Brian Henton (born 19 September 1946 in Castle Donington, Leicestershire) is a former racing driver from England. He won both 1974 British Formula Three Championships and the 1980 European Formula Two Championship.
He participated in 38 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 19 July 1975, but never scored any championship points. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Brian Hento’s early introduction to motor racing was an unusual one, arguably caused by his damaging the bathroom while trying to dispose of a firework. As punishment he wasn’t allowed to go to watch Derby County so while in Derby one Saturday, and bored, he saw a bus going to Mallory Park and got on. After his trip there he was hooked on becoming a race driver.
His early racing saw him in an Austin Healey 100/4. Trailering it to Castle Combe, it fell off and damaged the tow car but he made it to the race plus nearly won it by taking the rest of the field out! After spinning, the marshals pushed him back on the track but his car was covered with mud and it ended up sprayed onto the track. When the field came round they all spun on it though unfortunately for him it meant a re-start; he could have had a debut win as he was the only one still on the track.
Following this came a Marcos but at Silverstone, on the wrong tyre pressures, it went off at Copse and spread itself along the track. There is supposedly a photo of the crowd there and over their heads is a pair of legs-which was Derek. The car was taken home in the back of a small van.
Racing an Austro in Formula Vee in 1970, he finished second then become champion the following year after taking 14 victories. Conscious of the value of public relations, a friend told him he should make outrageous statements about his future and then make it happen. So, after winning the championship, he said he would be with a top Grand Prix team by 1975, and go on to be World Champion, then did everything he could to make it happen.
1972 saw him in SuperVee where he finished runner up in the championship and the following year he entered F3 with a GRD 373. It would be a disappointing season with the GRD, but he said they had a lot of fun, living in the truck while they travelled over Europe, plus ‘borrowing’ fuel from various places as their diesel ran out. During this time though, he had come to the attention of Mo Nunn and this led to some drives in an Ensign F3 car.
For 1974 there was a works drive for March in British F3 and he won the Lombard North Central Championship (with 8 wins) and the Forward Trust Championship (with 7 wins). From this he loaned a works March 752-BDA for the European F2 Championship but although he was quick, his best result was a third at Hockenheim.
Then came Lotus boss Colin Chapman, who was looking for potential drivers, and Brian found himself testing at Silverstone against Bob Evans and Jim Crawford. At the test, he was asked his opinion of the car, replying “to be honest Mr Chapman, this is the biggest pile of shit I have ever driven in my life”. Chapman said: “You’re the man for me Henton.”
His debut for JPS Lotus was the British GP where, despite crashing during a heavy downpour, he was classed sixteenth as the race was red-flagged and he later entered the Lotus 72F at the Österreichring and Watkins Glen, but without success. Unfortunately Lotus were going through a troubled period, Jacky Ickx had just left the team, and Brian later stated he arrived at the wrong time. This wasn’t just relating to the team’s problems but also that he hadn’t been quite ready to handle such a high-pressure situation. When he left the team Chapman told him he would never drive in F1 again but he said “I proved him wrong by buying my own car in 1977, which turned out to be a complete disaster!” The two would always disagree about what happened, Brian declaring ‘the Lotus 72D was one of the worst cars he had ever driven while Chapman stated he had one of the roughest driving techniques he’d ever seen’.
Then came drives in Tom Wheatcroft’s R26 F2 car, followed by several races with the F2 Boxer PR 276 and he took a sensational win in the Boxer at Thruxton. There was also a race in an Ensign-based Boro at Zandvoort but he was disqualified after receiving a push-start.
Meanwhile he and Don Shaw formed the British Formula 1 Racing Team, racing a March 761 in the Shellsport F1 championship and several World Championship races. But looking back, he said “It was crazy we ever did that F1 programme at all. Operating from the back of an old gas board van with a totally outdated chassis and a lot of enthusiasm.” Following this he spent the next three years in F2 and, racing a March-Hart 782 in 1978, his best results that year were fifth at the Nurburgring and sixth at Enna.
After signing for Toleman he finished second in 1979’s European championship, but the following year he was champion, taking three wins (Thruxton, Vallelunga and Mugello) and five second places (Hockenheim, Nurburgring, Zolder, Enna-Pergusa and Zolder).
In 1980 he was invited to take part in the TV ’Superstars’ show, which pitted sportsmen of all types against each other. He trained hard for all its events, as he wanted to do well for motor racing, but while he would be having a steak and a beer, the athletes’ trainers were supervising the food they ate. However, he was placed in some events and other competitors told him they had never seen anyone try so hard.
His team-mate during 1980 had been Derek Warwick and they moved into F1 in 1981 to race the Hart turbo-powered Toleman TG181s but in a disappointing season he only finished tenth at Monza.
The start of 1982 saw him enter three races with Arrows but he then went to the Tyrrell team, alongside Michele Alboreto for much of the year. He set fastest lap in the British GP at Brands Hatch and was running fourth at Osterreichring when his engine failed.
The following year he raced a Theodore N183 to a strong fourth place in the Race of Champions, despite his clutch pedal snapping off, but then retired at the end of the season.
Following his retirement, he ran a car dealership and later moved into property development plus enjoys horse riding; but he described the mixed emotions of being thrilled/frightened when riding due to “needing to control something that weighs half a ton with a brain the size of a pea and you are sitting on it, with a silly hat on!”
A final word from Brian and one that many drivers would agree with, that “there is no thrill in this world like beating someone on the race track. It’s the pinnacle of all emotions especially since it was initially so hard to attain those heights.”
