In Senna’s shadow

In 1984, Johnny Dumfries was the sensation of the Formula 3 season, scoring no less than 14 race victories in the David Price Racing entered Ralt. With the backing of oil giant BP, he completely dominated the British F3 Championship.

In 1985, he moved up to the Formula 3000 series and had a disappointing season with Onyx and Lola Motorsport, with only a six place finish at Vallelunga as the highlight of the year.

In 1986, he succeeded get into the Formula One with the JPS Team Lotus. He was a late addition to the team, as a result of Ayrton Senna their lead driver, not wanting Derek Warwick as a team-mate, arguing the team did not have the means to field two top drivers.

Dumfries could not match his team-mate’s speed, not easy for anyone and certainly not for a rookie, only scored 3 championship points and was replaced for the 1987 season by Japanese driver Nakajima.

Nevertheless, in June 1988, Johnny Dumfries scored the biggest racing victory of his career when he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Jaguar XJR-9 alongside Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace (picture-below).