- David Hobbs (racing driver)
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This article is about the former race car driver. For other people named David Hobbs, see David Hobbs (disambiguation).
David Hobbs Born 9 June 1939 Formula One World Championship career Nationality British Active years 1967–1968, 1971, 1974 Teams BRM, Honda, McLaren Races 6 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 1967 British Grand Prix Last race 1974 Italian Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1962–72, 1979, 1981–85, 1987–89 Teams Team Lotus Engineering
Lola Cars Ltd.
Standard Triumph
Maranello Concessionaires
John Wyer Automotive
Roger Penske/Kirk F. White
Equipe Matra-Simca
Grand Touring Cars/Ford France
EMKA Racing
John Fitzpatrick Racing
Joest Racing
Richard Lloyd RacingBest finish 3rd (1969, 1984) Class wins 1 (1982) David Wishart Hobbs [1] (born 9 June 1939 in Royal Leamington Spa, England) [2] is a British former racing driver currently employed as a commentator for Speed Channel. In 1969 Hobbs was included in the F.I.A. list of graded drivers, an elite group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.[3]
Hobbs currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened a auto dealership, David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin, which continues to exist today, and who he personally voices radio advertisements on local radio for. His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009.[4]
Contents
Driving career
Hobbs was born just months before the outbreak of World War II, and has a vast, 30-year history of international driving experience at all levels of motor sports, including sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, Can-Am and Formula One. He has participated in the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984) to his credit.
Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks.[5]
In 1971 Hobbs won the U.S. Formula 5000 L&M Continental Series championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca, Seattle, Road America (Elkhart Lake), Edmonton and Lime Rock.[6] Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at the 1976 Daytona 500 [7] and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions.
Television commentator
Hobbs provides commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Bob Varsha and former Benetton engineer Steve Matchett), the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a color commentator and a feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996.
Other appearances
David Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace, playing a TV race announcer. Hobbs appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap", a 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Pts. 1967 Bernard White Racing BRM P261 BRM V8 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR
8GER
10*CAN
9ITA USA MEX NC 0 1968 Honda Racing F1 Honda RA301 Honda V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA
RetCAN USA MEX NC 0 1971 Penske-White Racing McLaren M19A Ford Cosworth DFV RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
10NC 0 1974 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT
7ITA
9CAN USA NC 0 - F2-entry
Complete Le Mans results
Year Position Category Race # Team Drivers Chassis Motor Laps 1962 8 GT 1.3 44 Team Lotus Engineering David Hobbs/
Frank GardnerLotus Elite Mk14 Coventry Climax 1.2L I4 286 [8] 1963 20 Ret'd P+3.0 6 Lola Cars Ltd. Richard Attwood/
David HobbsLola Mk6 GT Ford 4.6L V8 151 [9] 1964 21 P 3.0 50 Standard Triumph David Hobbs/
Rob SlotemakerTriumph Spitfire Triumph 1.1L I4 272 [10] 1965 38 Ret'd. GT 1.3 52 Standard Triumph Ltd. David Hobbs/
Rob SlotemakerTriumph Spitfire Triumph 1.1L I4 71 [11] 1966 50 Ret'd. P 2.0 36 Maranello Concessionaires Mike Salmon/
David HobbsFerrari Dino 206S Ferrari 2.0L V6 14 [12] 1967 53 Ret'd. P+5.0 11 Lola Cars Ltd./Team Surtees John Surtees/
David HobbsLola T70 Mk.III Aston Martin 5.0L V8 3 [13] 1968 34 Ret'd. S 5.0 10 John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ltd. Paul Hawkins/
David HobbsFord GT40 Mk.I Ford 4.9L V8 107 [14] 1969 3 S 5.0 7 John Wyer Automotive Engineering David Hobbs/
Mike HailwoodFord GT40 Mk.I Ford 4.9L V8 368 [15] 1970 41 Ret'd. S 2.0 22 John Wyer Automotive Engineering David Hobbs/
Mike HailwoodPorsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 49 1971 41 Ret'd. S 5.0 11 Roger Penske/Kirk F. White Mark Donohue/
David HobbsFerrari 512 M/P Ferrari 5.0L V12 1972 20 Ret'd. S 3.0 16 Equipe Matra Simca Shell Jean-Pierre Jabouille/
David HobbsMatra Simca MS660C Matra 3.0L V12 278 1973–1978 No show. 1979 23 N/C Gr.6 +2.0 11 Grand Touring Cars Inc./
Ford Concessionaires FranceDerek Bell/
David Hobbs/
Vern SchuppanMirage M10 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 1980 No show. 1981 24 Ret'd. Gr.5 53 EMKA Productions Limited David Hobbs/
Eddie Jordan/
Steve O'RourkeBMW M1 Gr.5 BMW M88 3.5L I6 236 1982 4 IMSA GTX 79 John Fitzpatrick Racing John Fitzpatrick/
David HobbsPorsche 935/78 "Moby Dick" Porsche Type-935 2.7L Turbo Flat-6 329 1983 38 Ret'd. C 11 John Fitzpatrick Racing John Fitzpatrick/
David Hobbs/
Dieter QuesterPorsche 956 Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6 135 1984 3 C1 33 Skoal Bandit Porsche Team David Hobbs/
Philippe Streiff/
Sarel van der MerwePorsche 956 Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6 350 1985 4 C1 33 John Fitzpatrick Racing Jo Gartner/
David Hobbs/
Guy EdwardsPorsche 956 Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6 365 1986 No show. 1987 47 Ret'd C1 7 Joest Racing Sarel van der Merwe/
David Hobbs/
Chip RobinsonPorsche 962C Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 4 1988 5 C1 7 Blaupunkt Joest Racing David Hobbs/
Didier Theys/
Franz KonradPorsche 962C Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 380 1989 26 Ret'd. C1 15 Richard Lloyd Racing Steven Andskär/
David Hobbs/
Damon HillPorsche 962C GTi Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 228 Indy 500 results
Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1971 68 16 169.571 30 20 107 0 Crash FS 1973 73 22 189.454 30 11 107 0 Flagged 1974 73 9 184.833 10 5 196 0 Flagged 1976 33 31 183.580 14 29 10 0 Water Leak Totals 420 0 Starts 4 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 1 Top 10 1 Retired 2 References
- ^ FIA Year Book of Automobile Sport 1975. Patrick Stephens Ltd.. white p. 37. ISBN 0850591853.
- ^ H. H. Pitt and M. N. Wicks, The Pitt Family of Payneham (Adelaide, 1977)
- ^ F.I.A. Year Book of Automobile Sport, P.S.L. Publications Limited., London, 1969.
- ^ "The Class of 2009". AutoWeek (Detroit, Michigan: Crain Communications) 59 (17): 62. August 24, 2009. ISSN 0192-9674.
- ^ http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/hobbs-the-north-american-swing/
- ^ Trenton Evening Times, September 7, 1971, Page 37.
- ^ David Hobbs 1976 Winston Cup Results – Racing-Reference.info
- ^ Motor Sport, August 1962, Pages 594–595.
- ^ Motor Sport, July 1963, Pages 500, 501, 504.
- ^ Motor Sport, July 1964, Page 536.
- ^ Motor Sport, July 1965, Page 565.
- ^ Motor Sport, July 1966, Page 596.
- ^ Motor Sport, July 1967, Pages 587–589.
- ^ Motor Sport, November 1968, Pages 1016–1017.
- ^ Motor Sport, July 1969, Pages 723–725.
External links
- SpeedTV bio
- David Hobbs Honda
- Stats from David Hobbs' IROC and NASCAR careers on racing-reference.info
- David Hobbs, MyF5000.com
- David Hobbs - Test Driver Jaguar XJ13 - Building the Legend
Sporting positions Preceded by
John CannonUS Formula A/F5000
Champion
1971Succeeded by
Graham McRaeNASCAR on CBS Commentators Ken Squier · David Hobbs · Ned Jarrett · Mike Joy · Buddy Baker · Richard Petty · Chris Economaki · Dick Berggren · Ralph Sheheen · Dave Despain · Benny Parsons · Neil Bonnett · Eli Gold · Bill StephensLore The Fight · Fastest 500 In History · The Bumpergate · The Slingshot Pass · Elliott's Dominant Performance · Beginning of the Curse of Dale Earnhardt · Like Father, Like Son · Waltrip's Fuel Milage · Derrike Cope's Upset over Earnhardt · The Dale and Dale Show · Smith/Bonnett Incidents and Photo Finish · Marlin's First Win/Tragedy in Speedweeks · Miller edges Skinner by 0.001 seconds · The Dale and Dale Show II · Earnhardt's Big Wreck at Talladega · This One's For You (Hendrick Podium Sweep) · Earnhardt's Daytona Win · Junior Breaks Through · Adam's lone start/Junior's First Cup WinDaytona 500 Major Racing Series Key figures Bob Jenkins · Larry Nuber · Jerry Punch · Marty Reid · Paul Page · Bob Varsha · Dave Despain · Todd Harris · Ned Jarrett · Benny Parsons · Scott Goodyear · Gary Gerould · Dick Berggren · Jack Arute · Rusty Wallace · Jamie Little · Derek Daly · David Hobbs · Steve Chassey · Larry RiceLore Million Dollar Bill · Death of Rich Vogler · Kulwicki's Miracle · Death of Ayrton Senna · Schumacher-Hill Incident at Australia · Mario's Last Ride · Earnhardt-Labonte Duel at Bristol I · IndyCar vs the Indy 500 · "It Hurt So Good!" · The Pass · Gordon's Winston Million · Schumacher-Villeneuve Incident at Jerez · Hornaday vs Sprague Title Battle · Rattling His Cage (Earnhardt-Labonte Duel at Bristol II) · Death of Greg Moore · The Big One at Daytona · Mr. Restrictor Plate · Zanardi's Accident · Five-Way Title Fight/Brack's AccidentOther Categories:- English racecar drivers
- English Formula One drivers
- McLaren Formula One drivers
- European Formula Two Championship drivers
- Tasman Series drivers
- British sports broadcasters
- Motorsport announcers
- 1939 births
- Living people
- Indianapolis 500 drivers
- Trans-Am drivers
- International Race of Champions drivers
- NASCAR drivers
- Formula One people
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- People from Leamington Spa
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