Robert Hugh Fearon Anderson (19 May 1931 – 14 August 1967) was a British

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

motorcycle

road racer Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

and

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 ...

. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

to the 1967 seasons. He was also a two-time winner of the

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race first held in 1929 on a street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It ...

race in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Anderson was one of the last independent

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

drivers in Formula One before escalating costs made it impossible to compete without sponsorship.

Racing career

Motorcycle racing

Anderson was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

in the north of London and later lived in

Haynes, Bedfordshire Haynes is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, about south of Bedford. It includes the small hamlet of Haynes Church End. It used to be known as Hawnes. North from Haynes is a hamlet named Silver End, Bedford, Silver End, the ...

. He trained as an agricultural engineer, though left after a year and got a job as a mechanic in a local machinery dealer. He began his motorcycle racing career in 1953 competing on a 500cc

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

Special at

Cadwell Park Cadwell Park is a motor racing circuit in Lincolnshire, England, south of Louth, owned and operated by MotorSport Vision, a business associated with former racing driver Jonathan Palmer. Sited on former parkland across a steep-sided valle ...

. By 1955 he was racing a

Matchless Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc Four-stroke cy ...

G45 at circuits such as

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham and north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had ...

and placed 8th at the 1955 Senior

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') annually, usually at the end of August and early September. Traditionally the event has been staged over a two week period but this was reduce ...

. Switching to a Norton in 1956, he finished second to Jimmy Buchan at the Senior

and won the 500cc North West 200. Anderson established himself as one of the top national competitors in 1957 with victories at Cadwell Park, Crystal Palace,

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

and won the 350cc North West 200. He finished second to world champion

John Surtees John Norman Surtees (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One from to . Surtees was a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycl ...

at the 1958 Senior TT race at the Isle of Man, then considered the most prestigious motorcycle race on the world championship circuit. Anderson began to compete in the Grand Prix world championships in

, scoring another second place result behind

Geoff Duke Geoffrey Ernest Duke (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015), born in St. Helens, Lancashire, was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera, BMW, NSU and Benelli. Af ...

at the 350cc

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix () was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp ( Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, Sweden. The first race to hold ...

Switch to auto racing

At the end of 1960, Anderson sustained a back injury while racing in South Africa, which led him to switch to auto racing at the relatively late age of 29. In 1961 he drove a

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lol ...

in a

Formula Junior Formula Junior was an international single-seater auto racing, motor racing category that existed between 1958 and 1963. Devised by Italian motorsport promoter Count Giovanni "Johnny" Giovanni Lurani, Lurani, the formula was created as an ac ...

race at Snetterton. He continued to race cars and eventually competed as a

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, American Championship Car Racing, Ind ...

driver in the Formula Junior championship, winning a race at Autodrome de Montlhéry and finishing second at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. He entered Formula One in

with his own

Lola Mk4 The Lola Mk4 and the derivative Mk4A were Formula One racing cars constructed by the Lola company in 1962. They were designed by Lola founder, owner and Chief Designer Eric Broadley at the request of Reg Parnell, proprietor of the ''Bowmaker Raci ...

car, under the guise of DW Racing Enterprises, a small team compared to other private outfits such as

Scuderia Filipinetti Scuderia Filipinetti (also French name ''Ecurie Filipinetti'') was a Switzerland, Swiss motor racing team that competed in sports car racing and occasionally in Formula One between 1962 and 1973. It was founded by Georges Filipinetti (1907-1973) t ...

Rob Walker Racing Team Rob Walker Racing Team was a Privateer (motorsport), privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded by Johnnie Walker heir Rob Walker (1917–2002) in 1953, the team became F1's most successful privateer in history, being the ...

. DW was actually only composed of Anderson and a small team of mechanics. Despite this hindrance he took the flexible little Lola to victory in the non-Championship

Rome Grand Prix The Rome Grand Prix (), also known as the ''Premio Reale di Roma'' (1925–1932) and ''Gran Premio di Roma'' (1947–1991), was an automobile race held in Rome, Italy from 1925 until 1991. Through the years a number of different regulations and ...

in that first year. In later years he ran private

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

cars under the same banner, with his best result a third place in the

1964 Austrian Grand Prix The 1964 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One World Championship motor race held at Zeltweg Airfield on 23 August 1964. It was race 7 of 10 in both the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for Formula One Manufactu ...

. He was awarded the Von Trips Memorial Trophy as the most successful private entrant of

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

. In 1967 he suffered an accident while testing at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

, in which he slid off the track in wet conditions and hit a marshal's post. Anderson suffered serious chest and neck injuries and died later in

Northampton General Hospital Northampton General Hospital is a district general hospital in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It is managed by the Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. History The hospital was established in a townhouse on George Row in 1744. After ...

.''Autocar'', 17 August 1967, Page 50: Obituary.

Racing record

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Non-Championship Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Bob 1931 births 1967 deaths Sportspeople from Bedfordshire People from Hendon People from Chipping Barnet Sportspeople from the London Borough of Barnet English racing drivers English Formula One drivers DW Racing Enterprises Formula One drivers English motorcycle racers Motorcycle racers from London 125cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in England 20th-century English sportsmen