Biography Eric Thompson (racing driver)

1 biography

1.1 life
1.2 career
1.3 formula one
1.4 after formula one
1.5 after motorsport

biography
early life

thompson born on 4 november 1919 in ditton hill, surrey. in childhood developed interest in motorsport, becoming fan of richard seaman. after leaving secondary school thompson found job @ lloyd s of london broker. work paid , required commitment, loyalty , long hours of work. thompson won many awards effort , during second world war saw active service.

career

after war ended thompson decided pursue passion of motor racing. began racing career in 1948 @ age of 28 , funded. thompson continued work @ lloyd s of london , entitled 2 weeks of holiday, every third weekend off, when raced. first race 12 heures de paris held @ autodrome de linas-montlhéry in shared drive robin richards driving hrg, finishing fourth in 1.5-litre class , 17th overall.

in 1949 thompson made debut in les 24 heures du mans hrg sharing drive jack fairman. pairing won 1.5-litre class , finished eighth overall. later entered 24 hours of belgium, @ circuit de spa-francorchamps clinched victory in class. thompson won 2 handicap races @ goodwood. thompson later took class win in silverstone international trophy , finished sixth in class in prescott hillclimb. in 1950 joined aston martin , gave support 3 drivers: reg parnell, peter collins , roy salvadori.

thompson s first race aston martin one-hour race held @ silverstone finished fourth in class , 14th overall. took part in 1950 24 heures du mans sharing aston martin db2 john gordon forced out after 9 laps due engine failure. thompson raced hrg , secured class win finishing second overall @ blandford, third in goodwood handicap , clinched class win @ cambridge university sprint @ bedwell hey. in same year thompson made debut in formula 3 driving cooper-vincent @ castle combe retired.

in 1951 thompson competed prominently in open-wheel racing. competed in goodwood lavant cup in cooper finishing fifth , finished in same position in bugatti type 51 in boreham libre event. later competed in era/delage , delahaye , other libre races, , took part in sports car events aston martin db2 in rac tourist trophy finished third in class , eighth overall. works team, thompson shared db2 lance macklin in les 24 heures du mans pair clinched victory in 3-litre class , finished third overall.

in 1952 thompson took part in third les 24 heures du mans driving aston martin db3 alongside parnell retired transmission problems. pair suffered further retirement goodwood 9 hours when, during race, car being driven thompson entered pitlane smoke coming out of car , parnell not prepared take on seat. parnell grabbed thompson arm , dragged him out before car caught fire. throughout year drove db2 entered peter walker, clinching 2 victories in handicap events @ goodwood , 1 @ snetterton seventh , eighth @ same circuit. later took third in class @ cuac bottisham sprint. thompson took second, seventh , tenth in races @ snetterton, third @ boreham , castle combe driving era/delage , fifth in private era @ british grand prix libre event.

formula one

thompson entered works connaught 1952 rac british grand prix lea-francis engine , qualified car ninth on grid. in race made position when gordini driver robert manzon forced retire clutch problem. managed finish in fifth place, 3 laps behind race winner alberto ascari , ahead of 1950 world drivers champion giuseppe farina, , behind teammate dennis poore.

after formula one

thompson participated in 1953 les 24 heures du mans in aston martin db3s poore pairing retiring ignition failure after 182 laps. parnell , thompson took part in goodwood 9 hours parnell driving in first stint , thompson next 70 laps. parnell took on after 77 laps , suffered puncture 22 laps later. after pitting parnell drove 53 laps thompson taking on @ 21:45. after problems clutch, thompson rejoined 2 hours , 15 minutes remaining. pairing won race. both took part in year s tourist trophy finished second.

thompson took second-place finish @ thruxton , drove aston martin db2 fifth in goodwood easter handicap , took sixth in libre race driving aston martin db3, forced retire 6-hour relay @ silverstone. took part in single seater races driving connaught a-type 2 victories in snetterton , second in libre race in formula 2 championship.

in 1954 thompson reduced commitment in national motor racing scene. spent year driving aston martin db2 , contested les 24 heures du mans in lagonda dp115 poore. pairing retired following crash after 25 laps. in 1955 thompson announced retirement motor racing due pressure job , drove in final les 24 heures du mans retired engine problems after 60 laps. drove in goodwood 9 hours in connaught-lea-francis alsr pairing kenneth mcalpine, finishing 16th. thompson s final competitive race in 1956 @ cuac speed trials, driving 498cc jason second in class.

after motorsport

after announcing retirement motor racing thompson concentrated on work @ lloyd s. resigned job in 1980s , opened bookshop near guildford, selling rare books on history of motor racing. thompson made occasional appearances @ historic festivals. became first driver inducted le mans drivers hall of fame in 2013.