Stuart
Lewis-Evans

Stuart Lewis-Evans was born in Luton in 1930 and grew up mostly in Kent. After national service with the Royal Corps of Signals, he began racing in 1951 in a Cooper 500 Formula 3 car and stayed in that class until 1956. His father, who ran a garage, encouraged him and sometimes raced against him. In 1957 he won the Glover Trophy at Goodwood, a non-championship race run to Formula One rules.

He made his World Championship debut at Monaco in 1957 with Connaught and finished fourth. He then moved to Vanwall. At the Italian Grand Prix, the final championship round of the year, he took pole position but retired with engine trouble. He ended the season twelfth in the standings. He kept his Vanwall seat for 1958, took pole again in the Netherlands and again retired. He reached the podium in Belgium and Portugal and was fourth at the British Grand Prix, finishing the year ninth in the championship. In total he started 14 races, with two poles and two podiums but no win.

At the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix at Ain-Diab, the season finale, his engine failed and he hit barriers. He died in Britain six days later. Vanwall won the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers that year. Team owner Tony Vandervell withdrew from racing at the end of 1958.

Source: Wikipedia, “Stuart Lewis-Evans”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.