Peter Bolton

Peter Bolton ( 1919 - August 25, 2008 ) was a British racing car driver .

Career in motorsport

British racing driver Peter Bolton gained international fame through an accident. When it got dark, he had an accident as an AC Cars works driver at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans on the fast passage between the Mulsanne and Indianapolis bends . The AC Cobra collided after a gearbox failure with the Ferrari 275P by Giancarlo Baghetti . Both cars slipped into an exit zone that was closed to spectators. But three people had climbed over the barrier and were hit by the rotating racing car. All three died at the scene of the accident.

Bolton drove sports car races in the 1950s and 1960s. His greatest international success was seventh overall at Le Mans in 1963 with Ninian Sanderson in the AC Cobra 289 Coupé.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1956	Robert Walshaw	Jaguar XK 140	Robert Walshaw	disqualified
1957	AC Cars Ltd.	AC Ace	Ken Rudd	Rank 10
1958	AC Cars Ltd.	AC Ace LM Prototype	Richard Stoop	Rank 8
1959	Standard Triumph Motor Company	Triumph TR3S	Mike Rothschild	failure	defective cooler
1960	Standard triumph	Triumph TR4S	Ninian Sanderson	not classified
1961	Standard Triumph Motor Company	Triumph TR4S	Keith Ballisat	Rank 9
1962	TVR Cars	TVR Grantura	Ninian Sanderson	failure	defective cooler
1963	AC Cars Ltd.	AC Cobra 289 Coupé	Ninian Sanderson	Rank 7 and class win
1964	AC Cars Ltd.	AC Cobra Coupé	Jack Sears	failure	accident
1965	Standard Triumph Ltd.	Triumph Spitfire	William Bradley	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1962	TVR Cars	TVR Grantura	Mike Rothschild	failure	Rear axle
1963	Standard Triumph Motor Co.	Triumph TR4	Mike Rothschild	Rank 22
1965	Standard Triumph Inc.	Triumph Spitfire	Mike Rothschild	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
1955	Aston Martin	Aston Martin DB2	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
					DNF
1957	AC Cars	AC Ace	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
							10
1958	AC Cars	AC Ace	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
							8th
1959	Standard Motor Company	Triumph TR3	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
						DNF
1960	Standard Motor Company	Triumph TR4	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
							DNF
1961	Standard Motor Company	Triumph TR4	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
						9
1962	TVR	TVR Grantura	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
					DNF					DNF			DNF
1963	Standard Motor Company AC Cars	Triumph TR4 AC Cobra	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
					22nd							7th
1964	AC Cars	AC Cobra	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
											DNF
1965	Standard Motor Company	Triumph Spitfire	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
				DNF										DNF

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

• Peter Bolton at Racing Sports Cars