved to
Towyn
Towyn ( cy, Tywyn) is a seaside resort in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the town and county councils.
Location
It is located between Rhyl, in Denbighshire, and Abergele in Conwy.
Demography
According to th ...
, Denbighshire, due to Jack's job.
Pryce took an interest in cars while driving a baker's van at the age of 10, before informing his parents that he wanted to be a racing driver. During an interview with
Alan Henry
Alan Henry (9 June 1947 – 3 March 2016) was a British Grand Prix reporter and book author.
Career
Henry had been a Grand Prix reporter since the early 1970s. He was the Formula One correspondent of ''The Guardian'' newspaper and until the end o ...
in 1975, he stated that he had wanted to become a
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
, but thought he was not intelligent enough. Like many future Formula One drivers, Pryce had a childhood racing hero. In his case it was
Lotus's Scottish driver
Jim Clark
James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...
. Pryce's mother recalled that he was very upset when Clark died at the
Hockenheimring
The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...
in April 1968. His father noted that "he was very upset when
Jochen Rindt
Jochen is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Jochen Asche, East German luger, competed during the 1960s
*Jochen Böhler (born 1969), German historian, specializing in the history of World War II
*Jochen Babock (born 1953), East G ...
was killed, too". After he left school at 16, Pryce's mother insisted that he take an apprenticeship as a tractor mechanic at Llandrillo Technical College, giving him "something to fall back on", as she put it, if his career as a racing driver was unsuccessful.
In 1975 Pryce married Fenella, more commonly known as Nella, whom he met at a disco in
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Ch ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in 1973. Following the death of her husband, Nella went on to run an antiques store in
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
with Janet Brise, the widow of
Tony Brise
Anthony William Brise (28 March 1952 – 29 November 1975) was an English racing driver, who took part in ten Formula One Grand Prix events in 1975, before dying in a plane crash with Graham Hill.
Early life
Brise was born in Erith, Kent ...
, who died in a plane crash in 1975 with fellow racing driver,
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...
and later moved to France.
Helmet design
Tom Pryce's helmet design was, in comparison to later drivers', simple and restrained. His helmet was plain white all over until 1970. At that year's race at
Castle Combe
Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham. A castle once stood in the area, but was demolis ...
, his father asked Pryce to make his helmet stand out more so that he could easily identify him in a pack of cars. Pryce added five black vertical lines to his helmet, placed just above his visor. From that time the only change to this design was the addition of a
Welsh flag
The flag of Wales ( cy, Baner Cymru or , meaning 'the red dragon') consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exis ...
to the side of his helmet in 1974.
Career
Pre-Formula One
1969–1971: Early years
Pryce's first steps into motor racing came at the
Mallory Park
Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...
circuit in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
when he was 20. Pryce was put through his paces by
Trevor Taylor, an ex-Team Lotus driver and old teammate of Pryce's childhood hero Clark. He later became a star in the
Formula 5000
Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...
series. From there, Pryce went on to compete in the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
Crusader Championship'', a series run by ''Motor Racing Stables'' for racing school pupils using
Lotus 51
The Lotus 51 was an open-wheel Formula Ford race car built in 1967 by the British motorsport team Lotus. It was powered by a Ford ''Crossflow'' four-cylinder engine (the same type of engine used in the Ford Cortina), developing a respectable , w ...
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 ...
cars. Races alternated between the
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 ...
and
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
circuits; Pryce made his début at the former. "The races were
£35 a time. But I sold my
Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
and my parents offered all the help and encouragement I could wish for" Pryce recalled to Alan Henry.
The prize for the overall winner of the series was a Formula Ford
Lola T200 worth £1,500. The series was decided at the last round, held at Silverstone, the day before the 1970 Formula One
International Trophy
The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event in Britain, ...
. Pryce qualified on the third row for the race, which was held in rain. Jack Pryce remembered that his son was rubbing his hands in delight: "he always loved racing in the rain". The early part of the race was led by a driver called Chris Smith but then heavy rain started and Pryce was able to catch up with Smith and overtake him before winning by a comfortable margin. He was given his Lola by
Sir Max Aitken.
Pryce took his new car to Brands Hatch, where he was allowed to house it in one of the old stables at the bottom of the paddock. Pryce soon abandoned his farming career and moved to a guest house in
West Kingsdown
West Kingsdown is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England, on the A20 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Swanley, 5.5 miles (9 km) northeast of Sevenoaks and from London.
The Area
The parish was part of Axsta ...
, near the Brands Hatch circuit. Pryce continued to make a name for himself during 1971, entering a new twin-seater Sportscar category called
Formula F100
The Formula F100 was a racing class in 1970 and 1971. The class was open to lightweight sports cars powered by a 1300cc engine (usually a Ford Kent engine or 1300cc BMC engine).
History
The Formula F100 was launched by Geoff Clarke and the Motor ...
, which he won with what was described by motorsports author
David Tremayne
David John Tremayne is a UK-based motor racing journalist. He has written extensively about the Land Speed Record.
He was the Formula One correspondent for ''The Independent''.
He is one of the founding partners of '' GrandPrix+'', the sport ...
as "embarrassing ease". He then moved up to
Formula Super Vee
Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe was ...
, driving the then-choice Royale RP9, for
Team Rumsey Investments
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...
, and soon made his
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...
début for the same manufacturer at Brands Hatch.
1972–73: Lower formulae
In that race at Brands Hatch, Pryce took an unfancied
Royale RP11 to first place in the Formula Three support race for the 1972 Formula One
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...
against many established Formula Three drivers such as
Roger Williamson,
Jochen Mass
Jochen Richard Mass (born 30 September 1946) is a German former racing driver.
Life and career
Born in Dorfen, Bavaria 50 km (31 mi) from Munich, Mass participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 Jul ...
and
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
. So large was Pryce's advantage at the end of the race, many of the other teams voiced an opinion that Pryce's car had run the race underweight; it turned out that the circuit's weighbridge certificate had expired and everyone's cars had been underweight. Pryce retired from the leading group in the following two rounds at
Oulton Park
Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...
and
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 ...
, and then during practice for the
support race of the
1972 Monaco Grand Prix his car came to a stop at ''Casino Square'' after a wire had come loose. He had exited his car to correct the problem when
Peter Lamplough lost control of his car and struck the Royale RP11. Pryce was knocked into a shop window and broke a leg.
The Welshman was back in action two weeks after his incident in Monaco. Pryce also ran in the Formula SuperVee series, winning the series by a comfortable margin, "I won just about every race I went in for" Pryce recalled. A run with Royale's
Formula Atlantic
Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...
works team was also in store for Pryce during 1972, where he took
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
for the final three rounds of the championship and won the final round at Brands Hatch.
He continued racing in Formula Atlantic in 1973, winning three races. Royale soon had plans to enter
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 retur ...
, such was the Welshman's talent. The ambition to run in the Formula Two championship was planned to be financially fuelled by a
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
driver, Manfred Schurti. These plans only resulted in one of Royale's F2 cars being built before the project was scrapped and Bob King, the head of Royale, left the company.
Following an invitation to test one of his cars, Pryce found himself racing in the Formula Two series with
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
's ''
Rondel Racing
Rondel Racing was a British racing team that competed in the Formula Two series between 1971 and 1973. The team was founded by two ex- Brabham mechanics Ron Dennis and Neil Trundle. Rondel won five European Championship races before being forced ...
'' outfit. His best result for the team came at the
Norisring
The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...
where he was leading the race until a brake failure meant he had to give up first place to teammate
Tim Schenken
Timothy Theodore Schenken (born 26 September 1943) is a former racing driver from Sydney, Australia. He participated in 36 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 16 August 1970. He achieved one career podium at the 1971 Austri ...
.
At the end of 1973, Pryce won the
Grovewood Award The Grovewood Awards (later becoming the Cellnet Awards and then the McLaren Autosport BRDC Awards) were a series of British motor racing awards presented each year in the United Kingdom to the year's up-and-coming British and Commonwealth racing d ...
for his efforts during the year. Jack Pryce recalled that his son did not want to win the award, as he thought it was "a jinx on a driver's career".
Formula One
1974: Token
At the age of 25, Pryce graduated to Formula One, the highest category of circuit racing defined by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA), motorsport's world governing body, joining the newly formed
Token Racing
Token Racing was a short-lived Formula One team and constructor from the United Kingdom, participating in four Grands Prix of the 1974 Formula One season.
Token's history effectively began in 1971. Ron Dennis was trying to find sponsorship for ...
team. The team was created by Tony Vlassopulos and Ken Grob after the original Token team closed down in 1973 due to a lack of financial backing which had led to the end of the previous ''Rondel Racing'' outfit. Pryce was given the seat thanks to his backing from Titan Properties, and what David Tremayne described as "evident promise". Pryce made his début for the team at the
BRDC International Trophy
The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event in Britain, al ...
, a non-championship Formula One event held at Silverstone, but lack of an
airbox
An airbox is an empty chamber on the inlet of most combustion engines. It collects air from outside and feeds it to the intake hoses of each cylinder.
Older engines drew air directly from the surroundings into each individual carburetor. Modern ...
and an engine cover, along with his shortage of experience in the car, made him the slowest driver of the 16 competitors during qualifying: 26 seconds slower than James Hunt's
Hesketh in pole position.
The Welshman retired 15 laps into the race with a gear linkage problem. Pryce's World Championship début came at the
1974 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1974 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nivelles on 12 May 1974. It was race 5 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 85-lap race was won by ...
, where he qualified in 20th place, 3 seconds slower than the fastest time set by
Clay Regazzoni
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2006) was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debu ...
. Once again, he failed to finish, completing 66 laps before retiring after a collision with
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afr ...
's
Tyrrell.
Pryce was refused entry to the
1974 Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, as he was deemed "inexperienced".
Tony Vlassopulos decided to prove a point and replaced normal Formula 3 driver Buzz Buzaglo, with Pryce for the supporting Formula Three race, driving for ''Ippokampos Racing'', in a
March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
743, which he won by 20.8 seconds.
1974–77: Shadow
=1974
=
Following his drive in Monaco, and a
short spell in Formula Two, Pryce was signed by Shadow as replacement for
Brian Redman
Brian Herman Thomas Redman (born 9 March 1937 in Burnley, Lancashire and educated at Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire), is a retired British racing driver.
Racing for Carl Haas and Jim Hall's Chaparral Cars, Brian Redman won the 1974, '7 ...
, who had in turn replaced the late
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500.
Background
Peter Revson w ...
.
Pryce made his début for the team in
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
. He qualified in 11th position, less than 0.4 seconds slower than his teammate,
Jean-Pierre Jarier
Jean-Pierre Jacques Jarier (born 10 July 1946) is a French former Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for Formula One teams including Shadow, Team Lotus, Ligier, Osella and Tyrrell Racing. His best finish was third (three times) and he also to ...
,
who was in his second full season of Formula One competition. Pryce retired on the first lap of the race after a collision with James Hunt at the first corner broke his Shadow DN3's rear suspension.
Pryce qualified third in his second Grand Prix for the team, in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, 0.32 seconds slower than
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
's pole position time but nearly half a second quicker than Jarier.
Once again, Pryce's race ended at the first corner, when minor contact with
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from to , and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor of ...
's Brabham deflected Pryce's Shadow into the path of James Hunt.
The second collision between the two British drivers in as many races eliminated them both. Later in the season, Pryce received 100 bottles of
champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
for finishing fastest in the practice session for the at Brands Hatch. He went on to qualify on the fourth row of the starting grid.
Pryce scored the first point of his career in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, at the most challenging circuit on the F1 calendar at the time, the 14.2 mile
Nürburgring
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
circuit. After finishing 6th from 11th on the grid, he then qualified in 16th for the next Grand Prix in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, but spun off on lap 22, ending his race. He qualified in 22nd place in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and finished 12 places higher. His season ended with an engine failure in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and the Shadow severely off the pace at
Watkins Glen in the United States. At the end of the season Pryce was equal 18th in the Drivers' Championship with veteran Graham Hill and
Vittorio Brambilla
Vittorio Brambilla (11 November 1937 – 26 May 2001) was a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. Particularly adept at driving in wet conditions, his nickname was "The Monza Gorilla", due to his o ...
.
=1975
=
At the start of the
1975 season, Pryce's future was subject to much speculation. Rumour linked him with a drive at Lotus, the team run by
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars.
In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...
, who had been keeping an eye on Pryce's progress throughout 1973 and 1974. At the time, Lotus was experiencing financial difficulties and reports suggested that Shadow and Lotus would swap Pryce and Swede
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Peterson began his motor racing car ...
. The trade was viewed as a good acquisition for both teams, as Pryce was considered a driver of the same ability as Peterson, but would cost Lotus less, while Peterson could attract sponsorship to the relatively new Shadow team. The deal never materialised, although Shadow team manager
Alan Rees claims that it came very close to being completed.
Pryce's Shadow teammate, Jean-Pierre Jarier, out-qualified him in the early part of the 1975 season, as the French driver had the new
Shadow DN5
The Shadow DN5 was a Formula One car used by the Shadow team during the 1975 Formula One season. Updated to a 'B' specification, it was used through the 1976 Formula One season and for the first two races of the following season. It was qualified ...
car, while Pryce was in the older
DN3. It was not until the third round, the , that Pryce was able to use a DN5. The team's fourth race of the season was the non-championship
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...
held at Brands Hatch. Pryce qualified on pole position and, following a poor start, passed Peterson and
Jacky Ickx
Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...
before closing an eight-second gap to race leader Jody Scheckter, whose engine failed while Pryce harried him, letting Pryce through to become the first Welshman to win a Formula One race. Pryce showed other signs of promise during the season, most notably in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
where he qualified on the front row of the grid, the latter being in pole position. Pryce also achieved his first World Championship podium finish, in extremely wet conditions at the and finished in the points four more times. The highest of those came in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
where he finished fourth, despite the fact that while he was running second behind Carlos Reutemann fuel had been leaking into the cockpit of his DN5 during the final laps around the Nürburgring, reportedly "searing his skin and almost blinding him with fumes". The Welshman later received the ''Prix Rouge et Blanc
Jo Siffert
Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver.
Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...
award'', named after the Swiss Formula One driver, for this achievement.
At the end of December 1975, Pryce and
Dave Richards
Sir David Gerald Richards (born 3 October 1943) was the chairman of the FA Premier League, member of the Football Association's (FA) Board, chairman of the FA's international committee, president of the European Professional Football Leagues o ...
, future head of the
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races automobile, cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Team X44. Its advan ...
motorsports engineering company, entered a
Lancia
Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...
Stratos in the Tour of Epynt, a
rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event
Sports ...
event contested by many established rallying names. Pryce needed little persuasion to team up for the one-off event on home soil with Richards, both of whom were from Ruthin. Pryce crashed into a bridge into the first stage, but still competed in the afternoon stages after his car was rebuilt.
=1976
=
Once the
1976 Formula One World Championship season got under way Pryce instantly added a second podium finish to his tally, at the first round in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. This came at the expense of continuing teammate Jarier, who was caught out by oil on the track from James Hunt's
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. Both Shadows enjoyed reasonable competitiveness during the next two races at
Kyalami
Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...
and
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
. Changes in car regulations, meaning that teams had to lower their airboxes and mount the cars' rear wings further forward, along with revised
Goodyear tyres, meant the
Shadow DN5B
The Shadow DN5 was a Formula One car used by the Shadow team during the 1975 Formula One season. Updated to a 'B' specification, it was used through the 1976 Formula One season and for the first two races of the following season. It was qualifie ...
lost much of its competitiveness; Pryce still achieved a second points scoring finish of the season in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. The new
Shadow DN8 was not introduced until the twelfth round at
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 ...
, where Pryce qualified the new car in third, and finished the race only one place lower in fourth: it was the last points scoring finish of his career. The Welshman finished his last full season 12th in the Drivers' Championship with 10 points, 59 points behind World Champion James Hunt.
=1977
=
Rumors that Pryce would run as
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
's teammate for the Lotus team in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
were strong, as it coincided with the end of his contract with
Shadow
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...
. A Lotus mechanic of the era even claimed many years later that the signing of Tom Pryce for the team would have become a reality if he had not died, as Peterson was hired at the last minute after an express offer from Chapman for a succulent amount of money in exchange for being Mario Andretti's number two in replacement of
Gunnar Nilsson
Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson (20 November 1948 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Before entering Formula One, he won the 1975 British Formula 3 Championship.
Nilsson entered 32 Formula One Grand Prix races, qualifying for all of t ...
, who was going to go to the Arrows team in 1978 to team up with
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...
. This latter fact was confirmed by Patrese in ''Motorsport'' magazine in an interview by Simon Taylor in 2010.
Jarier left Shadow before the start of the
1977 Formula One season, for
ATS, and was replaced by Italian
Renzo Zorzi
Renzo Zorzi (12 December 1946 – 15 May 2015) was a racing driver from Italy who participated in seven Formula One Grands Prix between 1975 and 1977, for the Williams and Shadow teams. He began in Formula Three while working with Pirelli bef ...
, who was later rated by
Jackie Oliver
Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his dr ...
, part of the managerial team at Shadow, as "the worst driver we
he Shadow teamever had". The new signing brought in sponsorship from Italy, easing Shadow's financial position. Pryce started the first race of the year in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in ninth place and stayed with the leading group until a gear linkage failure on the 45th lap of the 52 lap race. Following a long pit stop to fix the fault, he was not classified. Pryce qualified 12th for the second round in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, but on lap 34 retired from the race, while running in second place, as the result of an engine failure.
Legacy
In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Pryce was ranked the 28th best Formula One driver of all time.
Death
Tom Pryce began his final race weekend, the
1977 South African Grand Prix
The 1977 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXIII The Citizen Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 5 March 1977, won by Niki Lauda of Austria. The race is principally remembered for the accident that re ...
at
Kyalami
Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...
, by setting the fastest time in the Wednesday practice session, held in wet weather. Pryce posted a time of 1 minute 31.57 seconds with the next best, the eventual 1977 World Champion Niki Lauda, one second slower. The weather dried up prior to the Thursday session, and he slipped back down the grid to fifteenth place, almost two seconds slower than James Hunt's pole position time.
Pryce made a poor start to the Grand Prix in his DN8 and by the end of the first lap was in last place. Pryce started to climb back up the field during the next couple of laps, overtaking
Brett Lunger
Robert Brett Lunger (born November 14, 1945 in Wilmington, Delaware) is an American racecar driver.
Lunger was educated at the Holderness School, and Princeton University. He dropped out of Princeton after three years to enlist for service in V ...
and teammate Renzo Zorzi on lap two, and
Alex Ribeiro and
Boy Hayje the following lap. By lap 18 Pryce had moved from 22nd to 13th place.
On lap 22, Zorzi pulled off to the left side of the main straight, just after the brow of a hill and a bridge over the track. He was having problems with his
fuel metering unit, and fuel was pumping directly onto the engine, which then caught fire. Zorzi did not immediately get out of his car as he could not disconnect the oxygen pipe from his helmet.
The situation caused two marshals from the pit wall on the opposite side of the track to intervene. The first marshal to cross the track was a 25-year-old
panel beater
Panel beater or panelbeater is a term used in some Commonwealth countries to describe a person who repairs vehicle bodies back to their factory state after having been damaged (e.g., after being involved in a collision). In the United States an ...
named Bill, and the second was 19-year-old Frederik "Frikkie" Jansen van Vuuren, who was carrying a
fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...
. George Witt, the chief pit marshal for the race, said that the policy of the circuit was that in cases of fire, two marshals must attend and a further two act as back-up in case the first pair's extinguishers were not effective enough. Witt also recalled that both marshals crossed the track without prior permission. The former narrowly made it across the track, but the latter did not. As the two men started to run across the track, the cars driven by
Hans-Joachim Stuck and Pryce came over the brow of a rise in the track.
Pryce was directly behind Stuck's car along the main straight. Stuck saw Jansen van Vuuren and moved to the right to avoid both marshals, missing Bill by what Tremayne calls "millimetres". From his position Pryce could not see Jansen van Vuuren and was unable to react as quickly as Stuck had done. He struck the teenage marshal at approximately 270 km/h (170 mph). Jansen van Vuuren was thrown into the air and landed a few yards in front of Zorzi's car. He died on impact, and his body was badly mutilated by Pryce's car. The fire extinguisher he had been carrying smashed into Pryce's head, before striking the Shadow's roll hoop. The force of the impact was such that the extinguisher was thrown up and over the adjacent grandstand. It landed in the car park to the rear of the stand, where it hit a parked car and jammed its door shut.
The impact with the fire extinguisher wrenched Pryce's helmet upward sharply. Death was almost certainly instantaneous. Pryce's Shadow DN8, now with its driver dead at the wheel, continued at speed down the main straight towards the first corner, called ''Crowthorne''. The car left the track to the right, scraping the metal barriers, hitting an entrance for emergency vehicles, and veering back onto the track. It then hit
Jacques Laffite
Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1.
...
's
Ligier
Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars.
Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...
, sending both Pryce and Laffite head-on into the barriers. Jansen van Vuuren's injuries were so extensive that, initially, his body was identified only after the race director had summoned all of the race marshals and he was not among them.
The eventual race winner was Austrian Niki Lauda, his first win since his near fatal accident during the
1976 German Grand Prix
The 1976 German Grand Prix (formally the XXXVIII Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on 1 August 1976. It was the scene of reigning world champion Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident, and the last F ...
. At first he announced it was the greatest victory of his career, but when told on the victory podium of Pryce's death, he said that "there was no joy after that".
Aftermath
Pryce's death was met with great grief from all those who knew him, especially his wife Nella, his parents Jack and Gwyneth and the Shadow team. His body was buried at St Bartholomew's Church in
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Ch ...
, near Sevenoaks, Kent, the same church where he and Nella were married two years earlier.
Pryce's performances in a Formula One car earned him much respect amongst the F1 paddock. David Tremayne named his son after the Welshman. The Tom Pryce Award, also known as the Tom Pryce Trophy, was instigated, and is given annually to Welsh personalities who have made an outstanding contribution to motoring or transport.
During its re-design, the
Anglesey Circuit
The Anglesey Circuit ( cy, Trac Môn) is a motor racing circuit located in Ty Croes, Anglesey, Wales. It plays host to a variety of motorsport events including car racing, motorcycle racing, car sprints, stage rallies and drifting.
It open ...
in North Wales named the Tom Pryce Straight after a request from Ruthin Town Council. Eddie Knipe, a South African living in Sevenoaks, sought permission from Nella Pryce to approach the Ruthin Town Council to commemorate her late husband. Having gained her consent and that of Tom's parents, a trust was established in 2006 under the chairmanship of
David Richards to create a memorial to Tom Pryce in Ruthin. Neil Dalrymple, a local artist, was commissioned by Ruthin Town Council in 2008 to design an plaque and in February 2009, an auction of Formula One pit passes to fund its manufacture was announced.
The memorial was unveiled on 11 June 2009, on what would have been Pryce's 60th birthday.
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; small number denotes finishing position)
Non-championship Formula One 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; small number denotes finishing position)
(Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
Notes
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Tom Pryce memorial commissionand pictures of the construction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryce, Tom
1949 births
1977 deaths
Grovewood Award winners
People from Ruthin
Welsh racing drivers
Welsh Formula One drivers
Token Formula One drivers
Shadow Formula One drivers
European Formula Two Championship drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Filmed deaths in motorsport
Sport deaths in South Africa
Burials in Kent