British racing driver (1931?2009)
Anthony Ernest
Marsh
(20 July 1931 ? 7 May 2009) was a British
racing driver
from Stourbridge, England. His
Formula One
career was short and unsuccessful, but he enjoyed great success in
hillclimbing
, winning the
British Hill Climb Championship
on a record six occasions.
Having begun his hillclimbing career in 1953 with a
Cooper
-
JAP
that had previously been driven by
Peter Collins
,
[1]
he won three successive championships in the car from 1955 to 1957. In the 1960s, he drove an ex-
Formula One
BRM
for a time before constructing his own Marsh car. Inspired by
Peter Westbury
's Ferguson P99, Marsh devised an unusual drivetrain which utilised four-wheel-drive while accelerating but rear-wheel-drive while cornering.
[1]
"Once again Tony Marsh established himself in 1965 as "King of the Hills" by scoring Best Time of the Day at eight of the nine first championship climbs he entered, and setting new course records at
Shelsley Walsh
,
Bouley Bay
and Longleat.
[2]
After winning another hat-trick of championships between 1965 and 1967, Marsh sold his car and left motorsport to concentrate on his engineering and farming interests, but in 1986 he returned at the wheel of the March-based Rovercraft. In 1993, his co-driver
Simon Law
was killed in the car during the
Brighton Speed Trials
, a tragedy which affected Marsh considerably.
[1]
He returned with the ex-David Render
Toleman
TG191 Cosworth DFL, taking the
Gurston
Top Six title that year, aged 62.
[3]
He continued to compete in hillclimbs well into his seventies, driving on until 2008.
[4]
Marsh competed in circuit racing in his earlier years, driving in four
Grands Prix
, the last being the
1961 German Grand Prix
in which he drove the
Lotus 18
he also campaigned in hillclimbs.
[1]
He also drove in the
1960 Le Mans 24 Hours
, sharing a
Lotus Elite
with
John Wagstaff
.
[1]
In 2007
Parley Books
published his
autobiography
:
Tony Marsh: The great all-rounder: In and out of motorsport
.
[5]
Marsh was born in
Stourbridge
; he died aged 77 in May 2009 after having been admitted to hospital with breathing complications.
[6]
Complete Formula One World Championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
)
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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2020
Cancelled
2021 W. Menzies
2022 W. Menzies
2023 W. Menzies
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