Mark Colton

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mark Colton (17 March 1961 – 5 August 1995) was a British racing driver and software author.

He was killed in practice for Craigantlet Hillclimb speed event in Northern Ireland after his Pilbeam hit a telegraph pole.[1]

Colton's best year was 1994, when he was runner-up to David Grace.

Outside motorsport, Colton was an influential figure in the development of software for

IBM PC compatibles. Having founded Colton Software to market PipeDream, the company followed up with a range of applications - Wordz, Resultz and Recordz - comprising the Fireworkz suite, this being released for RISC OS and Microsoft Windows.[3] In a tribute to Colton, Charles Moir, founder of Computer Concepts - the "chief rival" to Colton Software - called him "one of only a handful of people in this country who could and did develop decent, competitive, mainstream applications".[4]

Notes

  1. ^ "Mark Colton". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Colton Software and Protechnic combine". Acorn User. October 1995. p. 11. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. ^ "What a cracker". Acorn User. July 1996. p. 17. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Software pioneer Mark Colton is killed in motorsport tragedy". Acorn User. October 1995. p. 13. Retrieved 2 July 2021.