131 replies to this topic

[Gav Astill]

Does anyone have any information about a club racer from the late sixties, early seventies called Peter Hawtin ?. He raced the last Cooper built (a F5000 T90), and I believe was killed in an accident at Oulton Park in September 1971. Thanks.

[Cirrus]

I saw Peter Hawtin race a number of times in the late 60's and early seventies. He often entered races under his pseudonym "Ippocastano". I thought that the car he drove was a converted Formula 1 T86B, not a T90, but I may be wrong. I remember a particular race at Silverstone in August 1970. He was running near the back, and the car adopted a pronounced nose-up attitude under acceleration - so much for Cooper's anti-squat suspension! I made a point of trying to find him in the paddock to have a chat, but the Cooper was sitting alone and untended, with just a half eaten ham sandwich in the seat.

I think you are right in that he was killed in a (televised) race at Oulton in 1971. I seem to recall that the race was not stopped in spite of the burning Cooper at the side of the track. Such was life back then.

[Stefan Ornerdal]

Raced under a pseudonym, "Ippocastano".

Stefan

[Doug Nye]

I think Peter Hawtin was a development engineer working for Aston Martin...

DCN

[Milan Fistonic]

Peter Hawtin was killed at Oulton Park on September 18, 1971 when his Cooper-Chevrolet crashed at Hill Top.

His obituary from Motoring News

Formula 5000 amateur driver Peter Hawtin died on Saturday after his Cooper-Chevrolet crashed on one of the fastest sections of Outon Park during the Rothmans championship race. Aged 32, Hawtin was a development engineer from Newport Pagnell. and had raced a couple of V8-powered Lotus 24s before acquiring the unused ex-works F1 Cooper chassis last year.

[ian senior]

I was at the race in which Peter died. Watching from near Knicker Brook. a plume of smoke appeared from the top of the hill leading down to that corner. It was obvious that something nasty had happened. The race certainly continued, and apart from the commentator mentioning the fact that Peter had gone off the circuit, everything continued as normal. My memory fails me in trying to recall if an announcement was made about what had actually happened, but subsequently I did wonder why the race was not stopped. Presumably the wreckage was not blocking the track, but how did anyone manage a rescue attempt while the race was in progress?

[Gav Astill]

Blimey, this forum really is a mine of information - thanks to all that have replied. My interest in the late Peter Hawtin stems from the fact that he crops up in 3 of my areas of interest; Oulton Park (I live 15 minutes away), F5000 and Cooper.

Cirrus may be correct in saying that the car was a T86B, it depends on which source of data you believe, complicated by the fact that records are unclear on how many T90s were built/completed and the possibility that he may have raced both. I suspect the truth is that the car started life as a T86B but by the time it was first raced (1970), it was to T90 spec and was presented as such.

I was aware of Ippocastano, but not that it was Peter Hawtin!, so that has helped me greatly, thanks Stefan and Cirrus.

As for his accident, it happened on lap 5 or 6 of the Euro F5000 round on 18th Sept 1971, and the race was not stopped (I wonder if it being televised had an influence on this). I didn't know that it happened at Hill Top, which seems an odd place to hace a major accident, I can recall very few happening there (I've been an avid Oulton spectator for the last 20 years).

Thanks again chaps, and if you can remeber anything else about Peter Hawtin / Ippocastano, please post it.

[bill moffat]

I remember meeting him at Castle Combe in the late 1960's. He was still racing one of the converted Lotus 24's at the time ..it was referred to as the "LoCobra". It was a bugger to push start and looked fearsome out on the circuit. He had a very distinctive driving style, leaning forward in his (?unbelted) cockpit.

I recall him talking about his work at Aston Martin and I was highly impressed that a "real" racing driver had the time to talk to the group of spotty teenagers that he had unwittingly adopted. However he did get a push start from us...

[Milan Fistonic]

Details of the accident from the Motoring News race report.


A lap later [lap 5], ominous black smoke came drifting across from Hill Top as evidence of Hawtin's tragic accident, and with burning wreckage and various course cars strewn all over the track, the leading five cars all closed up together as they circulated under the waved yellows.

By 10 laps, everywhere was clear again and Gardner attempted to move away. etc.

[Doug Nye]

I believe the car struck the barrier protecting a trackside marshal's post just there, and broke into two - spilled fuel igniting instantly. As far as I can recall Peter Hawtin did not wear seat belts and still drove in a sports shirt. He was thrown out and killed instantly. At least, that's how I recall this unfortunate story... He'd been a keen 'Nasher - a Frazer Nash owner/driver.

DCN

[David Beard]

Originally posted by bill moffat
I remember meeting him at Castle Combe in the late 1960's. He was still racing one of the converted Lotus 24's at the time ..it was referred to as the "LoCobra". It was a bugger to push start and looked fearsome out on the circuit. He had a very distinctive driving style, leaning forward in his (?unbelted) cockpit.

I recall him talking about his work at Aston Martin and I was highly impressed that a "real" racing driver had the time to talk to the group of spotty teenagers that he had unwittingly adopted. However he did get a push start from us...

I must admit I don't remember Peter Hawtin...but this all reminds me very much of Chris Summers and his similar pre F5000 Lotus 24 V8 monster.

[Gav Astill]

Chris Summers indeed, now theres another interesting driver. Unless someone can tell me otherwise, Chris was the first man to compete in an English 'formula' single seater fitted with an American 'stock block' V8. He took his 1958 F2 Cooper and had John Farley and Jack Thomson shoehorn a 1956 Chevy Belair engine in (apropo of nothing I used to own a 56 Belair). The car made its debut at Wiscombe Park hillclimb early in 1962, signalling the start of one process that lead up to F5000 in Britain (the other being the USSCA Formula A).

This car and Chris' later Lotus 24 were raced in hillclimb and libre events (and the Lotus in some first season Euro F5000 rounds). Whatever happened to Chris Summers?

[Ray Bell]

Surely he had Nomex and belts in 1971...

They were mandatory by then, I'm certain.

[bill moffat]

Like DCN I always recall him unbelted..his driving style was such that he was hunched over the wheel like a very anxious learner driver !!

Incidentally at the Oulton Gold Cup in 1970 John Surtees was on pole with a 1:36.2 whilst Peter Hawtin qualified at the opposite end of the grid with a 2:23.8. Interesting.

Whatever happened to Fred Saunders ??....

[bill moffat]

Originally posted by Gav Astill
). The car made its debut at Wiscombe Park hillclimb early in 1962, signalling the start of one process that lead up to F5000 in Britain (the other being the USSCA Formula A).

Quite agree, but I reckon the Kincraft was the definitive spark for F5000 in the UK...

[ian senior]

Originally posted by bill moffat
Like DCN I always recall him unbelted..his driving style was such that he was hunched over the wheel like a very anxious learner driver !!

Incidentally at the Oulton Gold Cup in 1970 John Surtees was on pole with a 1:36.2 whilst Peter Hawtin qualified at the opposite end of the grid with a 2:23.8. Interesting.

Whatever happened to Fred Saunders ??....

Yes, what did happen to Fred Saunders? Mermaid Racing, wasn't it, in a Crosle - Rover. It made a nice noise, if nothing else. And Terry Sanger's elegant if massive Harrier, which ended up in the lake at Mallory first time out? The car needed to be massive to accomodate its driver....

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Gav Astill
Chris Summers indeed, now theres another interesting driver. Unless someone can tell me otherwise, Chris was the first man to compete in an English 'formula' single seater fitted with an American 'stock block' V8. He took his 1958 F2 Cooper and had John Farley and Jack Thomson shoehorn a 1956 Chevy Belair engine in (apropo of nothing I used to own a 56 Belair). The car made its debut at Wiscombe Park hillclimb early in 1962, signalling the start of one process that lead up to F5000 in Britain (the other being the USSCA Formula A).

This car and Chris' later Lotus 24 were raced in hillclimb and libre events (and the Lotus in some first season Euro F5000 rounds). Whatever happened to Chris Summers?

He died in that car, I think. Mallory perhaps.

[RJH]

I believe Fred Saunders who was deep sea diver by profession was killed in the Piper Alpha accident in the North Sea.

[Doug Nye]

Originally posted by David Beard
He died in that car, I think. Mallory perhaps.

Snetterton.

DCN

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by Gav Astill
Chris Summers indeed, now theres another interesting driver. Unless someone can tell me otherwise, Chris was the first man to compete in an English 'formula' single seater fitted with an American 'stock block' V8. He took his 1958 F2 Cooper and had John Farley and Jack Thomson shoehorn a 1956 Chevy Belair engine in (apropo of nothing I used to own a 56 Belair). The car made its debut at Wiscombe Park hillclimb early in 1962, signalling the start of one process that lead up to F5000 in Britain (the other being the USSCA Formula A).

Chris Summers held the outright Castle Combe lap record for several years in the 1960s, firstly with a Cooper/Chev 4.6 litre then with a Lotus 24/5.4 litre car. He was the first driver to lap Combe at 100mph in 1965

[bill moffat]

..and then the F5000 brigade descended in May '70 and knocked great lumps out of his record ( was it 7 seconds?) . Peter Gethin and Graham McRae both lapped in 56.8 and I believe the record remained for some 14 years .

Proper cars, awesome circuit, one of the best meetings I have ever been to...

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by bill moffat
..and then the F5000 brigade descended in May '70 and knocked great lumps out of his record ( was it 7 seconds?) . Peter Gethin and Graham McRae both lapped in 56.8 and I believe the record remained for some 14 years .

Proper cars, awesome circuit, one of the best meetings I have ever been to...

Summers record was beaten two or three times before the events you described in 1970 - in fact the time was 56.6 (7.8 seconds reduction!) and the second driver was Howden Ganley. It was trimmed to 55.2 in 1984, 54.2 in 1985 where it remained until 1997 when Nigel Greensall took Tyrell 022 round in 50.59 ses (130.93mph). Then the kinks were added .....

(Statistics from "Castle Combe Circuit - the first 50 years".)

[Cirrus]

Since there seems to be some interest in F5000 also-rans, here are a few others that spring to mind - any info on any of them?

Kaye Griffiths, John Myerscough, Lingard Goulding, Fred Place, Davy Powell, Bob Miller, and that backest of all back markers - Jake Allport.

[bill moffat]

Originally posted by Cirrus
Since there seems to be some interest in F5000 also-rans, here are a few others that spring to mind - any info on any of them?

Kaye Griffiths, John Myerscough, Lingard Goulding, Fred Place, Davy Powell, Bob Miller, and that backest of all back markers - Jake Allport.

Well, from memory as I'm at work, Bob Miller ran the unique and ungainly Dulon LD8. He was a bit of a local hero in South Wales and the Dulon rumbled around the bumps of Llandow to set a lap record of 35.6 seconds ( I think). Those were the days of Formula Libre in the literal sense and the Dulon tended to be more than a match for the various F.Fords, Mallocks, Monopostos and elderly F.J. cars that tended to race against it.

In the more competitive world of F5000 Miller inevitably struggled , but did enjoy dices with the sort of characters that you have mentioned.

[Cirrus]

Originally posted by bill moffat


Bob Miller ran the unique and ungainly Dulon LD8.

http://www.motorraci...o70brands98.htm


Well chosen words Mr Moffatt !

[bill moffat]

Good God ..even uglier than I remembered. Seem to recall that it was finished in a metalflake pale green colour to add to the effect.

The picture at Brands (under braking for Druids) is revealing. The car is obviously still set up for Llandow with a ground clearance of some 9" to allow for the bumps/potholes of the Welsh oval.

On the subject of obscurity didn't Canadian Bill Brack compete in the inaugural Oulton/ Brands F5000 races in '68?? I was at Brands and have a vague memory of him in a Lotus..?? the 42B that he used in Formula A the following year ?

[Gav Astill]

Last time I saw John Myerscough was about 1990 when he was racing an Alfa saloon (33?) in an Italian Car Championship round at Oulton. He was running (owning?) an Alfa-Romeo dealership in Southport, Lancashire at the time.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by bill moffat

The picture at Brands (under braking for Druids) is revealing. The car is obviously still set up for Llandow with a ground clearance of some 9" to allow for the bumps/potholes of the Welsh oval.

The angle of the wishbones suggests anti-dive geometry (if I have the inclination of the pivot theory the right way round) ..hence the front end clearance?

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Cirrus
Since there seems to be some interest in F5000 also-rans, here are a few others that spring to mind - any info on any of them?

Kaye Griffiths, John Myerscough, Lingard Goulding, Fred Place, Davy Powell, Bob Miller, and that backest of all back markers - Jake Allport.

Lingard Goulding was, I think, an Irishman who drove a device called the Beattie, designed by Chas Beattie who was also involved in the Daf-Rover Super Saloon (the driver of which I've forgotten) at about the same time. I think this F5000 car consisted of Lola t142 suspension grafted on to a bespoke chassis. Saw a picture of it once; it looked a bit dodgy.

Now......who was Bob Waters and what was the Conchord?

[RJH]

Don't know about Bob Waters but the Conchord was built using the running gear from a Lotus 30. It passed through my hands in the early 80's.

[Geoff E]

There is quite a good pic of Chris Summers here:- http://www.oldracing...tus/default.htm

It states there that the Conchord was constructed from a Lotus 40 by Chas Beattie.

[Chris Townsend]

When Chris Summers was killed [Snetterton, 31.8.1970] he was driving a Lola T142
[142/20]he'd only recently bought. Prior to that he'd been driving a Lotus 24 [942]
with a Chevy shoehorned into it. Summers didn't wear belts and was thrown from
the car.

Bill Brack did indeed take in the second round of the 1969 British F5000
championship with a Lotus 42, before taking it back to North America for that
season's racing.

Regarding the provenance of the Bob Waters's Conchord. I put together the race
results for British F5000 for Allen Brown's oldracingcars.com. The Conchord
is described in some reports as based on a Lotus 40. If it was indeed a 30 it
would be great to know more about it. RJH, do you have any more information on the
car?

[RJH]

Regarding the Conchord. As far as I can remember it reverted to a Lotus 30 . Regarding Chris Summers, I was in the collection area at Castle Combe when he was bought back on a stretcher from shunting the 24. He clambered out of the ambulance and climbed aboard his montrous E-gal (Etype Jag with a 7 litre Ford Galaxie engine) for the next race. They don't make them like that anymore!!!

[Cirrus]

Some relevant pictures

Peter Hawtin

http://www.motorraci...70brands216.htm

Lingard Goulding

http://www.motorraci...o70thrux531.htm

Fred Saunders

http://www.motorraci...o70thrux566.htm

Fred Place

http://www.motorraci...ermartini17.htm

All, as you've probably gathered from the Motor Racing Retro site

[MCS]

I can still remember the race at Oulton – it was the first F5000 meeting I attended.

That afternoon, Hawtin started after the rest of the field had left the grid and was misfiring his way round Cascades when the pack were already exiting Esso. The leaders were Gardner, Hailwood, Rollinson and Derek Bell, making a rare appearance in F5000 in Sid Taylor’s McLaren M18.  It was close up front as it was basically Hailwood’s last chance to challenge Gardner for the title lead.

Meanwhile, Hawtin continued with his misfire – a misfire so strong that he was being physically jolted backwards and forwards in his cockpit as he climbed Clay Hill where I was spectating. Incredible, thinking about it now. No, he didn’t wear seat belts and he raced in a black open faced helmet with goggles and an open necked, checked shirt with, I think, a neck scarf of some sort.

After just five laps though, the leading threesome – Gardner, Hailwood and Rollinson - were coming up to lap Hawtin. All eyes were on Hill Top to see who would appear first. Would it still be Gardner or would Hailwood be able to take advantage of the backmarker situation?  What happened next has remained clearly in my memory ever since. A great fireball erupted, and immediately filled the sky with flame and black smoke and after what seemed an eternity Frank Gardner appeared through it and slowly headed towards Knickerbrook followed closely by Mike Hailwood and Alan Rollinson. Initially, some spectators thought it was Gardner or Hailwood who had crashed, but they had forgotten the misfiring Cooper.

Some years later a marshal told me the engine had cut out before the crash, that the car had split in two upon impact with the sleepers and that Hawtin was thrown out to his death. He broke his back apparently, although I suspect there were other injuries too.

In thirty-five years of racing I’ve never seen an inferno like it. No, the race wasn’t stopped – they rarely stopped them in those days. During the ModSports event that same afternoon a Sunbeam Tiger crashed very heavily at Old Hall on the first lap and it took the marshals most of the race to get the poor driver out, but the race carried on to it’s conclusion.

I’m also sure that the F5000 race wasn’t televised – I certainly didn’t see any cameras anywhere – and the car was a converted Formula 1 T86B, not a T90. The picture url of Hawtin is interesting – the car didn’t race with front wings at Oulton – and other pictures I’ve seen showed the car to be wingless.

Edited by MCS, 08 July 2020 - 22:26.

[Barry Boor]

During the ModSports event that same afternoon a Sunbeam Tiger crashed very heavily at Old Hall on the first lap and it took the marshals most of the race to get the poor driver out,

This may be a wild stab in the dark but I wonder if anyone can put a name to the unfortunate individual mentioned in the above quote?

You see, I was at College from 1966-69 in Cheshire and a guy on my course, whose name was W.B. (Barry) Cope, used to do a bit of racing and I have the very vaguest memory that he had a bad crash at Oulton round about that time.

At College, Barry had an MGB and as a passenger in that car, I did 'the ton' for the first time in my life. Frightened the bejabers out of me, it did!

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by Barry Boor


This may be a wild stab in the dark but I wonder if anyone can put a name to the unfortunate individual mentioned in the above quote?

You see, I was at College from 1966-69 in Cheshire and a guy on my course, whose name was W.B. (Barry) Cope, used to do a bit of racing and I have the very vaguest memory that he had a bad crash at Oulton round about that time.

At College, Barry had an MGB and as a passenger in that car, I did 'the ton' for the first time in my life. Frightened the bejabers out of me, it did!

It was Malcolm Sears

[Barry Boor]

Thanks, Roger. I would still like to find out about Barry Cope, though.

[neville mackay]

Does anyone know if Malcolm Sears fully recovered from his injuries? In keeping with the convention of the time, Autosport was notably silent about his progress....always a bad sign.

[MCS]

Unless I'm badly mistaken, he was admitted to Stoke Mandeville. Never heard anymore...

The marshals had to cut the roof off to get him out in the end I was told.

He was the points leader in his class in his Sunbeam Tiger and was a prominent ModSports racer, so I was always curious as to why nothing else was ever reported.

MCS

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by ian senior

I was at the race in which Peter died. Watching from near Knicker Brook.

Blimey! So was I - it was my very first race, and I was watching at Old Hall...

Originally posted by MCS

I can still remember the race at Oulton – it was the first F5000 meeting I attended.

Yikes!

Some years later a marshal told me the engine had cut out before the crash, that the car had split in two upon impact with the sleepers and that Hawtin was thrown out to his death. He broke his back apparently, although I suspect there were other injuries too.

Strangely enough, one of our ex-neigbours visited us a year or so later and their new neighbour was a marshal at Hill Top. I forget all the details I was told, but it tallies with the account you were given, and Doug also gives. The chassis went down the grassy slope, and the engine went down the track, I think. The chap said his marshal friend picked up a finger...

During the ModSports event that same afternoon a Sunbeam Tiger crashed very heavily at Old Hall on the first lap and it took the marshals most of the race to get the poor driver out, but the race carried on to it’s conclusion.

Are you sure that Sears crashed on race day? I saw the wreckage in a hut or garage or something and I have it in my mind that it happened in practice. Also, I watched from Old Hall for at least most of the day, and I didn't see it.

I’m also sure that the F5000 race wasn’t televised – I certainly didn’t see any cameras anywhere – and the car was a converted Formula 1 T86B, not a T90. The picture url of Hawtin is interesting – the car didn’t race with front wings at Oulton – and other pictures I’ve seen showed the car to be wingles.

The race was televised; a bloke next to me had a portable b&w telly! How hi-tech was he in 1971?! We watched it to try and see what the cause of all the smoke over at Hill Top was... Also, my folks had parked the car up by Hill Top and all the BBC outside broadcast trucks were there too. As it was near to the scene of the accident - and nothing was said over the PA - I wandered over and asked a very long haired technician if he knew how the driver was. All he said was "He's dead". Although I was pretty shocked by this, I told myself that I shouldn't necessarily believe him as he was clearly a hippy-type...

I thought that Hawtin's Cooper was completely wingless in that race. It sticks in my mind because a) it was the only F5000 with no wings, and b) it was the first, albeit ex, F1 car I'd ever seen!

Finally, a car you might not have seen from the F5000 race...



...as Hobbs was pushed off the grid, IIRC!

[Gav Astill]

Originally posted by Twin Window

I thought that Hawtin's Cooper was completely wingless in that race. It sticks in my mind because a) it was the only F5000 with no wings, and b) it was the first, albeit ex, F1 car I'd ever seen!

A small point, but Hawtin's car was never a F1 car, it was a T90, chassis number T90 [F1C/2.69], and was used only in F5000 (by Hawtin in 1970/71). The T90 was though very closely related to the last F1 Cooper, the T86 (in its various forms).

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by Gav Astill


A small point, but Hawtin's car was never a F1 car...

Small maybe, but by no means insignificant as I have, for just over thirty-three years now, always thought it was the first F1 car I'd seen on a racetrack! Somehow, I'd thought it was modified for F5000. Bugger, bugger, bugger.

Ok chaps; which was the first car out on the assembly lap at Brands for the 1972 British GP?

[paulsenna1]

Blimey! So was I - it was my very first race, and I was watching at Old Hall...

I don't believe this but it's honestly true... it was my first ever race meeting too, as a ten year old boy! Still got the programme as well.

Paul.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by MCS
Incidentally, what does “Ippocastano” mean?

I believe it translates as “horse chestnut tree” in Italian (!), but I’m also led to believe that “Ippo” refers to the sea in Greek…

Probably getting 'hippocampus' the wrong way round..."hippokampos" = "sea-horse" in Greek, but the bit that means the sea is "kampos" (strictly speaking the wide-open deep sea as opposed to some shoreline sea or an inland sea).

Autosport from 23 Sep 1971 adds nothing to the info above, save to say that the accident blocked the track for a third of the race...

[Alan Cox]

I, too, was watching the race from Knicker Brook and just remember seeing a trail of smoke but was too far away to see anything of the car, fortunately.

I do remeber it was running without any wings, and the first I was aware that Hawtin had been killed was on the radio news as I drove out of the circuit.

[MCS]

The Cooper was definitely wingless. I was at Clay Hill and still distinctly remember the car misfiring and then the accident of course.

Yep, I'm sure Malcolm Sears had his ModSports accident in the race and am 90% sure it was Old Hall. I'll see if I can check and get back.

Mark

Edited by MCS, 08 July 2020 - 22:26.

[Yorgos]

Originally posted by ensign14
Probably getting 'hippocampus' the wrong way round..."hippokampos" = "sea-horse" in Greek, but the bit that means the sea is "kampos" (strictly speaking the wide-open deep sea as opposed to some shoreline sea or an inland sea).
........

Hippocampus comes in fact from Hippos = Horse but the second part is "Campi" which means a sea monster (sort of big worm).
On the other hand "Ippokastanea" is what my dictionary calls "common horse chestnut". I am sure that somebody here will find the link between Hawtins and the "horse chestnut" within few minutes.


Regards
Yorgos
Athens/Rhodes

[ensign14]

Originally posted by Yorgos


Hippocampus comes in fact from Hippos = Horse but the second part is "Campi" which means a sea monster (sort of big worm).

Same root, though, isn't it? Like "hydra", a water snake, from "hudor".

[MCS]

Originally posted by Yorgos


Hippocampus comes in fact from Hippos = Horse but the second part is "Campi" which means a sea monster (sort of big worm).
On the other hand "Ippokastanea" is what my dictionary calls "common horse chestnut". I am sure that somebody here will find the link between Hawtins and the "horse chestnut" within few minutes.


Regards
Yorgos
Athens/Rhodes

Thanks Yorgos and ensign14.

Anybody remember the "Ippokampos" sponsorship of Mexican Johnny Gerber in FF and then, briefly, in F3. And am I correct in saying that the Ippokampos sea-horse logo even appeared on the F1 Hesketh at one point? Tony Vlassopolous? - Pete F would know.

Hey ensign14, what happened to ATV?!

Mark