David Hobbs

David Hobbs

Nation:	United Kingdom
Automobile world championship
First start:	1967 British Grand Prix
Last start:	1974 Italian Grand Prix
Constructors
1967  Bernard White Racing - Lola 1968  Honda 1971 Penske White Racing 1974 McLaren
statistics
World Cup balance:	no World Cup placement
Starts Victories Poles SR 7th - - -
World Cup points :	-
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

David Wishart Hobbs (born June 9, 1939 in Leamington Spa ) is a former English racing driver .

Career

David Hobbs was the classic "step in" in motorsport. Wherever an emergency driver was needed, Hobbs was promptly on hand. In this respect, there is hardly a racing series between the 1960s and 1980s in which Hobbs did not leave his mark. He drove touring cars and monoposto , took part in the CanAm series, drove in the IMSA, the Formula 5000 and finished fifth in the Indianapolis 500 in 1974 . In 1976 he even led two laps at the Daytona 500 mile and was one of the few Europeans to compete in NASCAR . He drove seven Grand Prix to the Formula 1 World Championship and was one of the best sports car drivers of the respective era for three decades. Since the end of his racing career, he has been working as a TV commentator in the USA

Junior years

Hobbs began his career in the British sports car scene on Jaguar and Lotus in the early 1960s. He drove in Formula Junior , Formula 2 and was a works driver in the brand world championship for sports cars from 1965. He made his debut in Formula 1 in 1966.

formula 1

David Hobbs in the Hall of Fame at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum

Hobbs drove his first race in this class in Sicily in 1966. In the race in Syracuse, which is not part of the world championship, he finished third with a BRM from the Bernard White Racing Team and thus made an excellent debut. A year later he drove his first world championship run, again for Bernard White, at Silverstone . Three laps behind the winner Jim Clark , he finished eighth in the British Grand Prix . Other sporadic missions followed. In 1968 he joined the Honda team for a race. After Jo Schlesser's death in Rouen, he drove for the Japanese team at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza . After a stint at Penske in 1971 he was given a cockpit in Formula 1. Again as a substitute ( Mike Hailwood had a serious accident at the Nürburgring ), he drove two races for McLaren in 1974. At the Grand Prix of Austria he was seventh and the Grand Prix of Italy, again in Monza, he finished ninth. His eighth place in 1968 at Silverstone remained his best place in the highest class of motorsport.

Sports car

Hobbs competed 20 times in the Le Mans 24 Hours between 1962 and 1989 . In 1969 he and Mike Hailwood came third on a Ford GT 40 owned by John Wyer ; He was able to repeat this success in 1984 on a Porsche. A year before that, he won the 1000 km from Monza, also on a Ford GT 40. He drove vehicles as diverse as a Triumph Spitfire in the 1960s, the BMW M-1 / C in the IMSA GTP series and the Porsche 962 at the end of his long career. The list of his teammates ranged from John Surtees to Damon Hill, who rode alongside Hobbs in Group-C when he was young.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1962	Team Lotus Engineering	Lotus Elite Mk14	Frank Gardner		Rank 8 and class win
1963	Lola Cars Ltd.	Lola Mk6 GT	Richard Attwood		failure	accident
1964	Standard triumph	Triumph Spitfire	Rob Slotemaker		Rank 21
1965	Standard triumph	Triumph Spitfire	Rob Slotemaker		failure	accident
1966	Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari Dino 206S	Mike Salmon		failure	Suspension damage
1967	Lola Cars Ltd.	Lola T70 Mk.III	John Surtees		failure	Ignition damage
1968	John Wyer Automotive	Ford GT40	Paul Hawkins		failure	Engine failure
1969	John Wyer Automotive	Ford GT40	Mike Hailwood		Rank 3
1970	John Wyer Automotive	Porsche 917K	Mike Hailwood		failure	accident
1971	Roger Penske	Ferrari 512M	Mark Donohue		failure	Engine failure
1972	Equipe Matra Simca	Matra MS660C	Jean-Pierre Jabouille		failure	Clutch damage
1979	Grand Touring Cars Inc,	Ford M10	Vern Schuppan	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	failure	Disqualified
1981	Emka Productions	BMW M1	Eddie Jordan	Steve O'Rourke	failure	Clutch damage
1982	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 935/81 Moby Dick	John Fitzpatrick		4th place and class win
1983	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956C	John Fitzpatrick	Dieter Quester	failure	Defective fuel pump
1984	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956B	Philippe Streiff	Sarel van der Merwe	Rank 3
1985	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956C	Guy Edwards	Jo Gartner	Rank 4
1987	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Chip Robinson	Sarel van der Merwe	failure	Engine failure
1988	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Franz Konrad	Didier Theys	Rank 5
1989	Richard Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962C GTI	Damon Hill	Steven Andskar	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1968	JW Engineering	Ford GT40	Paul Hawkins			not classified
1969	JW Engineering	Ford GT40	Mike Hailwood			failure	suspension
1971	Penske White Racing	Ferrari 512M	Mark Donohue			Rank 6
1972	Kirk F. White Motor Racing Inc.	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Skip Scott			failure	Gearbox damage
1976	BMW Motorsport North America	BMW 3.0 CSL	Benny Parsons			failure	malfunction
1978	McLaren North America	BMW 320i Turbo	Milt Minter	Tom Klausler		failure	accident
1982	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 935K3 / 80	John Fitzpatrick			failure	accident
1987	Gebhardt Racing USA	Gebhardt JC853	Gary Robinson	Greg Hobbs	Alf Gebhardt	failure	malfunction

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1961	David Hobbs	Lotus Elite	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
					20th		DNF
1962	Peter Berry Lotus David Hobbs	Jaguar XKE Lotus Elite	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
			DNF						DNF	8th	DNF
1963	Team Elite Lola	Lotus Elite Lola Mk6	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
									9			DNF
1964	SMART Standard Motor Company Harold Young	Porsche 904 Triumph Spitfire Lotus 23	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
									9		21st				DNF
1965	Harold Young Standard Motor Company	Lola T70 Triumph Spitfire	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
								2						DNF
1966	Essex Wire Corporation Maranello Concessionaires Bernard White	Ford GT40 Ferrari Dino 206S Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
							DNF		DNF						DNF
1967	Lola	Lola T70	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
								DNF	DNF			DNF
1968	JW Automotive Paul Hawkins	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
			DNF	DNF	4th	1		6th	4th	2		DNF
1969	JW Automotive	Ford GT40 Mirage M2	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			DNF	DNF	5			7th	DNF	3
1970	JW Automotive	Porsche 917	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
										DNF
1971	Penske Escuderia Montjuich	Ferrari 512S	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
				3	6th	5					DNF		DNF
1972	Kirk F. White Lola Matra NART	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Lola T290 Matra MS660	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
					DNF	7th					DNF		DNF
1974	Ted Trudon Porsche Audi Gulf Research Racing	Porsche Carrera RSR Gulf GR7	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
									8th		3	3
1977	BMW North America	BMW 302i	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SIL	ONLY	VAL	BY	WAT	EST	LEC	MOS	IMO	SAL	BRH	HOK	VAL
			40								DNF			8th
1978	McLaren North America	BMW 320i	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	SIL	ONLY	LEM	MIS	DAY	WAT	VAL	ROD
			64	DNF									DNF
1979	McLaren North America Grand Touring Cars	BMW 320i Ford M10	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
								DNF			DNF			DNF			1
1980	BMW North America	BMW M1	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
													DNF
1981	BMW Emka Productions	BMW M1 BMW M-1 / C	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
			16				6th	2		DNF			DNF		DNF	47
1982	Grid Racing John Fitzpatrick Racing	Grid Plaza S1 Porsche 935	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	MUG	FUJ	BRH
			DNF	DNF		DNF				3
1983	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	FUJ	KYA
			5	8th	6th	DNF	3		DNF
1984	Skoal Bandit Porsche Team John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	BRH	MOS	SPA	IMO	FUJ	KYA	SAN
			DNF	8th	3	2	6th	2	DNF	8th		DNF
1985	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956	MUG	MON	SIL	LEM	HOK	MOS	SPA	BRH	FUJ	SEL
					DNF	4th	5
1987	Joest Racing	Porsche 962	JAR	JER	MON	SIL	LEM	NOW	BRH	ONLY	SPA	FUJ
							DNF
1988	Joest Racing Richard Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962	JER	JAR	MON	SIL	LEM	BRÜ	BRH	ONLY	SPA	FUJ	SAN
						4th	5			7th
1990	GP Motorsport Joest Racing	Spice SE90C Porsche 962	SUZ	MON	SIL	SPA	DIJ	ONLY	DON	MOT	MEX
			21st				8th

literature

• Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 3rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8

Web links

Commons : David Hobbs  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• David Hobbs at Racing Sports Cars