Ninian Sanderson (14 May 1925 – 1 October 1985) was a Scottish car dealer,

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, and winner of the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Racing career

Sanderson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. In common with many drivers of his era, he cut his racing teeth in the highly competitive 500cc

Formula 3 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 ...

class in the early 1950s. He is best known for winning the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans for the

Ecurie Ecosse Ecurie may refer to: * Écurie, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in France * Several car racing teams (compare '' scuderias'') : ** Ecurie Belge ** Ecurie Bleue ** Ecurie Bonnier ** Ecurie Ecosse, a former motor racing team from ...

team, together with Ron Flockhart in an ex-works Jaguar D-Type. The following year Sanderson again competed for Ecurie Ecosse, finishing second with co-driver John "Jock" Lawrence, only beaten by the other Ecurie Ecosse D-Type driven by Flockhart and

Ivor Bueb Ivor Léon John Bueb (; 6 June 1923 – 1 August 1959) was a British professional sports car racing and Formula One driver from England. Early life Ivor Léon John Bueb was born to Leon Gervase Bueb and Grace Marie Alice Vagnolini in East Ha ...

. He took part in several non-championship

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 ...

and

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 ...

races with Ecurie Ecosse, with a best result of third in the 1952 Scotland National Trophy and 1952 Joe Fry Memorial Trophy. He was a reserve driver with the team for the

1953 British Grand Prix The 1953 British Grand Prix was a Formula Two motor race held on 18 July 1953 at Silverstone Circuit. It was race 6 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One r ...

but did not compete in the race. In 1999 the Jaguar sports car that won the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans was sold at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

in London for £1.71 million. At that time it was the most expensive car ever bought at auction. Although reputedly not the easiest of men to get along with, Ninian Sanderson was well known in racing circles for his lively sense of humour. Fond of practical jokes he was not averse to putting firecrackers up exhaust pipes and ribbing members of the public with his race-bred black humour. The contrast in personalities within the Ecurie Ecosse team was stark; down-to-Earth, Glaswegian Sanderson, and refined, Edinburgh-born Flockhart were "like chalk and cheese". Ecosse and Francorchamps Jaguar C-types Zandvoort 1954 crop

Ecosse and Francorchamps Jaguar C-types Zandvoort 1954 crop

Sanderson was also a keen yachtsman and regularly raced his yachts on the Clyde with the same competitive spirit and ebullience as in his motor racing. He owned several beautiful Clyde boatyard McGruer-built yachts: a Dragon class keelboat named "Corsair" built in 1947 and an 8-metre class cruiser racer "Debbie" built in 1966. In 1974 he also commissioned McGruer to build his well-known 3/4-Tonner racing yacht "Nippie Sweetie". In 1983 Sanderson and Jim Watt raised £10,500 for the medical oncology unit at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary following a sponsored canoe trip from

Broomielaw Broomielaw is a major thoroughfare in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It runs beside the River Clyde, on its north bank looking over to Tradeston. Both sides have been marketed as the city's International Financial Services District. History O ...

to Tarbert, Loch Fyne. Sanderson had been receiving treatment at the unit for several years; he died of cancer in 1985. His wife Dorothy Sanderson died in 2007. Sanderson was educated at

Strathallan School Strathallan School is a private boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 5-18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff. It h ...

. In the announcement of his death the school magazine ''The Strathallian'' quoted F1 racing World champion

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" ...

describing Sanderson as a 'perfectionist, with immense spirit and commitment.'

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

*Note *: Not Classified because car failed to complete 80% of its Index of Performance distance.

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

References

External links

Brief biography at historicracing.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Ninian 1925 births 1985 deaths People educated at Strathallan School Scottish racing drivers Racing drivers from Glasgow 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers Ecurie Ecosse drivers