Tony
Rolt

Anthony Peter Roylance Rolt was born in Bordon, Hampshire, in 1918 and grew up in St Asaph, Wales. He began competing in a three-wheeled Morgan while still at Eton College. In 1936 he shared a Triumph with Jack Elliott in the Spa 24 Hours and finished 11th. In 1939, aged 20, he won the British Empire Trophy at Donington Park in an ERA.

During the Second World War Rolt served as a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade. In 1940 he was taken prisoner in France after the defence of Calais, and was awarded the Military Cross for his actions there. He escaped from German prisoner-of-war camps seven times and was sent to Colditz Castle in July 1943. His escape attempts earned him a Bar to the Military Cross. After the war he returned to racing and finished second in the 1948 Zandvoort Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo.

Rolt started three Formula One World Championship races: the British Grands Prix of 1950, 1953 and 1955. At the first-ever championship round, at Silverstone in 1950, he drove an ERA shared with Peter Walker. He started tenth and retired after four laps with gearbox failure. In 1953 he drove a Connaught, again started tenth, and retired after 70 laps when a half shaft broke. In 1955 he once more shared a car with Walker. The Connaught started 14th and retired after 18 laps with transmission trouble.

Rolt took part in every Le Mans 24 Hours from 1949 to 1955. In 1953 he won with Duncan Hamilton in a Jaguar C-Type, and in 1954 the pair finished second in a D-Type. In 1955 they retired while running second. By the end of 1956 Rolt had retired from racing to concentrate on developing four-wheel drive with the Ferguson programme. The Ferguson P99, which he helped to design, became the only four-wheel-drive car to win a Formula One race, when Stirling Moss took it to victory in the 1961 Oulton Park Gold Cup. Rolt died in 2008 as the last surviving driver from the first World Championship Grand Prix in 1950.

Source: Wikipedia, “Tony Rolt”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.