Tom Pryce, 30 years on
What might have become of Tom Pryce had he not been killed in that terrible crash at Kyalami 30 years ago?
He was in his fourth season of Grand Prix racing. He had spent most of that time in uncompetitive machinery he nonetheless won the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch (back in the day when it was a proper Grand Prix) and was fastest in the wet practice for the race in which he died.
In one of life’s sad cruelties not only did he meet such an unusually horrific end (he hit a marshall who was crossing the track, Frikkie Jansen van Vuuren, who was also killed) but that shocking accident has become one of those dire videos that people trawl the ‘net for.
I very much enjoyed David Tremayne’s biography of Pryce in The Lost Generation, which came out last year, and if you’ve never read anything about him (and the other two subjects of the book, Roger Williamson and Tony Brise) then I strongly urge you to buy a copy.
There is also a fund running to support the building of a statue of Pryce in his home town of Ruthin, Wales. See the links below for more information.
Related links
- Autotrader.co.uk – Britain’s great lost racer (external)
- Tom Pryce Memorial Campaign
- “The Lost Generation†(David Tremayne, 2006)
Tags: f1 / formula one / formula 1 / grand prix / motor sport
I won’t say too much here, but just wanted to say your post was succintly and delicately put. While I never witnessed Pryce, Williamson or Brise, I certainly feel like they were some of the drivers that made Formula One what it is. Remembering the greats is important, just as looking forward to the drivers who will become the greats of an era yet to happen is.