19 replies to this topic

[zakeriath]

Notice on FB

Dave Charlton 27 October 1936 – 23 February 2013

Former six-time South African Formula 1 champion and veteran of 11 grand prix, Dave Charlton passed away in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Charlton was born in Brotton, England and started racing in South African events in the late ‘50s with his immaculate Austin Healey. ‘Charlie’, as he was known, raced his first Formula 1 race in a Lotus 20 Ford in 1965 in before moving on to a Brabham BT11 Climax and making his grand prix debut in the South African grand prix in 1967.

Dave competed in eight South African Grands Prix – in 1967 and ‘68 he raced long-time backer Scuderia Scribante’s privateer Brabham BT11 Climax, missing out on a points paying finish in a late retirement in ’67. He moving on to the team’s Lotus 49C in 1970 with which he scored his best ever-grand prix finish in 12th before going on to win the first of his six consecutive South African Drivers Championships.

In 1971 Dave had a works Brabham BT33 Cosworth at his disposal in the South African Grand Prix and then drove a Lotus 72 for Scribante in famous Lucky Strike colours from 1972 to 1974 in both the SA Grand Prix and in the South African F1 championship, which he dominated with the Lotus.

Charlton also started the British Grand Prix in a works Lotus 72D but after qualifying a solid 13th at Silverstone, his DFV engine broke on the first lap. Dave then embarked on a European tour in 1972 entering the French, British and German grands prix in his Scribante Lotus but an inner ear infection thwarted his efforts in those races.

Back at home Dave switched to a McLaren M23 for the 1974 and ’75 South African grands prix, winning his last two South African championships with that car.

Charlie was never lucky in grands prix but his meticulous preparation and forceful driving made him a legend in South Africa. A measure of Dave’s ability was his Kyalami lap record set in the 1975 Rand Winter Trophy and which stood through six South African grands prix until broken in the ground effect era.

Charlton also raced to great effect in local endurance and saloon car races winning several championships on the way.

Dave’s efforts were recognised by Lucky Strike Racing in 1999 when he was summoned to Paul Ricard to be reunited with his Lotus 72 in a launch celebration with Jacques Villeneuve of the new Lucky Strike BAR. Charlton will also be immortalised by the thousands of Lucky Strike Racing models of his racecars available today.

– Michele Lupini

[Alan Cox]

Very sorry to hear this news. An impressive and lengthy career. I remember reading about his early F1 exploits in Motoring News when I was at school and it intigued me then that almost-current GP cars were being raced in South Africa, a category in which DC seemed to be a permanent fixture.

[Rob Ryder]

Sad news indeed

I met Dave at the 1972 British GP and he was delighted when I introduced myself and told him I lived only 20 miles from his birthplace.
He gave me a guided tour of his Lotus 72 and spent a lot of time just chatting. A lovely man.



RIP Dave

Rob

[Paul Parker]

A pity that he never got to drive a properly competitive car in European F1.

R.I.P.

[john winfield]

A pity that he never got to drive a properly competitive car in European F1.

R.I.P.

Wouldn't Dave's 1971 British GP drive in the works Lotus 72 fit the bill? I can't remember if he had any experience of Silverstone but I do recall that he did a good job in practice and qualified mid-grid. Regular Lotus #2 Reine Wisell sometimes qualified the 72 higher than that, sometimes lower, but often on circuits with which he was familiar. I agree it would have been interesting to see Dave have an extended GP run in a competitive car.
As Alan says, the winter Motoring News were full of the exploits of Charlton, Love, Pretorius, Tingle, Keizan etc.

Edited by john winfield, 25 February 2013 - 12:43.

[JacnGille]

Sad news.

[barrykm]

Sad news, a legend of ZA Motorsport. RIP Dave.

[Michael Ferner]

R.I.P.

[Paul Parker]

Wouldn't Dave's 1971 British GP drive in the works Lotus 72 fit the bill? I can't remember if he had any experience of Silverstone but I do recall that he did a good job in practice and qualified mid-grid. Regular Lotus #2 Reine Wisell sometimes qualified the 72 higher than that, sometimes lower, but often on circuits with which he was familiar. I agree it would have been interesting to see Dave have an extended GP run in a competitive car.
As Alan says, the winter Motoring News were full of the exploits of Charlton, Love, Pretorius, Tingle, Keizan etc.

Not really as his car had a failed oil union and then missed final practice because Fittipaldi's engine mounts had failed so Charlton's car had to have its engine mountings strengthened. This was followed by a piston failure during the warm-up lap. Charlton had also missed out on a drive at Zandvoort after Dave Walker who was subbing for an injured Fittipaldi crashed the 72 that Charlton was supposed to be driving.

Even then 40 plus years ago you had to be in a properly competitive car and set up you were familiar with to achieve anything worthwhile in World Championship F1 and this was never going to happen at Lotus unless you were their no.1 or a regular.

In my opinion his true potential was lost which was a shame although of course it happened to others.

[SgtPepperoni]

Anyone have any idea as to the cause of his death? I know he was 76, but we all die from something in the end. I hope he wasn't ill for the last period of his life. Saw him drive a few times and he was most impressive.
RIP Dave.

[Rich]

Dave Charlton was the villain of my childhood. My first GP was the 1971 SA GP at Kyalami, won by Mario Andretti in his Ferrari. After that time, my dad would take me to Kyalami for the GP every year, and we would also usually attend 2-3 local meetings every year. I seem to recall that they were all called the Rand [season] Trophy, as in Rand Spring Trophy or Rand Winter Trophy or whatever.

In those days, there were only two racers in SA - John Love and Dave Charlton. There were others like Eddie Keizan, Paddy Driver and so forth, but Love and Charlton dominated so completely that everybody was a fan of either one or the other. I chose Love. It was, in hindsight, an unfortunate choice. Love was past his best by the early 1970s and, although he was still competitive enough to grab the occasional pole or out-drag Dave off the startline, it was always the Lucky Strike Lotus that took the chequered flag. Much to my chagrin. Although, when I replicated the races by pushing Dinky cars around on my parents' living-room carpet (the perimeter of which was entirely threadbare after several years), it was always Love who won somehow.

After both had retired, I developed a fondness for Charlton that approached my boyhood hero-worship of Love. They were, after all, the two central figures of my childhood and, with the rivalry between them now a thing of the past, I was willing to give Charlton his due.

While I was writing for AtlasF1, I resolved to track both down and interview them about their long-standing rivalry that defined the halcyon days of local F1 in South Africa. But alas, other priorities always seemed to be in the way. As a child, I had always dreamed of meeting John Love. It was with a pang of regret that I learned of his passing some years ago. Now Dave Charlton is gone too, which closes the chapter on my childhood. RIP Dave.

[jj2728]

R.I.P.

[Richard Jenkins]

A great, great shame, a much underrated driver and above all else, a great enthusiast of the sport.

I must admit the news has surprised me, I wasn't aware he was ill?

[Manfred Cubenoggin]

RIP

Thanks for all you meant to us, Dave.

[Gabrci]

Anyone have any idea as to the cause of his death? I know he was 76, but we all die from something in the end. I hope he wasn't ill for the last period of his life. Saw him drive a few times and he was most impressive.
RIP Dave.

I was in contact with him a year ago through his daughter Amanda and while of course I can't know, I didn't get any impression that he's not well. RIP

Edited by Gabrci, 26 February 2013 - 06:43.

[Supersox]

Not really as his car had a failed oil union and then missed final practice because Fittipaldi's engine mounts had failed so Charlton's car had to have its engine mountings strengthened. This was followed by a piston failure during the warm-up lap. Charlton had also missed out on a drive at Zandvoort after Dave Walker who was subbing for an injured Fittipaldi crashed the 72 that Charlton was supposed to be driving.

Even then 40 plus years ago you had to be in a properly competitive car and set up you were familiar with to achieve anything worthwhile in World Championship F1 and this was never going to happen at Lotus unless you were their no.1 or a regular.

In my opinion his true potential was lost which was a shame although of course it happened to others.

And the Cosworth block is sitting here in my office today.

[rdmotorsport]

Notice on FB

Dave Charlton 27 October 1936 – 23 February 2013

Former six-time South African Formula 1 champion and veteran of 11 grand prix, Dave Charlton passed away in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Charlton was born in Brotton, England and started racing in South African events in the late ‘50s with his immaculate Austin Healey. ‘Charlie’, as he was known, raced his first Formula 1 race in a Lotus 20 Ford in 1965 in before moving on to a Brabham BT11 Climax and making his grand prix debut in the South African grand prix in 1967.

Dave competed in eight South African Grands Prix – in 1967 and ‘68 he raced long-time backer Scuderia Scribante’s privateer Brabham BT11 Climax, missing out on a points paying finish in a late retirement in ’67. He moving on to the team’s Lotus 49C in 1970 with which he scored his best ever-grand prix finish in 12th before going on to win the first of his six consecutive South African Drivers Championships.

In 1971 Dave had a works Brabham BT33 Cosworth at his disposal in the South African Grand Prix and then drove a Lotus 72 for Scribante in famous Lucky Strike colours from 1972 to 1974 in both the SA Grand Prix and in the South African F1 championship, which he dominated with the Lotus.

Charlton also started the British Grand Prix in a works Lotus 72D but after qualifying a solid 13th at Silverstone, his DFV engine broke on the first lap. Dave then embarked on a European tour in 1972 entering the French, British and German grands prix in his Scribante Lotus but an inner ear infection thwarted his efforts in those races.

Back at home Dave switched to a McLaren M23 for the 1974 and ’75 South African grands prix, winning his last two South African championships with that car.

Charlie was never lucky in grands prix but his meticulous preparation and forceful driving made him a legend in South Africa. A measure of Dave’s ability was his Kyalami lap record set in the 1975 Rand Winter Trophy and which stood through six South African grands prix until broken in the ground effect era.

Charlton also raced to great effect in local endurance and saloon car races winning several championships on the way.

Dave’s efforts were recognised by Lucky Strike Racing in 1999 when he was summoned to Paul Ricard to be reunited with his Lotus 72 in a launch celebration with Jacques Villeneuve of the new Lucky Strike BAR. Charlton will also be immortalised by the thousands of Lucky Strike Racing models of his racecars available today.

– Michele Lupini

[rdmotorsport]

Very sad news,I met "Charlie" when working in South Africa F2 in the early eighties and he was the only one to keep pace with Ian Sheckter and Wayne Taylor, a good racer and good man.

Rodney Dodson

[Nanni Dietrich]

Sad sad news.

[Eddie Knipe]

Loads of references to Dave Charlton and his South African racing career in the Desire Wilson's book "Driven by Desire" - remember the 1974 GP when he drove the McLaren M23. Dave had some thrilling races with the likes of Desire, Roy Klomfass, Ian Scheckter, John Love, Jackie Pretorius, Eddie Keizan, Paddy Driver, Peter de Klerk et al ... RIP Dave Charlton and thanks for the memories.