Jack
Fairman

Jack Fairman was born in Horley, England, in 1913. He began in motorsport in 1934, driving an Alvis 12/50 in trials and hill climbs, and soon moved on to racing at Brooklands. After the Second World War he was active mainly in sports car racing, especially endurance events, where he enjoyed many successes. He drove for teams including Bristol, Jaguar, Ecurie Ecosse and Aston Martin. With Aston Martin he won the 1959 Nürburgring 1000 km alongside Stirling Moss, as well as the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood.

Fairman made his Formula One debut at the 1953 British Grand Prix in an HWM, retiring from the race. After that he took part only occasionally, mostly in the British or Italian Grands Prix. Thanks to his technical know-how and steady driving, he was also used as a test driver, particularly during the development of Connaught's Formula Two and Formula One cars. In 1956 he scored points twice with the Connaught Type B and finished tenth in the world championship. Those remained his only championship points. In all he made 12 starts between 1953 and 1961, for Connaught, HWM, BRM, Cooper and Ferguson.

At the 1961 British Grand Prix Fairman drove the Ferguson P99, entered by the Rob Walker Racing Team. He was the first to drive a four-wheel-drive car in Formula One and, at the same time, the last to start a Grand Prix in a front-engined car. During the race his team-mate Stirling Moss took over the car. Fairman's final Formula One race was a non-championship event at Imola in 1963, in a Porsche for Ecurie Maarsbergen. He died in Rugby in 2002, aged 88.

Source: Wikipedia, “Jack Fairman”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.