Tony Trimmer (born 24 January 1943) is a British former racing driver from England, who won the Shell British Formula Three Championship and E.R. Hall Trophy in 1970. He was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in 1943, Tony Trimmer would go on to drive or test a roll call of cars, including an Arrows A6, Brabham BT58, BRM P201, BRM P207, Connew PC1, Fittipaldi F8, Iso-Marlboro FX3B, Lotus 49, Lotus 72, Maki F101C, Maki F102, March 701, March 811, McLaren M23, Politoys FX3, Safir RJ02, Surtees TS19, Tyrrell 012, Williams FW07, Williams FW08, Williams six wheeler FW08/01, Williams FW11 and Williams FW12. However, despite seeming set for a Grand Prix future he never got the the break that his talents deserved.
After leaving school he joined the Merchant Navy and following this worked as an apprentice mechanic. He became hooked on motorsport after watching racing at Goodwood and this led to him joining a local motor club and competing in several hillclimbs in a 500cc Cooper. He then went to Brands Hatch’s motor racing school and performed well though then became a race mechanic with the Willment racing team. In 1968, after buying and repairing a damaged Brabham BT21, he contested Formula Ford and finished fourth in his first race with it at Brands Hatch. With help from Frank Williams the following year, he raced a Titan Mk4 and finished second in both the European series and the Les Leston national championship.
After starring in FFord he seemed set for a bright future after going on to win 1970’s Shell British F3 Championship, plus took that year’s prestigious Monaco F3 Race. Driving Race Cars International’s Brabham BT28-Felday Ford, it was a closely fought championship and as the season went on he won at Snetterton, Brands Hatch and the Guards Trophy at Snetterton, was third in the Chris Moore Memorial Trophy at Thruxton, the British Empire Trophy at Oulton Park, the Kodak 135 Trophy at Thruxton, the Daily Express Trophy at Crystal Palace plus at Mallory Park, followed by fourth at Cadwell Park, fifth in the Guards International Trophy at Croft plus sixth at Silverstone and in the International Trophy at Brands Hatch.
Going into the final round at Brands Hatch, Dave Walker was on 39 points and leading with Tony on 37 points though Mike Beuttler also had an outside chance. The drivers were divided into two for the eliminating 10-lap heats, which were won by himself and Gerry Birrell. He started on the front row, flanked by James Hunt and pole sitter Birrell, with Walker back on the fourth row. After storming away at the start to take the lead, he led by four seconds at half-distance and was unchallenged, despite being pursued for a period by Birrell until his Brabham began suffering handling problems. Eventually Tony took the flag, ahead of James Hunt and Carlos Pace, collecting the E. R. Hall Trophy and becoming the Motor Sport/Shell Formula 3 Champion.
He signed as reserve driver for Team Lotus in 1971 and was one of three cars at Brands Hatch’s Race of Champions (alongside Reine Wisell and Emerson Fittipaldi) but retired due to fuel pump failure. He raced a Williams-run March 701 at Oulton Park’s Gold Cup (retiring on lap 18 due to accident) and finished sixth in a Lotus 49B at Oulton Park’s International Trophy. He also contested several F5000 races in a Surtees TS5A at Mallory Park (ninth), Thruxton (eighth), Snetterton (fourth) and Hockenheim (seventh) and was seventh and ninth in a Lola T190 at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch. 1972 saw a return to compete in F3, stating that “Lotus kept badgering me and, by this point, I was pretty desperate.” So was the car.” However, although leading the John Player Special Lotus team, he was frustrated by the radical Lotus 73. The car’s in-board rising rate suspension made it very difficult to drive but at Mallory Park he himself made changes to it, ‘raising the front end and lowering the rear ride height’ and won the race. There were drives at Thruxton and Paul Ricard and he was sixth at Anderstorp, while at Monaco, he was running fifth before an incident dropped him down to fifteenth but he fought through the field, and eventually finished second behind Patrick Depailler.
At 1973’s Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, he raced a Frank Williams entered Iso Marlboro (alongside Howden Ganley) and finished fourth behind Peter Gethin, Denny Hulme and James Hunt. There were several F5000 races in a McLaren M18, with his best result seventh at Oulton Park, and he also drove a Connew PC1 at Brands Hatch though a broken shock absorber caused him to hit the barriers.
In 1975, he made his World Championship debut with the Maki team though earlier in the year he raced a Safir in two non championship races. The Token team had entered four Grands Prix in 1974, plus a non-Championship race, but after they closed down Safir Engineering then ran Token’s RJ02 as a Safir RJO2. Tony contested the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and Silverstone’s BRDC International Trophy with it and finished twelfth and fourteenth. Unfortunately, it would prove to be a baptism of fire with the uncompetitive Maki F101C plus his first race came at the daunting Nurburgring, a circuit he had never driven. The team had reinforced the chassis, which only added to the weight of the car, though it completed a lap in the first session but broke in the second session. He failed to qualify in Germany and the following races in Austria and Italy but made it into a non-championship Swiss GP at Dijon and finished the race (despite having to stop to change spark plugs during it). He reunited with Maki the following year to race their F102 in the Japanese GP but at Fuji the other team managers declared the car too dangerous to drive. He told how the car “wasn’t finished and the cockpit was too short for me. They beat it with a hammer until I could fit! I managed one lap in practice and it broke down and that was that.” Despite failing to qualify, there was an opportunity to race a Shadow in the GP but it never materialised due to problems with Maki’s sponsor. He estimated he suffered 26 structural breakages and actually received an award from the drivers, declaring him “bravest but stupidest!”
There were several victories in Formula Atlantic during 1976 and he then went on to compete in the Shellsport International series with Melchester Racing. Driving their Surtees TS19, despite not qualifying for the British GP, he took wins at Mallory Park, Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Donington and Snetterton on his way to becoming Champion in 1977. The series became the Aurora AFX F1 Championship and he contested it with Melchester’s McLaren M23, becoming Champion again. Although he did not qualify for that year’s British GP he won five of the eight races he contested, at Oulton Park, Snetterton, Thruxton and two at Brands Hatch, plus took two podiums, including an impressive drive in a rain-soaked International Trophy race at Silverstone.
During 1980 he raced John Jordan’s BRM P207 in the British F1 Championship, contesting four of the twelve races, at Mallory Park, Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Thruxton. There was no series the following year though in 1982’s five round championship (at Oulton Park, Thruxton, Donington Park and two at Brands Hatch) he achieved his final F1 win in Team Sanada’s Fittipaldi F8 at Oulton Park and was second at Brands Hatch. During this time he also raced twice at Le Mans, the first time sharing a Dome Zero with Bob Evans in 1979 but they retired due to a major oil leak. He and Tiff Needell did not qualify their Ibex P6 for 1980’s race though the pair raced an Ibec Hesketh there in 1981 but a head gasket problem saw them retire after 95 laps. Also in 1981 he raced the Ibec in the Silverstone 6 Hours race (with T.Needell, I.Bracey and V.Candy) while August that year saw him and Nico Nicole race a Mazda RX-7 in the Suzuka 1000Km but despite having a strong lead and their car leading on the penultimate lap they finished second.
Throughout the 1980s he was called upon by a number of F1 teams to test their cars, including a Brabham BT58 prior to the start of 1989’s F1 season. There were several seasons in Thundersports, a series for prototype sportcars and cars that were eligible for Can-Am and Group C2 racing. He contested two rounds in 1984 with Davina Galica in a Kellygirl, not finishing in the first though finished fifth at the second race. In the following year he raced PC Automotive’s Chevron and he and David Piper had third place finishes at Thruxton and Brands Hatch plus during the year he competed in the Tourist Trophy with Rex Greenslade and Andy Rouse in a Ford Sierra. 1986 saw him reunite with D.Piper to take a podium finish with PC Automotive’s Royale RP40 at Brands Hatch.
Later, he contested 1989’s British F3000 championship with his own March 88B Cosworth and in the six races entered he was sixth at Thruxton, fifth at Oulton Park, eighth at Donington, seventh at Snetterton and fourth and fifth at Brands Hatch. Tony would go on to race in the Historic BOSS series plus drove Select GT Racing’s Porsche GT1 (with Andy Charsley) in 1997’s British GT Championship rounds at Brands Hatch and Silverstone and continues to attend and race at Historic events.
Bio by Peter Hopper
Tony Trimmer never got to drive a competitive car at GP level, and failed to qualify in all of his 6 attempts. But all through the 1970’s, he regularly appeared in the many non championship F1 races that were run. From 1971 to 1978, started 9 times, running for a variety of teams. He raced a works Lotus 49 and 72, Frank Williams’ March 701, all in 1971, and, again for Williams, the Iso FX3B in the 1973 RoC, where he finished a fine 4th.
He returned in 1975, racing the Safir (ex Token) RJ02 in the 2 British early season races, before giving the Japanese Maki its one and only F1 start in the Swiss GP. He even managed to bring the sadly uncompetitive car to the finish, in 13th and last. Finally, in 1977 and 78, he drove his regular Melchester Racing British F1 series cars, Surtees TS19 in the 1977 RoC, and a McLaren M23 in the soaking wet International Trophy, where he finished a superb 3rd, keeping going when many of the stars crashed out. It was a shame he never got the car his talents deserved at championship level. He just didn’t ever seem to be in the right place at the right time
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