Peter Nield Whitehead (12 November 1914 – 21 September 1958) was a British racing driver. He was born in

Menston Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of M ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and was killed in an accident at Lasalle,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, during the Tour de France endurance race. A cultured, knowledgeable and well-travelled racer, he was excellent in sports cars. He won the

1938 Australian Grand Prix The 1938 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on 18 April 1938. It was staged over 40 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a total distance of 241 kilometres. Th ...

, which along with a

24 Heures du Mans 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalles ...

win in 1951, probably was his finest achievement, but he also won two 12 Heures internationales de Reims events. He was a regular entrant, mostly for Peter Walker and Graham Whitehead, his half-brother. His death in 1958 ended a career that started in 1935 – however, he was lucky to survive an air crash in 1948.

Early life and pre-war racing

Yorkshireman Whitehead, coming from a wealthy background, gained from the wool industry, started racing in a Riley when he was 19. He moved up to an

ERA B-Type An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

the following season and then scored the first major result for the Alta, when he finished third in the Limerick Grand Prix, a

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

race. In 1936, he shared his ERA with Walker, and finished third in the Donington Grand Prix. He took the ERA to Australia in 1938 while touring on business, where he scored his first major victory, winning the

at Bathurst, as well as the inaugural

Australian Hillclimb Championship The Australian Hillclimb Championship is a CAMS sanctioned motor sport competition which determines Australia's annual hillclimbing champion. The championship has traditionally been awarded to the driver setting fastest time at a single meetingPe ...

. He returned in England in 1939 and gained a third place in the Nuffield Trophy.http://www.historicracing.com/driver_az/cfm?typer=drivers_alpha&tStartRow=1&AlphaIndex=W&driverID=1265

Post-war racing career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Whitehead was a pilot with 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 ...

, and he was back in competition as soon as racing was revived, taking his trusty ERA to second place in the British Empire Trophy, held at the

Douglas Circuit The Douglas Circuit was a motor racing street circuit in Douglas, the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man and was re-configured each year until 1937. The first Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

in the summer of 1947. He also raced in the Lausanne Grand Prix, finishing sixth. In 1948, he survived a plane crash at

Croydon Aerodrome Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main ai ...

, when he was on his way to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

o, to arrange the purchase a Ferrari 125. The accident left him badly hurt and out of racing for a year.

Grand Prix racer

Peter Whitehead is notable as the first person to whom

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

ever sold a Formula One car: a Ferrari 125 in 1949. With the car painted green, he won the Velká cena Československa. In doing so, he became the first Englishman to win a major international motor race outside of the United Kingdom since

Richard Seaman Richard John Beattie Seaman (4 February 1913 – 25 June 1939) was a British Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for the Mercedes-Benz team from 1937 to 1939 in the Mercedes-Benz W125 and W154 cars, winning the 1938 German Grand Prix. He died o ...

. The following season, Whitehead made his debut in the Formula One championship at Monaco, but did not start. His next outing in the championship came in the Grand Prix l’A.C.F., where he came close to winning but was slowed with a gearbox problem which he dropped to third. That was to be his only podium finished in 11 championship starts between 1950 and 1954.Richard Williams, “Enzo Ferrari: A Life" (Yellow Jersey Press, , 2002) During 1950 season, he won two minor Formula One races, the Jersey Road Race and the Ulster Trophy, but the biggest career victory came in Sports Cars. He continued to race and win in

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 ...

across Europe. Later, he added victories in the 1954

Lady Wigram Trophy The Lady Wigram Trophy is a New Zealand motorsport race trophy formerly awarded to the winner of the Wigram Airfield race. It made up part of the Tasman Series and classes like Formula Holden, Formula 5000, Formula Pacific and Formula Three. The ...

, in New Zealand, and repeated the feat in 1956 and 1957. He also won the 1956 Rand Grand Prix. All four of those victories, he was driving a Ferrari.

Sports car racing

1950 saw Whitehead start his first 24 Hours of Le Mans race, together with John Marshall in a

Jaguar XK120 The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since SS 100 production ended in 1939. The XK120 is a highly desirable model. In 2016, Bonhams sold a matching numbers left-hand- ...

. The pair finished in 15th place. He teamed up with Peter Walker to win the 1951 race, however, in a Jaguar C-Type, at an average speed of . In 1953, Whitehead decided to concentrate on sports cars, and in July, he saw more success sharing a Jaguar C-Type with Stirling Moss in the 12 Heures Internationales de Reims. He returned again in 1954, in a full works supported Jaguar D-Type to win the event again partnered by

Ken Wharton Frederick Charles Kenneth Wharton (21 March 1916 – 12 January 1957) was a British racing driver from Smethwick, England. He competed in off-road trials, hillclimbs, and rallying, and also raced sports cars and single-seaters. He began racing ...

. Prior to that first win at Reims, he also won the Hyères 12 Hours. Later in 1954, again paired with Wharton, he was placed sixth in the

RAC Tourist Trophy The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...

road race.

Death

Whitehead's last great performance was at Le Mans in 1958 where he came second in an

Aston Martin DB3S The Aston Martin DB3S is a sports racing car that was built by Aston Martin. Following the failure of the heavy and uncompetitive Aston Martin DB3 designed by Eberan Eberhorst; William Watson, employed as Eberhorst's assistant, presented an alt ...

, sharing the driving with his half-brother, Graham. A couple of months later, on 21 September 1958, Peter and Graham were competing together in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, when their Jaguar 3.4-Litre crashed off a bridge into a 30-foot ravine at Lasalle, near Nîmes after overturning twice, with Graham at the wheel. Graham escaped with serious but not life-threatening injuries, but Peter was killed instantly.''The Manchester Guardian'', 22 September 1958, Page 2.

Racing record

Career highlights

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Non-Championship Formula One results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Reims results

Complete 12 Hours of Hyères results

Complete 12 Hours of Pescara results

Complete 12 Hours of Casablanca results

References

External links

* Peter Whitehead: 1954 Formula One Season By Jeremy McMullen
Peter Whitehead summary of driving career with Jaguar Cars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Peter 1914 births 1958 deaths English racing drivers English Formula One drivers Racing drivers from Yorkshire Racing drivers who died while racing BRDC Gold Star winners Sport deaths in France 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers People from Menston European Championship drivers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II 12 Hours of Reims drivers