fbpx

Stuart Lewis-Evans

23. Apr 2021 
by Ziv Knoll
6124 views

Stuart Lewis-Evans (20 April 1930 – 25 October 1958) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 14 Formula One Grand Prix for the Connaught and Vanwall teams, achieved two podiums and scored a total of 16 championship points. He also achieved two pole positions.

Picture above: Stuart Lewis-Evans and his Vanwall before the start at Pescara in 1957.

In his first championship race, the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis-Evans finished fourth in an inferior Connaught Type B, beaten only by the much faster Maserati 250F of Fangio, Brooks and Masten Gregory.

This performance brought him to the attention of Tony Vandervell, owner of the rising Vanwall team, and by the next Grand Prix, Lewis-Evans was driving the third Vanwall.

Lewis-Evans achieved his best finish for Vanwall when he was second at the year’s non-championship Moroccan Grand Prix, and took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, but had to retire with engine problems.

The English driver sadly crashed heavily at the dusty Ain-Diab Circuit during the season 1958 ending Moroccan Grand Prix. His Vanwall’s engine seized and sent him lurching into the barriers at high speed, and his car burst into flames. He died of his burns six days after the accident.

Tony Vandervell never fully recovered from Lewis-Evans’s death and withdrew from motorsport at the end of 1958.

 

Source: DR

Leave a comment