Peter Roderick Procter (born 16 January 1930 in Bradford,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exis ...

) is a British former

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from tw ...

champion,

rally driver Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

and racing driver. Shortly after his birth he moved to Harrogate, and then to Alne Hall in the village of Alne, near York. Following the premature death of his parents, he moved back to Bradford, where he took up cycling. Procter competed in all types of cycle racing at home and on the Continent, but excelled in hill climbs, winning the British championship in 1951. After becoming disillusioned with the UK cycling, and after the British Olympic Committee failed to select both him and other top cyclists of the time to represent Great Britain in the Olympics, Procter dropped out of professional cycling to concentrate on his building company in Bradford. He was soon involved in rallying. He competed in events including the RAC Rally, Tulip Rally, Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally), Tour de France Automobile and Monte Carlo Rally. Procter also competed in the Le Mans 24 Heures race several times, and raced in many Grands Prix, his highest position second in the Berlin Grand Prix. Procter's racing career ended in 1966 when he was hit from behind in a saloon car race at Goodwood. After several somersaults, the car burst into flames and Procter was left with third degree burns to 65 per cent of his skin. After many months of treatment and operations, he left hospital and returned home to Yorkshire, where he lives with his wife and family. Procter has returned to driving a few times, including racing his original Sunbeam Tiger at the Le Mans Historic in 2002, and is still involved in motorsport, a member of the British Racing Drivers Club at Silverstone.

References

Tigers United
1930 births Living people Cyclists from Yorkshire English racing drivers English rally drivers British cycling road race champions Sportspeople from Bradford 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers {{England-autoracing-bio-stub