Innes Ireland

Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993) was a British racing driver, military officer, engineer and journalist, who competed in Formula One from 1959 to 1966. Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix with Lotus.

Lieutenant Innes Ireland
Ireland in 1966
Born	Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (1930-06-12)12 June 1930 Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	22 October 1993(1993-10-22) (aged 63) Reading, Berkshire, England
Spouses	Norma Thomas ​ ​ (m. 1954; div. 1967)​ Edna Humphries ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1972)​ Jean Mander ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	3
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1959–1966
Teams	Lotus, BRP, Parnell, White
Entries	53 (50 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	4
Career points	47
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
First win	1961 United States Grand Prix
Last win	1961 United States Grand Prix
Last entry	1966 Mexican Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1958–1960, 1962–1966
Teams	Lotus, Écurie Écosse, BRP, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford
Best finish	6th (1964)
Class wins	0
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1953–1958
Rank	Lieutenant
Commands	Territorial Army (1955–1958) Parachute Regiment (1953–1954) King's Own Scottish Borderers (1953)

Born in Mytholmroyd and raised in Scotland, Ireland initially served in the British Army, reaching the rank of lieutenant in 1955. Ireland competed in Formula One for Lotus, BRP, Reg Parnell Racing and Bernard White Racing, winning the United States Grand Prix in 1961 with the former, as well as finishing fourth in the 1960 World Drivers' Championship and taking victories at eight non-championship races. He entered eight editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1958 to 1966, and was a race-winner in the British Saloon Car Championship.

Upon retiring from motor racing, Ireland started a career as a journalist in the late-1980s for ESPN, later working with automobile magazines Road & Track and Autocar. He was the president of the British Racing Drivers' Club from 1992 until his death the following year.

Early life

Ireland was born 12 June 1930 in Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon. His family returned to Kirkcudbright, Scotland during his youth, and he trained as an engineer with Rolls-Royce, first in Glasgow and later in London. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers,^[1] he served with the Parachute Regiment in the Suez Canal Zone during 1953 and 1954.^[2] In 1955 he transferred to the Territorial Army and was promoted to lieutenant,^[3] and in 1958 he was placed on the Reserve of Officers.^[4]

Racing career

Ireland began racing a Riley 9 in 1954. His first year of nationally competitive events was 1957,^[5] 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. He was sacked at the end of the season as team boss Colin Chapman considered Jim Clark a better bet.^[6]

Ireland entered the 24 Hours of Daytona using a Ferrari, with motorcycle racer Mike Hailwood as intended co-driver, but broke down with gearbox problems after 3+1⁄2 hours, before Hailwood was scheduled to participate.^[7]

Ireland was encouraged by Bill France, founder of NASCAR, to participate in the 1967 Daytona 500, one of the last races of his career, where the V8 engine of his year old Dodge exploded outside the stands.

Ireland worked as a journalist for ESPN for several F1 races in the late 1980s as well as the American Road & Track magazine, Autocar magazine, and skippering fishing trawlers in the North Atlantic. Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the 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.

Writing

A talented writer, Ireland produced a classic autobiography, All Arms and Elbows (ISBN 0-85184-050-7). Marathon in the Dust, published in 1970 is Ireland's account of the grueling 1968 Daily Express London-Sydney Marathon, which Ireland completed with 2 friends, fellow F1 competitor Michael Taylor and British bobsledder Andy Hedges in a Mercedes Benz 280 SE.

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, on 11 June 1993 at Newbury register office. 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.

Ireland was described as 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."^[8]

Racing record

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 FPF 2.5 L4	MON	500	NED 4	FRA Ret	GBR	GER Ret	POR Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5		14th	5
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 2.5 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 FPF 1.5 L4	MON DNS	NED	BEL Ret	FRA 4	GBR 10	GER Ret		USA 1			6th	12
		Lotus 18/21								ITA Ret
1962	UDT-Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 24	Climax FWMV 1.5 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 P56 1.5 V8	MON Ret					GER Ret					9th	6
		BRP Mk1			BEL Ret	NED 4	FRA 9	GBR Ret		ITA 4	USA	MEX	RSA
1964	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8	MON DNS	NED									14th	4
		BRP Mk1				BEL 10	FRA Ret
		BRP Mk2						GBR 10	GER	AUT 5	ITA 5	USA Ret	MEX 12
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM P56 1.5 V8	RSA	MON	BEL 13	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED 10	GER				NC	0
		Lotus 33									ITA 9	USA Ret	MEX DNS
1966	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM P60 1.9 V8	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA Ret	MEX Ret		NC	0

Non-championship Formula One 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
1957	Equipe Endeavour	Cooper T43 F2	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	BUE	SYR	GLV	NAP	RMS	CAE	INT Ret	MOD	MOR
1959	Team Lotus	Lotus 16 F2	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	GLV	AIN	INT 11	OUL
		Lotus 16	Climax FPF 2.5 L4					SIL Ret
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	BUE Ret	GLV 1	INT 1	SIL Ret	LOM 1	OUL Ret
1961	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	LOM Ret	GLV 5	PAU	BRX 9	VIE	AIN 10	SYR Ret	NAP	LON	SIL		KAN Ret		MOD DNQ
		Lotus 21												SOL 1		DAN 2		FLG 1	OUL Ret	LEW	VAL	RAN	NAT	RSA
1962	UDT-Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 18/21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	CAP	BRX 3	LOM Ret	LAV	GLV 3	PAU	AIN Ret
		Ferrari 156	Ferrari 178 1.5 V6								INT 4
		Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8									NAP	MAL	CLP 1
			Climax FWMV 1.5 V8												RMS 3	SOL DNA	KAN 4	MED	DAN 3	OUL Ret	MEX 3	RAN Ret	NAT
1963	British Racing Partnership	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8	LOM 3	GLV 1	PAU	IMO	SYR	AIN 2	INT 4	ROM		KAN	MED	AUT	OUL Ret	RAN
		BRP Mk1										SOL 3
1964	British Racing Partnership	BRP Mk1	BRM P56 1.5 V8	DMT 1	NWT Ret	SYR
		BRP Mk2					AIN Ret	INT Ret	SOL Ret	MED 3	RAN
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM P56 1.5 V8	ROC	SYR Ret	SMT	INT	MED 5
		Lotus 25/331	BRM P60 2.0 V8						RAN 6
1966	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25/331	BRM P60 2.0 V8	RSA Ret	SYR	INT
	Bernard White Racing	BRM P261	BRM P60 1.9 V8				OUL 4

^1 The Parnell Lotus driven by Ireland in 1965 and 1966 was a written-off 25 rebuilt around a 33 monocoque.

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pos.	Pts	Class
1962	Ford Motor Company	Ford Zodiac Mk 3	C	SNE	GOO	AIN	SIL 1	CRY	AIN	BRH	OUL	17th	9	2nd
1964	McKechnie Racing	Ford Cortina Lotus	B	SNE	GOO	OUL	AIN	SIL 7	CRY	BRH	OUL	27th	2	11th
Source:[9]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1958	Team Lotus	Mike Taylor	Lotus 11	S 1.1	162	DNF	DNF
1959	Écurie Écosse	Masten Gregory	Jaguar D-Type	S 3.0	70	DNF	DNF
1960	Team Lotus	John Whitmore	Lotus Elite Mk. 14	S 2.0	0	DNS	DNS
1962	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Masten Gregory	Ferrari 250 GTO	GT 3.0	165	DNF	DNF
1963	David Brown Racing Dept.	Bruce McLaren	Aston Martin DP214	GT +3.0	59	DNF	DNF
1964	Maranello Concessionaires	Tony Maggs	Ferrari 250 GTO	GT 3.0	328	6th	2nd
1965	Ford Advanced Vehicles	John Whitmore	Ford GT40	GT 5.0	72	DNF	DNF
1966	F.R. English Ltd. \ Comstock Racing	Jochen Rindt	Ford GT40 Mk I	S 5.0	8	DNF	DNF

NASCAR: Grand National

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1967	Ray Fox	'66 Dodge Charger	20	27

See also

• Formula One drivers from the United Kingdom

References

1. "No. 40087". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 February 1954. p. 696.
2. "Innes Ireland". Historic Racing. 22 October 2006.
3. "No. 40688". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 January 1956. p. 412. Correcting "No. 40565". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 August 1955. p. 4799.
4. "No. 41477". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 August 1958. p. 5207.
5. "All Results of Innes Ireland". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
6. Doug Nye (1978). Theme Lotus. Motor Racing Publications. p. 49.
7. "Hailwood home". Motorcycle News, 16 February 1966, p.1. Accessed 20 April 2024
8. Robert Newman (2014). Motor Racing Heroes: The Stories of 100 Greats. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-1-84584-748-7.
9. de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 29 September 2022.

External links

• 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