Reg Parnell (2 July 1911 – 7 January 1964) was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. /from old info Reginald Harold Haslam Parnell from Wiki/
He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship points. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in 1911, Reg Parnell would race a variety of cars before turning to management, including taking Aston Martin into Formula 1 and ran the Yeoman Credit Racing team with the help of his son Tim, who later raced in Formula 1 himself.
Reg came from a family which ran a garage business in Derby and after spectating at Donington Park’s first motor race in 1933 he decided to try the sport. By 1935, he had bought an old 2-litre Bugatti (which actually broke in the paddock at its first race) but buying spare parts for it proved too expensive so it was replaced with a MG Magnette K3. He would go on to take wins at Brooklands and Donington Park but in 1937 he lost his licence following an accident at Brooklands. He lost control of his MG and hit Kay Petre and though she was seriously injured she put the incident down to bad luck but his racing license was revoked for two years. During this time he started buying and selling racing cars (which he continued to do during the war years) and with his licence restored in 1939, he returned with a 4.9-litre Bugatti-engined single-seater, known as the BHW. Regarding this period, Tim Parnell told how ”Our trucks used to cart round shells and munitions, but my father also used them to collect together the most incredible selection of racing cars and stashed them away in a barn on the farm. Nobody wanted racing cars during a war, did they? So he picked them up really cheaply and we had about 35 of them in the end… I was only eight or nine years old and had a wonderful time playing in them with my friends….then the Old Man would come in to chase us all away, playing merry hell with us for messing around in them!”
He also started to construct his own car for ‘voiturette’ (a pre-war version of F2), known as the Challenger and finished it during the war years, plus built up an impressive collection of race cars, which included Alfa Romeo, ERA, Riley, Delage, MG and Maseratis. Returning in 1946, he raced a Maserati 4CLT/48 and an E-Type ERA, plus Delages and Rileys and had some good results, particularly at Goodwood. He finished second behind Prince Bira in the Ulster Trophy plus won at Gransden Lodge.
He began 1947 by winning two ice races in Sweden with his ERA A-type, in the KAK Vinter GP and the the Swedish Winter GP, being one of only three cars to finish. Their main rivals, the French, were stranded miles away from the circuit on a ship which was trapped in the ice. The organiser re-ran the event as the Stockholm Grand Prix (on a Lake Vallentuna) and in the period between the two races Reg had the idea to use twin rear wheels on his ERA to improve its grip on the ice. Arriving at the race, rivals objected to this but having checked the rules and found there was nothing against their use; in temperatures of −15° Fahrenheit, he went on to win the race. He went on to win the Jersey Road Race in the Maserati 4CLT and there was almost victory in Ulster with a newly acquired ERA E-type but it broke a de Dion tube. He was awarded the BRDC’s Gold Star and went on to win it again the following year.
1948 saw him take third place in a Maserati 4CLT/48 at Zandvoort circuit’s inaugural meeting, win the Goodwood Trophy at the first ever meeting there, and finish second in the Penya Rhin Grand Prix and fifth in the Gran Premio d’Italia. Unfortunately he failed to complete a lap in the British GP after a runway light punctured his fuel tank. He continued the success with his Maserati into 1949, taking many successes at Goodwood, which earned him the nickname, ‘Emperor of Goodwood’. Victories included the Chichester Cup, the Daily Graphic Trophy, Richmond Trophy, Woodcote Cup and an Easter Handicap. He raced at almost every major circuit across Europe and then competed in early-season races in South America.
Then came an invitation from Alfa Romeo to race in the very first World Championship GP at Silverstone in 1950, where he qualified fourth and finished third in a 158 behind teammates, Guiseppe Farina and Luigi Fagioli. Following his performance in 1950’s British Grand Prix, he was signed by Aston Martin and took a DB2 to sixth place at Le Mans, partnered with Charles Brackenbury. He followed this up with a class win (and fourth overall) in the RAC Tourist Trophy, which took place around the narrow lanes of Dundrod.
Whilst racing his Maserati under the Scuderia Ambrosiana badge, he became involved with BRM, initially as a test driver in 1950 and then in 1951 as the team’s lead driver. Racing the BRM V16 saw victories in the Goodwood Trophy and the Woodcote Cup in 1950 plus second in an invitation GP at Winfield.
Tony Vandervell asked him to drive a Ferrari 375 and at 1951’s Daily Express International Trophy race at Silverstone, he found himself competing against the Alfa Romeos of Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, Consalvo Sanesi and Felice Bonetto. After its two heats, when the final started the conditions had deteriorated and the race went ahead despite there being hail, lightning and heavy rain. In poor visibility and the track under as much as 6 inches of water in parts, he passed the Alfas though after six laps, the stewards decided it was too dangerous to continue and stopped the race early. Reg took the win. He would later state ”It’s a pity it was stopped as I would have liked the race to have continued. I was a minute ahead of the Italians and I am sure they would not have made this up. It was like aquaplaning in an ice-cold tub, but in the cockpit it was very hot and steamy so that at 80mph I only had a dim outline of the comers and only the outlines of spray telling me that another car was in front.”
Shortly after, at Goodwood’s Festival of Britain Trophy, he won the first heat and broke the lap record on his first lap then took victory in the final and following this finished second in the Ulster Trophy at Dundrod, behind Nino Farina’s Alfa Romeo 158. At Dundrod, N.Farina had the better start and took the lead with Parnell running second but this was tactical as he knew that he would have to stop for fuel, whereas Reg could run the race without stopping. As Farina exited the pits, Reg shot past into the lead but shortly after he wore down Parnell’s 3-second lead and passed him to take victory.
As BRM had announced they would race in the French Grand Prix with Reg, Tony Vandervell offered the Thinwall Special to Brian Shawe-Taylor. However, the BRM didn’t appear so he offered the Thinwall to Reg, who went on to finish a strong fourth. Racing it again at Goodwood, he finished second then had a victory in the Scottish Grand Prix at Winfield with a long nose version of the car. When he did get his hands on a BRM, it had its first victories at at Goodwood when he won the Woodcote Cup and the Goodwood Trophy on the same day.
There were more races with the BRM plus from 1952 he contested a number of continental races with a Ferrari 500. During 1952, Boreham saw him take his only Formula Two victory on board a Cooper-Bristol T20. The year saw him enjoy more success with the Aston Martin DB2, taking wins at Silverstone and Boreham while at Goodwood, he took over the team manager duties for Aston Martin, after John Wyer was seriously injured in a pit fire. Success continued into 1953 and at that year’s Mille Miglia, despite driving on the ignition switch after a broken throttle had to be wired up fully open, he and Louis Klemantaski finished fifth in their DB3. There would also be second place finishes in the 12 Hours of Sebring and at the RAC Tourist Trophy plus a win in the Goodwood Nine Hours.
In 1954, alongside his Aston Martin commitments, he raced his own Ferrari 625 in numerous F1 events and won at Goodwood, Snetterton and Crystal Palace. He took more victories for Aston Martin the following season (at Oulton Park, Charterhall and twice at Silverstone) though was unsuccessful in New Zealand when trying an experimental single-seater Aston Martin. There were also a couple of races with a Connaught, taking third in Oulton Park’s Gold Cup, plus took several second places with a Copper sports car at Snetterton and Goodwood.
1956 saw victories with the Connaught at Goodwood, and in saloons at Oulton Park with a Mercedes 300SL and a class win with a Borgward at the International Trophy. However, at Crystal Palace he suffered a broken collar bone and badly cut knee in a crash in Rob Walker’s Connaught B-type. After recovering from this he returned to New Zealand, with the Scuderia Ambrosiana Ferrari 555/860, and won both the New Zealand Grand Prix and the Dunedin Trophy in early 1957.
Despite successes in other formulae, at the end of 1957 he decided to retire and his last international race was the New Zealand Championship Road Race, at Ryal Bush where he finished second in a Ferrari 555/860.
During his time with Aston Martin, he oversaw the famous Le Mans 1-2 victory in 1959 when Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby led home Maurice Trintignant and Paul Frere. Reg then led the team into F1 but the programme was ended at the end of 1960. He was asked by the Samengo-Turner brothers (Paul, William & Fabian) to take over the management of the Yeoman Credit Racing Team sponsorship deal from Ken Gregory (of the British Racing Partnership). They ran two Cooper T53 Low-Line–Climax cars for John Surtees and Roy Salvadori in 1961 and in the following year the team was renamed Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing, using Lola Mk4s. Continuing with the same driver line up, J.Surtees took pole position for the team at the season-opening Dutch GP plus gave Reg his first podium finishes as manager with second places in Britain and Germany.
Following this, he set up a team in his own name, Reg Parnell Racing and at 1963’s Solitude Grand Prix there would be no fewer than five entries from the Parnell family!
Chris Amon and Mike Hailwood were running Reg Parnell Lolas while Tim Parnell raced his own Lotus plus entered two for Ron Carter and Philip Robinson. Andre Pilette also entered his Lotus-Climax under Tim Parnell’s team banner.
Sadly, in 1964, Reg died after a routine appendix operation went wrong. After being diagnosed with peritonitis, a drip was inserted to his leg but an embolism formed and he passed away soon afterwards. His son Tim took over the responsibility of running the team and sustaining the team’s name.
In 2013, two honours were awarded to Reg, the first was his life story being included in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the second was the unveiling of a blue plaque on the side of his former home by the former chairman of Rolls Royce, Sir Ralph Robins and his son Tim.
Tim Parnell. Part 2
In 1964, after his father Reg’s shock death, Tim retired from racing and took over running the team. Reg Parnell Racing’s drivers were Chris Amon, Richard Attwood, Innes Ireland and Mike Hailwood and their best result was fifth in the 1964 Dutch Grand Prix for C.Amon. Peter Revson also raced Tim’s Lotus 24 from the previous year. Tim was asked by BRM to manage its Tasman campaign with Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Richard Attwood, Piers Courage and Chris Irwin as drivers, which led to Parnell Racing becoming a F1 BRM junior team, running P126s for Piers Courage and Chris Amon. In New Zealand, apart from Warwick Farm where Jim Clark won, J.Stewart won four races, G.Hill two and R.Attwood one.
In 1966 Parnell Racing ran Mike Spence in a Lotus-BRM although the car was painted in a number of different colours for John Frankenheimer, who was producing the ‘Grand Prix’ movie during the year. Tim would arrive with the cars for each GP a few days early so they could be filmed and Mike Spence had a tape recorder in the car to get the right engine sounds and gear-changes for each circuit. He had a great relationship with J.Frankenheimer and actor James Garner, stating he “was wonderful. Not a bad driver, either. We’d put him in one of our cars and off he’d go.” At Monza, the organisers wanted to place Giancarlo Baghetti in one of his Lotuses. It was painted white and blue for that race as it was meant to be James Garner’s in the film but during practice he was summonsed to see Enzo Ferrari. After introducing himself, Enzo Ferrari said to him ‘I remember il grande Parnell, when he drove Vandervell’s Ferrari, and when he won in New Zealand for us. Take our spare 246 for Baghetti. We will provide the mechanics but it will be entered by Reg Parnell Racing.’ The movie crew were not happy as they had lost their white and blue car but they repainted Mike Spence’s car overnight to suit the script.
The team raced a BRM P128 for 1968, with Piers Courage and Chris Irwin, though Chris’s racing career ended after sustaining severe head injuries in a crash at the Nurburgring. In 1969 Tim became full-time team manager at BRM and later the team was run by Louis Stanley, who Tim stated was a real character and tremendously capable in getting sponsorship.
1970 saw Pedro Rodriguez and Jack Oliver in the Yardley-sponsored Pl53s and he said of them that J.Oliver “was quick and Pedro was tremendous, one of the best. He honestly thought he was going to win every race in which he entered. He loved the wet too. When it rained he would just giggle with glee.” Sadly, Pedro was killed in a sports car race at Norisring and then Jo Siffert at Brands Hatch and Tim felt the team never recovered from those two tragedies.
However, there was a memorable 1972 Monaco victory by Jean-Pierre Beltoise, in the pouring rain. Tim said the result was all the more impressive due to the weakness he had in one arm, the result of an accident earlier in his career. There was a further victory for Jean and the team in a John Player Victory Race at Brands Hatch, plus fellow BRM drivers Vern Schuppan and Peter Gethin brought their cars home in fourth and fifth place. After finishing second in the Silverstone International Trophy, JP.Beltoise told him ‘Tim, if I had two good arms I would have won today.’
The team retained their Marlboro sponsorship into 1973 and a young Austrian driver came into the team, with little sponsorship, but impressed with his strong commitment and determination. He said that Niki Lauda “was unbelievable when it came to testing. He would arrive at a Silverstone test before us, do 200 laps and then just stop for a toasted pate sandwich at lunchtime and do another 200 laps in the afternoon. Most drivers like to get out of the cockpit between stints, perhaps to stretch their legs, but not Lauda. He stayed strapped in the cockpit as often as not. I’ve never seen such a commitment. He was absolutely desperate to make it and it came as no surprise to me at all when he did. When he left us he went off to Ferrari where he could test at Fiorano all day and all night if he wanted to. If ever there was an example of the old adage ‘practice makes perfect’, then it was Niki Lauda.”
Other BRM drivers included Clay Regazzoni, Helmut Marko and Peter Gethin, and were recalled with pleasure by Tim but at the end of 1974 he moved away from running the team His last race as team manager was at Watkins Glen, which saw an impressive performance there by Chris Amon, and Tim then returned to the farm and garage business. Following this, he was Manager of Oulton Park and Mallory Park for a time, plus was General Manager of Donington Park. In 1995 he became a director of the BRDC and from 2003 to 2010 he became Vice-President.
Tim passed away in 2017 and his funeral was held at St. Helen’s Church, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire.
The regard and affection felt for Tim was shown in numerous tributes, with Derek Bell stating he was “such a wonderful character, unique personality and such a strong supporter of our sport in so many ways. I shall never forget his presence and sense of humour.” Teddy Pilette told of when his father Andre, Reg Parnell and Gerry Ashmore formed The Three Musketeers racing team in F2 and his father used Reg’s farm as a base when he was racing in England. He told of an exploit following a German GP when he joined Tim, his mechanics and drivers for dinner; “the hotel had beautiful glass plates and at the end of dinner Tim stood up and smashed his plate against the wall and we all followed. The next morning Tim had to pay the damage but I think his sponsor paid for all the damage.” He had great respect for Tim, as he helped him retain his faith to keep on racing and was always happy to share so many great moments with him at club meetings. Mike Wilds described him as a “lovely man who always made me laugh each time we met..It was a privilege to have known Tim.”
Gerry Ashmore had known him since they were ten and spent some time playing together. Their fathers had been friends and business partners and he and Tim grew up around racing cars; “Tim was such a gentleman in every way and his racing history is well known but he did more than drive being Team Manager for BRM.”
Bob Bondurant said “he was such a kind man to me and my European racing days. I shall never forget his talent of being a driver and a good person” while Tony Brooks described him as “a unique, bluff, affable character who epitomised the camaraderie and well being of the Fifties, a chat invariably involving a chuckle, his experience at the wheel and as a team manager providing invaluable experience which he utilised in his retirement.”
Tim humourously told how Formula 1 has entered everyone’s homes, telling how “I used to go into my local in Derby on a Monday evening and they’d say, ‘Where were you last weekend, Tim? Belgium, eh? How did you go on?’ Now I go into the same pub and they’re all bloody experts, telling me about KERS and Drag Reduction Systems, arguing about what happened on lap 37.”
Gallery Grand Prix
