Richard Seaman
Richard Seaman | |||||||
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Champ Car career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 6th (1937) | ||||||
First race | 1937 Vanderbilt Cup (Westbury) | ||||||
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Richard John Beattie Seaman (4 February 1913 – 25 June 1939) was a British
Early life
Seaman was born in
During his time at
Driving career
Early career
In his early career Seaman won the
In 1935 Seaman enjoyed a fruitful year with ERA; he took pole position at the
Seaman was very successful in the 1936 season both in UK and on the Continent using a 1926 1,500 cc (92 cu in)
Seaman competed in numerous hill climb events also, winning his class at
Eventually Mercedes team chief Alfred Neubauer invited him for a trial at the Nürburgring. Both Silver Arrows teams used to have at least one foreign driver, if available.[citation needed]
Seaman had his last outing in a Delage at the 1937
In 1937 he signed for Mercedes-Benz against the wishes of his mother, who did not want him to drive for a "Nazi" team. The Mercedes (and their rival Auto Union) cars, which were part of a racing program that was German government subsidized were far faster, better financed, better built, more advanced and more reliable than any of the racing cars he had driven previously. He now had a chance to win Grands Prix and be one of the top drivers in the European Grand Prix championship.
1937 Grand Prix season
Seaman had a poor start to his Mercedes career in the
1938 Grand Prix season
Seaman improved further during the 1938 season – he won the German Grand Prix- the biggest race of the year for the German teams, and became one of the favourite drivers of Adolf Hitler,[5] it was the first time a British driver had won an AIACR European Championship race since Henry Segrave won the 1923 French Grand Prix. After his win, Mercedes retained Seaman as a reserve driver, racing in Livorno and Pescara whilst Seaman took a break. On his return, Seaman took pole and finished second in the Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten, his favourite circuit, and finished third at his home Grand Prix at Donington Park following a spin. His friend and biographer, George Monkhouse, called Seaman's drive at the Swiss Grand Prix, in difficult wet conditions, the best of his career.
![A granite headstone in the shade of a tree, surrounded by other gravestones](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Richard_Seaman_grave_Putney_Vale_2014.jpg/220px-Richard_Seaman_grave_Putney_Vale_2014.jpg)
1939 Grand Prix season and death
Seaman had a slow start to the 1939 Grand Prix season, he attended the 1939 French Grand Prix but did not compete. Neubauer did not allow him to compete at the Tripoli Grand Prix. He competed at the 1939 Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring but retired early on with a broken clutch.
Leading the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps during a wet race, Seaman crashed his car into a tree during lap 22. It is thought he was using a line through a corner that was only normally used in the dry. After the impact, the car caught fire, with the unconscious driver still inside. Seaman died a few hours later as a result of his burns; it was Mercedes' only fatality during that time. On his death bed Seaman remarked to Mercedes' chief engineer, "I was going too fast for the conditions – it was entirely my own fault. I am sorry."[5]
After Seaman's death, Mercedes-Benz dealerships worldwide were ordered to display his photograph in their windows. Richard Seaman was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery in London. A memorial stone commemorating Seaman was installed at Spa-Francorchamps; it later went missing and was never located.
Personal life
Seaman had a difficult relationship with his mother Lillian, who did not support his decision to drive for a "foreign" team, especially one influenced by the Nazi Party. Seaman fell out of love with his home, Pull Court, following his inability to find local staff to service a planned party involving Seaman's Grand Prix compatriots; Prince Bira was to be invited.
Seaman divided most of his time between
As a wealthy aristocrat Seaman got along well with his fellow
In December 1938, Seaman married Erica Popp, the daughter of the director of BMW, again against his mother's wishes. Seaman was 25 and Popp was 18. His new father in law bought the couple a home in Bavaria as a wedding present.
Following Seaman's death, Popp spent the
Legacy
Seaman is often viewed along with Henry Segrave as one of Britain's greatest pre-war Grand Prix drivers. Mythology surrounds Seaman's association with Pull Court. One rumor holds that Seaman's Mercedes Grand Prix cars are buried in the estate; another holds that his mother, Lillian Seaman, left the lights at Pull Court on during the Second World War to guide German bombers.
In his autobiography, Mercedes teammate Hermann Lang descried Seaman as "kind-hearted, cool and fair as a sportsman, just as I has always pictured Englishmen to be."
Although biographer Richard Williams has stated that Seaman simply wanted to drive for whichever team had the fastest car, irrespective of politics,[citation needed] Seaman's legacy has been tarnished by his association with Nazism. Seaman was privately complimentary of Hitler, and controversially gave a Nazi salute following his victory at the 1938 German Grand Prix. Moreover, the largest wreath at Seaman's funeral was sent by Hitler, against the wishes of the driver's family.
Motorsports career results
European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | EDC | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1936 | Scuderia Torino | Maserati V8RI | V8
|
MON | GER Ret |
SUI | ITA | 28th | 31 | |||
1937 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes W125 | Mercedes 5.7 L8 | BEL | GER Ret |
MON DNS |
SUI | ITA 4 |
15th | 34 | ||
1938 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes W154 | Mercedes 3.0 V12 | FRA | GER 1 |
SUI 2 |
ITA Ret |
4th | 18 | |||
1939 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes W154 | Mercedes 3.0 V12 | BEL Ret |
FRA | GER | SUI | 25th | 29 | |||
Source:[6]
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References
Notes
- ^ "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Obituary: Mr Richard Seaman". The Times. 27 June 1939. p. 16.
- ^ "Richard Seaman". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ a b Glancey, Jonathan. "The master race". Guardian newspaper (Observer Sport Monthly), 1 September 2002. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,782811,00.html
- ^ "THE GOLDEN ERA – OF GRAND PRIX RACING". kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
Bibliography
- Chunlachakkraphong (1945). Dick Seaman, Racing Motorist (4th ed.). G. T. Foulis & Company.
- Nixon, Chris (2000). Shooting Star: The Life of Richard Seaman. Isleworth, Middlesex, UK: Transport Bookman Publications. ISBN 0851840655.
- Seaman, Dick (2002). Dick and George: The Seaman Monkhouse Letters 1936-39. Palawan Press. ISBN 978-0952300991.
- Williams, Richard (2020). A Race With Love and Death, The Story of Britain's First Great Grand Prix Driver. Simon and Schuster UK. ISBN 978-1471179358.
External links
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