Ron Flockhart, racer and aviator

Ron Flockhart (1923-1962) was a British racing driver from Edinburgh in Scotland, who participated in 14 Formula One Grand Prix, achieving one podium, and who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, twice.

Flockhart’s best F1 World Championship result was a third place at the 1956 Italian Grand Prix in a Connaught Type B. That year, he also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing an ex-works Jaguar D-Type with Ninian Sanderson. The following year, he won again for the same team, Écurie Écosse, this time sharing with Ivor Bueb, setting a distance record of 2,732.8 miles (4.398,0 km).

In the early 1960s, the United Dominion Trust made plans to break the record for the time taken to fly from Sydney to London. A Mustang World War Two fighter was purchased in Australia and Flockhart was engaged to make the attempt. On 12 April 1962, while on a test flight in preparation for his second record attempt, Ron Flockhart crashed in poor weather, and sadly, was killed.

Picture below: Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb, on their way to a memorable victory in their Jaguar- D-Type, at the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans.