Tony Pond

Tony Pond (born November 23, 1945 in Uxbridge , † February 7, 2002 in London ) was a successful English rally driver .

Athletic career

Tony Pond gained his first rally experience in smaller rallies around London in a Mini Cooper S in the early 1960s . After that, he was among the top 20 drivers in the Lotus Cortina at the Lombard RAC Round Britain Rally. Further successes were placements among the top 10 drivers in the Scottish International Rally and the British Rally Championship. He achieved most of his success with the Ford Escort RS1600. In 1973 he finished third in the Welsh International Rally. In 1976 he signed a contract with British Leyland , his co-driver was David Richards .

His greatest successes were as a works driver for British Leyland on the Triumph Dolomite Sprint and the TR7 V8. Although the TR7 V8 had poor grip despite its performance, Pond earned a reputation as an extravagant, spectacular driver. With this car he and his co-driver Fred Gallagher won the Manx Rally in 1977. By 1986, the end of Group B rally cars, Pond was able to achieve even more successes with the MG Metro 6R4. After 1986 he was involved in the development of the MGF at Austin Rover and occasionally drove in historic rallies. His most important achievement outside of rallying was in 1990 when he completed the Isle of Man TT course with an almost standard Rover 827 Vitesse at an average speed of over 100 miles / hour. This was a lap record for four-wheeled vehicles that could not be broken until 2011.

swell

Obituary for Tony Pond in Classic & Sports Cars, 3/2002 by Mark Walton newspaper article in The Guardian dated April 2, 2002

Web links

Commons : Tony Pond  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• David Williams: Obituary: Tony Pond. In: The Guardian. April 2, 2002, accessed June 6, 2018 . 
• Obituary: Tony Pond. In: Car Magazine. February 11, 2002, accessed June 6, 2018 .