Max Stewart Waggott TC4V 4 Graham Ruckert

Malcolm Clarke Stewart (14 March 1935 – 20 March 1977) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

racing driver. He was known as the "Jolly Green Giant" for his disposition and height. Stewart was born in

Orange, New South Wales Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney on a great circle at an altitude of . Orange had an urban population of 41,920 at the 2021 Australia Census, 2021 Cens ...

. He began his motorsport career racing motorcycles, being selected to represent Australia at the

1955 Isle of Man TT In the 1955 Isle of Man TT the Lightweight 250cc race moved to the 10.75 miles long Clypse Course, also used for the Lightweight 125cc TT race, and the Sidecar TT, and the course was used for these races until 1959. During this period the ...

, but withdrew due to work commitments. After racing

Karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

and

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

he moved to

open wheel An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

ers in 1965 with much success, winning the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and 1968 Australian One and a Half Litre Championships. Stewart was selected to drive for

Alec Mildren Racing Alec Graham Mildren (19 August 1915 – 28 August 1998) was active in Australian motor racing as a driver from 1938 to 1961, and subsequently as the owner of Alec Mildren Racing. Racing career Mildren began his racing career in an Austin in 193 ...

, and went on to win the

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and 1970 Australian Formula 2 Championships driving a 1.6-litre Mildren Waggott. In 1970 he competed in a 2-litre Mildren Waggott in which he ran strongly in the

1970 Tasman Series The 1970 Tasman Series was a motor racing competition staged in New Zealand and Australia for cars complying with the Tasman Formula. It was the seventh Tasman Series, beginning on 3 January and ending on 22 February after seven races. The serie ...

with a number of podiums, and finished second to

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart (born 11 June 1939) is a British former racing driver, sports broadcasting, broadcaster and motorsport executive from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Scottish people, Scot" ...

in the 1970 JAF Grand Prix for

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppo ...

cars. He also won the 1971 Australian Drivers' Championship and the 1972 Singapore Grand Prix. Stewart later raced a Lola T330, winning the 1974 Australian Drivers' Championship and the 1974 Australian Grand Prix. He then developed an initially troublesome Lola T400, winning the 1975 Australian Grand Prix and the 1975 Toby Lee Series. He led the 1976 Australian Grand Prix from

Vern Schuppan Vernon John Schuppan (born 19 March 1943) is an Australian former motor racing driver. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing. Although he considers ...

and John Goss until he retired a few laps from the end. Max Stewart lost his life on 20 March 1977, the day after being critically injured in an accident while practicing at

Calder Park Raceway Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a dragstrip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clo ...

, near

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. During a very wet practice session, an unsighted Stewart in his Lola had run into the back of Vern Schuppan's

Elfin MR8 Elfin may refer to: *ELFIN, a CubeSat developed by University of California, Los Angeles *Elfin (steamboat), a steamboat that ran on Lake Washington from 1891 to 1900 *Elfin of Alt Clut, ruler of Alt Clut, seventh century Scotland *Elfin, a charac ...

.Thunder Strikes - F5000 vs S5000
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Career results

References

1935 births 1977 deaths Accidental deaths in Victoria (state) Australian Formula 2 drivers People from the Central West (New South Wales) Racing drivers from New South Wales Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Australia {{Australia-autoracing-bio-stub Sportspeople from Orange, New South Wales