Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993) 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 ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, who competed 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 to . Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix with Lotus. Born in Mytholmroyd and raised in Scotland, Ireland initially served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, reaching the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1955. Ireland competed in Formula One for Lotus, BRP, Reg Parnell Racing and Bernard White Racing, winning the in with the former, as well as finishing fourth in the 1960 World Drivers' Championship and taking victories at eight non-championship races. He entered eight editions of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

from to , and was a race-winner in the British Saloon Car Championship. Upon retiring from motor racing, Ireland started a career as a journalist in the late-1980s for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, later working with

automobile magazine An automobile magazine is a magazine with news and reports on cars and the Automotive industry, automobile industry. Automobile magazines may feature new car tests and comparisons, which describe advantages and disadvantages of similar models ...

s ''

Road & Track ''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published 1947. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published six times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York City. History ''Road ...

'' and '' Autocar''. He was the president of the British Racing Drivers' Club from 1992 until his death the following year.

Early life

Ireland was born 12 June 1930 in Mytholmroyd,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England, the son of a Scottish veterinary surgeon. His family returned to

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire. His ...

, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland during his youth, and he trained as an engineer with

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

, first in Glasgow and later in London. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

, he served with the Parachute Regiment in the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

Zone during 1953 and 1954. In 1955 he transferred to the Territorial Army and was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1958 he was placed on the Reserve of Officers.

Racing career

Ireland began racing a Riley 9 in 1954. His first year of nationally competitive events was 1957, by which time he was running a small engineering firm in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Success in

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

racing saw him make his

debut for

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 ...

in 1959. In 1960 he won three non-championship Formula One races and finished fourth in the World Drivers Championship. Badly injured in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, Ireland recovered to win the Solitude Grand Prix and Flugplatzrennen races, then finished the season with a victory in the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

at Watkins Glen. He was sacked at the end of the season as team boss Colin Chapman considered

Jim Clark James Clark (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British racing driver from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Clark won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with Lotus, and—at the time of his death—held the ...

a better bet. Ireland entered a Ferrari in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

, with motorcycle racer

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...

as his intended co-driver, but broke down with gearbox problems after hours, before Hailwood was scheduled to participate. Ireland was encouraged by

Bill France Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992) was an American businessman and racing driver. He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based s ...

, founder of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

, to participate in the 1967 Daytona 500, one of the last races of his career, where the V8 engine of his year-old Dodge exploded opposite the stands. Ireland worked as a journalist for

for several F1 races in the late 1980s, as well as the American ''

'' magazine and '' Autocar'' magazine. He also operated

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

s in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. Towards the end of his life, he was elected president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, a post he still held at the time of his death from cancer on 22 October 1993, in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

Writing

As a writer, Ireland produced an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, ''All Arms and Elbows'' (1967; ). Another book, ''Marathon in the Dust'' (1970), is Ireland's account of the gruelling 1968 Daily Express London-Sydney Marathon, which he completed with two friends, fellow Formula One competitor Michael Taylor and British bobsledder Andy Hedges, in a Mercedes Benz 280 SE.

Personal life

On 30 October 1954 Ireland married Scarborough schoolteacher Norma Thomas. They had two daughters before divorcing in 1967. He then married Edna Humphries also in 1967. Ireland married his third wife Jean Mander (née Howarth), a former fashion model, on 11 June 1993 at Newbury register office. Jean had been engaged to

Mike Hawthorn John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . Hawthorn won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and won three Formula One ...

at the time of Hawthorn's death in 1959. Ireland also had a son who died in 1992. Ireland was described as a larger-than-life character who, according to a rival team boss, "lived without sense, without an analyst, and provoked astonishment and affection from everyone."

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Non-championship Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) : The Parnell Lotus driven by Ireland in 1965 and 1966 was a written-off 25 rebuilt around a 33 monocoque.

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

NASCAR: Grand National

Daytona 500

References

External links

*
Information about Innes Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, Innes King's Own Scottish Borderers officers British Parachute Regiment officers English mechanical engineers English Formula One drivers Racing drivers from Yorkshire Team Lotus Formula One drivers British Racing Partnership Formula One drivers Reg Parnell Racing Formula One drivers Bernard White Racing Formula One drivers Formula One race winners 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 20th-century British businesspeople British non-fiction writers British male journalists People from Mytholmroyd Sportspeople from Calderdale 1930 births 1993 deaths Engineers from Yorkshire 20th-century British non-fiction writers Military personnel from West Yorkshire Ecurie Ecosse drivers 20th-century British Army personnel English racing drivers Scottish racing drivers