INNES IRELAND

Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins including one Tourist Trophy. Ireland was a larger-than-life character who, according to a rival team boss, "lived without sense, without an analyst, and provoked astonishment and affection from everyone."

Ireland began racing a Riley 9 in 1954. His first year of nationally competitive events was 1957,[2] by which time he was running a small engineering firm in Surrey. Success in sports car racing saw him make his Formula One debut for Team Lotus in 1959. In 1960 he won three non-championship Formula One races and finished fourth in the World Drivers Championship. Badly injured in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, Ireland recovered to win the Solitude Grand Prix and Flugplatzrennen races, then finished the season with a victory in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. He was sacked at the end of the season as team boss Colin Chapman considered Jim Clark a better bet.

Activity: 1959 - 1966
Grand Prix: 53
Drivers Championships: -
Victories: 1
Podiums: 4
Pole Positions: -
Fastest Laps: 1
Career Points: 47