Piers
Courage

Piers Courage was born in Colchester on 27 May 1942. He began racing in his own Lotus 7. In 1964 he competed in European Formula 3 with a Lotus 22, and in 1965 he contested a full season in a Brabham run by Charles Lucas. There he first teamed up with Frank Williams, who was then Lucas's other driver. Good results, including four wins, led Colin Chapman to offer him a Lotus 41 in Formula 3 for 1966.

In 1966 Courage started one World Championship race, for Lotus. In 1967 he drove for BRM alongside Chris Irwin. The team parted company with him after the Monaco Grand Prix, and he made two World Championship starts in total that year. He spent the rest of the season mainly in Formula 2, driving a McLaren for John Coombs. The following winter he won the final round of the Tasman Series. In 1968 he drove eleven races for Reg Parnell Racing in a BRM, scored points in France and Italy, and finished 20th in the championship. He also raced in Formula 2 for Frank Williams's team.

In 1969 Frank Williams Racing Cars entered Formula One, and Courage drove its Brabham BT26. He finished second at Monaco and at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and was fifth in Italy and Great Britain. He ended the season eighth in the championship. For 1970 the team ran a De Tomaso. In that car Courage took third place in the International Trophy, a non-championship race. He qualified ninth for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and was killed in an accident there on 21 June 1970.

Courage made 28 Formula One starts and reached the podium twice. He never won a race or took pole position.

Source: Wikipedia, “Piers Courage”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.