70 replies to this topic

[Steve L]

Could someone tell me which doctorate Giuseppe Farina held please? And did he practice in his field of expertise between racing commitments?

I also wondered how many other top line drivers raced with a similar distinction?

Edited by Steve L, 12 May 2023 - 19:55.

[AJCee]

Jonathan Palmer? Although he was a qualified medical ‘doctor’ so not quite the same. Does anyone know where he attended medical school?

Edited by AJCee, 12 May 2023 - 20:07.

[LittleChris]

Tony Goodwin raced at F3 and Sportscar level  . 

 

John Sheldon, Gabriel Serblin, Siggi Brunn and of course Tony Brooks qualified as dentists though I'm not sure if Serblin or Brooks actually ever saw a patient

Edited by LittleChris, 12 May 2023 - 20:31.

[Jahn1234567890]

Could someone tell me which doctorate Giuseppe Farina held please? And did he practice in his field of expertise between racing commitments?

I also wondered how many other top line drivers raced with a similar distinction?

 

Farina held a degree in political science. AFAIK he never actively utilized his degree.

Besides the fact he almost always entered his own cars under the Dr. Giuseppe Farina banner...

[Alan Lewis]

Jonathan Palmer? Although he was a qualified medical ‘doctor’ so not quite the same. Does anyone know where he attended medical school?

His Wikipedia page says Guys Hospital, and that he did work briefly at Cuckfield and at Brighton before choosing racing full time.

The Guys link is referenced to this Sunday Times interview piece...

https://www.driving....-circuit-owner/

[D28]

Tony Goodwin raced at F3 and Sportscar level  . 

 

John Sheldon, Gabriel Serblin, Siggi Brunn and of course Tony Brooks qualified as dentists though I'm not sure if Serblin or Brooks actually ever saw a patient

Included in that group is Dr Dick Thompson, prominent US sports car racer, had a dentistry practice in Washington DC.

[AJCee]

Thank you Alan,. Presumably one of the University of London schools then.

[bradbury west]

Dr George C Shepherd from Cambridge.

Derek?P Merfield, an Australian dentist I think, raced over here.

John Mew,  an Orthodontic surgeon, based in N Kent, usually raced at Brands Hatch, also raced dressed as Father Christmas at the  Boxing Day Brands meeting.

Roger Lund.

Edited by bradbury west, 12 May 2023 - 21:21.

[Alan Lewis]

Thank you Alan,. Presumably one of the University of London schools then.

Yes, specifically Kings College...

https://en.wikipedia...nited_Hospitals

Sticking with the medical racers theme, J. Dudley Benjafield springs to mind.

Edited by Alan Lewis, 12 May 2023 - 21:25.

[Richard Jenkins]

Tony Goodwin raced at F3 and Sportscar level .

John Sheldon, Gabriel Serblin, Siggi Brunn and of course Tony Brooks qualified as dentists though I'm not sure if Serblin or Brooks actually ever saw a patient

Jack Miller also.

[Lee Nicolle]

No end of specialists racing cars here in SA, at one stage 3 from one large business. Have had surgery twice by them with no complaints. They generally do quite well though have the money to do it right unlike so many of us.

[ensign14]

Dr Don Tarr had a decent NASCAR privateer career, as well as having a general medical practice in Tinnosea.

[Emery0323]

Dr Don Tarr had a decent NASCAR privateer career, as well as having a general medical practice in Tinnosea.

That reminds me that Dr Tarr died just last year, Jan. 2022, aged 91.   He raced at high-banked 200+ MPH NASCAR ovals like Daytona and Talladega, hence the obituary's mention of him as "The World's Fastest Physician"

https://www.legacy.c...ary?id=32475916

 

While not a medical doctor,   Helmut Marko earned a  Doctor of Laws degree in his native Austria, which no doubt was helpful in his role as a manager for drivers like Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger as well as a team principal in F1 to Red Bull and Toro Rosso.   I can recall reading race reports from the early 1970's, when he was a driver, referring to him as "Dr. Helmut Marko"..   I believe he also worked as a local magistrate in Austria as his "day job" when he was not racing.

Edited by Emery0323, 13 May 2023 - 07:10.

[SamoanAttorney]

From San Antonio, Texas, the spinal specialist, Dr Stephen Earle, who has won several Ferrari Challenge titles over the past 30 years and competed in endurance racing and Le Mans. As good a definition of 'the gentleman driver' as you could find.

 

Professor Rik Bryan, a leading light in the fight against bladder cancer, was behind Team Modena and their campaigns with the Aston Martin DBR9 and Ferrari F430 at Le Mans and in Le Mans Series.

[Derwent Motorsport]

Edinburgh doctor Hugh Chalmers raced a lot in Scotland and also had some drives for Ecurie Ecosse. 

[Ray Bell]

Aussies I can think of at the moment...

 

Dr John Suttor, raced Jaguars in the early to mid-sixties. Medical doctor and at time the course doctor at race meetings IIRC.

 

Chris Farrell, dentist. He moved to England in the late seventies to advance his income prospects from dentistry and simultaneously use that greater income to race extensively. Back in Australia he has (or had?) some nice cars for 'Historic' racing including a Ralt RT4 and an F2 car from that era. In England raced under the team banner 'MIlldent Racing', which gave a clue to his vocation.

 

Bill Westerman, dentist. Historic racer in Minis and long-time originator of Historic events in Queensland, including the Leyburn Sprints, which pointed to the 50th anniversary of the 1949 Australian Grand Prix at Leyburn in which his father had a large part in the organising.

 

Dr Bill Marshall, one-time owner-driver of the infamous Brabham BT31.

[Dave Ware]

John Sheldon, Gabriel Serblin, Siggi Brunn and of course Tony Brooks qualified as dentists though I'm not sure if Serblin or Brooks actually ever saw a patient

While being interviewed for the ‘58 Sebring 12 hour race, Tony Brooks indicated that he had just gotten off of 6 months of dental surgery. “But during the summer months I don’t do anything at all.”

Quite a contrast. Aspects of a full life.

[Ralf Pickel]

Dr Stephen Fedele did race quite successfully in the Top Alcohol Dragster category in 80s/90s. He was a regular at Pomona at the time, being from California. IIRC he was or still is a Chiropractor. I haven't been to a Pomona event since 2002....

[eab]

Alain Prost, a former F1 driver who apparently did have some success in that racing series, was allegedly a professor of some sort.

[D-Type]

Tony Goodwin raced at F3 and Sportscar level  . 

 

John Sheldon, Gabriel Serblin, Siggi Brunn and of course Tony Brooks qualified as dentists though I'm not sure if Serblin or Brooks actually ever saw a patient

Tony Brooks did practise for a short time after he qualified but, as he explained in his autobiography, he found that as his racing career developed the amount of time off he was taking to go racing was getting so high that he had to stop practising.  When he retired from racing hedidn't return to dentistry.

[GregThomas]

Dr Rodger Freeth PhD in physics. NZ  University lecturer, very successful motorcycle racer, car racer and navigator for Possum Bourne in WRC events

 

Killed navigating for Bourne in Rally Australia.

[brucemoxon]

Dr Richard Harris, the cave-diving rescuer of that Thai football team. Races a Mini in historic events in Australia. 

 

 

 

BRM

[Ray Bell]

I just remembered Dr Leo Stubber, who raced a Porsche in Western Australia in the seventies...
 
It was he who allowed Gordon Mitchell to take a mold off his car so he could build a Sports Sedan Porsche from a wreck, replacing most of the body with fibreglass from that mold.
 
Obviously a generous soul, but read on, I found this story about his daughter (also a doctor) fascinating:
 

CLAIRE STUBBER August 15, 1978-December 23, 2020
 
Dr Claire Stubber, who has died at the age of 42, was an advocate for organ donation and the embodiment of its benefits.
 
She knew that death was imminent when, at 17, she was placed on the organ transplant list. Claire received a donated heart and lungs in October 1996 at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.
 
Such radical surgery is performed when a person is terminally ill with end-stage cardiothoracic disease. Only about 55 per cent of heart-lung recipients live beyond five years, so Claire’s survival for 24 years is remarkable.
 
Claire was the second of four daughters born to Barbara, a nurse, and Leo, a consultant physician, who were living in Perth.

When Claire was five months old, her mother noticed that her lips were blue, and she was diagnosed with a rare, inoperable heart condition with limited life expectancy. Because her heart couldn’t adequately pump blood around her body, Claire’s oxygen levels were so low she found any physical exertion extremely difficult.
 
As a child, going as fast as she could up the street, Claire recalled being easily overtaken by strolling octogenarians. Every breath was a challenge. Fortunately, she was born to a family devoted to books and reading became her passion and escape.
 
At 17, Claire had to be near the transplant unit so that she could go to hospital immediately organs became available. During the nine months she waited in Melbourne, Claire met Ian, the man who was to become her husband.
 
Ian, also from Perth, was waiting in Melbourne for donated lungs to ameliorate the effects of cystic fibrosis. Claire had never met anyone with a similar condition to hers and was pleased to find in Ian someone who understood her and with whom she could share her thoughts and concerns. They soon became inseparable.

Claire wrote for her and other organ recipients: “Living begins with an anonymous death. It happens in the same unpredictable manner as birth: a rush through deserted city streets to the hospital after a phone call in the middle of the night.”
 
She said she was excited to be given this chance of staying alive and went into surgery gladly. She was grateful to the donor and the donor’s family. Had she died before the transplant Claire hoped her own healthy organs would be donated to someone else. She made it clear before her death she wanted her body to be useful, if not to provide organs, then to inform medical science.
 
Claire found it hard to explain the euphoria of being able to breathe freely after surgery and said she was so overcome by the experience she would have died happy soon afterwards. When she was allowed outside after several weeks, she wrote she was “unprepared for the stunning effect of the natural world. I cannot believe the colour in the sky, the feeling of the wind and the myriad smells. I smell the dust that trams leave in their wake, the indefinable yet recognisable smell of fresh air (a contrast to the stuffy and chemically laden air in the hospital) and the hint of eucalyptus. I can walk across the road.”
 
Her recovery was slow. Eventually, she was able to take up the place at university offered to her before the transplant and finished her degree at the age of 27. By this time, she had focused her intelligence and insights on all aspects of organ donation. Over the next few years, she wrote a profound PhD thesis exploring Mary Shelley’s novel "Frankenstein" in light of her own experience as a recipient. It’s a great read, available online through the University of Western Australia.
 
Recipients of donated organs must, for the rest of their lives, take drugs to suppress their immune system so their bodies don’t reject the organs. This, of course, makes recipients vulnerable to all kinds of bacteria, fungi and viruses as well as a range of cancers. The drugs have undesirable side-effects, including high blood pressure, diabetes, increased levels of cholesterol and lipids in the blood, osteoporosis, and cataracts. Claire experienced all of these but said: “Nothing I’ve experienced since transplantation has been as bad as living with advanced congenital heart disease.”

Claire was sad her health made it impossible for her to be a mother but delighted in her sisters’ children. Claire wrote of taking a ride on a Ferris wheel with her two-year-old niece Abbie. “I found myself at sunset, overlooking Fremantle harbour with an exquisite child singing "Wheels on the Bus". In print, it seems so little, but for the fact that I was so close to death and therefore so close to never meeting my sisters’ children. I love the process of getting to know each of them, seeing their personalities emerge and seeing more of the narrative of my sisters’ lives than I had ever dared to hope for.”
 
In 2014, Claire became an adjunct research fellow at Monash University, joining the team in global and women’s health in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. She applied her great skills in literary analysis to the interpretation of research interviews and learnt new skills in public health, contributing to a wide range of research.
 
Her most recent work, and that to which she was especially committed, was to ensure people confronting the prospect of receiving a donated heart or lungs could watch videos on the internet of recipients prepared to describe their experiences in detail. She (with her friend and colleague Maggie Kirkman) completed six lengthy interviews and uploaded them in a format that makes them searchable.
 
She contributed her own story to the collection. Her colleagues are determined to seek further funding to extend and refine this project.
Claire was witty, warm, brave, insightful, and intelligent. She said, because of the donated heart and lungs, she “had so much joyful living”. She was a generous colleague, friend, daughter, sister and wife. She and Ian enjoyed a particularly close partnership.

She was admitted to hospital in September 2020 and suffered diverse and increasing setbacks until her death two days before Christmas. Her family was with her. She is survived by her husband, parents, sisters Anne, Eve, and Zoe, and her sisters’ families.
 
This tribute was written by Claire’s friend and colleague Dr Maggie Kirkman, with contributions by Professor Jane Fisher AO.

.

Edited by Ray Bell, 14 May 2023 - 23:27.

[F1matt]

Colin Kolles, one-time F1 team boss and owner of a WEC sportscar team was a qualified dentist. He performed some dental work on a driver one race weekend so I think he is a practicing dentist who carries his equipment around with him… 

[TerryS]

In Australia in the 1970's there was Doctor Paul Older who raced several BMW's.

 

He was sponsored by Craven Mild cigarettes. He was in a lot of print ads holding a cigarette.

 

I always thought it unusual for a doctor to be promoting cigarette smoking.

[JacnGille]

1970's Suzuki Motocrosser Gerrit Wolsink was a dentist.

[Pat Clarke]

What about Dr. Jack M. Miller who raced several times in the Indy 500?

 

Pat

[LittleChris]

Mentioned by Richard earlier Pat 😄

[TerryS]

Another Aussie was Doctor Iain Corness

 

He raced what was reported as the world's fastest MGB.

 

World's Fastest MGB - The Nostalgia Forum - The Autosport Forums

Edited by TerryS, 17 May 2023 - 01:44.

[doc knutsen]

Modesty prevents mentioning names, but there is a Scandinavian physician who has raced since 1976, and designed and built his own Group C2 car, the Cheek C288...currently racing an Alfa 1300GTA Junior in FIA Historic racing, with a 3.8 Mk 2 Jaguar also to FIA specs waiting in the wings.

Edited by doc knutsen, 17 May 2023 - 19:15.

[ReWind]

In my database I have far more than 200 men and few women from the world of car racing & rallying who have/had a doctor’s title or are/were professors. Of course not just drivers but also racetrack physicians, engineers, writers and the like.

Charles Aliberti (USA), Edgar Althoff (Ger), Tom Ashwell (Can), „Augwiller“ (Fra), Geraldo de Avellar (Bra), Andreas Baenziger (Sui), Peter Baumberger (Sui), Robert Beaver (GBr), Thomas Beck (Ger), Leon Becker (USA), Alfredo Belponer (Ita), Lothar Bender (Ger), Doc Benjafield (GBr), Dick Berggren (USA), Hans Willy Bernartz (Ger), Thomas Betzler (Ger), Ulrich Bez (Ger), Wolfgang Bieling (Ger), Klaus Bierlich (Ger), Stefan Bihl (Ger), Otakar Bittmann (Cze), Peter Blaimschein (Aut), Henry Bock (USA), Henry Bohdal (Aut), Friedrich von Bohlen (Ger), Kym Bonython (Aus), John Boorman (Aus), Erich Breinsberg (Aut), „HR Brown“ (NZl), Siegfried Brunn (Ger), Rik Bryan (GBr), Thomas Bscher (Ger), Karl Budde (Ger), Helmut Busch (Ger), Henri Cabaniols (Fra), Preston Calvert (USA), Jean-Marie Castan (Fra), Joe Castellano (Ita), Luigi Cecchini (Ita), Hugh Chalmers (GBr), Vern Clausing (USA), André Colas (Fra), Paul Conn (GBr), Iain Corness (Aus), Harold Cowan (USA), Graham Cowie (NZl), Frederick Cramer (USA), David Cranston (GBr), Beatty Crawford (GBr), Benedikt gr. Darrelmann (Ger), Matt Daskalos (USA), Tom Dehn (USA), Dick DeJarld (USA), Albert Demke (Ger), Leo von Diergardt (Ger), Udo Doerr (Ger), Willi Dungl (Aut), James Dunkel (USA), Steve Earle (USA), Bobby Eberle (USA), Joe Ehrlich (Aut), David Enderby (GBr), Gerd Ennser (Ger), William Eschrich (USA), August Euler (Ger), Bob Ewen (GBr), Dieter Eymann (Ger), Frank Falkner (GBr), Giuseppe Farina (Ita), Chris Farrell (Aus), Steve Fedele (USA), Pierre Félix (Fra), Alois Ferscha (Aut), Karl Feuereißen (Ger), Ron Finger (USA), Gernot Fischer (Aut), Bert Flossbach (Ger), Yves la France (Can), Rodger Freeth (NZl), Markus Gallmeier (Ger), David Gathercole (GBr), Jürgen Gerlach (Ger), Wim Gerlach (Ned), Josef Gerold (Ger), Eckhard Geulen (Ger), Erich Glavitza (Aut), Curt Gonstead (USA), Tony Goodwin (GBr), Felix Görner (Ger), Dawie Gous (SAf), Franco Gozzi (Ita), Rafael Grajales-Robles (Pan), Sebastian Grams (Ger), Bruce Grant-Braham (GBr), Daryl Habich (USA), Carl Hahn (Ger), Jean Haimovici (Rom), Mike Hamby (USA), Eghbal Hamidy (Irn), Mark Handford (GBr), Gary Hartstein (USA), Toshihide Hashimura (Jpn), Jocelyn Hébert (Can), Dave Helmick (USA), Michael Henderson (Aus), Hubert von Herkomer (Ger), Víktor de los Heros (Bol), Harald Hertz (Aut), Ed Hessert (USA), Theo Hey (Ger), Aki Hintsa (Fin), Rainer Holzborn (Ger), Walter Honegger (Sui), Robert Hubbard (USA), Hans-Peter Huppert-Nieder (Ger), Fritz Indra (Aut), Jaromír Jiřík (Cze), Walter Kafitz (Ger), Heinz Kaiser (Ger), Florian Kamelger (Ita), Hermann Kamprath (Ger), Josef Karrer (Sui), Elio Keller (Sui), Karl Kempf (USA), Ron Kerr (USA), Richard Kidd (Can), Marius Klein (Ger), Birger Knutsen (Nor), Colin Kolles (Ger), Helmut Krackowizer (Aut), Robert Krailsheimer (Ger), Torsten Krey (Ger), Joachim Kühling (Ger), Hans Kühnis (Sui), Gerhard Kuntschik (Aut), Robert Labrie (Can), David Lane (USA), Peter Lang (Ger), Ferdinando Latteri (Ita), Thomas Lauda (Aut), Werner Laurenz (Ger), Mike Lawrence (GBr), Martin Leach (GBr), Dick Lee (USA), Daryl Leisky (Can), Jacques Lhermitte (Bel), Richard Lichtenberg (Ger), Otto Lindpaintner (Ger), Ulf Linnbach (Ger), Mario Lombardi (Ita), Fred Loring (USA), Fred Losee (USA), Harald Ludanek (Ger), Giovanni Lurani (Ita), Rolf Madaus (Ger), Peter Malimson (GBr), Helmut Mander (Ger), Bodo Markfeld (Ger), August Markl (Ger), Helmut Marko (Aut), Stanley Marks (GBr), Bill Marshall (Aus), Bruno Martellanz (Aut), Robert Masson (USA), Joe Mattioli (USA), Rose Mattioli (USA), Mario Mazzacurati (SAf), Troy McHenry (USA), Gordon Meffert (USA), John Melvin (USA), Derek Merfield (Aus), John Mew (GBr), Jack Miller (USA), Spike Milligan (GBr), Charles Monk (Can), Giampiero Moretti (Ita), Shaheed Mugjenkar (SAf), Godefroy von Mumm (Ger), Hans Musäus (Ger), Fritz Nallinger (Ger), Malcolm Nancarrow (Aus), Todd Napieralski (USA), Klaus Nesbach (Ger), Frank Newton (GBr), Hans Nibel (Aut), Harry Niemann (Ger), Christian Nitsche (Aut), Jim Norman (USA), Nicky Nufer (Ger), Dessie Nutt (GBr), Erhard Oehm (Ger), Charles Ogle (USA), Paul Older (Aus), Fritz von Opel (Ger), Siegfried von Pachernegg (Aut), Jonathan Palmer (GBr), Don Panoz (USA), Petra Perlaky (Hun), „Gunther Philipp“ (Aut), Wilbur Pickett (USA), Arnulf Pilhatsch (Aut), Hans-Georg Plaut (Ger), Dieter Pögl (Aut), José Luis Ponce (Esp), Fred Poordad (USA), Ferdinand Porsche (Aut), Ferry Porsche (Aut), Harvey Postlethwaite (GBr), Nico Prey (Ger), Jerry Punch (USA), Ove Rasmussen (Ger), Max Reisch (Aut), Vadim Reutsky (Ukr), Erhard Ricken (Ger), Heinz Risse (Ger), Heinz Rosterg (Ger), Gil Roth (USA), John Roth (GBr), Eduard Rothenfelder (Ger), Werner Rottenberg (Ger), Gino Rovere (Ita), Noel St. George Hyslop (GBr), Charles Safley (USA), Shinichirō Sakurai (Jpn), Austen Samuel (GBr), Hermínio Santos Martins (Por), Gary Savage (GBr), Hans Scherenberg (Ger), Peter Schetty (Sui), Ulrich Schiefer (Ger), Peter Schöggl (Aut), Peter Schrick (Ger), Ulrich Schumacher (Ger), Thomas Schünemann (Ger), Rainer Schwedt (Ger), Val Scroggie (USA), Hugh Scully (Can), Lou Sell (USA), Lou Sellyei (USA), Gabriele Serblin (Ita), Doc Shattuc (USA), Paul Sheldon (GBr), Doc Shepherd (GBr), Dean Sicking (USA), Fred Simeone (USA), Paul Simsa (Ger), Dick Skillen (USA), George Snively (USA), Supee Soin (Ken), Miklós de Sorgo (Hun), Bernt Spiegel (Ger), Jacques Sprenger van Eijk (Ned), Wolf Georg von Staehr (Ger), Friedrich-Wilhelm Stallmann (Ger), Joachim Steidel (Ger), Siegfried Stohr (Ita), Thomas Stoltz (Ger), Leo Stubber (Aus), John Suttor (Aus), Peter Taggart (GBr), Peter Talbot (USA), János Tandari (Hun), Don Tarr (USA), Alfred Teves (Ger), Mario Theissen (Ger), Dick Thompson (USA), Carl Tigler (Ger), Gustav Tiroch (Aut), Franz Tost (Aut), Stein Tveten (Nor), Andrea Ulivi (Ita), Wolfgang Ullrich (Aut), Harald Ulmen (Ger), John Uren (Aus), Oldřich Vaníček (Cze), Tamara Vidali (Ita), Dolph Vilardi (USA), Ernst Vogel (Aut), Christian Wack (Ger), Frank Walliser (Ger), Thomas Waring (USA), Sid Watkins (GBr), Ernst Paul Wawer (Ger), Guido Wegner (Ger), Jürgen Weiler (Ger), Aldo Weilschott (Ita), Heiner Weiss (Ger), Fritz Werneck (Ger), Jackie Wilson (USA), Eugen Winter (Ger), Artur Wiswedel (Ger), Jan Wójtowicz (Pol), Peter Worm (Ger), Dave Wright (SAf), Jesse Wyllie (USA), Audrey Zavodsky (USA), Karl-Friedrich Ziegahn (Ger), Harry Zweifel (Sui).

Lack of title means there is no Tony Brooks and, of course, no Erwin Doctor.

 

EDITED to include Michael Henderson, John Boorman, Malcolm Nancarrow, Mark Handford & Charles Safley

Edited by ReWind, 22 May 2023 - 07:24.

[D-Type]

In my database I have far more than 200 men and few women from the world of car racing & rallying who have/had a doctor’s title or are/were professors. Of course not just drivers but also racetrack physicians, engineers, writers and the like.

~

Lack of title means there is no Tony Brooks and, of course, no Erwin Doctor.

In Britain Dentists don't usually use the title "Doctor" because some universities award a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree and not a doctorate to dentists for some arcane reason.  For example you never see Alfred Moss, Stirling's father referred to as "Doctor"  Moss.
Incidentally, Tony Brooks did practise as a dentist for a short while.

[Derwent Motorsport]

Just out of interest what did Tony Brooks do for a living after he retired from racing?

[Tim Murray]

Tony bought a small garage in Weybridge, Surrey in 1959. This he expanded into a successful car dealership, specialising first in BMC, then Lancia/Fiat and finally Ford. He sold up and retired in 1993.

https://amp.theguard...brooks-obituary

[MCS]

Tony bought a small garage in Weybridge, Surrey in 1959. This he expanded into a successful car dealership, specialising first in BMC, then Lancia/Fiat and finally Ford. He sold up and retired in 1993.

https://amp.theguard...brooks-obituary

 

 

Although I think there are still some around - if they are indeed the same as the initial group dealership ones.  I saw one in Northampton the other week as I recall.

 

 

[Jim Thurman]

Glad to see ReWind's list. The forum is so Brit-centric and Euro-centric, that many American racing doctors weren't mentioned.

 

I was going to mention Dr. Ed Hessert (sports cars, NASCAR); dentist Dr. Lou Sell (Formula A champ; later era Can-Am) and opthamologist Dr. Lou Sellyei.

[Sterzo]

The forum is so Brit-centric and Euro-centric, that many American racing doctors weren't mentioned.

 

 

Do give us a rest. This nationality-based sniping becomes very wearing.
 

[Collombin]

The forum is so Brit-centric and Euro-centric, that many American racing doctors weren't mentioned

But the one USA-centric forum of my acquaintance often seems to disappoint you even more than this one!

[Jim Thurman]

Do give us a rest. This nationality-based sniping becomes very wearing.
 

I agree, but it's the truth and it's often one-sided. As is the tetchiness and denial about it.

 

EDIT: For example, why the tetchiness over stating a simple truth    This forum is very F1, and very Brit-centric (extreme would not even be an inaccurate description in more ways than one), and to a lesser extent, Euro-centric. This is undeniable truth. Also undeniable is that U.S. racing, drivers and everything else really, is often overlooked at best (which all my comment alluded to), or at worst around here, treated dismissively or contemptuously. It pleases me greatly that folks like Michael Ferner (who knows far more about U.S. racing than I do); ensign14; Collombin, and a few (very few!) others here are as knowledgeable about U.S. racing as they are    But, that doesn't change the sneering put downs, which were always here, but have only grown much worse, especially since Liberty took over. "The Americans" is often used perjoratively around here. Yet, when Mr. Ecclestone ran F1, I do not recall posts about "The Brits" ruining F1. It's bad enough when that sort of thing rears its head in "relevant" threads (Andretti's F1 plans, U.S. F1 rounds, etc.), but when the same attitude creeps into threads about U.S. racing, or history...well...

Edited by Jim Thurman, 21 May 2023 - 16:32.

[Jim Thurman]

But the one USA-centric forum of my acquaintance often seems to disappoint you even more than this one!

Oh how very true    That's because it is far more regional, more Hoosier-centric, than USA-centric 

 

EDIT: Two sides of the same coin really. There it's regionalism and a similar form of tribalism that I am critical of. So, not that different really    

Edited by Jim Thurman, 21 May 2023 - 16:33.

[Ray Bell]

Dr Michael Henderson hasn't been added to the thread yet, I don't think...

 

He raced in the UK in the sixties and then graduated to race in Australia after that.

 

And, of course, he saved untold lives of racing drivers.

[RCH]

In Britain Dentists don't usually use the title "Doctor" because some universities award a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree and not a doctorate to dentists for some arcane reason.  For example you never see Alfred Moss, Stirling's father referred to as "Doctor"  Moss.
Incidentally, Tony Brooks did practise as a dentist for a short while.

 

My local dentist surgery refers to all the dentists as doctor even though none of them has a doctorate. Dentists are often known as dental surgeons and it is standard practice to refer to a surgeon as Mr. 

On the subject of motor sporting dentists miy dentist in my teenage years was a chap called Peter Bow. Well known locally as a successful hill climber.

[ReWind]

Thanks, Ray. I just added Michael Henderson to my list.
A comprehensive profile you can find here.

[cooper997]

1950s Australian Jaguar racer, Dr John Boorman.

 

1950s/60s South Australian racer, Dr Malcolm Nancarrow.

 

In more recent times... Brabham FJ and Porsches in historics, Dr Ian Henderson (recently passed) orthopaedic surgeon.

 

 

Stephen

[ReWind]

Brabham FJ and Porsches in historics, Dr Ian Henderson (recently passed) orthopaedic surgeon.

Is he the subject of this obituary (p.22)?

[Nigel Beresford]

@ReWind as your list includes PhD holding engineers (like Harvey Postlethwaite) then you could add another ex-Tyrrell colleague Dr. Mark Handford (ex Lola, Tyrrell, Swift). He of the infamous ‘Handford’ device.

Not sure many of the drivers listed in the posts reach the OP’s criterion of being “top line”, but it has been interesting nonetheless.

Edited by Nigel Beresford, 20 May 2023 - 17:35.

[ReWind]

Done.

[Emery0323]

Not sure many of the drivers listed in the posts reach the OP’s criterion of being “top line”, but it has been interesting nonetheless.

I think this observation points out an interesting subtext to the topic:

 

To be a “Doctor” (M.D., D.D.S., J.D., Ph.D., etc.) typically requires years of undergraduate and post-graduate university studies as well as specialized junior-level “apprentice” type employment as a medical resident, law clerk, post-doctoral researcher, etc. 

 

All that training consumes the formative years of young adulthood in one’s 20’s and early 30’s that correspond to the formative years when a race driver (or any professional athlete) would be honing their professional skills competitively.  It’s difficult to excel at the highest level in both sports and academics, since they both make all-consuming demands on a young adult’s time and energy!

 

Many of the doctors mentioned in this thread went racing as a hobby.  They are the modern equivalent of the “gentlemen racers” of a bygone era.

[Nigel Beresford]

Indeed. Of all the drivers I personally worked with as an engineer, Jonathan Palmer was one of the more difficult to feel particularly, er, warm about, but I admire him tremendously for having worked so hard and achieved success (however you want to characterise it) in three totally different disciplines - medicine, sport and business.

[PCC]

Are there any drivers who followed the Brian May route (speaking of people of highly admirable accomplishment)? Any who successfully pursued a doctorate or equivalent after their racing careers were over?

 

(I know that May continued and continues to be a musician, but he got all that time-consuming rock-star stuff done and dusted before returning to an earlier professional love.)