Bert Hadley
Herbert Lewis "Bert" Hadley (* 1910 in Birmingham ; † July 1993 ) was a British test and racing driver .
Career
Bert Hadley joined the Austin Motor Company in 1926 at the age of 16 and began working as a mechanic in the Experimental and Racing Cars division. He became a test driver at the beginning of the 1930s and was one of the Austin works drivers from the middle of this decade. In 1937 he contested his first 24-hour race at Le Mans and in the same year, together with Charles Dodson in an Austin 7, he finished seventh in the 12-hour race at Donington . As a test driver and engineer was involved in the development of all Austin models of this period,
At the beginning of the Second World War he applied to fly with the Royal Air Force , but was turned down because of his age. Later worked in the British Ministry of Social Affairs and was responsible for coordinating the means of production in the Midlands during the war .
After the end of the war, he resumed his racing activities and was 17th in the RAC Tourist Trophy in 1951 and eleventh overall in Le Mans in 1953 . His last race appearance was in Le Mans in 1955 , where he finished 15th together with Ken Richardson on a Triumph TR2 .
In 1995, two years after his death, his son Clive started the Bert Hadley Memorial Championship , an event for historic hill climbs with Austin 7 models.
statistics
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
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1937 |
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Austin 7 |
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failure | Engine failure |
1950 |
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Jaguar XK120S |
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failure | Clutch damage |
1951 |
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Jowett Jupiter R1 |
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failure | Power transmission |
1952 |
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Jowett Jupiter R1 |
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failure | Leak in the oil tank |
1953 |
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Nash-Healey Sports |
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Rank 11 | |
1955 |
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Triumph TR2 |
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Rank 15 |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
season | team | race car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1953 | Nash-Healey |
Austin-Healey 100 Nash-Healey Sport |
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DNF | 11 | ||||||||
1955 | Standard Motor Company | Triumph TR2 |
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15th |
literature
- Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Hadley, Bert |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hadley, Herbert Lewis |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British test and car racing driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1910 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Birmingham |
DATE OF DEATH | July 1993 |