Innes Ireland

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	1958–1959, 1962–1966
Teams	Team Lotus Ecurie Ecosse UDT-Laystall Racing Team Aston Martin Maranello Concessionaires Alan Mann Racing Comstock Racing
Best finish	6th (1964)
Class wins	0

Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver. He was a larger-than-life character who, according to a rival team boss, "lived without sense, without an analyst and provoked astonishment and affection from everyone."^[1]

Early life

Ireland was born on 12 June 1930 in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England, the son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon. His family returned to Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland during his youth, and he trained as an engineer with Rolls-Royce, first in Glasgow and later in London. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, he served with the Parachute Regiment in the Suez Canal Zone during 1953 and 1954.

Racing career

Ireland's first serious year of auto racing was 1957, by which time he was running a small engineering firm in Surrey. Success in sports car racing saw him make his Formula One debut for Team Lotus in 1959. In 1960 he won three non-championship Formula One races and finished fourth in the World Drivers Championship. Badly injured in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, Ireland recovered to win the Solitude Grand Prix and Flugplatzrennen races, then finished the season with a victory in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

Despite these successes, he was sacked at the end of the season, team boss Colin Chapman considering Jim Clark a better bet.^[2] Despite occasional successes, Ireland never again had a car to match his talent, and he was encouraged by Bill France, founder of NASCAR, to participated in the 1967 Daytona 500, one of the last races of his career, where the V8 engine of his Dodge exploded outside the stands.

A talented writer, Ireland produced a classic autobiography, All Arms and Elbows (ISBN 0-85184-050-7), and worked as a journalist for the American Road & Track magazine, as well as skippering fishing trawlers in the North Atlantic. Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the prestigious British Racing Drivers' Club, which post he still held at the time of his death from cancer on 22 October 1993, at Reading, Berkshire, England.

Personal life

On 30 October 1954 Ireland married Scarborough schoolteacher Norma Thomas. They had two daughters before divorcing in 1967. He then married Edna Humphries also in 1967. Ireland married his third wife Jean Mander (née Howarth), a former fashion model, in Summer 1992. Jean had been engaged to Mike Hawthorn at the time of Hawthorn's death in 1959. Ireland also had a son who died in 1992.

Formula One results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	WDC	Pts.
1959	Team Lotus	Lotus 16	Climax L4	MON	500	NED 4	FRA Ret	GBR	GER Ret	POR Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5		14th	5
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax L4	ARG 6	MON 9	500	NED 2	BEL Ret	FRA 7	GBR 3	POR 6	ITA	USA 2	4th	18
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 21	Climax L4	MON DNS	NED	BEL Ret	FRA 4	GBR 10	GER Ret		USA 1			6th	12
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 18/21	Climax L4							ITA Ret				6th	12
1962	UDT-Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 24	Climax V8	NED Ret	MON Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 16	GER	ITA Ret	USA 8	RSA 5		16th	2
1963	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM V8	MON Ret					GER Ret					9th	6
1963	British Racing Partnership	BRP	BRM V8		BEL Ret	NED 4	FRA 9	GBR Ret		ITA 4	USA	MEX	RSA	9th	6
1964	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM V8	MON DNS	NED									14th	4
1964	British Racing Partnership	BRP	BRM V8			BEL 10	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER	AUT 5	ITA 5	USA Ret	MEX 12	14th	4
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM V8	RSA	MON	BEL 13	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED 10	GER				NC	0
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 33	BRM V8								ITA 9	USA Ret	MEX DNS	NC	0
1966	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM V8	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA Ret	MEX Ret		NC	0

Non-Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax L4	LOM Ret	GLV 5	PAU	BRX 9	VIE	AIN 10	SYR Ret	NAP	LON	SIL		KAN Ret		MOD DNQ
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 21	Climax L4											SOL 1		DAN 2		FLG 1	OUL Ret	LEW	VAL	RAN	NAT	RSA
1962	UDT-Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 18/21	Climax V8	CAP	BRX 3	LOM Ret	LAV	GLV 3	PAU	AIN Ret
		Ferrari 156									INT 4
		Lotus 24										NAP	MAL	CLP 1	RMS 3	SOL DNA	KAN 4	MED	DAN 3	OUL	MEX 3	RAN Ret	NAT
1963	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM V8	LOM 3	GLV 1	PAU	IMO	SYR	AIN 2	INT 4	ROM		KAN	MED	AUT	OUL 13	RAN
1963	British Racing Partnership	BRP	BRM V8									SOL 3
1964	British Racing Partnership	BRP	BRM V8	DMT 1	NWT Ret	SYR	AIN Ret	INT 12	SOL Ret	MED 3	RAN
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM V8	ROC	SYR Ret	SMT	INT	MED 5	RAN 6
1966	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM V8	RSA Ret	SYR	INT
1966	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM V8				OUL 4

References

↑ Robert Newman (2014). Motor Racing Heroes: The Stories of 100 Greats. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-1-84584-748-7.
↑ Doug Nye (1978). Theme Lotus. Motor Racing Publications. p. 49.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Innes Ireland.

An Innes Ireland fan site at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 October 2009)
Information about Innes Ireland

Sporting positions
Preceded by Jack Brabham	BRDC International Trophy winner 1960	Succeeded by Stirling Moss
Preceded by Gerald Lascelles	BRDC President 1992–1993	Succeeded by The Lord Hesketh

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 91855258 LCCN: nb2010021401 ISNI: 0000 0000 8400 1895 GND: 132168030

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