I must admit I hadn't known of Bechem's death. It's really sad to hear, but at the same time he was very sharp and active right until the end, which is a great way to finish a really exciting and eventful life.

Motorsport Memorial recently changed Harry Grant’s year of birth from 1877 to 1875 because on Find-A-Grave there is the tombstone of a certain Harry Fletcher Grant who lived from 1875 to 1915.
I don’t think this is the racing driver’s resting place whose full name seems to have been Harry Fortune Grant instead.
What do your sources say, Richard?

I think it's still 1877, but that said Steve Estes seems to have done a lot of digging on this looking at the Motorsport Memorial pages. That having been said the main link, and hence the burial photo for that comes from a newspaper report and I'm a little wary of that and I'm not sure if that fits around the grave, rather than vice versa. It does seem only the year is in question, which makes me think it is 1877, going on census and family records.

Former early Border Reivers driver Jimmy Somervail died last Tuesday in Lockerbie. He and his brother John were farmers in the Scottish borders and Jimmy bought the ex Bira ERA R12B. He raceds the Reivers Cooper Bristol and then was to share the D type Jaguar of Border Reivers with the newcomer Jim Clark. After a testing session at Charterhall Jimmy, the gentleman he was, felt that Jim Clark was a far better driver than he was and so took a relative back seat but did race the D type a couple of times He retired at the end of the 1958 season. I have attached a photo of Jimmy Somervail on the last occasion he raced the D type it was also his last ever race. He was a charming man and a true sportsman.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Small update done, but with a little bit of new information to keep everyone happy..

2011 WATN
Baguette, Carroll, Giovanardi, S Hattori, Karthikeyan, Kolles, Lavaggi, Lazier, Wheldon

Other WATN
Agg, Filhol, A Ferte, Hennerici, Lanier, M Oliver, Plata, Schiattarella

New Information
Matson - death date and place, with extra WATN information

Changed Information
Hirt - birthplace
Lanier - birthplace

New
Ricciardo, Plowman

Thanks
Gergely Gabris, Wayne Parker, Rick Kelly, Peter Higham, Rolf Hirt, Cathy Lasorsa, Randy Lanier, Enzo Miceli, Allen Brown and John Siscoe

Another relatively quick update to record Chris Lawrence's sad passing (thankfully the only one there is this update) but also a few more blanks filled in mystery wise. That said, I haven't quite added Fernandes/Ecclestone/Briatore and QPR and Pantano's IRL return but they'll be in the next one.

2011/2012 WATN
Chandhok, Carroll, A Costa, Kobayashi, Perez,

General WATN
Bellasi, D Baldwin (very rough year of birth added as well), Carpentier, Fober, Farr, Galli, D Halliday, McCarthy, McAlpine, Perez Sala, Rager, JC Romano, Wyss

New Information
Delno - full death details
Momota - full birth details
Osella - partial birth details
Vanderpleyn - death place

Changed information
Brock - removed deathyear - didn't die 1918. Added WATN info.
Beeder - day of death (as I never remember some of my sources... Gravestone listing and newspaper reports)
Choulet - birthyear - although I'm still trying to get 100% confirmation on that, so it might need tweaking yet....
Dempsey - changed Birthdate with extra WATN info.
Rudaz - change of birthplace with extra WATN info

Thanks
John Siscoe, Francis Maxwell, Richard Harvey, Carole Choulet

Latest updates are now up - there's been a slight delay for a number of reasons and certainly the photo uploading could be quicker, but one hopes that by this stage, next week, most of my backlog will be gone. So, for this time....

2011/2012 WATN
Alesi, Briscoe, Coloni, Dixon, Franchitti, Grosjean, Heidfeld, Meira, Michael, Pantano, Patrick, Pescarolo, Ribbs, B Senna,
Tung, Willis (pre-Mercedes announcement)

Other WATN
Ensley, Fernandes, E Fittipaldi, Head, G Murray, Migeot, Pease, Ross, D Warwick

Died
Collomb

New
Battistini and de Oliveira

New Information
Peter Wyss - FULL Details

Changed Information
B Oldfield - birth and death dates, Trips - birthplace

Minor stuff has been updated as well for a few people and totals updated.

Thanks this time go to Skip Vail, Caren Williams, Peter Wyss, Scott Sperka, Michael Ferner, John Siscoe and Allen Brown.

@Richard:
I think Walter Anthony Robinson (b. 25 December 1929) from the BRDC member list is the Alta designer Tony Robinson.

Brilliant, many thanks, Reinhard. I know Tony is a TNF member and I have asked direct, but not got too far.

Based on that information, Walter A Robinson was born in Darlington, Co. Durham.

Due to Dan Wheldon's tragic death, the site has been updated asap this morning - more to have the correct information than to capitalise.

As the last update was so recently, all I'll say update wise is that along with this, Tony Robinson's details above have been added, Jorg Zander has been added to the site and the following WATN's have been updated (mostly 2012 stuff) for:
Allmendinger, L Brayton, de Silvestro, Hildebrand, Hunter-Reay, Roger Mears, Pagenaud, G Rahal, Shank, Willis and Vettel - with GP totals also updated.

Now over 1,500 photos on the site - 1,516 to be precise, but the list is till large as to ones I need - if anyone can help, please do let me know.

Smallish update with a few titbits of new information;

2012 Updates
Angellelli, Ayari, Belloc, Bourdais, Briscoe, Bremer, Carpenter, Di Resta, Davidson, Jonsson, Maldanado, McNish, K Nakajima, Wickham, Wurz


WATN Updates
Belmondo, D'Orey, R Moran, Skaife, B Simpson, Tetu, Takahashi, Warren

New
Eeckelaert (Zander, who was in the last update has been removed accordingly)

New Information
Jones A - Aiden-Jones has been moved to J (see the TNF thread about him), but I have also found his place of birth.
S Hoffman - full date of birth and corrected place of birth
Lago - full birth details
Nichols - full birth details (definitely correct this time)

Changed Information
Bellamy - birthdate (according to the BRDC site or RB himself, it's the same as John Barnard...)
B Clemons - birth and death dates and death place (from his family)
McCall - corrected first name to ALLAN McCall, which it should be. Added a bit of extra information too.


Also, the three team name changes have been implemented, GP totals updated and a few other things checked.

Thanks
Rewind, Jo Davis, David McKinney, Adam Ferrington, Allen Brown, Ensign14, Peter Higham

Richard,
I’m not convinced that Ralph Bellamy was the same age as John Barnard. I think RB’s birth date has been confused with JB’s on the BRDC website. If you look at his career and contemporary photos it seems clear to me that Bellamy is Barnard’s senior by some years.
According to your info Bud Clemons must have been Willard E. Clemons who according to the SSDI did not die in December 2001 but in Februay 2001. Isn't it strange that his SSN was issued by Iowa considering he was allegedly born in California?

EDITED to clarify that I mean the Social Security Number.

You mean the SSN (Social Security Number)? No, not necessarily, because place of birth is immaterial. However, there would have to be a reason as to why it was issued in Iowa, like him moving or working there (at least temporary), and with Clemons racing out of California for all of his career, I find that difficult to believe, too. What does the family have to say about that, Richard?

Also, I notice you have spelt Angelelli wrong, although it seems to be correct on the website, but Sam Greco is still spelt incorrectly there!

Michael, Greco isn't spelt wrong at all - GRECCO is or rather, was his name. You can see the proof of that on the censuses and SSDI, and all the other resources. It's the papers - not for the first time - that are wrong.

Re. Clemons - firstly, the 1985 deceased Clemons is still a valid driver - he just wasn't the one at Indianapolis, but he was based on the East Coast. The confusion has arised out of the two.

Willard Elmon Clemons, who is the "Bud Clemons" of Indianapolis fame - it should be February - that's my mistake. But the information provided by his daughter was so complete about his Indianapolis attempts - the years he was there, what he raced in, that I have no doubt that the information provided is honest, true and accurate. The fact that she even knew there were two Bud Clemons says it all - something the papers again missed.

Clemons fought in WW2 and for a while in the late 1940's, was based away from California, in Iowa subsequently. That may explain the Iowa issusing, although I don't really know too much about SSN registering etc.


Re. Bellamy, the only thing that confused me was his career is on there, so I presumed the information came from RB himself. But maybe he's given them that and they've put the birthdate on the wrong page? I must admit I've not seen anything other than the date I had before.

Because of Jim Rathmann's death, I've done a minor update with that included - Clemons has been corrected, Bellamy - for now, without much proof to support the 1944 date bar the BRDC, put back to 1938, and Rosa and Kubica's details in F1 also done.

Again, unfortunately, a death has meant another update, this time it's Rob Schroeder.

To be honest, not much has really happened, but the following have been updated;

Lisles (Newman Haas have gone), Raikkonen (back in F1), Pic (added, new driver), Head (left Williams F1), Oliver (general WATN) and Dempsey Wilson (family business info).

Thanks to Gordon T Brand for the Wilson info. I've also updated the GP totals so the season is now up-to-date.

Thnx for that!

Yes, not the first time the papers got it wrong, but I don't think I have EVER seen his name spelt with two "c"s, in a career spanning more than two decades!

A new update for the New Year;

2012 WATN
Alesi, Bachelart, Bruni, Buemi, Campos, Conway, Coulthard, Fisichella, R Gordon, Gidley, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Hinchcliffe, Jani, Kolles, Krumm, Lazzaro, J Leffler, Matos, Montoya, Pruett, Perez-Sala, Ricciardo, Speed, Sospiri, Villeneuve J (jr), Yeley, Yoong, Zonta


Other WATN
Bellefroid, Berger, Brutto, Halsmer, Jabouille, Alan Jones, Lehto, Lucchini, Mansell, J Miller, Newey, Petillo, R Spence, Vetrock, Verstappen (Rather depressingly, 4 entries here are to do with either jail or miscreancy )

Died
Lippi

New
Newgarden, Vergne


Thanks to Rewind, Peter Higham and Joe Stokes this time around.


No date changes or mysteries solved this time round but news that by the next few months the 1941 census and hopefully Pennsylvania Birth & Death Records are going online will help hugely.....

Although the site has been updated in part for Adolff, Mieres and Migault's deaths, I hadn't done a full update. So slap bang up to date for the new season, is the following update. There will probably be another one shortly as a lot of updates are for the 2012 season, but with computer problems at the moment, it may have to wait. Anyhow.....

2012 WATN
John Andretti, Bartels, Belmondo, Bert, A Beltoise, Blundell, Bouillon, Bourdais, T Bell, Baguette, Besnard, Biagi, Chandhok, Couto, Camara, Coulthard, Camathias, D'Ambrosio, de Oliveria, Densham, R Dean, Diaz, Eeckelaert, Fernandez, Formato, Frentzen, J Gene, Firman, F Giaffone, Heidfeld, Hakkinen, Helary, Jakes, Junqueira, Johansson, Kerr, Key, Leinders, Legge, Lohr, MacPherson, Meira, Minassian, McDowell, D Martinez, Mollekens, Policand, Pirro, Pizzonia, Petrov, Plowman, Rydell, Ruberti, Ranger, Rugolo, B senna, Sato, Sarrazin, Sospiri, JL Schlessler, Sharp, Salazar, Ro. Sperafico, Saavedra, Trulli, W Taylor, van der Merwe, Van de Poele, Viso

Other WATN
A Brown, Chappell, de Andrade, Diniz, P Freisacher, England, B Godin, Gabbiani, D Hill, Kolby, Davey Hamilton, Hamidy, Lisles, Luydenyk Sr, Lee-Lewis, Medeiros, Mules, Marrable, W May, Morelli, Roe, Packard, Salles, Southgate, Sullivan, Thackwell, J Unser, Wacker, Watt, Wendlinger

Died
Adolff, Agg, Mieres, Migault

Changed Info
Bruce-Brown and Giudotti - birthyears
Irvin - birthdate
Maddock - deathdate

New Info
Osella - full birthdate

New
Allison, Filippi, Formenko, Martnes

Thanks
Betty Packard, Chris Hale, Csaba Varga, Simon Hadfield, John Siscoe, Gergely Gabris, Rewind, Jane Morrison and Allen Brown

Not FoRmenko, but FOMENKO.

Nikolai Vladimirovich Fomenko born in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Fomenko

Cheers Alnica, that's been updated (I think it was partly handwriting and partly poor Googling) and Martens removed due to not being the HRT guy - I wish they'd make their minds up... I have done a small update for the deaths of Ted Cutting and Adolfo Schwelm Cruz, but the full update, I'll complete and then post on here shortly.

Actually it took 11 days in the end, but this is the full update for the pre-Indy 500 and start of season information;

2012 WATN
Aganthangelou, Alguersuari, Bert, G Berton, Besnard, Bjork, Beatriz, Clarke D, Caffi, Capelli, Carbonell, Cochet, Cuquerella, Diaz, Dominguez, Dracone, Deletraz, Ekblom, C Fittipaldi, Figge, Gache, Gosselin, Goudchaux, Gentry, Heger, M Halliday, S Hattori, Iida, Jourdain Jr, Janis, Kinser, Kasements, Liuzzi, Lancieri, Merzario, Morbidelli, Marshall, Montermini, S Mayer, Nurminen, Nissany, Perera, Pescatori, Pastorelli, Regester, Ruble, Salo, Schwager, Saavedra, Tedeschi, Tung, Tinseau, Villeneuve Jr, van Hooydonk, Vinella, Verdonck, A Wirth, M Winkelhock

Other WATN
A lot of drivers have retired in recent years so there's a fair bit of proper updates about them now - it includes dental supplies, comic books, photographic media, electric cars and restaurants...

Badoer, Brassfield, Caceres, Chesson, Couceiro, Durand, Doornbos, Divilia, Fillip, R Gardner, Grassotto, R Groff, Hillenburg, Hesketh, Hearn, Lawson, Langes, Luyendyk jr, Lavin, Mansilla, Meier, Marozzo, Modena, Matsushita, Manning, Noda, Pease, Rampf, Ress, Rothengatter, Ribbs, Reeves, Ray, B Rice, J Sneva, Shelby, Saelens, Yasukawa, Zampredi

New
Clauson

[Out/b]
Martens

[b]Died
Cutting, Schwelm Cruz

New Information
Tower - full deathdate

Changed Information
Halsmer - birthplace
F Roberts - birthyear
Fomenko from Formenko

Also GP totals updated

Thanks
Alnica, Andrew Embleton, Peter Higham, Csaba Varga, Abby J Alexander