David Ruff Piper (born 2 December 1930) is a British former

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 ...

and

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

driver from England. He participated in 3 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 July 1959. He scored no championship points.

Racing career

Early career and Formula One

Piper was born in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and began his career in the mid-1950s by competing in sprints and hill-climbs, before beginning circuit racing with a Lotus Eleven. He then moved up to a Lotus 16 which he used in 1959 and 1960 to compete in both

and

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 ...

, by means of changing engines as appropriate. His best result with the car was a second place in the Lady Wigram Trophy, in 1960, behind

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , and , ...

in a Cooper. In 1961, Piper competed in European

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 ...

alongside

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Siffert won two Formula One Grands Prix across 10 seasons. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert ...

but drove the Gilby F1 car in the Gold Cup. He also competed in non-championship races in 1962, but had become disenchanted with single-seater racing and moved into

initially with a

Ferrari 250 GTO The Ferrari 250 GTO is a grand tourer produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for Homologation (motorsport), homologation into the FIA's Group 3 (racing), Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's Ferrari Colombo engine#250, ...

Later career

Between 1962 and 1970, Piper raced frequently in many locations worldwide using his personally owned Ferraris and, later,

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

s. He was moderately successful and gained a reputation for reliability and consistency. Piper's personal sport cars of the period are typically painted in bright green, originally from his BP sponsor which replaced

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

after the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

; eventually Piper liked the color and made it his own, having never liked the classic

British racing green British racing green, or BRG, is a colour similar to '' Brunswick green'', '' hunter green'', '' forest green'' or '' moss green'' ( RAL 6005). It takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom. This origin ...

. Piper crashed a

Porsche 917 The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from 4. ...

during the 1970 shooting of the film ''

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

'' and lost part of one leg. Piper later raced his personal, green, Porsche 917 and other cars in historic events.

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.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Gallery

File:1969-06-01 Porsche 917.jpg, alt=A black and white picture of a racing sports car., Piper/Gardner,

, 1969 ADAC 1000 km Nürburgring. File:Lola T70 Mk3B Mallory Park.JPG, alt=A picture of a green racing sports car on a track with a lake in the background , One of Piper's distinctive green cars; a

Lola T70 The Lola T70 is a sports prototype developed by British manufacturer Lola Cars in 1965, the successor to its Mk6. Lola built the aluminium monocoque chassis, which were typically powered by large American V8s. The T70 was quite popular in the ...

Mk3B at

Mallory Park Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47 road, A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for Grass track racing, grass-track until 1955, a new, basicall ...

File:Porsche 917 front side David Piper.JPG, alt=A picture of a green racing sports car from the front in an indoor setting, Piper's Porsche 917 which he has owned from new. File:Porsche_917_side_David_Piper.JPG, alt=A picture of a green racing sports car from the side in an indoor setting, Piper's Porsche 917.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piper, David English racing drivers English Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Brighton Speed Trials people People from Edgware Sportspeople from the London Borough of Barnet 1930 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen