Richard "Dickie" Stanford (born 9 January 1956) is a British

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 two ...

mechanic who has since become the general manager of Williams Heritage, a company that repairs and maintains retired Williams cars, similar to

Classic Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More t ...

Early life

Dickie Stanford was born on 9 January 1956 in Highworth, Wiltshire but grew up in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

. At the age of 12, he attended the Race of Champions where he gained his passion for motor racing. When he left school in 1972, Stanford worked in the British Government's

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

and was involved in the work of stock-piling in case of war.

Career

Pre-Formula One

Along with a friend, Stanford ran a Formula Ford team in the weekends and evenings. His first job in the industry was in

Sports 2000 Sports 2000 is a restricted-rules class of two-seat, mid-engined, open-cockpit, full-bodied sports-prototype racecar used largely in amateur road racing. Sometimes known as S2000 or S2, the class was developed by John Webb, then of the Brands Hatch ...

where he was a mechanic to James Weaver and Jonathan Palmer. Stanford later left to work in Formula Three for the

Tiga Race Cars Tiga Race Cars Ltd. was a British auto racing constructor and team. The company was founded in 1974 by two former Formula 1 drivers, Australian Tim Schenken and New Zealander Howden Ganley. The company's name was formed by the first two letters o ...

team. During this time, he planned to join Williams in 1983 but was turned down after a one-hour interview because there were no jobs available. However, Stanford joined the

Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under t ...

Formula Two team who were using Williams' wind tunnel.

Formula One

In 1985, Stanford joined Williams as the Race Mechanic to

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...

. Three years later, he became a member of the test team and stayed in his role until 1989 and became the chief mechanic in 1990. Stanford became the team manager after his predecessor Ian Harrison left for the Renault BTCC team in late 1995. Stanford remained in his position for a further 10 years before reducing his work to spend more time with his family. During the 2010 season, Stanford rejoined Williams to return as the team manager for Race Day and Testing. After his spell at Williams Heritage, Stanford started working for United Autosports in October 2020 to look after the Formula 1 car collection of

Zak Brown Zakary Challen Brown (born November 7, 1971) is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is chief executive officer of McLaren Racing with overall responsibility for the business, includi ...

Personal life

, Stanford lived in

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

with his second wife. He has three children. , he owned a Mercedes 250SL which he was in the process of restoring.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, Dickie 1956 births Living people Formula One managers English motorsport people Williams Grand Prix Engineering