John Whitmore

Sir John Whitmore (left) 2013

Orsett Hall, home of the Whitmore Baronets

A Ford Lotus Cortina, here as a towing vehicle for a Lotus Seven . In 1965 Whitmore was European Touring Car Champion in Division II in a Ford Lotus Cortina.

Ford GT 40 from John Whitmore / Jochen Neerpasch 1966 during training for the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring

Sir John Henry Douglas Whitmore, 2nd Baronet (* October 16, 1937 - April 28, 2017 ) was a British racing car driver and non-fiction author who worked as a coach and consultant after his active sports career.

Origin and education

John Whitmore was born to Sir Francis Henry Charlton Douglas Whitmore, 1st Baronet and his second wife Ellis Johnson. From his father in 1962 he inherited the title of Baronet , of Orsett in the Count of Essex , a not inconsiderable fortune and the family seat of Orsett Hall . Whitmore, who was an avid hobby pilot, used the spacious parking area to be able to take off and land with his private plane in his own area. He sold Orsett Hall in 1968. The building was completely destroyed by fire in 2007, but was rebuilt two years later in the old style. His father is said to have won the property from previous owner Digby Windfeld while playing cards.

Whitmore attended elite schools and universities such as Eton College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . He also trained as an agricultural engineer in Cirencester .

Racing career

Unlike his father, who was a lieutenant colonel in the British Army, Whitmore did not pursue a military career. At the end of the 1950s, he turned his second passion into his profession, motor racing. After a few club races, he professionally entered touring car racing in 1959 . In retrospect, Whitmore was seen as having great talent. He almost completely renounced the monoposto sport and achieved his successes exclusively in touring and sports car races . In the 1960s he was considered one of the best British touring car drivers. Even Formula 1 drivers had a hard time beating him. The British trade press described him as a master in the Mini Cooper . In 1961, he won the overall classification of the British touring car championship with the small racing car . In addition to the Mini Cooper, the Ford Lotus Cortina was the second racing vehicle that Whitmore drove with great mastery. With the Cortina he won the overall ranking of Division II of the European Touring Car Championship in 1965 .

As early as 1959 , with little racing experience, he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and, as a partner of Jim Clark, was tenth in the overall standings. In total, Whitmore was five times at this endurance race at the start, tenth place in 1959 remained his best place in the overall standings.

In 1966 he drove a strong season in the World Sports Car Championship . In both the 1000 km race in Monza and the 1000 km race in Spa-Francorchamps , he narrowly missed the overall victory in second place. In Monza , Masten Gregory was his partner, in Spa he drove with Frank Gardner . In both cases a Ford GT40 was the racing car. In the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1966 , Whitmore started from tenth place in the 77-car field, but failed on the first lap with a broken rear suspension of his GT40 in the airfield section.

After the end of the 1966 season, at the age of 29, he retired from racing and turned to other fields of activity.

Sports psychologist, coach and author

After his racing career, Whitmore worked as a sports psychologist, wrote books on coaching and a biography of fellow racing driver Jack Sears . Most recently, Whitmore worked as Executive Chairman and Coach at Performance Consultants and coached managers worldwide.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1959	Border Reivers	Lotus Elite Mk.14	Jim Clark	Rank 10
1962	Ecurie Chiltern	Austin-Healey 3000	Bob Olthoff	failure	Cylinder damage
1963	Donald Healey Motor Company	Austin-Healey Sprite 1100	Bob Olthoff	failure	accident
1965	Ford Advanced Vehicles	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Innes Ireland	failure	Cylinder overheated
1966	Alan Mann Racing Ltd.	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Frank Gardner	failure	Clutch damage

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1961	British Motors Corp. United States	MGA	Peter Riley		Rank 16
1962	Ecurie Safety Fast	MGA	Bob Olthoff	Frank Morrill	Rank 20
1966	Alan Mann Racing	Ford GT40	Frank Gardner		failure	Engine failure

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
1959	Border Reivers	Lotus Elite	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
						10
1961	British Motors Corp. USA Bob Olthoff	LIKE	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			16		28
1962	Ecurie Safety Fast Bob Olthoff Ecurie Chiltern Chris Barber Essex Racing Stable	MGA Austin-Healey 3000 Lotus Elite Aston Martin DB4	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
					20th				DNF	DNF			DNF				DNF
1963	Daniel Richmond Donald Healey SMART	Mini Austin-Healey Sprite Lotus Elan	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
						27						DNF						DNF
1964	Ian Walker	Lotus Elan	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
									DNF
1965	Alan Mann Racing Ford Willment Racing Team	Shelby Daytona AC Cobra Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
							9	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF			DNF	9
1966	Alan Mann Racing Essex Wire	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
				DNF	2		2	DNF	DNF

Web links

Commons : John Whitmore  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• John Whitmore at driverdb (English)
• John Whitmore in racing sports cars (English)
• John Whitmore. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed on May 15, 2020 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ British Racing Driver Club. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
2. ↑ Orsett Hall and the Whitmore Family
3. ^ Edward John T. Collins: A History of the Orsett Estate, 1743-1914 (= Thurrock (District). Museums Department. Publications. No. 2). Thurrock Borough Council, Grays 1978.
4. ^ John Whitmore at Performance Consultants

predecessor	title	successor
Francis Whitmore	Baronet, of Orsett 1962-2017	Jason Whitmore