Former Lotus Racer Johnny Dumfries Passes Away, Aged Sixty Two
The 1990 season proved to be even more disappointing, with Roberto Ravaglia his most frequent teammate, and Dumfries was not invited to be part of Toyota’s transition to the brand new normally-aspirated guidelines for the World Sportscar Championship. However, the automotive was not easy for a rookie to tame and Dumfries struggled to make an impression. On paper his best efficiency was in Hungary, the place he began eighth and completed fifth, whereas his only different rating got here with sixth on the Adelaide finale. Poor reliability, especially with the gearbox, value him elsewhere, but he did at least handle seventh in his home race at Brands. The Renault-powered 98T was one of the quickest and strongest automobiles of the turbo space. Utterly dominant throughout the camp, as was his wish, Senna took a string of poles.
During the third stop in as many laps the misfire was swiftly dealt with but Johnny’s chances for some extent-scoring finish have been gone. To “help” the group clear up the matter Senna then promoted his compatriot and shut good friend Mauricio Gugelmin for the number two seat. In the end, Ayrton did not get all his needs granted as Gugelmin was deemed too inexperienced by the team.
Driving Expertise
He received to Lotus in 1990, but their greatest days had been long gone, so then it was into sportscars earlier than an F1 revival in 1993. Currently his Triple Eight Race Engineering runs the Vauxhall Vectras within the BTCC, which he himself drove in ‘ninety seven-’98, with a win at Knockhill. Lotus secured a second provide of the Honda engines already used by Williams, and a situation of this was to provide the second seat to Satoru Nakajima of Japan. He would do some test driving for Benetton, however then it was into sportscar racing with Porsche, Toyota, Jaguar.
There’s no lack of ambition in F1 at the moment as Ferrari chases a competitive comeback, Red Bull turns into an engine manufacturer in its own right and Aston Martin returns – aiming for championship glory in five years. After a couple of crashes Dumfries was dropped by Walkinshaw, and for 1989 he went to the brand new TOM’S Toyota World Championship operation, with John Watson and Geoff Lees alternating as his group mates. By now he’d attracted the attention of fellow Scot Tom Walkinshaw, which led to a drive in a Jaguar XJR-eight at Spa. His stock remained excessive, and he gained F1 experience testing for varied teams, notably Ferrari.
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He then moved to London the place, adopting the name Johnny Dumfries, he worked as a painter, decorator and jobbing builder and later as a mechanic at a storage at Elephant and Castle, before happening to pursue his profession as a racing driver. Dumfries turned as a substitute to endurance racing, first for Sauber then, from 1987, with Tom Walkinshaw’s Jaguar team, profitable a number of races including the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours. After a couple of years with the Toyota and Cougar teams, in 1991 he retired from racing to run the household estates, his father having fallen sick. In 1988, Bute scored the biggest racing victory of his career when he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, driving a Jaguar XJR-9 for Tom Walkinshaw’s Silk Cut Jaguar Team alongside Dutchman Jan Lammers and Englishman Andy Wallace. Inexperienced, and with the group focusing on Senna, Dumfries had an underwhelming season, finishing solely 5 races and including one further factors placing to his Hungarian end result when he was sixth within the season-closing race in Australia. A new driver combination, a refreshed mentality and winter developments targeted on the weaknesses of its 2020 Formula 1 automotive places Ferrari in a a lot stronger place heading into the new season.
Inspired by Goodwood’s Festival of Speed, he also inaugurated the Mount Stuart Classic, in which competitors automobiles of every kind raced by way of the grounds, though it lasted only two years. He was born in Rothesay as John Crichton-Stuart, styled the Earl of Dumfries. His mom, Nicola (nee Weld-Forester), was the first wife of John Crichton-Stuart, the sixth Marquess, whose proper to his title came by virtue of getting been born five minutes earlier than his twin brother. Educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, the young Earl left before his O-levels – which he took at a London crammer – with the goal of pursuing his curiosity in motor sport. If there was no opposition from his household, neither was there financial help, and he earned his dwelling as a painter and decorator and as a van driver for the Williams F1 team.
Bute also participated in the 1-hour endurance race in the 1988 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park with fellow ex-F1 Briton Guy Edwards for Andy Rouse’s Kaliber Racing group in Ford Sierra RS500, ending third total and in Class A. In 1984, Bute, then often known as Johnny Dumfries, was the sensation of the F3 season, scoring 14 race victories on his method to winning, and utterly dominating, the British Formula 3 Championship for Team BP . He also finished runner-as much as Ivan Capelli within the European Formula Three Championship that 12 months. In 1985, he graduated to the newly created FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, initially competing for Onyx Race Engineering earlier than switching to Lola Motorsport. It was a disappointing season, with a sixth-place end in Vallelunga being the spotlight of the yr. Two years after his sole F1 season, Dumfries cemented his reputation as a more-than-helpful pedaller by taking total victory on the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours alongside Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace, on the wheel of a Jaguar XJR-9LM.
Starting with an ex-BP Team Ralt, his performances introduced him to the eye of Les Hacker, the BP motorsport manager. The 1983 season was dominated by Senna and Martin Brundle, but Dumfries shattered the Silverstone lap report in June while doing battle with both males. “He was a moderniser and an inspirational thinker, transitioning a household residence to a progressive, working visitor facility and estate. “His heart was firmly rooted on the Island of Bute where he spent much of his time.
As he present in his driving career, even on the last that title supplied no safety. He tried to make a comeback on the 2003 Le Mans, but, forever self-critical, he recognised after doing a check lap that his reflexes have been now not up for it. And, with the backing of Serena, he did promote a Festival of Speed on Bute for a few years in the noughties. It was so successful, it fully overwhelmed the island’s infrastructure and he reluctantly severed his last connection along with his sport. Apart, that’s, from attending the annual dinner of the ‘Rat Pack’, the casual eating club of former British racing drivers.
But within the ultra-aggressive F3000 championship Johnny seemed lost as he didn’t have any robust showings. 8W is forix.autosport.com’s motorsport history section and covers the drivers, cars, circuits, eras and technology that shaped the face, sounds and smells of motor racing. Dumfries raced for them the complete season with two points-scoring finishes from 16 begins, his best was a fifth place in Hungry.