Mike Salmon (racing driver)

The Nimrod NRA / C2 with Mike Salmon 1982 the 24-hour race at Le Mans was the start

Salmon competed in the 1966 British Touring Car Championship with a Jaguar Mark 2

Peter Michael Thomas "Mike" Salmon (born October 12, 1933 in Lausanne ; † January 13, 2016 ) was a British racing car driver .

Career

Mike Salmon has had one of the longest careers in international motorsport, at least when it comes to the period from his first to his last race start. This period lasted 53 years from 1955, when he finished second behind John Lawrence in a national sports car race in the Scottish Crimond , to 2008, when he retired at the 24-hour race at Silverstone . Salmon's career had two phases; the first from 1955 to 1968, when he first stepped back from racing after the Le Mans 24-hour race that year and from 1977 to 1984 when he stepped back into sports car racing. At the surprising start in Silverstone in 2008, he was a living legend for the audience and journalists of his generation and completely unknown to the younger generation on site.

Salmon was a touring and sports car driver . At the beginning of the 1960s he was already a successful touring car driver and competed regularly in the British Touring Car Championship until 1966 . With 112 starts both in sport and in touring cars, the Briton celebrated four overall and six class wins. In 24 races he finished on the podium of the top three. He had his most successful racing season in 1961, when he achieved all of his four racing victories.

He made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1962 . Emergency car was an Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato in his possession ; his co-driver was compatriot Ian Baillie . The vehicle broke down after 124 laps due to cylinder damage. The following year he entered the race with a Ferrari 330LMB from Maranello Concessionaires with partner Jack Sears . Fifth place was also the class win for GT vehicles with a displacement between 3 and 4 liters. At this stage of his career he has been away from Le Mans in 1965 together with Innes Ireland on a Ferrari 250LM sixth at the 1000 km race at Monza and in 1967 together with Jackie Oliver on a Ford GT40 seventh at the 1000 km race at Spa-Francorchamps .

Mike Salmon was to retire after the end of the Le Mans 24 hour race in 1968 . To return to the racetrack, he was moved in 1977 by Robin Hamilton . Hamilton, an Aston Martin dealer , had started a sports car project with the support of the plant and won the experienced Salmon as driver. Until 1984 he drove mainly in Le Mans and in sports car races that were very selectively selected by Hamilton. In Le Mans, the best result was seventh place in 1977 . The last finish of his career was fourth place at Thundersports Brands Hatch 1983 .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1962	Mike Salmon	Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato	Ian Baillie		failure	Cylinder damage
1963	Maranello Concessionaires Ltd.	Ferrari 330LMB	Jack Sears		5th place and class win
1964	Mike Salmon	Aston Martin DP214	Peter Sutcliffe		Disqualified
1965	Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari 250LM	Lucien Bianchi		failure	Gearbox damage
1966	Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari Dino 206S	David Hobbs		failure	Suspension damage
1967	John Wyer Automotive	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Brian Redman		failure	Wagon fire
1968	Strathaven Limited	Ford GT40	Eric Liddell		failure	Gearbox damage
1977	SAS Robin Hamilton	Aston Martin DBS V8	Robin Hamilton	David Preece	Rank 17
1979	Robin Hamilton	Aston Martin AMV8 Turbo	Robin Hamilton	David Preece	failure	Oil leak
1981	Simon Phillips	Ferrari 512BB LM	Steve Earle	Simon Phillips	failure	Chassis broken
1982	Viscount Downe Pace Petroleum	Nimrod NRA / C2	Ray Mallock	Simon Philipps	Rank 7
1983	Viscount Downe Pace Petroleum	Nimrod NRA / C2	Ray Mallock	Steve Earle	failure	Engine failure
1984	Viscount Downe Aston Martin	Nimrod NRA / C2B	John Sheldon	Richard Attwood	failure	accident

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
1962	Mike Salmon	Aston Martin DB4	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
										DNF			DNF
1963	Chris Kerrison Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari 250 GT Ferrari 330LMB	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
									8th			5
1964	Dawnay Racing Mike Salmon	Aston Martin DP214	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
			DNF				DNF				DNF				13
1965	Maranello Concessionaires Danway Racing	Ferrari 250LM Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
							6th	DNF		6th	DNF			DNF
1966	David Piper Ronnie Hoare Maranello Concessionaires John Downe	Ferrari 365P2 Ford GT40 Ferrari Dino 206S	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
							DNF	DNF	DNF						4th
1967	Dawnay Racing JW Automotive	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
						8th			DNF
1968	Strathaven	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
					11	DNF		17th	DNF			DNF
1979	Robin Hamilton	Aston Martin AMV8	DAY	SEB	VALLEY	MUG	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
											DNF
1981	Simon Phillips	Ferrari 512 BB	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
								DNF		DNF
1982	Viscount Downe	Nimrod NRA / C2	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	MUG	FUJ	BRH
				6th		7th	11			9
1983	Viscount Downe	Nimrod NRA / C2	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	FUJ	KYA
				7th		DNF	DNF
1984	Viscount Downe	Nimrod NRA / C2	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	BRH	MOS	SPA	IMO	FUJ	KYA	SAN
				DNF	DNF

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. 2 volumes. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : Mike Salmon  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Mike Salmon at the Driver Database
• Mike Salmon at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Doug Nye: Mike Salmon - One of Goodwood's Finest
2. ^ Sports car race in Crimond 1955
3. ^ Monza 1000 km race in 1965
4. ^ 1000 km race at Spa-Francorchamps in 1967
5. ^ Thundersports Brands Hatch 1983