Ron Flockhart (racing driver)

William Ronald Flockhart (16 June 1923 – 12 April 1962) was a British racing driver. He participated in 14 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, achieving one podium finish and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans sportscar race twice.

Ron Flockhart

Born	(1923-06-16)16 June 1923 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Died	12 April 1962(1962-04-12) (aged 38) Kallista, Victoria, Australia
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1954, 1956–1960
Teams	Maserati, BRM, Connaught, Cooper, Lotus
Entries	14 (13 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	5
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1954 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1960 United States Grand Prix

Racing career

Flockhart started competing in 1951 in a JP Formula 3 car. He purchased the famous ERA R4D from Raymond Mays and in 1953 had a very successful season, beating one of the works BRMs at Goodwood. He achieved podium finishes at Goodwood, Charterhall, Snetterton and Crystal Palace, as well as several hill climb successes.

Flockhart's best World Championship result was third place at the 1956 Italian Grand Prix in a Connaught Type B.^[1] In 1959, driving a BRM P25, he won the Lady Wigram Trophy,^[2] and qualified on pole, set fastest lap and won the non-championship Silver City Trophy.^[3]

In 1956, driving for the Scottish team Ecurie Ecosse, he won the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing an ex-works Jaguar D-type with Ninian Sanderson.^[4] The following year he won again for the same team, this time sharing with Ivor Bueb, setting a distance record of 2,732.8 mi (4,398.0 km).^[5][6]

Record flight attempts and death

In the early 1960s, the United Dominions Trust made plans to break the record for the time taken to fly from Sydney to London in order to gain publicity for its UDT Laystall racing team.^[7] A Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation-built Mustang World War Two fighter was purchased in Australia and Flockhart was engaged to make the attempt.^[7] Flockhart departed Sydney in the Mustang, registered G-ARKD, on 28 February 1961 and after several delays due to bad weather finally ended the attempt at Athens due to engine problems.^[7] Flockhart subsequently entered the London-Cardiff Air Race to be held in June that year but withdrew because G-ARKD was still in Athens.^[7] G-ARKD was abandoned and another CAC Mustang, registered VH-UWB, was bought in Australia for Flockhart to make a second attempt at the Sydney-London record.^[7] On 12 April 1962, while on a test flight in preparation for the record attempt, Flockhart crashed VH-UWB in poor weather near Kallista, Victoria, and was killed.^[7]

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Pts
1954	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	ARG	500	BEL	FRA	GBR Ret*	GER	SUI	ITA	ESP			NC	0
1956	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	ARG	MON	500	BEL	FRA	GBR Ret	GER					14th	4
	Connaught Engineering	Connaught B	Alta GP 2.5 L4								ITA 3
1957	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	ARG	MON Ret	500	FRA Ret	GBR	GER	PES	ITA				NC	0
1958	R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Cooper T43	Climax FPF 2.0 L4	ARG	MON DNQ	NED	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA		NC	0
	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4											MOR Ret
1959	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	MON Ret	500	NED	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER	POR 7	ITA 13	USA			NC	0
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	ARG	MON	500	NED	BEL	FRA 6	GBR	POR	ITA			25th	1
	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T51											USA Ret

* Shared drive with Prince Bira

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1955	Lotus Engineering	Colin Chapman	Lotus Mark IX	S1.1	99	DNF (Reversed on track)
1956	Ecurie Ecosse	Ninian Sanderson	Jaguar D-Type	S5.0	300	1st	1st
1957	Ecurie Ecosse	Ivor Bueb	Jaguar D-Type	S5.0	327	1st	1st
1959	Ecurie Ecosse	John ‘Jock’ Lawrence	Tojeiro	S3.0	137	DNF (Overheating)
1960	Ecurie Ecosse	Bruce Halford	Jaguar D-Type	S3.0	168	DNF (Crankshaft)
1961	Border Reivers	Jim Clark	Aston Martin DBR1/300	S3.0	132	DNF (Clutch)

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1958	Ecurie Ecosse	Masten Gregory	Jaguar D-Type	S3.0	55	DNF (Engine)

References

1. "Italy 1956". Retrieved 13 March 2023.
2. "New Zealand Motor Racing 1959". Retrieved 13 March 2023.
3. "IV Silver City Trophy 1959". Retrieved 13 March 2023.
4. "Scottish win in Le Mans Grand Prix. Sanderson and Flockhart Defeat Moss and Collins". The Herald. Glasgow. 30 July 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
5. "Scots win at Le Mans. Jaguars in First Four Places". The Herald. Glasgow. 24 June 1957. p. 7. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
6. The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, 12 June 1961, p. 34.
7. Anderson, Peter N. Mustangs of the RAAF and RNZAF. A. H. & A. W. Reed Pty. Ltd. Terry Hills, Sydney, NSW 1975. ISBN 0-589-07130-0

External links

• Ron Flockhart profile at The 500 Owners Association

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mike Hawthorn Ivor Bueb	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1956-1957 With: Ninian Sanderson (1956) & Ivor Bueb (1957)	Succeeded by Olivier Gendebien Phil Hill