Peter Whitehead (12 November 1914, Menston
– 21 September 1958, Lasalle, France) was a British
racing driver from England.
Whitehead was able to fund his racing largely
through the family wealth, gained from the wool industry.
He began racing at the age of 20 in 1935, initially racing
an Alta before buying an ERA B Type in 1936. Whitehead took
the ERA to Australia in 1938 while touring on business,
where he won the 1938 Australian Grand Prix. After World
War II he participated in 12 World Championship Grands Prix,
debuting on 2 July 1950. In his career he achieved a single
podium, and scored a total of 4 championship points. He
also drove in several non-Championship Formula One races.
In addition to his Formula One career he shared victory
in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans race with Peter Walker,
racing for Jaguar. Peter Whitehead is notable as the first
person to whom Enzo Ferrari ever sold a Formula One car
: a Ferrari 125 and for being the first driver to win a
motor race on the Mount Panorama Circuit.
Whitehead
teamed with Peter Walker to win the 1951 24 Hours of Le
Mans, in a Jaguar, with an average speed of 93.112 miles
per hour. In July 1952 Whitehead qualified his Alta 2nd
to Harry Schell for the Grand Prix of Rouen. In July 1953
Whitehead won a 12-hour endurance race together with Stirling
Moss, at Reims, driving a Jaguar. In 1954 Whitehead and
Ken Wharton piloted a new model 'D' type Jaguar to win the
12-Hour Race of Reims on July 4. They were victorious with
an average speed of 104.3 m.p.h. The same driving pair placed
5th at Belfast, Northern Ireland, in September, in the Ulster
Tourist Trophy road race. Whitehead was behind the wheel
of an Aston Martin DB3S when he placed 7th in a 1957 Belgian
Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Whitehead's
last great performance was at Le Mans in 1958 where he came
second in an Aston Martin, sharing the driving with his
half-brother Graham Whitehead. A couple of months later
Peter and Graham were competing together in the Tour de
France, when their Jaguar crashed off a bridge into a 30-foot
ravine at Lasalle, after overturning twice, with Graham
at the wheel. Graham was badly injured, but Peter was killed
instantly.
(c)
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2010