William Simpson Aston (29 March 1900 – 4 March 1974) was a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

who participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, in 1952 when the championship was run to

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

rules, for his own team

Aston Butterworth Aston Butterworth was a Formula Two constructor from the United Kingdom, which competed in the seasons and when the World Drivers' Championship was run to Formula Two regulations. The team participated in four World Championship Grands Prix. ...

Career

Prior to taking part in World Championship Grand Prix racing, Aston was a test pilot and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

racer. He turned to four-wheel racing with a

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word " Japanese". In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term offensive because of the internment they suffered during World War II. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Jap ...

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

and later graduated into

. He came close to winning a heat race at

Chimay Chimay (, ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. In 2006, Chimay had a population of 9,774. The area is 197.10 km2 which gives a population density ...

in 1951, driving an Cooper, but his car failed on the last lap. In the same year he set a world speed record at

Montlhéry Montlhéry () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris. History Montlhéry lay on the strategically important road from Paris to Orléans. U ...

in the streamlined Cooper, fitted with a V-twin

J.A.P. J. A. Prestwich Industries, was a British engineering equipment manufacturing company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, which was formed in 1951 by the amalgamation of J. A. Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Ltd. History John ...

motor.''Motor Sport'', November 1951, Page 530. For 1952 he teamed up with

Archie Butterworth Archibald James Butterworth (19 June 1912 – 12 February 2005) was an inventor and racing motorist who, in 1948, designed and constructed the ''A.J.B. Special'', a four-wheel drive Formula One car. He was winner of the Brighton Speed Trials in 19 ...

to build the

, a car that raced quite well, but was unfortunately very unreliable. He entered the car in the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor racing event organised in the United Kingdom by Motorsport UK. First held by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1926 British Grand Prix, 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 ...

and qualified 30th and last. However, he was unable to start the race. He then entered the

1952 German Grand Prix The 1952 German Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 3 August 1952 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was race 6 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula ...

, but his car failed on the second lap. At the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

he failed to make it through qualifying. Aston raced on into his 60s, with a

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

and a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

, before he retired.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. * Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.

References

External links