Willie Green (racing driver)

Willie Green had a serious accident with a Maserati 4CLT at the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​in 2005

Malcolm William "Willie" Green (born July 18, 1943 in Belper ) is a former British racing driver .

Career

Willie Green's four-decade racing career ended spectacularly in 2005. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed , Green drove his 1948 Maserati 4CLT . Irritated by a camera falling in the audience area, he lost control of the Maserati, which then crashed into a barrier. Green fell from the cockpit and was run over in the legs by the rolling car. The result was a broken ankle, ligament injuries to the knees, bruises and bruises. The recovery took three months. In 2009 he sued Green Sunset & Vine Productions Ltd. - the media company had installed the camera - several hundred thousand pounds sterling in damages . The lawsuit was dismissed.

Willie Green was born during World War II . His father Wilfried Green was a wealthy textile entrepreneur and gentleman driver . He started for Lea-Francis and Austin and was one of the founders of the Donington Park circuit . In the 1930s, he drove his Lea-Francis down the racetrack before the races to check the condition of the track. After leaving school, Willie Green was supposed to join the family business, which his father sold, however. He started his driving career with his inheritance share.

His first racing car was a Triumph TR3 , with which he competed in club races in 1963. The triumph was followed by a Mini and a Lotus Elite , which he bought from racing driver John Wagstaff . In 1966 he won 21 national races on a Ginetta G12 and established himself as a touring car driver . He started in the European Touring Car Championship and the World Sports Car Championship . He achieved good placements in the Interseries , where he finished second overall in the 200-mile race at Silverstone in 1972 behind Leo Kinnunen ( Porsche 917/10 ) in a Ferrari 512M . His greatest success in sports car races was third overall in the Paris 1000 km race in 1968 , together with Peter Sadler in a Ford GT40 . One of his last races as a professional racing driver was the 1973 Le Mans 24-hour race , which he contested with Neil Corner in a Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 . The mission ended prematurely after a gearbox damage. Years later he returned to Le Mans with a Jaguar D-Type as a driver of historic vehicles . In the early 1970s, he had started the car trade and specialized in historic racing cars. He often drove a Maserati 250F , a 300S and sports cars from Ferrari , Lotus and Aston Martin, among others . The start with the Mercedes-Benz W 196 at the historic Monaco Grand Prix was a special honor .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1973	JC Bamford Excavators Ltd.	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Neil Corner	failure	Gearbox damage

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10
1968	Peter Sadler	Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
								22nd	9
1969	WJ tea	Ginetta G16	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
					DNF
1973	Bamford Excavators	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
										DNF

Web links

• Willie Green at Racing Sports Cars
• Wille Green at the British Racing Driver Club
• Willie Green at Motorsport Magazine

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About the Goodwood accident
2. ↑ Willie Green is run over by his Maserati
3. ^ Race results from Wilfrid Green
4. ^ 1972 Silverstone 200 Mile Race