Robin Widdows

Born on the 27th May 1942 in Cowley, Middlesex, besides his motor racing career, Robin Michael Widdows also represented Great Britain in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics in the two and four man bobsleigh. He is one of a select group who have competed in both a Formula One World Championship race and the Olympic Games, along with Prince Bira and Roberto Mieres (sailing), Divina Galica (skiing), Ben Pon (skeet shooting) and Alex Zanardi (handbiking, 2012 Paralympics). Alfonso de Portago and Boris Said also competed in bobsleigh and Robin Widdows and Said competed against each other in the Bobsleigh Fours in 1968, with Widdows finishing eighth, ahead of the tenth-placed Said.

Robin’s father, Stanley Charles Widdows, was a Battle of Britain fighter pilot and before the War was stationed in Egypt, Khartoum and Palestine. He returned to the UK in 1937 and became a test pilot and conducted extensive performance tests on the first production Hurricane (L1547) and the first production Spitfire (K9787). He flew Beaufighters during the War and in 1941 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and after holding a series of appointments and commands he was an Air Commodore by the time he retired from the RAF in 1958. In 2009, his birthday was marked by his family presenting him with a bronze statue and he and his wife attended the unveiling, which was carried out by Prince Charles. It was revealed on his birthday that he was the oldest surviving pilot from the Battle of Britain and his reply was “Well, it goes to show what a drop of whisky every day can do.”

The year he started racing also saw his first Olympic Games where he was part of a second British four man sled and they finished thirteenth, just behind their fellow team-mates’ sled. He was persuaded to start racing in 1964 by Eddie Portman, who bought him an MG Midget and in ten races he took a win in a Silverstone handicap race and was second at Mallory Park.

He switched to a Lotus 23-BRM for the following season and scored many wins in national sports car events, winning his Class title in the 1965 Autosport Championship. Buoyed by his success he decided to leave his job in property and turn professional and bought a Brabham BT18-Ford to contest Formula 3 in 1966. In the British championship he was eighth at Snetterton’s Les Leston Trophy at the beginning of April and in July was seventh in the Holts Trophy at Crystal Palace. In two Silverstone races he was ninth in the Aston Martin Owners Club Trophy plus won the W.D and H.O. Wills Trophy then in August took pole and finished fourth in a Peter Sellers F3 Trophy race at Crystal Palace. Competing in non championship races he took pole, and finished fifth, on his debut at Goodwood and in further races there he was ninth and second plus had two fourth place results. In two Les Leston Trophy races he was sixth in April at Snetterton and thirteenth the following month at Brands Hatch. He was tenth at Silverstone’s Radio London Trophy then in two consecutive races in June he won at Silverstone and was second at Castle Combe. There were a number of outings in European F3 though in his first race he did not start at Pau due to an accident and retired at Monaco. In further rounds in September and October he was eighth at Zandvoort, retired at Monthlery and the Coupe de Vitesse Albi, then was tenth at the Coupe de Vitesse Bugatti and eighth at Monthlery’s Coupe de Salon. During the year he entered a World Sports Prototype race at Mugello with Andrew Hedges and they were eleventh in a BMC entered MG.

In 1967, he moved up to Formula 2 with his own team, funded by his parents and a group of friends, and known as the Witley Racing Syndicate. His first race in March with the Brabham BT23 at the Guards 100 at Snetterton ended in retirement due to clutch problems then he was eighth in the BARC 200 at Silverstone. Unfortunately there were further retirements in a number of races, with the majority due to mechanical issues, though a highlight came with victory and fastest lap in the Rhine Trophy at Hockenheim (ahead of Chris Lambert and Peter Gethin). Further finishes produced fourth at Hockenheim, seventh at Zandvoort, eighth at Reims and the Sverige Grand Prix at Gellerasbanan, ninth at Jarama plus eleventh at Zolder and at the Gran Premio di Roma at Vallelunga. Two F3 races with the Chequered Flag’s Brabham BT21 saw a retirement from the prestigious Monaco race and seventh in the Trophy Auvergne at Clermont Ferrand and in a sports car outing he joined Edward Nelson in his Ford GT40 at the Spa 1000km though they did not finish.

Contesting European F2 the following year, he started with three drives with McLaren International’s M4A where he was seventh at Barcelona and Hockenheim. Sadly, Jim Clark suffered his fatal accident at this Hockenheim race and Robin, who was in the car behind him, stated that all he could see was spray and it was several laps later before he realised Clark had crashed. He did not start at the BARC 200 at Thruxton and the following week saw his first drive in the Chequered Flag’s M4A and he was second at Pau to Jackie Stewart (and ahead of drivers including Jean Pierre Beltoise, Peter Gethin, Guy Ligier and Clay Regazzoni). In further races with the team, though there were retirements at Jarama, Tulln, Crystal Palace and Hockenheim he was sixth at Zolder and Zandvoort, fourteenth at Enna Pergusa plus third at the Gran Premio di Monza. In May he was paired with Ulf Norinder in Sportcars Unlimited’s Lola T70 at the Nurburgring 1000km but after qualifying eleventh of the seventy six starters they retired with engine problems. Unfortunately his season was affected an accident while testing JW Automotive’s Mirage at Snetterton that aggravated a previous bobsleigh injury but he was reunited in October with U.Norinder in a Lola T70 at the Paris 1000km at Monthlery though after qualifying ninth they retired from the race. The following week saw his final F2 outing that year when he stood in at Albi for an injured Brian Redman and finished ninth in David Bridge Racing’s Lola T100. His only F1 World Championship race came in the Summer at the British GP at Brands Hatch, where he was in a Cooper T86B (with Dan Gurney as team mate) though he retired after 34 laps with ignition problems. In his second Olympics, this time at Grenoble, he was a member of the team’s first four-man sleigh and they finished in eighth place.

In 1969, besides Formula 2 he again competed in several sports car events plus had one European F5000 outing with Sid Taylor’s Lola T142 at Mallory Park and was fifth. He mostly raced for Bob Gerard’s team in F2 though started his season with three rounds in a Merlyn Mk12 and he was eighth at Pau but retired at Eifelrennen and did not qualify at Jarama. From June onwards his outings were with Bob Gerard Racing’s Brabham BT23 but though there were retirements at Zolder and Vallelunga his finishes included fifth at Enna-Pergusa, sixth at Albi and eighth at Pau. A highlight of the season was his victory in the Gran Premio della Lotteria di Monza (ahead of Peter Westbury and Francois Cevert) plus he was second the following week at Reims (to Francois Cevert and ahead of Piers Courage and Jackie Stewart). He rejoined U.Norinder in sport cars with the Lola T70-Chevrolet and they were seventeenth at the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch though retired with transmission problems at the Mmonza 1000kms. He made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in a Matra with Nanni Galli and the company had been working on a low-drag coupe, the 640, especially for the race, but it was not ready in time for the March test weekend. They were allowed to conduct a special test in April but while Henri Pescarolo was driving the car became airborne, doing a 360° loop, before smashing into trees and catching fire. He was pulled out alive but had two broken vertebrae and severe burns to his face and arms and the project was cancelled. Development had also been ongoing on their 630, which led to a new open-top car, the 650 though only one had been finished, just before scrutineering, for Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Piers Courage. Two 630s were converted (titled 630/650) for Johnny Servoz Gavin/Herbert Müller and Robin and Nanni Galli plus there was also an MS630 for Nino Vaccarella and Jean Guichet. It was the last year they used the traditional ‘Le Mans’ style start, in which the drivers run to their cars, but eventual winner Jacky Ickx famously staged his own one-man protest by walking to his car, and taking his time doing up his belts. Unfortunately, on the opening lap, privateer John Woolfe’s car flipped but he was not yet strapped in properly and was killed when the car broke up. As the race progressed, the Matras had had their problems through the night and the Widdows/Galli car spent an hour getting new fuel pumps fitted. At the finish they were seventh, behind the fourth and fifth placed Matras of Beltoise/Courage and Guichet/Vaccarella. For the following month’s 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, Matra entered two cars and Johnny Servoz-Gavin/Pedro Rodriguez finished fourth though Robin and Jean Guichet retired with a broken clutch on lap 156. Robin ended the year with several starts in Alistair Walker’s Ferrari 350 P4 in South Africa and they were thirteenth at the 9 Hour Kyalami, retired from the 3 Hour Cape Town and Bulawayo races, took second at Lourenco Marques but did not start the 3 Hour Roy Hesketh.

He continued in F2 in 1970 with Alistair Walker Racing’s Brabham BT30 and started with fourth in the BARC 200 at Thruxton in March, behind Jochen Rindt, Jackie Stewart and Derek Bell. In the following month he was twelfth at Hockenheim and took another fourth place, at Barcelona, to Derek Bell, Henri Pescarolo (both in BT30s) and Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus 69 then in May was sixth and seventh at Nurburgring and Zolder. His race ended due to gearbox problems at Crystal Palace’s London Trophy but then came a sudden decision to retire in June and he later become the representative for Moët et Chandon champagne in F1 and eventually retired to Majorca.