Andy Sutcliffe (9 May 1947 – 13 July 2015) was a British racing driver from England.
Born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, Sutcliffe began his racing career in 1969. He competed in Formula Three from 1970 to 1973, before contesting the 1974 European Formula Two Championship, finishing tenth overall in a BMW-powered March 732 entered by Brian Lewis. He was entered for that year’s Formula One British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, in a Brabham BT42 run by the Italian Scuderia Finotto team, but did not appear.
In 1977, he was again entered for the British Grand Prix, this time at Silverstone, in a March 761 run by the RAM Racing team. He failed to pre-qualify. Info from Wiki
Bio by Rein Ouwerling
Andy Sutcliffe (9 May 1947 – 13 July 2015) began his career racing a Ginetta G12 in 1969.
He switched to Formula 3 with some success from 1970 to 1973. Four times a race winner during 1972, he also made his Formula 2 debut that year when ninth in a British Championship race at Oulton Park driving a works GRD 272-Ford. With sponsorship at a premium, Sutcliffe used backing from the Mitford Group to fund a one-off with a works March 732-BMW in Karlskoga’s 1973 European F2 race. He impressed by out-qualifying Ronnie Peterson and finishing third in his heat before retiring from the final. utcliffe arranged a late F2 deal for 1974 with Brian Lewis. The year started well with his ex-Jean-Pierre Jarier March 732-BMW fifth in the opening round at Barcelona despite an unscheduled pitstop. He was a career-best third in the rain at Pau but faded thereafter.
He was also entered for the British Grand Prix with a Scuderia Finotto Brabham BT42-Ford but neither car nor driver appeared. It was fully three years before Sutcliffe had another opportunity at that level. Baty Gauging Equipment announced it was sponsoring him for the 1977 British GP and another four championship races. However, the ring-rusty Sutcliffe failed to pre-qualify his RAM Racing March 761-Ford and those other F1 opportunities did not materialise. He later worked in a nursery in Ashford, Kent – a far cry from those GP ambitions.
Andy was a big reptile lover and once owned a pet crocodile. Andy’s post racing life had its share of tragedy however – his son died tragically early, his business went bankrupt and Andy died suddenly in 2015….
Gallery F3/F2
