Piers Courage
| Entries | 29 (27 starts) |
|---|---|
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Career points | 20 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1967 South African Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1970 Dutch Grand Prix |
Piers Raymond Courage (27 May 1942 – 21 June 1970) was a British
racing driver. He participated in 29 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix
, debuting on 2 January 1967. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored 20 championship points.
Biography
Piers Courage was the eldest son and heir to the
Lotus 7
.
Following a brief stint touring the European
F2 category for the 1966 German Grand Prix
, where he crashed out.
Signed by the
McLaren during the winter Tasman Series, including a win at the last race, resulted in Tim Parnell offering a drive in his works-supported Reg Parnell Racing BRM team for 1968. In addition to a good run in F1 in 1968 – including points-scoring finishes in France and Italy – Courage also drove for old friend Frank Williams's F2 team. When Frank Williams Racing Cars
decided to make the step up to F1 in 1969, Courage was their first choice as driver.
In Courage's hands, Williams's dark-blue liveried
Monza circuit. Despite an older car, and a power deficit, he managed to stay with the leading pack for the majority of the race. Only fuel starvation caused his pace to slow near the end, and he finally finished in fifth. A second fifth place, in the British Grand Prix
, saw Courage finish the season on sixteen points in eighth place in the drivers' championship.
Accident and death
Following a business arrangement with
Zandvoort Circuit. Running in the middle of the field, the De Tomaso's front suspension or steering broke on the bump at Tunnel Oost, causing the car to suddenly go straight on instead of finishing the high-speed bend. It then rode up an embankment (one of the Zandvoort dunes) and disintegrated, with the engine breaking loose from the monocoque, upon which it burst into flames. To lighten the De Tomaso, magnesium
was used in its chassis and suspension. The magnesium burned so intensely that many nearby trees and bushes were set alight.
During the impact, one of the front wheels broke off the car and hit Courage's head, tearing away his helmet (both the wheel and the helmet came rolling out of the cloud of dust at the same time). It is assumed[according to whom?] that this impact broke Courage's neck or caused fatal head injuries and that he died instantly as a result. Courage was survived by his wife, Lady Sarah Marguerite Curzon (b. 1945), and his two sons, Jason Piers Courage (b. 10 February 1967) and Amos Edward Sebastian Courage (b. 26 February 1969).
Courage was buried in St Mary the Virgin churchyard, Shenfield, Essex.
Just three years later, Roger Williamson crashed fatally when his car came to rest upside down and burst into flames at the same spot, the Tunnel Oost bump, where Courage's accident had started.
Racing record
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Team Lotus | Lotus 44 F2 | Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4 | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER Ret |
ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 | ||||
| 1967 | Reg Parnell Racing | Lotus 25/33 | BRM P60 2.1 V8 | RSA Ret |
NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
BRM P261
|
MON Ret |
NED | BEL | FRA | GBR DNS |
GER | CAN | ITA | USA | MEX | ||||||||
| 1968 | Reg Parnell Racing | BRM P126
|
BRM P101 3.0 V12 | RSA | ESP Ret |
MON Ret |
BEL Ret |
NED Ret |
FRA 6 |
GBR 8 |
GER 8 |
ITA 4 |
CAN Ret |
USA Ret |
MEX Ret |
19th | 4 | |
| 1969 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | BT26A
|
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA | ESP Ret |
MON 2 |
NED Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 5 |
GER Ret |
ITA 5 |
CAN Ret |
USA 2 |
MEX 10 |
8th | 16 | ||
| 1970 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | De Tomaso 505/38 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA Ret |
ESP DNS |
MON NC |
BEL Ret |
NED Ret |
FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | MEX | NC | 0 |
Source:[1]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Complete Formula One non-championship results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Bob Gerard Racing | Cooper T71/73 | L4
|
ROC | SYR | SMT | INT | MED DNQ |
RAN |
| 1967 | Charles Lucas Engineering | Lotus 35 | Martin 3.0 V8 | ROC DNS |
|||||
| Reg Parnell Racing | Lotus 25/33 | BRM P60 2.1 V8 | SPC Ret |
INT | SYR | OUL | ESP | ||
| 1968 | Reg Parnell Racing | BRM P126
|
BRM P101 3.0 V12 | ROC | INT 5 |
OUL Ret |
|||
| 1969 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | BT26A
|
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ROC Ret |
INT 5 |
MAD | OUL | ||
| 1970 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | De Tomaso 505/38 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ROC | INT 3 |
OUL | |||
Source:[2]
| |||||||||
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 |  Maranello Concessionaires
|
 Roy Pike
|
Ferrari 275 GTB
|
GT 5.0 |
313 | 8th | 1st |
| 1967 | Maranello Concessionaires
|
Richard Attwood
|
Ferrari 412P | P 5.0 |
208 | DNF | DNF |
| 1969 |  Equipe Matra – Elf
|
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Matra-Simca MS650 | P 3.0 |
368 | 4th | 2nd |
| 1970 |  Autodelta S.P.A.
|
Andrea de Adamich
|
Alfa Romeo T33/3 | P 3.0 |
222 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[3]
| |||||||
Complete Tasman Series results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P261 | BRM 2.1 V8 | PUK | WIG | LAK Ret |
WAR | SAN | LON | NC | 0 | ||
| 1968 | John Coombs | McLaren M4A | L4
|
PUK 3 |
LEV 2 |
WIG 4 |
TER 5 |
SUR 3 |
WAR 3 |
SAN 5 |
LON 1 |
3rd | 34 |
| 1969 | Frank Williams Racing
|
Brabham BT24 | Ford Cosworth DFW 2.5 V8 | PUK 3 |
LEV 2 |
WIG 4 |
TER 1 |
LAK Ret |
WAR Ret |
SAN Ret |
3rd | 22 | |
Source:[4]
| |||||||||||||
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | John Coombs | McLaren M4A | L4
|
SNE 7 |
SIL Ret |
NÜR 5 |
HOC 3 |
TUL 9 |
JAR 8 |
ZAN 2 |
PER Ret |
BRH Ret |
VAL Ret |
4th | 24 |
| 1968 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | BT23C
|
L4
|
HOC 3 |
THR Ret |
JAR DNS |
PAL Ret |
TUL Ret |
ZAN 10 |
PER 2 |
HOC | VAL
|
6th | 13 | |
| 1969 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | BT23C
|
L4
|
THR 7 |
HOC 3 |
NÜR | JAR 3 |
TUL | NC | 0‡ | |||||
| Brabham BT30 | PER 1 |
||||||||||||||
| Alejandro de Tomaso | De Tomaso 103 | VAL Ret |
|||||||||||||
Source:[5]
| |||||||||||||||
‡ Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points
Further reading
- Cooper, A. 2003. Piers Courage: Last of the Gentleman Racers. Haynes Group. 224pp. ISBN 1-85960-663-6
References
- ^ "Piers Courage – Involvement". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "Piers Courage – Involvement Non World Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "All Results of Piers Courage". RacingSportCars. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "Tasman Cup (1964–1969)". OldRacingCars. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "Piers Courage – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piers Courage.
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