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"No.
I like having my own team. It's like being back in the Army. I'll
stay as I am."
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Motor
racing will forever link his name with Roger Williamson's after
his heroic attempt to rescue his fellow Briton from his upturned
March during the Dutch GP at Zandvoort in 1973, but 'Purls' himself
was no mean driver. Throughout his career he would, however, remain
underrated.The son a refrigerator manufacturer, David Purley had
a taste for adventure. He joined the British Army and became an
officer in the elite Parachute Regiment, seeing action in Aden and
surviving a partial failure of his parachute during one of his training
jumps. After leaving the military he started racing, being inspired
by a friend Derek
Bell, who lived in the same area. His first races were in
1968 with an AC Cobra and after this was damaged beyond repair he
bought a Chevron sportscar. |
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For 1972 he concentrated on Formula 2 with a March 722 and finished third at Pau but he returned to Chimay to win his third consecutive Grand Prix des Frontieres. He switched to Formula Atlantic in 1973 but made his F1 debut in a March 731 at Monaco in 1973. Later that year he won the George Medal for his efforts to save Roger Williamson from a burning car at the Dutch GP. He turned his back on F1 in 1974, although he did try to qualify a Token at the British GP, and concentrated on winning in Formula 5000. He won the Gold Cup at Oulton Park in 1975 and the following year won six victories in 13 races to take the Shellsport British Formula 5000 title. In the winter of 1976-77 Purley commissioned designer Mike Pilbeam to build a Lec F1 car and with the help of Mike Earle this was ready to race in 1977. |
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Purley
qualified for several races but in practice at Silverstone suffered
a stuck throttle and crashed with incredible violence. In the winter
of 1976-77 Purley commissioned designer Mike Pilbeam to build a
Lec F1 car and with the help of Mike Earle this was ready to race
in 1977. Purley qualified for several races but in practice at Silverstone
suffered a stuck throttle and crashed with incredible violence.
Purley was subjected to the highest G-forces ever survived by a
human being - 179.8G - when the car went from 108mph to zero in
just over half a meter. His life was saved by rescue crews at the
scene of the crash but it took many months for him to recover from
multiple fractures to his legs, pelvis and ribs. He did eventually
have a second Lec F1 car built and did one or two events. In 1979
he raced in the British F1 series with a Shadow but then he quit
racing and turned instead to running the family business and aerobatics.
He had been a pilot since the early 1960s but while flying off the
south coast of England in the summer of 1985 he crashed into the
sea in his Pitts Special stunt plane. The
Source
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1968 - 1968 Raced an AC Cobra, taking a win and 2nd at Lydden before the car was destroyed in an accident at Brands Hatch. photo Mr. McFadyen/TNF |
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1969
- changed to a Chevron B8, collecting a win at Castle Combe, 2nd
at Snetterton, 3rd at Mallory Park and 4th at Thruxton
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1970
- moved into single-seaters with an F3 Brabham BT28. He took
a win at Chimay, 2nd in a Castle Combe Formula Libre race. 6th at
Snetterton, 7th and 8th at Oulton Park and 8th at Karlskoga and
the Flugplatzrennen |
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1971
- continued to race in F3 but traded his Brabham for an Ensign.
He finished 5th in the Brazilian pre-season series, with 3rd and
4th at Interlagos and 8th at Porto Allegre /results/.
He had wins at Chimay, Brands Hatch and Lydden, took 2nd places
in Brands Hatch Formula Libre races, 2nd at Crystal Palace and 3rd
at Thruxton. Other results included 4th at Castle Combe, 5th at
Mallory Park (twice), Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Croft, 6th at
the British Grand Prix meeting, Thruxton and Brands Hatch, 7th at
Zandvoort and Silverstone and 10th at Crystal Palace.
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21-Williamson
and 45-Purley
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Purley
in Ensing F3
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Purley,
Petersson and Andersson, from right
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Photos taken from www.f3classic.co.uk |
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Brand
Hatsch, Roothmans 50,000 / MRR |
F2
Nurburgrin / Udo Klingel |
Victory Race / Barry Boor
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1972
- the 3rd successive win at Chimay, with 4th at Snetterton and 5th
at Brands Hatch in his F3 Ensign. In F2 he raced a March 722 to
3rd at Pau, 6th at Oulton Park, 8th at Mallory Park and Monza, 12th
at the Osterreichring and 13th at Rouen /results//Championship
tables/. He then went to Brazil for the Torneio, where he
had a 7th at Interlagos /results/.
He also sampled F1 by hiring a March 721G from the works for the
Rothmans 50,000 /results/,
which ended with an engine fire. He also drove the one-off
Connew which expired on the warm-up lap of the John Player
Trophy at Brands Hatch.
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| Victory Race / Stuart Dent | Victory Race / Aerogi's | F2 Mallory | Oulton Park ? | Mallory Park F2 March 722 | Clearway, Roothmans 50,000 |
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F2
Austria 1972 |
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| GP Monaco 1973 / MRR | GP Monaco 1973 /unknown | GP Monaco 1973 / Richard Bunyan | GP GB Silverstone 1973 / Rob Ryder | GP GB Silverstone 1973? / unknown |
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| GP GB 1973 / unknown | ? /unknown | GP Holland / unknown | classic and sportscar | GP Italy 1973 / unknown | GP Germany / Udo Klingel |
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Oulton
Park winner in F-Atlantic / unknown |
Mallory
Park F-Atlantic winner with Tom Wheatcroft / unknown |
Oulton Park TNF/MCS |
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1973
- with the hired March 731 he made his Grand Prix debut at Monaco,
but failed to start on his second outing after an accident during
qualifying for the British. At the Dutch he sacrificed his own race
in a brave attempt to rescue Roger Williamson from his burning car.
Although it proved to be in vain, he was awarded the George Medal
for his efforts. His first finish came with 15th in Germany and
was followed by 9th in Italy.
The rest of the year had been spent in Formula Atlantic, where he finished runner-up in the Yellow Pages Championship and in Formula Libre. Results included three wins and two 2nds at Mallory Park, two wins, a 2nd, 4th and 5th at Brands Hatch, two 3rds at Snetterton, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at Oulton Park, 2nd and 4th at Croft and 5th at the British Grand Prix meeting in his March 722 |
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? / unknown |
? / unknown |
GP
Monaco 1973 /unknown |
? / unknown |
? / unknown |
Thruxton
F-Atlantic / Marchives |
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F-Atlantic Purley with Jim Carwford |
F-Atlantic / unknown |
Mallory F5000 Stuart Dent |
| 1973 Dutch GP, Zandvoort |
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Purley
with Heinz Pruller after GP Dutch
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David and Jane Purley with GM 1974 |
GP Dutch 1973 / MRR
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Token
time
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GP
British 1974 / MRR |
? / unknown |
GP
British 1974 / unknown |
unknown |
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GP British 1974 / Rob Ryder |
GP British 1974 / all 4 photos from Stuart Dent |
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Back
row (left to right) - Ken Tyrrell, John Watson, Guy Edwards, Mike
Hailwood, James Hunt, Graham Hill, Patrick Depailler, Peter Gethin,
David Purley, Clay Regazzoni Front row (left to right) - Jody Scheckter, Derek Bell, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Ronnie Peterson, Jochen Mass, Deny Hulme |
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GP
British 1974, Lauda, Wilds and Purley |
GP
British 1974 / Gerald Swan |
? /unknown |
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| GP British 1974 / Richard Bunyan | GP British 1974 / Paul Kooyman | GP British 1974 / Aerogi's | Bill Wagenblatt / TNF |
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1974
- a return to F2 brought 5th place in the championship, with 2nd
at the Salzburgring. Rouen and Enna, 7th at Pau, 10th at Vallelunga
and 2nd /results/
in the end of season Macau GP with a Chevron B27. He unsuccessfully
attempted to qualify the Token1,
Token 2
for the British Grand Prix, won the Brighton Speed Trials in a Trojan
101, had a 2nd and 3rd with a Modsports Porsche 911 at Thruxton,
and won the Boxing Day Formula Libre race at Brands Hatch in his
F2 Chevron
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F2 time |
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Purley: top racer, top bloke |
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? / unknown |
Hockenheim
Team Harper /unknown |
sdddsd |
Carlos
Ghys with David Purley |
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Hockenheim
Team Harper / TNF |
Nogaro 1974 Copyright Gérard Gamand | |||||
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? / unknown |
ROC
Brands Hatch / MRR |
? / unknown |
Oulton
Park / Gerald Swan |
ROC
Brands Hatch / Alan Cox / TNF |
ROC
BrandsHatch / Stuart Dent |
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Oulton Park with snow / TNF |
?/ Marchives
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Thruxton / Paul Kooyman
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1975-
finished 5th in the Shellsport F5000 Championship with a Chevron,
winning the Oulton Park Gold Cup. He added a further win and 2nd
at Brands Hatch, 2nd at Silverstone, 5th at Mallory Park and Thruxton,
6th at Zolder and Snetterton and 11th in the Race of Champions /result/.
He also won the Brighton Speed Trials again, this time with his
Chevron
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Brands
Hatch |
David
Purley Thruxton / Rob Ryder |
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Again:Purley and Magee |
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Thruxton next win |
Brands Hatch |
Oulton or Mallory / Gerald Swan |
Brands Hatch / motorsportfriends |
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Brands
Hatch |
Brands
Hatch |
Thruxton / motorsportfriends |
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Photos from Alan Cox / TNF
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Mid-Ohio
1976 US Continental - courtesy by Rob Neuzel
http://www.yesterdaysneuz.com/ |
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1976-
won the Shellsport F5000 Championship with his Chevron B30, with
three wins a 2nd and 8th at Brands Hatch, two wins at Mallory Park,
victory at Thruxton, 2nd and 4th at Oulton Park, and 4th and 6th
at Snetterton. In the Brighton Speed Trials he finished 3rd, and
drove a Modus at the Macau and Philippine Grands Prix, both races
ending in retirement.
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Spanish and French GP |
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| Belgium GP Neve (27) and Purley (31) / unknown |
Belgium / Paul Kooyman | Sweden / unknown | ||
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British GP |
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| Donington Park | classic and sportscar | Aerogi's | unknown | ||||
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| Belgium / autosport.com | / unknown | Belgium / unknown | |||
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1977 French Grand Prix at Dijon |
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| France /unknown | France / classic and sportscar | ROC Brands Hatch / unknown |
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1977
- returned to Grand Prix racing with his own LEC chassis, having
taken 6th in the Race of Champions. After failing to qualify at
the Spanish, he briefly led the Belgian before finishing 13th. In
Sweden he was 14th, but crashed at the French after his brakes failed.
Then came the British where he survived against all the odds, when
his throttle stuck wide open at Becketts during qualifying, leaving
him dreadfully injured and fighting for his life
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1978
- his return to the track came with two outings in a Porsche 924,
followed by 2nd in the Brighton Speed Trials with his LEC F1 car
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1979
- after further operations on his damaged legs he had a few races
in the Aurora British F1 Series /results/,
retiring at Brands Hatch and finishing 10th at Thruxton with his
LEC, followed by 4th at Snetterton and 9th at Silverstone in a Shadow
DN9B. He also took a class win at a Loton Park Hillclimb in a Porsche
924 and began to compete in aerobatics events with a Pitts Special
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Thruxton
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1979 Silverstone super shot from David which signing to somebody motorsportfriends |
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1985
- crashed Pitts Special aerobatic biplane into sea off Bognor Regis
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Purley
King David Tremayne
CLASSIC and SPORTS CAR June 1997 . Many thanks to Mr. James Elliot from CSC. |
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No
shortage or heart in David Purley, a man so well remembered for
courage and audacity that people forget he could actually drive.
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Other
pages about David Purley and LEC :
8w.forix.com,
http://www.research-racing.de/purley1.htm,
http://www.research-racing.de/lec.htm /only in German language/ |
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The
document from Holland TV about Zandvoort 1973 |
| The interview with Ben Huisman in English |
| The interview with Herman Brammer in English |
Chronology of Sunday 29th of July 1973 from interviews with Ben Huisman, race director Zandvoort Grand Prix in 1973, Herman Brammer, track official Post #10 and Gijs van Lennep, driver at the Grand Prix at Zandvoort in 1973. |
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Many thanks for Ed Kiers from Holland for translating the interviews edkiers2002@hotmail.com
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Memories of fans: |
| My first ever race meeting I marshalled at was 1976 at Snetts for a Shell Sport Group 8 meeting and David Purley was driving the Lec 5000. I was sent armed only with a broom and bottle (fire!) to the outside of 'The Esses' which in those days was daunting with no run off area. First out was Purley, within a very short space of time he was flicking the car right and powersliding under the bridge leaving great trails of rubber behind. From that moment on I was hooked and have marshalled ever since, David Purley was a 'top bloke' very brave and sorely missed, thank you for those memories RIP - Balders |
| I find it hard to put into words the loss of David Purley. He was so brave and fearless. Maybe that is what contributed to his death. I remember watching in horror as David struggled to rescue Roger Williamson. The emotion was there for all to see. A few weeks later I was in Germany at the Nurburgring for the Grand Prix. Purley was in the March and was naturally somewhat subdued. However I got a cracking photo of him slicing through the Hatzenbatch Curves. I subsequently sent him a copy with a short note expressing my appreciation of what he had done in Holland. David got in touch and we met up at Oulton Park in September and had a long chat. The incident still prayed on his mind and it was clear it would for a long time. :( |
| In 1975 I attended the Thruxton Easter Monday meeting where the main event was a formula 5000 race. David Purley ran has car with a 3.4 litre Ford GAA V6 (See Group 2 Capri) against the 5-litre opposition. I remember him being impressed by an air race which the organisers put on for the spectators. This I think led him to stunt flying later in life. Anyway David finished in the top three (Don't recall his exact position) which, all things considered, was pretty good. Particularly when (as I recall) he was racing with his broken left leg in plaster! |
| As a funny coindicidence, David Purley did not only drive the cars mentioned before, but also the Connew! I believe it was the Race of Champions, but it certainly was at Brands Hatch. There is a story to it also, since it was a very bad weekend for Purley. First he found a screwdriver lying around in the cockpit during qualifying, and on a practise run he ripped off his visor and the gear lever by mistake on one run. Purley had experienced a stuck throttle on his March once, and demanded a engine-kill-switch on the Connew (since there wasn'r any). The team made one, and put it on the steering wheel. On the warm-up lap for the race, in a tight corner, one of the wires loosened and the switch worked quite adequately. The engine stopped, and a DNS for David. |
| Kirkistown 1971....Our only F3 race. I, as press officer was running round the paddock interviewing visiting stars when, just as I had introduced myself to David Purley, word came that my (then) wife had suffered a road accident en route to the circuit. As I had cadged a lift to the track I was a bit stuck, and said so. Immediately, an imminent practice session notwithstanding, and forgetting the fact that we had met for the first time only minutes earlier, D.P. offered to drive me to the hospital. As things turned out, it wasn't necessary, but his generous offer has remained with me to this day. A most excellent man. Would that we all could be remembered with such well justified affection....... |
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Photos
taken from Forix,
Udo
Klingel, Barry
Boor, Motor
Racing Retro, Danny,
Stopandgoonline,
Carlos Ghys,
www.f3classic.co.uk,
Rob Ryder, tbk.fameflame.dk,
Atlas F1 Forum: The Nostalgia Forum, Aerogi's
Motorsport Pictures, Yesterday's
Neuz, www.motorsportfriends.com me and unknown HOME |