Roger Williamson (4 February 1949 – 29 July 1973) was a British racing driver, a two time British Formula 3 champion, who died during his second Formula One race, the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
The son a speedway rider, Roger Williamson started karting at the age of 12 and his first experiences in cars were in 1967 with a Mini. Then he started racing a Ford Anglia, and winning the Special Saloon Car Championship in 1970 brought him to the attention of Tom Wheatcroft.
Together they worked on his move to single-seaters and he raced a March 713-Ford in Formula 3 in 1971. He took the Lombank British F3 title and was also runner-up in the Shell and Forward Trust-sponsored championships. At the end of the year he received the Grovewood Award, for the most promising Commonwealth driver of the year.
He stayed in F3 the following season and was considered one of the brightest prospects, taking two of the three British championships. During this time there was a test of a BRM P180 before he contested the F2 season in 1973 in Tom Wheatcrofts GRD 273. However, when they switched to a March 732-BMW he flourished and qualified on pole position for the Monza Lotteria though crashed at the start of the second heat. Despite this he fought his way from the back of the field to win his first international race.
Within two weeks of this he was in Formula 1, replacing Jean-Pierre Jarier in the March team for the British GP but he was caught up in the multiple accident caused by Jody Scheckter’s spin.
They rebuilt car appeared at the Dutch GP and he qualified eighteenth. He had gained five places but his March hit the barrier and ended up overturned and ablaze. In one of the most awful, traumatic, incidents in motor racing, he was trapped in the burning wreckage, despite the heroic efforts of David Purley to rescue him.
In 2003, on the thirtieth anniversary of his crash, a bronze statue of him was unveiled at the Donington Park circuit. Tom Wheatcroft described the day Roger died as “the saddest day of my life”.
1973 Dutch GP Zandvoort
Interview with Ben Huisman
Ben Huisman, the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix race director on the circuit of Zandvoort. He tells his story to researcher Nando Boers for Dutch VPRO televison.
Interview with Herman Brammer
Herman Brammer (1944) was a marshall waving the yellow flag on the race track to warn coming drivers for the accident of Roger Williamson back in 1973. He tells his story to researcher Nando Boers for Dutch VPRO televison.
