Roger Williamson
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| Nation: |
 Great Britain
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| Automobile world championship | |||||||||
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| First start: | 1973 British Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1973 Dutch Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Constructors | |||||||||
| 1973 March | |||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| World Cup balance: | no World Cup placement | ||||||||
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| World Cup points : | - | ||||||||
| Podiums : | - | ||||||||
| Leadership laps : | - | ||||||||
Roger Williamson (born February 2, 1948 in Ashby-de-la-Zouch , Leicestershire , England , † July 29, 1973 in Zandvoort , Netherlands ) was a British racing driver . He won several Formula 3 championships and started in Formula 1 in 1973 . He had a fatal accident in his second Formula 1 race in the Netherlands .
Career
Roger Williamson was the son of car dealer and amateur racing driver Herbert Lawrence Williamson. Williamson found his way into racing through his father, who was nicknamed "Dodge" in speedway and kart races . 1964 and 1965 was the British runner-up in karting, named "Sideways-Wiliamson" by his competitors; Finally, in 1966, kart champion.
Touring car
In 1967 he contested the British Touring Car Championship in a Mini Cooper and won the championship title of John Aly Saloon Car Champion 1967 with 15 victories in his class . After the destruction of his private Cooper T72 in the British Formula 3 Championship in 1968 , Williamson returned to the British Touring Car Championship for the rest of the season. With a Ford Anglia 105E , however, he was unable to build on his previous year's successes. This changed in 1969 when he had the formula engine of his no longer roadworthy Cooper T72 installed in the Ford. With 14 wins in 14 races, he became champion and took the title Hypolite Glacier Saloon Car Champion 1970 .
Formula 3
In 1968, Williamson drove his first three races in the British Formula 3 Championship with a Cooper T72 he had bought second-hand . After a total write-off of the vehicle, he had to end his participation in this formula series and returned to the British touring car championship. 1970 Williamson returned to British Formula 3. He won his first Formula 3 race on a March 713M at Mallory Park . In Monte Carlo he started from last place on the grid and moved up to seventh place, although he damaged the engine of his March. In this situation, the racing team owner Tom Wheatcroft helped him out with a new engine, which later became a mentor and sponsor of Williamson.
In 1971 Williamson drove for Wheatcroft Racing on a March 731 in both British Formula 3 championships. With 11 wins he became runner-up in MotorSport Magazine's Shell Super Oil British F3 Championship and took the title in the Lombard North Central Championship .
In 1972 Williamson switched to GRD cars , the development of which had received financial support from Tom Wheatcroft. He won the Shell Super Oil British F3 Championship with 78 points, 34 points ahead of runner-up Colin Vanderwell . The BARC Forward Trust British F3 Championship won Williamson with two points ahead of Rikky von Opel , the BRSCC Lombard North Central British F3 Championship was Williamson fourth. After this season, Williamson gave up Formula 3 in favor of Formula 2.
Formula 2
1972 Williamson made his debut in the Formula 2 European Championship . The Formula 3 involvement had priority this year; therefore Williamson only contested selected races in the Formula 2 championship. For the Wheatcroft team, he drove a March 722 in this series . His first Formula 2 race was the Grand Prix de Pau . On the street circuit in the south of France, he finished fifth in the second run; in the final he was canceled after 37 laps due to a technical defect. Williamson skipped the following races at Crystal Palace and the Hockenheimring due to scheduling conflicts with Formula 3 races. Only in Rouen did he start again, but missed the qualification. Williamson's last Formula 2 race of the 1972 season was the Jochen Rindt commemorative race at the Österreichring . Here he retired on lap 13 after an engine failure.
1973 Williamson went again for Wheatcroft Racing in Formula 2 at the start. That year he drove a GRD 273 with a Ford engine. At the fifth race in Pau Williamson finished second behind Jean-Pierre Jarier . In Monza he won.
Formula 5000
In 1972 Williamson drove two races in the British Formula 5000 championship . His teammate at Kitchmac-Chevrolet was Gordon Spice . A sixth place was his best result.
formula 1
In the run-up to the 1973 Automobile World Championship , Williamson was recruited as a replacement test driver for the prevented Clay Regazzoni at BRM . Williamson was faster than all other BRM pilots on both vehicles. The following contract offer from BRM as well as that of Ken Tyrrell rejected Williamson, however, because he wanted to continue working with Wheatcroft.
In the summer of 1973 , after his Formula 2 victory in Monza with financial support from Wheatcroft, Williamson was hired by the March team under his owner Max Mosley as the third works driver for Formula 1 . The March engagement was designed for the races in Great Britain , the Netherlands and Italy . At the same time, Williamson closed a contract with Tyrrell for the 1974 Formula 1 season ; there, as the successor to Jackie Stewart, he was to contest all races of the year for the works team alongside François Cevert .
In his first race for March, the Great Britain Grand Prix at Silverstone , Williamson was involved in a mass collision at the end of the first lap and was eliminated. His car was so damaged that he could no longer participate in the restart.
In his second appearance at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Williamson qualified for 18th place. However, he had to start the race as the 23rd and last driver, because the engine of his car had started too late and he therefore left the pit lane too late.
In the eighth lap he was in 13th place with his March 731. At the exit of the Hondenvlak section, a left-right curve combination that was driven through at over 250 km / h, the left front tire of his car burst in the Oost tunnel section. The car then hit the guardrails on the left edge of the track. As a result of the impact, the March was catapulted into the air, overturned and slid several hundred meters across the track onto the right edge of the track. The fuel tanks attached to the side of the vehicle ignited. Driving behind him, David Purley , who was an eyewitness to the accident, stopped immediately to help his colleague trapped in the burning vehicle. Since the marshals were not equipped with heat-resistant clothing, no one helped him in attempting to put the car on its head on its wheels. Even the use of the only fire extinguisher located at the scene of the accident could not contain the flames, nor was the second fire extinguisher, which was hastily brought in. The race was not interrupted. None of the other drivers stopped because they could not see Purley's parked car, so assumed the burning vehicle was his car and recognized Purley unharmed at the scene of the accident. Onlookers called for help were prevented by police officers with dogs from entering the route. Purley couldn't put the car back on its wheels and free the driver by himself. The fire brigade arrived at the scene of the accident about four minutes after the wreck had come to a standstill.
Williamson eventually burned to death in his vehicle. His body was only recovered after the race was over. The entire rescue attempt was seen live on television. David Purley was later honored with the George Medal for his courageous efforts . Asphyxiation has been identified as the cause of Williamson's death.
Williamson's death has parallels to the fire accident of Piers Courage, who died at the same place at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix .
In 2003, a memorial service was organized in Leicester to mark the 30th anniversary of the accident , which was held in the Memorial Garden. A statue representing Williamson was also inaugurated. Williamson's sister attended the ceremony.
statistics
Career stations
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Statistics in the automobile world championship
general overview
| season | team | chassis | engine | run | Victories | Second | Third | Poles | nice Race laps |
Points | WM-Pos. |
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| 1973 | STP March Racing Team | March 731 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| total | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
Single results
| season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th |
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| 1973 |
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| DNF | DNF |
| Legend | ||
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| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
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| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
literature
- Michael Behrendt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch: Rennfahrertod - 50 tragic heroes in portrait , Heel-Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-86852-494-9
- Mike Lawrence, Robin Herd: March - the rise and fall of a motoring legend, UK 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 (Engl.)
- Leopold Wieland: Burned because just one rescuer wasn't enough . Short biography of Roger Williamson in: Motorsport Aktuell, issue 32/2013, p. 36.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Michael Behrendt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch: Rennfahrertod - 50 tragic heroes in portraits , Heel-Verlag 2012, p. 106.
- ↑ Peter McFayden Motor Racing at Oulton Park in the 1960 publishing, Veloce 2006, p. 51
- ↑ a b Michael Behrendt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch: Rennfahrertod - 50 tragic heroes in portraits , Heel-Verlag 2012, p. 107.
- ↑ Overview of the British Formula 3 Championship on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on July 23, 2013).
- ↑ Overview of the British Formula 3 Championship 1972 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on July 23, 2013).
- ↑ List of results on Oldracingcars.com
- ↑ a b c d Leopold Wieland: Burned because only one savior was not enough in Motorsport Aktuell, issue 32/2013, p. 36.
- ↑ This is the cause of the accident named by the British journalist David Tremayne.
- ↑ Fight at the limit. The Formula 1 Chronicle 1950–2000 , ed. v. Willy Knupp, RTL book edition: Zeitgeist Verlag: Düsseldorf / Gütersloh 2000, ISBN 3-89748-277-0 , p. 170
- ↑ Martin Williamson: "Deaths in Formula One". ESPNF1.com, accessed July 26, 2013 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Williamson, Roger |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British racing car driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 2, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ashby-de-la-Zouch , Leicestershire , England , UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 29, 1973 |
| Place of death | Zandvoort , the Netherlands |