Tony Rolt

Anthony Peter Roylance Rolt raced between 1935 and 1955 and before the War was one of Britain’s most promising amateur drivers. He later contested three F1 Championship races, including the first-ever championship race, 1950’s British GP at Silverstone, though was mostly involved in sports car racing, competing seven times at Le Mans and won in 1953 and was second in 1954, both times alongside Duncan Hamilton in a Jaguar. He was educated at Eton, then went to Sandhurst, before being commissioned into the Rifle Brigade and during the War, due to his repeated escape attempts he was eventually sent to Colditz Castle. While there he became involved in what would have been one of the most audacious escape attempts, using a glider.

The son of a brigadier, Tony was born at Bordon, Hampshire, on October 18 1918 and brought up at St Asaph in Wales, where the family lived for a time on a farm. Developing a keen interest in motoring he would often spend hours sitting by the road, hoping to spot interesting cars; he was sometimes joined by another youngster, named Lance Macklin!

After his Mother bought him a Morgan three-wheeler he began his racing while at Eton and competed in schoolboy trials events. From there he made his track debut in a Triumph Gloria Vitesse with Jack Elliott in 1936’s Spa 24 Hours, where they finished eleventh and fourth in class. Racing a Triumph Dolomite the following year he won the Coronation Trophy at Donington Park, took second at Crystal Palace and Phoenix Park in Dublin though retired in a shared drive with J.Elliott at the Donington 12 Hours. In 1938, he bought the famous ERA Remus car from Prince Bira, who had also studied at Eton and took a victory with it at Brooklands. However, during that race a loose bolt allowed exhaust gas and flames into his cockpit but Tony calmly removed a glove, pushed it into the hole and went on to win. During the year there was also a drive in an Aston Martin Speed Model at Crystal Palace. In 1939 he acquired another ERA and engaged the services of racer Freddie Dixon to develop the car. Aged only 20 he won the British Empire Trophy at Donington and a newspaper headline afterwards read ‘Boy driver wins 200-mile race. Experts all upset at Donington Park.’

There were plans in 1939 for Dixon to prepare a four-wheel-drive chassis, powered by Tony’s E.R.A. engine, but the plans were shelved with the outbreak of War. He was serving as a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade and in 1940 was sent to France in charge of a reconnaissance platoon. They were soon involved in heavy fighting for three days at Calais and he was awarded a Military Cross for his efforts. He was eventually taken prisoner but later had seven escape attempts involving being dressed as a prison workman, a member of a visiting German general’s entourage and in one attempt he was within sight of the Swiss border before being recaptured. Because of these repeated attempts he was sent to the maximum-security prison at Colditz, where he became involved in an audacious escape plan involving a glider. He spent many nights in an attic working on a two-seater glider, which would be catapulted from the castle roof by dropping a bath full of concrete over the side of the building but the castle was liberated before the plan could be carried out. On returning home in 1945, he was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross in recognition of his escape attempts though his view was that “escaping was not a game. Nor was it fun. It was a duty”.

Tony retired from the Army in 1948 to continue racing, after his parents urged him “to take a choice between the army or racing, emphatically pointing out that motor racing could not be made to pay. Of course, I was absolutely determined to prove otherwise.” In July that year he and Jock Horsfall co-drove an ERA at Cockfosters and he would go on to campaign a variety of cars. In 1948 he raced in the Spa 24 hour with Andre Pilette in an Aston Speed Model plus drove an Alta alongside John Heath in the 12 Hour Paris though retired from both. However, racing his Alfa Romeo Bimotore he took an impressive second place in that year’s Zandvoort GP, behind Prince Bira’s Maserati and ahead of Reg Parnell. Between 1949 and 1952 he drove a variety of cars, notably Rob Walker’s Delage and Delahaye, with Rob Walker stating “he really was a magnificent driver.” He was at the wheel of a Delahaye 135CS alongside Jason Henry when Le Mans resumed in 1949 though they retired while in fifth place due to engine failure. He was fourth with a Healey Silverstone in the Silverstone International while in two Formula Libre races with an Alfa Romeo he was second in April at the Goodwood Easter meeting and took victory in September’s Goodwood International. In the following year, racing a Delage 1927GP he was third in two races at a Whitsun meeting at Goodwood and took second place with a Jaguar XK120 at the Silverstone International. May that year saw him contest the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the first ever Formula 1 Championship race, where he partnered Peter Walker in his ERA. Walker qualified in tenth place but when Tony took over the car during the race he was forced to retire due to gearbox failure. Shortly after he finished fourth at Le Mans in a Nash-Healey E that saw the start of a long partnership with Duncan Hamilton (going on to contest the 24-Hour event together six times).

1951 saw him in a variety of machines and he was sixth in two outings with a Nash Healey Le Mans, starting with the Silverstone International and then alongside Duncan Hamilton at Le Mans. In a shared drive with Leslie Johnson at the Tourist Trophy they were fourth with a Jaguar C-Type and piloting a Delage 15S8 he was second at a National Boreham Formula libre race then fifth in September at Goodwood. Later drives with an Aston Martin DB2 saw third and fourth place finishes at a BARC Goodwood meeting in August plus he raced the car again there the following month. Jaguar had won that year’s Le Mans with their C-type (driven by Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead) and following his sixth place result offered Tony the position of reserve driver for the Dundrod race in Ireland. He was later offered a place in the Jaguar team and when asked who he would like as co-driver, on requesting Duncan Hamilton their response was “Duncan, you must be mad!” Their first Le Mans drive for Jaguar ended in disappointment as they retired after four hours, though all three Jaguars retired due to serious overheating problems and the two other cars had retired two hours before them. There was a further retirement for the pair in the 9 Hours Goodwood race though driving solo he took victory at the Goodwood International, ahead of Stirling Moss’s similar C-Type. Away from the Jaguar he was back in the Delahaye 15S8 and took victory at Snetterton, beating D.Hamilton’s Talbot T26C.

Jaguar entered three cars for Le Mans in 1953 but though Rolt/Hamilton were disqualified due to a misunderstanding during a practice session they were reinstated for the race. At the start Moss led the cars away but an Allard took the lead on the Mulsanne straight though retired on lap four with mechanical issues. As the race progressed, after 30 minutes Moss led, closely followed by Villoresi, Cole and then Tony, who had already set a lap record at 96.48 mph. At the end of the first hour the Jaguars, Ferraris and Alfa Romeos were the teams to be reckoned with, though after passing Villoresi, Tony increased his lap times by 5 seconds. After three hours the Rolt/Hamilton car was ahead of Ascari/Villoresi, Cole/Chinetti, Sanesi/Carini then Kling/Riess and as darkness fell, their battle with the Ascari/Villoresi car continued and the Jaguar kept the lead into the early hours of the morning. Although they kept up the pace, with an average speed of well over 105 mph, this was in spite of enduring wind buffering after their windscreen was smashed early in the race by bird-strike. In the morning, after a routine refuelling stop they had a close call when Hamilton pulled out in front of one of the DB-Panhards coming in for its pitstop. By 9am, clutch issues with the lead Ferrari saw it back in fifth place which left the Jaguar clear in the the lead with the Moss/Walker car running second. With three hours remaining, the Jaguars were still lapping at over 105 mph and the order remained the same as Tony handed over the car for the last stint. Duncan Hamilton went on to take the victory four laps ahead of Moss and Walker, with the third Jaguar coming home in fourth place. A myth built up around their victorious drive, that on the night before the event he and Duncan drowned their sorrows after being excluded for the practice infringement and then competed while suffering from severe hangovers. However, this story was untrue, and deeply upset Tony, while team manager Lofty England commented “Of course I would never have let them race under the influence. I had enough trouble when they were sober!” In further races with the C-Type he contested the Silverstone International while shared drives with Hamilton saw retirement from the 9 Hour Goodwood and Tourist Trophy plus from the Mille Miglia alongside Len Hayden.

During this period he was successful in British national events driving Connaughts for Rob Walker and regularly winning races or taking podium results. Tony and Rob Walker’s blue and white liveried A3 were the standouts in 1953 non-Championship races and took 10 wins, including Crystal Palace’s Coronation Trophy against the likes of Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Lance Macklin, Peter and Graham Whitehead. There was a further victory again at Crystal Palace plus twice at Snetterton then Thruxton and Oulton Park. He was finally beaten in a race, at Crystal Palace, by Stirling Moss in a Cooper-Alta T24 and in July that year he had his second GP drive when he drove the Connaught Type A at Silverstone but retired after 70 laps with a broken halfshaft.

In 1954 the pair came close to winning Le Mans again when their D-Type was second after an exciting battle against Jose Froilan Gonzalez/Maurice Trintignant’s Ferrari 375 Plus. Jaguar entered three D-Types driven by Peter Walker/Stirling Moss, Peter Whitehead/Ken Wharton and Tony and Duncan Hamilton. The Ferraris of Gonzalez/Trintignant, Manzon/Rosier and Maglioli/Marzotto led almost from the start with Moss and Tony’s cars not too far behind. Early in the race their D-type started to misfire, forcing them to stop at the pits to change plugs and check the electrics and after rectifying the problem, caused by dirt in the gauze of the fuel filters, they promptly rejoined the race. By midnight they were fourth but by the time dawn arrived the main fight was between them and Gonzalez/Trintignant and they applied the pressure as the rain intensified. Tony recalled “we agreed to drive flat out all the way. We were chasing the Gonzales/Trintignant Ferrari all night and the following day. We could take ten or fifteen seconds a lap off it when Trintignant was at the wheel but we were pushed to take two or three seconds a lap when Gonzales was driving.” The gap between them alternated during the rain and with two hours left the Ferrari was still nearly two laps ahead though during a routine stop the Ferrari’s engine refused to fire. The car was stationary for seven minutes as the mechanics worked on it and once it was sorted Gonzalez resumed the race ninety seconds ahead of the Jaguar. Tony recalled “It started to rain, in fact hail, like I’ve never seen before. The road was awash on the Mulsanne straight and smaller cars were skating everywhere. I realised that I couldn’t see properly, so I stopped at the pits to ask for a visor. It wouldn’t have taken a few seconds, but the Ferrari was in its pit at the time and they just waved me out again. Next time round it was still very bad, so I came in again. My goggles were full of water. I hopped out to fix on a visor and the next thing I knew was that Duncan had jumped into the car and was away. That caused just a little bit of tension, I really don’t know why they couldn’t have given me that visor.” With an hour to the finish he handed over to Hamilton for the final stint but though he pushed hard and cut the lead to 1 minute 26 seconds the track began to dry and the Ferrari pulled away to win by just under three minutes. Later in the season they were second for Jaguar in the Reims 12-Hours though retired from the Tourist Trophy and he raced an Ecurie Ecosse car at the Goodwood Easter event.

Their final Le Mans pairing came in 1955 though their D-Type retired after 16 hours after their car lost its first and second gears but any result would have been meaningless due to the tragedy that occurred during the race. They also retired from the Goodwood 9 Hours though racing solo Tony was third at the Silverstone International and fourth in an Ecurie Ecosse car at Goodwood’s Easter meeting. He took second place at Silverstone with a Connaught Type B and contested his third and final GP entry, with a Connaught Type B at Aintree (with Peter Walker) but after racing for ten laps, Walker took over for nine laps then retired due to transmission failure.

Tony retired from racing at the end of the season but later drove Stirling Moss’ Rob Walker Lotus 18 during a test session. He realised that his increasing commitment to Harry Ferguson Research Ltd. was going to take so much of his time so decided to retire in order to focus all his efforts on the development programme. After the war he and Freddie Dixon had formed Rolt Dixon Research, to develop advanced automotive technologies and after later receiving backing from tractor magnate Harry Ferguson they formed Harry Ferguson Research in 1950. Freddie Dixon left but they continued, with many advanced safety features being developed by them during the 1950s. In 1960 the Ferguson Project 99 four-wheel drive car was introduced and debuted at 1961’s British Empire Trophy, though Jack Fairman crashed on lap 2. He raced it again at the British GP at Aintree, though Stirling Moss took over after his Walker-entered Lotus 18 failed, but the car was disqualified for receiving outside assistance. However, Moss drove the P99 to victory in the International Gold Cup at Oulton Park, becoming the only 4WD car ever to win a Formula 1 race. In 1963, Graham Hill raced the car and finished sixth and second in the Australian GP at Warwick Farm and the Lakeside International at Lakeside. The P99’s final racing action came in the British Hillclimb championship in 1964, 1965, and 1966, with Peter Westbury winning the title in 1964. The P99 was later used as the basis for the AWD Ferguson P104 Novi Indycar, which Bobby Unser drove in the Indy 500 in 1964 and 1965. After Ferguson Developments closed down Tony formed his own FF Developments company in 1971, converting cars, vans and ambulances to 4WD. The company went on to become an important partner of Ford, Chrysler, Audi, Fiat/Lancia and General Motors though in 1994 it was sold to Ricardo.

Tony passed away on the 6th February 2008 in Warwick, England