Former Lotus Racer Johnny Dumfries Passes Away, Aged 62

The 1990 season proved to be even more disappointing, with Roberto Ravaglia his most frequent teammate, and Dumfries was not invited to be a part of Toyota’s transition to the brand new usually-aspirated rules for the World Sportscar Championship. However, the automobile was not straightforward for a rookie to tame and Dumfries struggled to make an impression. On paper his best performance was in Hungary, the place he began eighth and finished fifth, while his only other rating got here with sixth at the Adelaide finale. Poor reliability, particularly with the gearbox, price him elsewhere, however he did a minimum of manage seventh in his house race at Brands. The Renault-powered 98T was one of many quickest and strongest automobiles of the turbo space. Utterly dominant within the camp, as was his want, Senna took a string of poles.

Dumfries struggled to ascertain himself but was quietly dropped at the finish of the yr. He turned as an alternative to sports activities cars and became a Jaguar driver in 1987, winning a number of races including the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours. He completed off his career with the Toyota manufacturing unit sports automobile staff in 1989 and 1990. His only season of F1 was in 1986 for Lotus, the place he scored three factors to complete 13th within the championship.

Driving Expertise

He obtained to Lotus in 1990, but their greatest days had been long gone, so then it was into sportscars before an F1 revival in 1993. Currently his Triple Eight Race Engineering runs the Vauxhall Vectras in the BTCC, which he himself drove in ’97-‘ninety eight, with a win at Knockhill. Lotus secured a second provide of the Honda engines already utilized by Williams, and a situation of this was to give the second seat to Satoru Nakajima of Japan. He would do some take a look at driving for Benetton, but then it was into sportscar racing with Porsche, Toyota, Jaguar.

In truth, he was a way more completed driver than the naked 1986 statistics suggested, as he had already shown in his F3 days, and would subsequently reveal in sportscar racing. He was born on April 26, 1958, in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, in one of many country’s oldest aristocratic households. Johnny later adopted family tradition and attended Ampleforth College however didn’t complete the research. As a teenager, he became passionate motorsport lover and decided to attempt his luck on the earth of racing. He recorded 15 starts with Lotus in the 1986 Formula One World Championship season. He participated five times at 24 Hours of Le Mans, scoring an total victory in 1988 with Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9.

Obituary: Johnny Dumfries, 1958

They had a case in hand since Mauricio was not to get his F1 break until two years later. One yr earlier, Derek had already missed his massive break, believing his short-term prospects with Renault had been better than a protracted-time period future with Canon Williams Honda. So Williams signed their quantity two selection, who went on to win his first two Grands Prix in a season Warwick thought was going to be marred by horrible Honda reliability. Dumfries’ failure was little question the saddest of the three, since he was the one one not to get a reprieve in F1.

John Colom Crichton-Stuart, the Earl of Dumfries, preferred to make it in his personal proper, so stuck with the more fundamental “Johnny Dumfries.” Ironically, it seems, his career misplaced momentum through lack of sufficient backing. In 1980 he made his begin, driving karts, and in 1981 it was on to Formula Ford. His capability was sufficient that he moved to F3 with Dave Morgan, two years later. Then, in 1984, he actually blossomed with the Dave Price Racing / BP Ralt-VW. From the primary seven rounds of the British sequence, he won six and had one second place. That just about set him up for a dominant show, and he was ready to fit in plenty of rounds within the European championship, the place he also challenged for supremacy towards such skills as Ivan Capelli and Gerhard Berger.

Bute also participated in the 1-hour endurance race within 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 overall and in Class A. In 1984, Bute, then generally known as Johnny Dumfries, was the feeling of the F3 season, scoring 14 race victories on his way to successful, and utterly dominating, the British Formula three Championship for Team BP . He also completed runner-up to Ivan Capelli within the European Formula Three Championship that yr. In 1985, he graduated to the newly created FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, initially competing for Onyx Race Engineering before switching to Lola Motorsport. It was a disappointing season, with a sixth-place finish in Vallelunga being the highlight of the 12 months. Two years after his sole F1 season, Dumfries cemented his reputation as a more-than-useful pedaller by taking total victory at the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours alongside Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace, at the wheel of a Jaguar XJR-9LM.

His family released an announcement which described him as a “devoted husband, father, brother, uncle, son and grandfather and loved by all”. While finding out Sports Journalism on the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his means into working on the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years earlier than becoming a member of ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was adopted by the main task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and working it as Editor. Present at each race because the start of 2014, he has continued constructing his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, he contributes to BBC 5Live and Sky Sports in the UK in addition to working with titles in Japan and the Middle East. “The indomitable spirit and vitality which Johnny delivered to his life shall be greatly missed, and the immense heat and love with which he embraced his family,” the statement read.

As he found in his driving profession, even on the final that title provided no protection. He tried to make a comeback on the 2003 Le Mans, but, eternally self-crucial, he recognised after doing a test lap that his reflexes have been no longer up for it. And, with the backing of Serena, he did promote a Festival of Speed on Bute for a couple of years within the noughties. It was so profitable, it completely overwhelmed the island’s infrastructure and he reluctantly severed his last connection together with his sport. Apart, that is, from attending the annual dinner of the ‘Rat Pack’, the casual eating membership of former British racing drivers.

Back in 1984 Johnny had been crowned British F3 champion, driving a Ralt RT3/eighty three-Volkswagen for Dave Price Racing. The blue-blooded Scot was on his way to the double in 1984 however he eventually completed second in the European Formula 3 Championship on 53 points, Ivan Capelli taking the title on 60 points. Thanks to his four wins Dumfries finished ahead of Gerhard Berger, who scored 49 points. 1984 had additionally seen Johnny sample a Lotus-Renault 95T at Donington Park as his testing expertise were extremely regarded. He retired from racing in 1991 due to the sickness of his father, and took over the family estate in 1993. An unassuming and unpretentious individual, he has few airs or graces and prefers to be referred to as John Bute.

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