Tom Wheatcroft (rugby Union)
   HOME





Tom Wheatcroft (rugby Union)
Frederick Bernard "Tom" Wheatcroft (8 May 1922 – 31 October 2009) was an English businessman and car collector. He made his fortune through building and construction, and was known for resurrecting the Donington Park motor racing circuit and founding the Donington Grand Prix Collection museum. Biography Frederick Bernard Wheatcroft was born in the market town of Castle Donington, Leicestershire, in 1922. Early in life he was nicknamed 'Tom-Tom' by an uncle, owing to his habit of repeatedly patting his stomach, and the name stuck with him for the rest of his life. Wheatcroft had only 20 months of formal schooling, and following the end of this he became an apprentice plasterer. However, he preferred to bicycle from his parents home in Leicester to Donington Park to watch pre-war motor racing. He was in attendance at the circuit during the 1937 and 1938 Donington Grand Prix races: During World War II Wheatcroft served as a tank driver. He saw action in many theatres, includi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Castle Donington
Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport. Etymology The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another suggestion is that it could means 'farm/settlement at the hill place'. History King's Mill, the nearby crossing on the River Trent, is mentioned in a charter issued by Æthelred the Unready in 1009 regarding the boundaries of Weston-on-Trent. ''Dunintune'' or ''Dunitone'' is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having land belonging to Countess Ælfgifu and land assigned to Earl Hugh. It is called ''Castoldonyngtoin'' in a duchy of Lancaster warrant of 1484. In 1278, King Edward I granted a charter for a weekly market and an annual Wakes Fair. The Fair continues in Borough Street for three days each October. Lace-making was an important industry up until the 1850s, when a sharp decline in the population is recorded. The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Theater (warfare)
In warfare, a theater or theatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress. A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land, and sea area that is—or that may potentially become—involved in war operations. Theater of war In his book ''On War'', Carl von Clausewitz defines the term ''Kriegstheater'' (translating the older, 17th-century Latin term ''theatrum belli'') as one that: Theater of operations ''Theater of operations'' (TO) is a sub-area within a theater of war. The boundary of a TO is defined by the commander who is orchestrating or providing support for specific combat operations within the TO. Theater of operations is divided into strategic directions or military regions depending on whether it is a war or peacetime. Unified combatant commands of the Department of Defense (United States) have responsibility for military activities (combat and non-combat) within their area of responsibility. Soviet and Russian Armed Forc ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Derek Bell (racing Driver)
Derek Reginald Bell (born 31 October 1941) is a British racing driver. In sportscar racing, he won the Le Mans 24 hours five times, the Daytona 24 three times and the World Sportscar Championship twice. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, Wheatcroft, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams. He has been described by fellow racer Hans-Joachim Stuck as one of the most liked drivers of his generation.AUSringers.com – Hans-Joachim Stuck speaks to AUSringers
Retrieved 4 April 2009

[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1969 German Grand Prix
The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Twelve Formula Two cars were also entered into the race, though they were not eligible to score points. The 14-lap race was won by Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, driving a works Brabham- Ford. Ickx took pole position, led the final eight laps and set the fastest lap of the race. Scotland's Jackie Stewart finished second in a Matra-Ford, with New Zealand's Bruce McLaren third in a McLaren-Ford. Report Gerhard Mitter was killed during a practice session for this race at Schwedenkreuz. He was practicing for BMW's ''269'' F2 project. As a suspension or steering failure was suspected, the BMW team with Hubert Hahne and Dieter Quester withdrew from the race, as did Mitter's teammate at Porsche, Hans Herrmann. Mario Andretti drove the 4WD Lotus 63 for very few ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jacky Ickx
Jacques Bernard Edmon Martin Henri "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Ickx twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in and , and won eight Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix across 14 seasons. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Ickx won two World Sportscar Championship, World Endurance Championships with Porsche in motorsport, Porsche and is a List of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners, six-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring. In rallying, Ickx won the Paris–Dakar Rally in 1983 Paris–Dakar Rally, 1983 with Mercedes-Benz in motorsport, Mercedes. Born and raised in Brussels, Ickx started his career in motorcycle road racing and motorcycle trials, trials, winning several national and continental titles in the latter discipline. Progressing to touring car racing in the mid-1960s, Ickx won multiple titl ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Brabham BT26
The Brabham BT26 was a Formula One racing car design. A development of the previous BT24, its Repco engines were unreliable, but following a switch to Cosworth DFV engines it scored two World Championship Grand Prix wins and finished runner up in the 1969 World Constructors' Championship. Concept Designed by Ron Tauranac, the BT26 was the final incarnation of his spaceframe F1 car, and one of the last F1 cars to be raced of such construction – forthcoming rule changes regarding fuel storage would outlaw spaceframe chassis. Tauranac had actually combined the spaceframe with stressed aluminium panels to create a semi-monocoque, enabling him to reduce the size of the spaceframe tubing and so lighten the chassis. The other main difference between the BT24 and the BT26 was a more powerful Repco 860 series engine, but it was also less reliable; the 1968 season was plagued by a string of retirements and Jochen Rindt left to join Lotus. In 1969 the Repco engines were replaced wi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Doug Nye
Doug Nye (born October 1945) is an English motoring journalist and author. He lives in Farnham, Surrey, England. He is generally recognised as a world authority on competition cars of any period from 1887, and is a consultant to the Bonhams auction house, the Collier Collection (in the USA) and sits on the Advisory Council of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. He has also consulted for The Dutch National Motor Museum, the Brooklands Museum in England, McLaren International and McLaren Cars Limited. He was a founding consultant to the SpeedVision TV network in the USA and to the Donington Collection of single-seater racing cars, is Historical Consultant (founding) to Goodwood Motorsport – creators of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival Meeting, and a member of the Historians Council of the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen, NY. At the age of 18 he went straight from grammar school to the staff of ''Motor Racing'' magazine based ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

V8 Engine
A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, and built in 1904 by the French Antoinette company for use in speedboat racing, cars, and later, airplanes. Also in 1904, V8 engines began small-scale production by Renault and Buchet for use in race cars. Design V-angle Most engines use a V-angle (the angle between the two banks of cylinders) of 90 degrees. This angle results in good engine balance, which results in low vibrations. However, the downside is the greater width of the engine compared to those that use a smaller V-angle. V8 engines with a 60-degree V-angle were used in the 1996–1999 Ford Taurus SHO, the 2005–2011 Volvo XC90, and the 2006–2009 Volvo S80. The Ford engine used a 60-degree V-angle because it was based on a V6 engine with a 60-degree V-angle. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance, distinctive styling, lightweight fiberglass or composite bodywork, and competitive pricing. The Corvette has had domestic mass-produced two-seater competitors fielded by American Motors Corporation, American Motors, Ford Motor Company, Ford, and Chrysler; it is the only one continuously produced by a United States auto manufacturer. It serves as Chevrolet's halo car. In 1953, GM executives accepted a suggestion by Myron Scott, then the assistant director of the Public Relations department, to name the company's new sports car after the corvette, a small, maneuverable warship. Initially, a relatively modest, lightweight 6-cylinder, 6cylinder convertible, subsequent introductions of V8 engine, V8 engines, competitive ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

V12 Engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The first V12 engine was built in 1904 for use in Boat racing, racing boats. Due to the balanced nature of the engine and the smooth delivery of Engine power, power, V12 engines were found in early luxury automobiles, boats, aircraft, and tanks. Aircraft V12 engines reached their apogee during World War II, after which they were mostly replaced by jet engines. In Formula One racing, V12 engines were common during the late 1960s and early 1990s. Applications of V12 engines in the 21st century have been as marine engines, in railway locomotives, as large stationary power as well as in some European sports and luxury cars. Design Balance and smoothness Each bank of a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Peter Whitehead (racing Driver)
Peter Nield Whitehead (12 November 1914 – 21 September 1958) was a British racing driver. He was born in Menston, Yorkshire and was killed in an accident at Lasalle, France, during the Tour de France endurance race. A cultured, knowledgeable and well-travelled racer, he was excellent in sports cars. He won the 1938 Australian Grand Prix, which along with a 24 Heures du Mans win in 1951, probably was his finest achievement, but he also won two 12 Heures internationales de Reims events. He was a regular entrant, mostly for Peter Walker and Graham Whitehead, his half-brother. His death in 1958 ended a career that started in 1935 – however, he was lucky to survive an air crash in 1948. Early life and pre-war racing Yorkshireman Whitehead, coming from a wealthy background, gained from the wool industry, started racing in a Riley when he was 19. He moved up to an ERA B-Type the following season and then scored the first major result for the Alta, when he finished third ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]